By Nisha Balajee, Technical Evangelist at ManageEngine, a division of Zoho Corporation
Managed service providers (MSPs) are becoming
increasingly important in the IT management industry. The role of an MSP does
not stop with monitoring, managing, and maintaining the IT services of its
clients. It extends to keeping a close eye on everyday IT developments and
proactively securing IT networks against increasingly sophisticated
cyberthreats.
Balancing all these responsibilities can be a daunting task,
and the increase in cyberattacks over the last year or so is only making this
job harder. To help, MSPs need comprehensive IT management and monitoring
solutions that cater to all their needs.
For MSPs these days, the importance of a remote monitoring
and management (RMM) solution is undeniable. RMM solutions enable MSP
administrators to manage all customers' endpoints and perform all network
monitoring capabilities from a single console.
The question for MSPs isn't "Do I need an RMM
solution?" It's "How do I choose the right RMM solution?"
Here are five things I recommend MSPs keep in mind while
evaluating a potential RMM solution.
Data privacy
Arguably the most important thing to look for while vetting
any solution is its ability to manage and maintain the privacy of client data.
This is essential for building trust with clients, and it will pave the way for
expanding and retaining a global customer base.
To perfect customer retention and build trust, your
monitoring and management solution should uphold the privacy of every
customer's data managed within the tool. Customers expect you to maintain
confidentiality of their organization-centric information, so there should
never be any data overlap between two client networks.
Another criterion in upholding data privacy is to be in
compliance with various regulations and guidelines across the globe. Utilizing
solutions that are compliant with regulations and standards like the GDPR, ISO,
CIS Benchmarks, HIPAA, and POPIA enables you as an MSP to maintain safe,
regulated data handling processes.
Scalability
Time evolves all business, which often means expanding into
new areas. When your MSP business expands, so does its customer network. Your
RMM tool needs to be scalable as per market requirements. It must be efficient,
agile, and offer flexibility over managing the entire client network.
Maintaining network performance and managing endpoints and
network devices allows MSPs to be prepared at all times to serve clients'
growing needs and quickly meet service license agreements.
Multi-platform support
Every client network has an independent function and
structure. Instead of depending on multiple solutions to manage different
operating systems, MSPs need to implement a single solution that offers
multi-platform support.
Software that has a multi-tenant architecture can help you
handle the network operations of multiple clients concurrently and from a
central console.
As organizations transform their IT environments, adapting
to the dynamic network structure brought on by work-from-home, in-office, and
hybrid work environments is simple and efficient with a seamless RMM solution.
Automation
Automation is key for every modern MSP. You should
standardize and automate everyday processes like network discovery, patch and
software updates, fault management, device performance monitoring, supervision
of IT assets, and report generation to maximize your staff's productivity.
Automating functions such as OS updates and other network
maintenance tasks across client environments allows MSPs to improve the quality
of their service delivery and execute remote operations faster. Selecting an
RMM solution with automated capabilities is a must for MSPs looking to stay
ahead in today's rapidly evolving IT landscape.
Security
Security is always an underlying factor when it comes to managing
IT networks. Managing and monitoring clients' IT involves proactively looking
out for security threats in the network and identifying and remediating
vulnerabilities as soon as they're detected.
MSPs need to create multiple layers of security by discovering
the faults in client networks, deploying security configurations and patches to
applications, and monitoring and configuring real-time notifications in case of
abnormalities. An RMM tool that can help with each of these will ensure
clients' devices are secure from cyberthreats that might penetrate the network.
RMM: The key to success for MSPs
The world, business, and IT are evolving, and they won't
stop evolving anytime soon. For MSPs looking to provide exceptional service and
keep up with the evolution, RMM solutions are the key to success, and choosing
the right tool is essential to accelerating growth and return on investment.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nisha Balajee is a technical evangelist at ManageEngine, a division of Zoho Corp. She is an enthusiastic learner of remote monitoring and management trends in the market. She specializes in guiding MSPs across the globe on how to better equip themselves with exclusively designed MSP solutions that simplify their client management processes. Having presented at multiple seminars and webinars, she understands the views and experiences of an MSP from the questions raised and also through her regular interactions with customers.