MSP’s globally rely on their Remote Monitoring Management (RMM) platform to automate IT management, drive technician efficiency, and improve your bottom line. RMMs help MSPs monitor their clients’ endpoints, networks, and computers. A well utilised and optimised RMM platform is absolutely essential for a successful MSP business.
Unfortunately, there are a few mistakes that MSPs commonly make that, if avoided, could make RMM platforms work more efficiently.
The content for this article comes from Inbay’s ‘CEO Geek’ video series. These short videos are delivered by our very own CEO who covers a variety of topics including top tips for MSPs, industry news and key trends. Matt is proud to be something of an IT geek after working in the IT industry for over 20 years. Matt started his career working as a technical systems engineer right through to running the technical delivery centre and sales team for a large MSP for 8 years. Matt has also worked within the IT channel with Datto and more recently Inbay.
Matt’s first ‘CEO Geek’ video explains ‘The top 5 mistakes MSPs make with their RMM platforms’.
1. Most critical services are not monitored
Oftentimes, the most critical services (including custom and atomically integrated services) are not monitored properly. This could mean that there are SNMP related/ device discovery issues, misconfiguration in notification profiles, or out-of-date agents.
2. Devices not monitored or managed
When a device is not monitored, that means that no matter what happens in the RMM platform, that device will not be responsive. On the other hand, unmanaged devices are those that have issues that have not been responded to in a reasonable amount of time, so they go “stale.”
Devices may become unmonitored when there are certain monitoring policies that are not correctly targeted by filters and groups, while devices may become unmanaged (stale) when there is an issue with connecting to a network or probe node.
You also need to consider that laptops and workstations are not always on or connect to the network; therefore, they are mostly stale devices, they fall into that stale state. Then they fall into the unmanaged category.
3. No best practice or strategy applied to RMM
By definition, best practices are “commercial or professional procedures that are accepted or prescribed as being correct or most effective.” Many MSPs make the mistake of not applying best practices such as not monitoring disabled services to their RMMs. The practices of patching and anti-virus software should also be applied.
4. Security for users and systems
There are a few core areas that should always be protected:
- Internet: Deploying advanced firewalls
- Internal network: Endpoint firewalls, network monitoring
- Users: User awareness training on security
- Devices: Have to deploy AVs or EDR systems
- Applications: Control policies
- Data: Backups, rollbacks, disaster recovery
These areas can be protected by employing the following practices:
- 2 factor authentication (2FA)
- Implement application control by limiting what applications will run on which endpoints.
- Use password management systems and enforce password policies – don’t reuse passwords across multiple platforms
- Define user access controls based on a user’s rule and the necessities of their role
5. Lack of awareness of features in RMM platform
As an MSP, it’s crucial that you know what your RMM is capable of doing for you and your clients.
- What new features are coming with each release and how do you utilise them?
- How do you correctly apply new features?
- What are the new components and policies?
- Are there new third-party integrations?
- 3rd party integrations
These features change frequently – sometimes a few times per year. Encourage staff to take training, attend events and webinars, read documentation, and assign an internal product champion to be responsible for making sure you and your team is aware of new features and are properly trained in them.
Final Thoughts
A properly monitored and managed RMM can make a huge difference to the technical efficiency of your MSP business and increase revenue. It is vital that you have a dedicated person to set–up and maintain your RMM to ensure excellent service delivery.
Next Step
It is easy to see how overwhelming full management of an RMM platform can be, but fear not, you can outsource part or all of the management of your RMM platform to Inbay. Inbay offer a unique audit and fine-tune service to optimise key areas that may have been preventing you from getting the most out of your RMM investment.
Find out how Inbay can help your business and contact us to arrange an assessment call.
