Replacing a remote workstation platform requires more than comparing specifications or confirming that a connection works. For VFX, animation, post-production, and other graphics-intensive workflows, a replacement must meet the performance, image quality, peripheral, compatibility, and security requirements of the people using it.

The most reliable way to evaluate a potential replacement is to run a structured pilot using real production applications, representative project files, and the hardware your team depends on. Establish a baseline, keep test conditions consistent, record the results, and define acceptance criteria before evaluating candidates.

For the HP Anyware lifecycle dates and transition background, read our HP Anyware End of Life: What M&E Teams Need to Know Before 2029 guide. This article focuses on how to test a potential replacement and determine whether it meets your studio's requirements.

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Step 1: Define Your Testing Requirements

Before starting a trial, establish what a successful evaluation must demonstrate. Separate mandatory requirements from preferences so a platform cannot pass simply because it performs well in some areas while failing in others.

Test area	Example acceptance criterion
Image quality	Visual output meets the requirements of the intended workflow.
Responsiveness	Common production tasks meet predefined performance expectations.
Wacom and peripherals	Required devices and functions work correctly.
Multi-monitor support	Required displays, resolutions, and layouts function as expected.
Application compatibility	Critical applications, plugins, and projects work correctly.
Connection stability	Sessions meet the team's reliability requirements.
Security and administration	Mandatory access controls and administrative requirements are satisfied.

These are example criteria, not universal benchmarks. Set measurable targets where possible and define what constitutes a pass or failure for each requirement before testing begins.

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Step 2: Establish a Baseline and Control Test Conditions

Document how your current HP Anyware environment performs before comparing it with another platform. Without a baseline, it is difficult to determine whether a difference comes from the remote access solution, workstation resources, network conditions, or software configuration.

Record the workstation and client specifications, operating systems, drivers, application versions, project files, monitor configuration, and peripherals used in the test. Capture available network and session diagnostics, along with observed performance issues and user feedback.

Next, keep the comparison as consistent as possible. Use the same workstation, client device, project files, applications, user tasks, displays, and network conditions for each candidate where practical.

If a platform requires a different driver, agent, subscription, browser, or peripheral configuration, document that difference. Test the actual configuration your organization intends to deploy rather than assuming every product works the same way.

Include representative users and tasks. For an M&E studio, this might mean testing a Wacom-based painting workflow, a demanding 3D scene, and a multi-monitor editing or compositing setup.

If your existing HP Anyware environment is no longer available, document that limitation and evaluate candidates against the requirements established in Step 1. Do not present historical observations as though they were collected under identical conditions.

HP's transition guidance for HP Anyware users also emphasizes evaluating real users, applications, workstation resources, displays, input devices, and network conditions.

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Step 3: Run the Essential Remote Workstation Tests

Test image quality and responsiveness

Open representative production projects and perform the tasks your team completes every day. Inspect fine details, text, gradients, textures, color-critical content, and motion.

Look for visible compression artifacts, loss of detail, color differences, stuttering, delayed input, and pauses during common operations.

Where available, record network latency, effective frame rate, bandwidth usage, and connection interruptions. Compare the results against your baseline and predefined acceptance criteria.

The Microsoft Learn connection-quality guide explains how network transmission, server encoding, client decoding, and rendering can contribute to overall remote-session performance.

Do not rely on a single metric to determine whether a platform is suitable. A connection can report acceptable network latency while still delivering an unsatisfactory experience because of encoding, decoding, workstation load, or application behavior.

Validate Wacom input and other peripherals

For creative teams, detecting a pen tablet is not enough. Test the functions artists depend on within their actual production applications.

Use the same tablet and application configuration across candidates. Check pen pressure, tilt where required, buttons, shortcuts, input consistency, and application-specific behavior. Test essential USB and audio devices as well.

Record driver versions, configuration requirements, and any functions that fail or behave inconsistently.

Wacom's Wacom Bridge documentation explains its driver-to-driver approach and support for Windows Ink and Wintab without USB redirection. Availability and compatibility should be confirmed for the specific product configuration being evaluated.

For USB-dependent workflows, review the relevant product's setup requirements. For example, Reemo's USB forwarding documentation describes the components required to forward USB devices.

Check multi-monitor and application compatibility

Reproduce the monitor arrangement your team uses in production. Verify the required display count, resolutions, scaling, cursor movement, window placement, and behavior after reconnecting.

Then test the applications and projects your team cannot afford to lose. Open complex scenes, scrub timelines, use required plugins, perform editing or compositing operations, and save and reopen representative project files.

Record crashes, unexpected delays, display anomalies, plugin issues, and workflow limitations.

A successful remote connection does not prove that every application, plugin, or peripheral will work correctly. Evaluate each requirement against the actual configuration and document anything that needs further investigation.

See Reemo's display settings documentation for an example of how display configuration options can affect a remote workstation session.

Evaluate connection stability and security

Run representative workloads over sessions long enough to reveal problems that might not appear during a short demonstration. Record unexpected disconnects, freezes, performance changes, and reconnection behavior.

If you need to assess degraded network conditions, use an approved test environment rather than deliberately disrupting a live production network. Repeat tests where practical and document the conditions under which issues occur.

Security and administration should also be part of the evaluation. Have IT verify the relevant authentication requirements, MFA or SSO, user permissions, session policies, logging, file-transfer controls, and device restrictions against the organization's requirements.

The NIST Guide to Enterprise Telework, Remote Access, and BYOD Security provides general guidance on remote-access security and organizational policies. Use it alongside your organization's current security requirements.

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Step 4: Compare Results With a Remote Workstation Scorecard

Record the results in a single comparison table rather than relying on memory or an overall impression of a product demonstration.

Test area	Acceptance criterion	HP Anyware baseline	Candidate result	Status
Image quality	Meets visual requirements	Record observations	Record observations	Pass / Fail
Responsiveness	Meets workflow targets	Record metrics	Record metrics	Pass / Fail
Wacom and peripherals	Required functions work	Record results	Record results	Pass / Fail
Multi-monitor support	Required layout works	Record results	Record results	Pass / Fail
Application compatibility	Critical tasks succeed	Record results	Record results	Pass / Fail
Connection stability	Meets reliability requirements	Record results	Record results	Pass / Fail
Security controls	Mandatory controls verified	Record controls	Record controls	Pass / Fail
Administration	Meets operational requirements	Record current process	Record effort and limitations	Pass / Fail

Create a separate candidate-result column for each platform, such as Splashtop and Reemo. If an HP Anyware baseline is unavailable, mark it as unavailable rather than estimating results.

Keep supporting evidence where appropriate, including measurements, diagnostic logs, screenshots, configuration details, and user observations. Avoid including confidential project material unless it is approved for that purpose.

Use three outcome categories:

• Pass: All mandatory requirements are met, with no unresolved critical issues.
• Conditional pass: Mandatory requirements are met, but an agreed workaround, further validation, or follow-up is required.
• Fail: A mandatory requirement is not met, or a critical issue remains unresolved.

Preferences can be rated separately to help compare platforms that meet the mandatory requirements. A high overall score should never conceal failure in a critical area.

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Step 5: Troubleshoot Issues and Make the Decision

A failed test does not automatically mean the remote workstation platform is unsuitable. First, investigate potential causes.

1. Reproduce the issue. Repeat the task and document the configuration and observed result.
2. Check workstation resources. Review CPU, GPU, memory, driver, and application behavior.
3. Review network diagnostics. Look for latency changes, bandwidth constraints, packet loss where measurable, or connection instability.
4. Verify configuration. Confirm that drivers, client and host software, display settings, permissions, and required peripheral components are configured correctly.
5. Retest and document. Change one relevant variable at a time where practical, repeat the test, and record whether the issue remains.

The Microsoft Learn troubleshooting guide provides additional background on network and resource factors that can affect remote-session quality.

Once testing is complete, review the scorecard against the acceptance criteria established at the beginning. Document unresolved issues, any workarounds, who reviewed the evidence, and who approved the outcome.

A successful pilot provides evidence that a platform meets the requirements tested. It does not guarantee identical performance across every user, workstation, location, or network, so additional validation may be necessary before a broader deployment.

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Evaluate Splashtop and Reemo With a Free Trial

Motion Media offers Splashtop and Reemo for organizations evaluating alternatives to HP Anyware. A free-trial request gives your team an opportunity to assess a candidate against its own applications, hardware, peripherals, and production requirements.

Explore Splashtop

Review the product information and request a free trial to evaluate Splashtop against your workstation, application, display, and peripheral requirements.

Explore Splashtop and Request a Free Trial

Explore Reemo

Explore Reemo's browser-based remote workstation approach and request a free trial to test its suitability for your team's workflows and infrastructure.

Explore Reemo and Request a Free Trial

The goal is to choose based on evidence, not specifications alone. Define your requirements, test representative production tasks, record the results, and select the platform that meets your organization's needs.