System and method for extending cloud services into the customer premise

A computer program product comprising:

• a first set of program instructions comprising an agent to execute on one or more local computers that are part of a corporate network that is separated from the Internet by at least one firewall, the firewall operating independently of the agent, wherein the agent to act as a local agent, of a cloud-based management platform located outside of the corporate network, to facilitate cloud-based management of the one or more local computers, wherein the agent further to:
• gather status information from the one or more local computers;
• initiate a secure network connection to the cloud-based management platform;
• and
• report the status information to the cloud-based management platform via the secure network connection;
• and
• a second set of program instructions that provide a web portal for a human administrator to request, from the cloud-based management platform, changes to the configuration of the one or more local computers including an identification of one or more types of the status information to be gathered from the one or more local computers and reported to the cloud-based management platform, wherein the agent further to:
• receive, from the cloud-based management platform, a set of instructions created by the cloud-based management platform to request the changes, and
• make the changes to the one or more local computers responsive to the set of instructions from the cloud-based management platform.