We are using this solution to monitor the connectivity of our network devices.
IT Manager at Atlas Fertilizer Corporation
Real-time monitoring platform that is stable with good support
Pros and Cons
- "We like that this solution is in real-time, it gives us real-time monitoring."
- "I would like to see notifications sent with SMS."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
We like that this solution is in real-time, it gives us real-time monitoring.
If there is an issue with the equipment or there is no connectivity, we receive a notification immediately. From the dashboard, we can see which devices are currently down.
What needs improvement?
After testing, we decided not to proceed with this product. It is very good and has many features, but the cost is very expensive so it is beyond our budget. We decided to use other software.
I would like to see notifications sent with SMS. For example, when we are outside or we are working remotely, we wouldn't need an internet connection to know if there are any failures or disconnections in our systems. We would know by receiving an SMS notification.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using SolarWinds for three months.
Buyer's Guide
N-able N-sight Remote Monitoring & Management
October 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is very good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
SolarWinds MSP is scalable.
We have approximately 200 users.
How are customer service and support?
We were satisfied with technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, we were using PRTG network monitoring. Their features are similar to SolarWinds but the cost is less.
How was the initial setup?
It took three months to deploy SolarWinds MSP. The implementation itself was only a week but the testing took three months.
What about the implementation team?
We did not complete the setup with just our team. We had help from a third-party vendor who completed the setup for us.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's expensive and out of our budget.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Currently, we are testing Cisco Umbrella.
What other advice do I have?
SolarWinds is very good, it's one of the leaders in Gartner Magic Quadrant. The issue is the expense of this product.
We had a team of three to deploy and maintain it during our testing. They are network and system administrators.
While it's expensive, I would definitely recommend this product to others.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Manager at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Lets us keep an eye on client infrastructure at all times in one central portal
Pros and Cons
- "I'm really happy with the background remote access, which allows me to easily change system internals such as registry keys and silently execute commands using the command prompt in the background. This kind of remote access makes it easy for us to do our jobs without getting in the customer's way."
- "There is quite a bit of delay on the portal where we receive monitoring information from the endpoint agent on the remote device. Sometimes it gets stuck with no live response from the device, and you have to refresh the portal just to make sure that it's projecting the right information."
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for SolarWinds RMM is monitoring my customers' infrastructure and devices. I use it primarily as a patch manager, but it also finds use in many recurring IT jobs that we undertake for our customers.
How has it helped my organization?
SolarWinds RMM has really eased the way in which we remotely manage client infrastructure. It's got a very comprehensive suite of features for remote access and monitoring, so we can keep an eye on everything in one central place and not have to use several different solutions at the same time.
What is most valuable?
I'm really happy with the background remote access, which allows me to easily change system internals such as registry keys and silently execute commands using the command prompt in the background. This kind of remote access makes it easy for us to do our jobs without getting in the customer's way.
Compared to other remote access solutions that we tried, like Splashtop, SolarWinds gave us more complete functionality and flexibility.
What needs improvement?
There is quite a bit of delay on the portal where we receive monitoring information from the endpoint agent on the remote device. Sometimes it gets stuck with no live response from the device, and you have to refresh the portal just to make sure that it's projecting the right information.
Reliable live monitoring of remote devices is important to me, so I think it needs more improvement with regard to the communication between the agent and the portal.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used SolarWinds MSP Remote Monitoring & Management for at least two years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
At first we had a few problems with the network discovery interface not showing us all the details that we were looking for. I think it was related to a bug on the specific version that we were using, which was fixed in a later version.
We've also come across some web browser issues when accessing the online SolarWinds portal. In particular, we have sometimes run into trouble when creating new portal users. This was mostly related to plugin or extension compatibility issues, if I recall correctly.
Besides that, everything runs smoothly and the software operates as intended.
How are customer service and technical support?
The tech support was okay. When I encountered any problems, I sent a support request via email and I typically got a response within 24 to 48 hours, depending on the problem.
The actual follow-ups are decent, and we've always been given the right information to solve whatever problem we have come across. I've seen better support, but I wouldn't say that it was lacking in any way.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup was quite easy. In terms of deployment, the great part is that you can set up one device and with that device's setup configuration, you can just do a full deployment on every other device in the environment. This aspect is a great time-saver and reduces the need to repeatedly call in the IT manager to configure each and every device separately.
What about the implementation team?
In our case, we mostly only require one in-house team member to be responsible for managing and updating the SolarWinds RMM software itself. Otherwise, our company's primary job is to make sure everything is secure and running smoothly.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We use SolarWinds RMM on a pay-as-you-go monthly basis, so the cost can be highly variable because it depends on a few factors such as how many devices you need to support and what extra features you want to use. The more devices you have, the more you'll pay, and the same goes for extras.
I advise others to select only those features that you really need and to scale up the amount of supported devices as your business or client base grows.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We considered Ninja RMM, ConnectWise, and SolarWinds N-Central as alternatives but in the final analysis we chose SolarWinds RMM for cost-efficiency reasons and because it suited our purposes better.
For instance, N-Central was way too sophisticated for our needs, while ConnectWise's payment plan wasn't appropriate for our specific use cases.
What other advice do I have?
SolarWinds RMM is a comprehensive remote monitoring solution with a lot of different features for different scenarios, many of which may not be relevant to your company's operations. Most of these features will add extra costs to using the software, so make sure you select only what you will actually be using or you may have to pay an unnecessarily large bill.
I would rate SolarWinds RMM an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
Buyer's Guide
N-able N-sight Remote Monitoring & Management
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about N-able N-sight Remote Monitoring & Management. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
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Service Manager at Baker Computers Ltd
Makes remote access and remote support much easier and lets us know about a problem before our customers realize it
Pros and Cons
- "Remote support has been very handy. It also lets us know if there are failing hard drives or Windows issues."
- "The alerts and reporting could be done a little more clearly. They are quite cryptic, and quite often, we seem to get a lot of reports just for a computer rebooting or going offline for a couple of minutes, which doesn't seem like it's that big of a deal. Reporting could be refined and improved, and they can make it easy to decipher the reports."
What is our primary use case?
We offer a service to our customers where we monitor their computers and let them know if there are problems before they realize there are problems. We can offer patch management if they want. Although, not a lot of our customers actually want that.
We're using its latest version. It is installed on each PC, and if our customers also want the antivirus solution, we can install the antivirus as well.
How has it helped my organization?
It has made remote access and remote support much easier for us and our clients. We have a lot of older clients, and it was getting to be a challenge to even get them to download a client and fire up a client for something like Techinline or any of the other services. With this one, basically, all we have to do is initiate it from our end. There is already an agent on their computer. If our clients need remote support, it makes it easy for us to get remote access to their computers. It just pops up on their screen asking if it's okay for us to connect, and then we can get onto their computer and provide remote software support.
It has also been letting us know of several potential hard drive failures before the customer became aware of the issue. This feature has come in handy for several of our customers, and it has made it a lot easier to clone the hard drive and get them up and running quickly. Our customers don't have to do a full re-install if their Windows crashes and start from scratch.
What is most valuable?
Remote support has been very handy. It also lets us know if there are failing hard drives or Windows issues.
We also get reports from the antivirus scans, which has been very helpful for us and the customers.
What needs improvement?
The alerts and reporting could be done a little more clearly. They are quite cryptic, and quite often, we seem to get a lot of reports just for a computer rebooting or going offline for a couple of minutes, which doesn't seem like it's that big of a deal. Reporting could be refined and improved, and they can make it easy to decipher the reports.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using it for a couple of years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It seems to be very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Its scalability has been excellent. We've had to increase our client size several times, and it hasn't been much of an issue at all.
It is being used extensively. If we get more clients who are interested, we're certainly going to increase its usage. We're offering it and pushing it as a solution for our clients at the moment. I haven't heard a count lately, but I'm sure we're well over 300 people on the service for us, which is good for us. We are in a small town. We're not in a large city or area. So, we don't have a huge client base, but based on what we do have, we're doing pretty good.
How are customer service and technical support?
I haven't interacted with them myself, but the gentleman who does the management of it has talked to them several times. They've been very good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using another one initially. I can't think of the name of it. We switched because N-able was better priced, and it offered more features. The initial one that we had didn't offer an antivirus component, whereas N-able offered the antivirus component.
How was the initial setup?
I was not involved in the initial setup of that, but it was pretty straightforward. It took hours or days and certainly not weeks. After we've got it running at our end, the setup of the client was very easy.
What about the implementation team?
It was implemented in-house. Currently, six people in our business are running it to look after the clients. We have one guy who handles most of the reporting and support. If it gets into an issue that's beyond his capabilities, he usually passes it off to one of us. So, one person is for management, and the rest of us are for support.
What other advice do I have?
It is a pretty good all-around solution, especially for a small business like us who need to look after a limited number of clients. It fits us very well.
We're running it on our own server at the moment. They probably weren't offering the cloud service when we started, but they're now also offering a cloud solution. If someone new is setting it up, they should find out what's best for their situation and whether they want to run their own server or take advantage of cloud service. Of course, there are extra costs for the cloud service, but there are costs for running your own server as well. For someone new, it would be very important to look at which way you want to go in terms of running your own server or using their cloud service.
I would rate N-able Remote Monitoring & Management a nine out of ten. It comes back to reporting. I'd like to see its reporting improved a little bit to get it up to ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Re-Seller
Manager/ Owner at a computer software company with 1-10 employees
Feature rich, scalable, and useful automated deployment
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable aspect of N-able Remote Monitoring & Management is it provides an all-in solution for the different solutions."
- "The patch management of the solution could improve."
What is our primary use case?
We are using N-able Remote Monitoring & Management to automate monitoring, maintenance, and it offers built-in remote support.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable aspect of N-able Remote Monitoring & Management is it provides an all-in solution for the different solutions.
What needs improvement?
The patch management of the solution could improve.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using N-able Remote Monitoring & Management for approximately seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
N-able Remote Monitoring & Management is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have found N-able Remote Monitoring & Management to be scalable.
We have approximately 100 users using this solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was not easy for N-able Remote Monitoring & Management. The deployment is fast depending on how many customers you are running on it. However, the process is automated.
What about the implementation team?
For the implementation of N-able Remote Monitoring & Management, we used four administrators.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Out clients pay monthly for the license of N-able Remote Monitoring & Management.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend the solution to others.
I rate N-able Remote Monitoring & Management a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Head Of Technology at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Scalable ICT and support ticketing solution that has a responsive support team
Pros and Cons
- "The reporting for this solution has been most valuable."
- "It would be great if the pricing model could be improved and the solution was more affordable."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for endpoint security, as well as basic ICT management including desktop and service support.
What is most valuable?
The reporting for this solution has been most valuable.
What needs improvement?
It would be great if the pricing model could be improved and the solution was more affordable.
For how long have I used the solution?
We used this solution for one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This is a scalable solution.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service and support team are very responsive.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
This solution's setup comes with medium complexity. It is not something that could be installed by someone who has limited experience with servers.
What other advice do I have?
This is a great solution for a business at the start of their ICT maturity. It is a great product to start with because it takes you through all the various facets of the ICT maturity model.
I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Functional administration panel, reliable, and effective monitoring
Pros and Cons
- "The solution provides an administration panel where we can see what is happening on our client's stations, such as events, alerts, and all the software installed."
- "The solutions could improve by adding more features."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is used to monitor and manage networks remotely.
What is most valuable?
The solution provides an administration panel where we can see what is happening on our client's stations, such as events, alerts, and all the software installed.
What needs improvement?
The solutions could improve by adding more features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for approximately five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution stability is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We did not have any issues with the scalability, the solution functions well.
Most of our customers are medium-sized companies and we have approximately 60 stations.
How are customer service and technical support?
The support could improve.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy. However, the complexity of the full installation can be quite high. There are a lot of areas to configure, it is necessary to have knowledge on several points of the software.
What about the implementation team?
We have one person who does all the maintenance of the infrastructure.
What was our ROI?
Depending on your system configuration, it can provide a very good ROI because it has a tool for online backup that is necessary for this time we are living in with all the risks from hackers and threats.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is a license required for this solution.
What other advice do I have?
If you want to understand what is happening on your network, this is a good tool.
I rate N-able Remote Monitoring Management an eight out of ten.
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.
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