We primarily use the solution to manage our clients. We use the solution to get into their computers for remote support and tasks of that nature.
IT Support Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Easy to deploy with great scalability and good reporting
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup is easy and the deployment is quick."
- "Their support needs to be better."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The reporting on the product is great.
Remote fixes are very useful. There are some of the automated fixes and patches, which is stuff that we really don't have to worry about too much anymore.
The stability is okay.
The initial setup is easy and the deployment is quick.
The solution can definitely scale.
What needs improvement?
The product needs to offer more integration with other tools.
Their support needs to be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for about two years. It's been a while.
Buyer's Guide
ConnectWise Automate
November 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is mostly pretty good. There are no bugs and it doesn't crash or freeze. However, their email connector is kind of spotty sometimes.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. There shouldn't be an issue with expanding if a company needs to do so.
We have 50 people on the solution right now, which is basically everybody, and we wouldn't have an issue going up and having more users. I'd say, at this time, the solution is being extensively used.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support on offer could be better. It's just the process that's not so good right now. For example, there are no phone calls. It's all on email. If I were to rate their level of service, I'd give them a six out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have used different solutions in the past. I'm not a hundred percent sure why we ultimately switched to this product. It was a decision that was above my pay grade.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very straightforward. It's not overly complex or difficult. A company shouldn't have any issues with it.
We kind of did the deployment over time, however, it didn't take long to deploy. We had it up and going relatively quickly. It took maybe a few hours in total. While it took a few days to compile a few details, we'd do an hour here or an hour there with a consultant over that time to get it done.
There's no real downtime in terms of updates and maintenance. We get an alert that there's an update and we do it in production so that we have no downtime.
What about the implementation team?
During the implementation process, we used a consultant from ConnectWise. It was part of their setup offering. Overall, the experience with them was very positive.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
While it's my understanding that we pay for the solution on a monthly basis, I cannot say what the exact costs are.
What other advice do I have?
We're just a customer and an end-user.
We've got probably the most recent version. We update it every time we are able to.
I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten, mostly due to the fact that it is very scalable.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
VoIP Network Engineer at Infinet Solutions
Saves us a lot of time and money; some issues with menu loading
Pros and Cons
- "A good automated scripts feature."
- "The menu doesn't always load properly."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case of this solution is for managing systems, being able to see them online and offline. I use the solution as a shortcut to ConnectWise Control, because the way our permissions are set up in our actual ConnectWise Control portal, our internal systems can't be reached. I need to use Automate in order to control my system at the office if I need to do something inside the company LAN. I'm the VoIP network engineer at InfiNet Solutions.
What is most valuable?
The automated scripts feature means that we can set up for a lot of different things and they have reduced tech input drastically, in the sense that a task only needs to be done once instead of 100 times.
What needs improvement?
I have issues with the menu, a lot of the time it doesn't load properly on initial login and I have to refresh and reload everything before I can actually search through agents. It can just sit there and spin on you at the initial login. I know we get some false positives at times, where things report offline and then when we connect to them with control they're connectable. They're definitely online, the agent just fails to report sometimes. I don't know the specifics of why it does that.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for almost four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is okay. There's random stuff that we find all the time, just like with any software. You can always find something if you look hard enough. The main issues that we've had as far as bugs or glitches go are related to other things, like when an AWS stack went down and it knocked out our sign-on server, cutting access for four hours until we were able to actually manipulate some code in their database to stop accessing that sign-on server and allow us to use the local log-ins we used to use. That's more connected to the ConnectWise as a whole, not Automate.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable to any size you want to scale it to. We currently have 15 techs using it. These are level one, two and three service technicians.
How was the initial setup?
I can only comment as a user where it's just a matter of logging in because everything has been created on the administration backside. There's not really much setup at all that I go through as an end user.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend exploring the features and the pricing model before purchase. It seems like a few years ago our pricing model was a little better than it is currently. I know there are solutions coming on the market with some pretty aggressive pricing models where you're paying on a per tech license rather than a per agent license. Automate is a per deployed agent rather than per tech so if we're 15 techs working on 3000 computers, it's a lot better to pay the tech license than the agent license.
I would rate this solution a six out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
ConnectWise Automate
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about ConnectWise Automate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,660 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Network Support Specialist IV at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Intuitive user-friendly interface, but could have better links to other ticketing systems
Pros and Cons
- "ConnectWise Automate's interface is pretty easy to use. It's pretty intuitive to get around and navigate it. It does what I need, which is usually connecting to the client and customers systems."
- "There could be better linkages between ConnectWise Automate and Manage from a ticketing perspective. Automate and Manage each has its own ticketing system. We use the one in Manage, but it'd be nice if they were linked directly to the one in Automate."
What is our primary use case?
We use ConnectWise Automate to monitor and maintain customer systems. It allows us to administrate remote access chains. So basically we use it for administration, remote access, assistance, and help desk services. We currently have about 10 staff using it on our side. They're support specialists ranging from tier one to tier three.
How has it helped my organization?
ConnectWise Automate made it easier to keep in contact with customers while working remotely.
What is most valuable?
ConnectWise Automate's interface is pretty easy to use. It's pretty intuitive to get around and navigate it. It does what I need, which is usually connecting to the client and customers systems. I can just help them from home or from work.
What needs improvement?
There could be better linkages between ConnectWise Automate and Manage from a ticketing perspective. Automate and Manage each has its own ticketing system. We use the one in Manage, but it'd be nice if they were linked directly to the one in Automate.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using ConnectWise for a couple of years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
So far, Automate seems pretty stable. I don't think we've had any big issues with having to reboot it that often. Once in a while needs a reboot, but It's too frequently as far as I can tell. Not too terribly much.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I'm still unsure about ConnectWise's scalability. Automate seems like it can scale, but we don't have the biggest customer base in the world, so it is hard for me to say.
What other advice do I have?
Since I didn't implement it, I only have advice on usage. So far, it's doing what we need it to do. But as is the case with most of these types of products, eventually we're going to need to go to a remote solution that's not third-party.
I would rate ConnectWise Automate a seven out of 10. It's pretty average for what we're using it to do.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Labtech Administrator and System-Admin at a tech services company
Proactively monitor and fix issues before they interrupt your clients’ business but product runs too slow affecting reliability
What is most valuable?
First of all, the automation of LabTech is awesome. You can do any kind of automation from Labtech.
You can integrate anything from LabTech, i.e., Auvik, Veeam etc. As per LabTech Patching, it is now different from the old Patch Manager. You can set patching according to client requirements, approval policy, reboot policy, etc.
How has it helped my organization?
One of the greatest benefits of LabTech is less client downtime. Because LabTech lets you proactively monitor and fix issues before they interrupt your clients’ business, you can virtually eliminate system outages. LabTech lets you monitor virus updates, ensure antivirus programs are enabled and that regular backups are taking place.
What needs improvement?
Reliability: Open a computer window new screen and it's slow.
For how long have I used the solution?
We are using this product for the last three or four years when its first version had come out, that is LabTech 10. Last year, ConnectWise, a former partner with Labtech, integrated together. So that's why the product's name is ConnectWise. automate Labtech.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Not at all. As we know every software has stability issues, but every month LabTech Patch has come which has fixed stability issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No.
How are customer service and technical support?
Good. They have a good tech team.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
No, we didn't use any other product before this one.
How was the initial setup?
Its depend on the Client Requirements and what they want.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Put a lot of automation on a single machine for LabTech, so pricing is not as high.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
No.
What other advice do I have?
Yes, go for it. Use it once. Labtech will take care of your machines
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior NOC and Automation Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Very scalable and good premium support
Pros and Cons
- "It is very scalable."
- "Patching and reporting need improvements, especially reporting. The reporting engine is quite outdated, so you end up having to use your own dashboard."
What is our primary use case?
It is a monitoring and automation platform. So, you handle alerts, and then you automate the fixes.
We are using its latest version. It is cloud-based.
What is most valuable?
It is very scalable.
What needs improvement?
Patching and reporting need improvements, especially reporting. The reporting engine is quite outdated, so you end up having to use your own dashboard.
It should have an Azure functionality because, at the minute, there is no Azure functionality we can automate. It is missing the Azure functionality out of everything. Other than that, it's great.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is very scalable. I would rate it quite highly there.
We are an MSP and distributor. We have over 500 customers.
How are customer service and support?
Their premium support is great. If you don't have premium support, you can sometimes have a lot of difficulties with getting the correct point across.
How was the initial setup?
Its initial setup is complex.
What was our ROI?
I'd probably rate it a 10 out of 10 in terms of ROI.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend it. I would advise ensuring that you have a team behind it that can run it internally as well, and you're not just relying on ConnectWise themselves.
I'd rate it a nine out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
Helpdesk Technician at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Monitors server services and general computer health.
Valuable Features
Scripting and automation are not incredibly straightforward, but they are probably the most valuable tools in this solution when compared to other RMM systems.
Their integration of ScreenConnect has also made remote desktop control incredibly smooth.
Improvements to My Organization
Remote monitoring allows the organization to react more quickly to emergencies, particularly offline devices/locations.
Monitoring server services and general computer health allows us to be proactive about preventing issues. Proper scripting and scheduling has also reduced the need for actual intervention.
Room for Improvement
Because of the vast number of features, the software is difficult to navigate. Some features feel very hidden and hard to find in order to enable or disable them.
Use of Solution
We have been using this solution for over a year.
Stability Issues
There is an issue where they do not support the running of any kind of backup software on the same machine. Instead, they recommend using snapshots. Snapshots are widely considered to NOT be a backup solution.
Customer Service and Technical Support
The technical support varies greatly. The response is slow for non-critical issues. Many staff members do not appear to read the issue descriptions closely.
However, sometimes you get the right person in the right department, and they will be able to help you a great detail.
Other Advice
It is powerful, but be prepared to spend a lot of time learning the ins and outs of customizing the system with templates, scripts, groups, etc.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Managing Director at a tech consulting company with 11-50 employees
Enables us to manage all client requests, jobs and invoicing but project management needs improvement
Pros and Cons
- "It allows us to manage all client requests, jobs and invoicing."
- "The project management needs improvement and there's a section of the product called configuration that also needs to be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We use ConnectWise Automate as a professional services automation tool.
How has it helped my organization?
It allows us to manage all client requests, jobs and invoicing.
What is most valuable?
The ticketing system is the most valuable feature.
What needs improvement?
The project management needs improvement and there's a section of the product called "configuration" that also needs to be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
More than five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability is pretty good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is good. We currently have fifteen users. As our staff grows, our usage of this solution increases.
How are customer service and technical support?
Their technical support is good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was complex. It took us around three months to deploy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing and licensing are reasonable.
What other advice do I have?
The advice I would give to somebody looking to implement ConnectWise Automate is to spend time getting the implementation right.
I would rate it a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Great review. Been a while since I used Labtech from my Consultant days but it was a great tool. As stated a bit hard at first but when you get the hang of it very powerful.