Not a lot of systems. Basically 6-8 workstations, a few printers, a server, access points, and some switches.
As for monitoring, all the above.
Is this just 1x network? Or an example of a few networks you need to monitor?
What is your goal over time...grow and get more business clients to manage?
IMO, a good "RMM" is what you want to get. You have your basic/entry level ones, your medium ones with a few more features, and higher price, and your more matured and full features ones, again..with an even higher price.
The features vary from RMM to RMM, and of course the "big names" that are more matured and come with a higher price, give you more, if not all, of those features.
Features such as:
*Remote access to the PC..and the better ones give you several different methods built in. Some of them have advanced remote support features...in addition to just desktop console access. IMO those advanced remote support/troubleshooting/techie features are important.
*Inventory/asset tracking. Detailed inventory of hardware and software...you can drill into 1x particular PC and see instant details, or...products reports per client site. Including things such as warranty expiration...important for producing budgets and replacement cycles for clients
*Integrated antivirus. Typically your highest profit with antivirus is through your RMM, your cost is typically lower than even if you're in a high margin reseller status with some brand. License tracking, changing licenses, lack of dealing with renewals...all of this equals the least time spend by you in deploying and managing antivirus. So combined with lowest cost to you..this is a no brainer to be your highest profit way of reselling antivirus
*Patch management....keep Windows and 3rd party apps including web players (like java, adobe stuff, etc)...up to date.
*Ease of deployment. Most of the bigger packages have what is called a "probe"...you install it on 1x computer...typically a server...and let it run for a period..it discovers the whole network and pushed agents out to workstations (using domain admin credentials for example). Come back the next day and you have the clients entire network inventories, agents installed, ready to do what you need.
*Automated deployment of software, scripting
*Good monitoring of other devices such as edge devices (firewalls), VPN tunnels, etc
*Good alerting/notification...such as disks getting above 85% full, or VPN tunnels down, or and Exchange service down, or printer ink low
*Maintenance windows...programmed automated tasks that get done during predetermined times.
*Built in backup
*A bunch of free agents to install on all clients of yours, even if not MSP, so you can at least remote in, inventory/asset them with basic features.
A good RMM saves you sooooo much time. Yes there's the learning curve when getting one, but once you get comfy with it, things get sooo much easier for you. There is a "value" to you in that you have more free time to do other things, like....get more clients...because you can handle more now!
Back about 10 years ago, my colleague and I felt quite "flat out"..maxed out with the clients we could handle. We had been doing "MSP" for a long...long time, having fixed monthly clients. But we were doing it the old fashioned way, many things by hand....VPN tunnel to their network, UltraVNC or RDP to servers and workstations, manually doing Microsoft and other updates, stuff like that.
Back then we looked at several RMMs...had their sales reps do their demos for them,...and we went with N-Able....getting our own N-Central server in our office. Back then N-Able was very expensive, a high "initial buy-in"...but it was easy for us, as we already had a ton of MSP clients....so we rolled them into it easily and it started pay for itself and more right away. Freeing up soooo much time we had previously spent doing things the old fashioned manual way.
With N-Able (which was high end) being bought up by Solarwinds..and then Solarwinds buying up GFI/Max...(which was around mid-range)...pricing has changed as the products merge. The initial buy-in is much lower now, more affordable for new/startups.
One thing to consider...I see a lot of techs balk at the price of a good RMM, and they'll go for a less expensive RMM. But then since that less expensive RMM is has less features, if they want to do too antivirus, good patch management, and backup, or even other "remote support" products,...they end up going and paying for additional 3rd party ones of those. So..at the end of the day, $ for an RMM, plus $ for an AV, plus $ for a patcher like patchmypc or ninite pro, plus...plus...what is your sum spent? MORE than just spending the money on a good RMM in the first place!
Or some will say.."Well...I don't want to spend the money on a good one YET...so I'll get a cheaper one now..and then a few years down the road..upgrade. Honestly..it's tough to upgrade/swap products down the road, once you have momentum going with existing products in a bunch of clients. Your "change RMM and other tools" time spend is volunteer time...so it costs you a lot at the end of the day.
We started with a good one, freeing up so much time and beefing up our profits..that we went from a 3 person group back then about 12 years ago, around 300k a year income, to 5 people now and over 3 times the annual....and growing a lot this year.
