RMM Tools – Finding the “One-Size-Fits-All” Solution
By James Riley, JNR Networks
CEO/Senior Engineer
As IT Solution Providers, we all work tirelessly to evaluate various products on the market and pick the optimal solution for our clients. As we adopt an MSP model, this becomes even more imperative as we are placed "on the hook" for whatever support requirements come up. As this happens, it behooves us to select solutions that will provide optimal uptime and minimal hassles. Our knowledge, skill and ability to competently evaluate a client's need and deliver a solution that will work as advertised and not constantly cause headaches is what we strive to deliver to our clients.
In order to consistently deliver optimal solutions to our clients and remain profitable, you invest in tools from pliers and drills to computer components to diagnostic components and so on. In all of this, we work diligently to ensure that, if we are going to buy a tool, it better be a good one that will reliably do its job so we can do ours. (There is nothing like trying to work on a delicate problem, with a client's network down, only to find that you have the wrong tool or the tool you have, breaks when you go to use it.)
If you are reading this blog, you, likely, are either looking for or have already purchased an RMM tool. Like we do with all tools, we are wise to evaluate the available options and be sure to acquire the solution that best meets our needs. As good business people, we evaluate the cost of the tool versus the cost benefit it offers us in our business and we purchase. If you are like I was when I first set out on this venture, you may take this pursuit thinking that we must find the perfect RMM tool only to be disappointed that we can't find one solution that does everything that you desire and need.
I encourage you to not make the mistake of thinking that you can only use one tool. In the same way that you may have multiple pairs of pliers, depending on your needs, it may be optimal for you to purchase and run two different RMM tools that complement each other's weaknesses.
Everyone’s needs are different and reflect your client base, your approach to management, the size of your company and many other factors. For us, we found that we needed a solution or collection of solutions that provided the following:
- Deep information regarding servers and desktops. (We’ve found that agent-based solutions tend to be better at doing this.)
- Deep information regarding the core infrastructure.
- Flexible and dynamic grouping of systems to group management, patching and scripting on specific collections of systems based on criteria such as software that is installed, roles that are assigned, etc.
- Flexible and dynamic monitoring solutions that use both static and dynamic thresholds for alerting on conditions.
By looking for the optimal solution or solutions for your needs, you are better able to deliver the absolute best-of-breed solution to your client and acquire the maximum benefits of remote automation, monitoring and management within your business.