MSP Best Practice | Optimizing RMM Solutions and Increasing MSP Profits

MSP Best Practices

Optimizing Your RMM Solution

And Increasing Your Profits

October 16, 2013

Agenda

• Introductions

• Our MSP Expert – Erick Simpson, VP and CIO of SPC

International

– Why it’s important to analyze the configuration of your

RMM solution against industry best practices (and

where to get those practices and how do to the analysis)

– How to check thresholds and alerts against user roles

and policy settings for maximum effectiveness

– How to audit the integration of your RMM solution with

your PSA tool, including a review of dashboards and

reports – and learn why this is often overlooked

– How to implement these changes to increase your

profitability by 10% to 20% - or MORE

• Q&A2

Stay with us until

the end and you

may win!

About Kaseya

• Enterprise-class IT systems management for everybody

• Key Facts– Founded 2000

– STILL privately held• Multi-million dollar R&D

• Bench strength via Insight Partners

– Offices worldwide in 20+ countries with 450+ employees• 12,000+ customers

• Millions of assets managed

– 6 patents issued for IT service delivery processes & remote IT management processes• 37 patents pending

– Common Criteria (EAL2+) certified and FIPS 140-2 security compliant

– ITIL v2 and v3 compatible (Pink Elephant cert in progress)

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Kaseya Essentials for Solution Providers

http://goo.gl/rskLUU

All in one functionality for

MSPs with a Standard

Solution Package (v6.3)

• Templates

• Views & groupings

• Sets – monitors & events

• Scripts

• Policies

Why MSPs Choose Kaseya Essentials

A single Kaseya user can proactively manage 1,000s of automated

IT systems and network tasks in the same amount of time

required by a team of technicians using other techniques

It’s the industry’s only patented single-server-single-agent

architecture; MSPs get enterprise-class capability that is easy to

use and easy to afford

With 60+% of top MSPs worldwide using Kaseya, they get access

to the most robust community available

And with so many ISVs plugging in to Kaseya via a seamless

integration process, they get an easy way to leverage their

existing strategic technology partnerships

Erick Simpson

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Vice President & CIO, SPC International

Mr. Simpson is a recognized IT and Managed Services Author, Speaker and Trainer, and contributor to numerous industry publications and events. Author of "The Guide to a Successful Managed Services Practice", the definitive book on Managed Services, and “The Best I.T. Sales & Marketing BOOK EVER!”, “The Best I.T. Service Delivery BOOK EVER!”, as well as “The Best NOC and Service Desk Operations BOOK EVER!”. Erick has also co-authored the HTG publication “Peer Power –Powerful Ideas for Partners from Peers”. Erick's prior experience includes overseeing the design, development and implementation of Enterprise-level Help Desks and Call Centers for Fortune 1000 organizations.

• Over 20 years experience in the IT

industry

• Microsoft MCP, SBSC

• Author, Speaker and Trainer

• Built Call Centers and Service Desks for

Fortune 1000 Organizations

Industry Expert

About SPC International

• Solution Provider Community International- The IT Business Builder

– Provides IT Business Operations, Sales & Marketing and Technical Service Delivery Improvement Education & Training Internationally

– Hosts the largest library of IT and Managed Services business improvement and transformation resources in the channel• IT Business Builder Learning Management System

• Consulting Engagements

• Fulfillment Services

– 20,000 Members

• Kaseya Industry Expert since 2012

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How Optimize Your RMM Solution And Increase Your Profits

10

Are you fully leveraging your RMM’s

capabilities to maximize profits?

• Is your RMM solution properly configured to maximize your efficiencies in Service Delivery and Eliminate the Noise of Unnecessary Alerts?

• Are your RMM’s Thresholds and Alerts customized to ensure adherence to your published SLAs?

• Is your RMM Solution properly integrated into your PSA Solution to maximize automation, improve incident management, resolution and closure?

11

Common RMM Challenges

• Lack of time or expertise in initial RMM configuration and optimization

• Lack of a standardized Agent deployment process

• Integration between RMM and PSA Solution not optimized

• Too many alerts flooding RMM and PSA service boards and queues

• Failure to utilize patch management and update function properly

• Default device polling, threshold and alerting settings not optimized

• Failure to optimize reporting to help strengthen service value and improve QBRs

• Failure to deploy all of your agents

Biggest Challenge

Prioritize your top 3 pains and

challenges

1. Too many alerts flooding RMM and

PSA service boards and queues

2. Failure to utilize patch management

and update functions properly

3. Integration between RMM and PSA

Solution not optimized, creating

additional labor

Audit your RMM!

• Business Setup– Customers/ Machine

Groups / Departments/ Contacts

– User Accounts and Roles

– Scopes

• Daily Basic Monitoring– Servers, Workstations

– Monitor Sets and Policies

RMM Audit Checklist

• Business Setup – eases management!

– Customer organization information

complete

– Customer Machine Groups set up

– Customer Departments set up

– Customer Staff contact information

complete

– User Roles set up

– Scopes set up and in use

RMM Audit Checklist

• Daily Basic Monitoring – eases service!

– Servers actively monitored

– Workstations actively monitored

– Monitor sets assigned to machines

– Policies set up and in use

• Patch Management – eases headaches!

– Patch policies enabled and assigned

– Patch alerts are being managed

RMM Audit Checklist

• Alarms and Tickets – eases service!

– Alarms are current

– Dashboards are customized and in use

– Tickets managed

– Policies set up and in use

• PSA Integration – eases labor!

– PSA is integrated with RMM correctly

Control the Alerts!

• Monitor Sets are

key

– Monitor > Edit >

Monitor Sets

• Select the Shared

folder

• Create a New

folder

Control the Alerts!

• Select the Shared folder if you wish to share

• Create a New folder

• Copy an existing Monitor Set or create a new one

• Add only the alarms you need and optimize to reduce unnecessary noise by editing Counter Thresholds

Control the Alerts!

Control the Alerts!

• Make sure to set the alarm thresholds

accurately to eliminate unnecessary

alerting.

Control the Alerts!

• The Collection Threshold defines the log data that will be collected on that counter over a specified period such as every 20, 30 or 90 minutes. You can minimize unwanted log data by setting a collection operator just over or just under the collection threshold.

Optimize Patch Management!

• Determine what patches are missing

using Scan Machine

• Patch Management > Manage

Machines >Scan Machine – Run Now


• Determine what patches are missing using Scan Machine

• Patch Management > Manage Machines >Scan Machine – Run Now or Schedule recurring scans


• Get a detailed view of the update status on a per-machine basis via the Machine History link.


• View detailed information about the installed and missing patches on each machine with hyperlinks to Microsoft's security bulletin and knowledgebase articles for that specific patch.


• Select your reboot action

3 ways to deploy updates

• Machine Update– Select target machines and

schedule updates once

• Patch Update– Select individual updates

and schedule updates once

• Automatic Update– Automatically deploy

updates to target machines as they are released

*Disable Windows Auto Updates by going to Patch Mgmt >Configure >Windows Auto Update

Integrate With Your PSA!

• Reduces complexity

• Increases efficiencies

• Grows margins

• How?

– Your PSA’s

configuration Plug-in

– Kaseya VSA API Web

Service

Kaseya VSA API Web Service

1. Enable VSA API Web Service: System tab >Server Management >Configure, and select the check box next to Enable VSA API Web Service.

2. Enable SQL database views: System tab >Database Access >Database Views and enter a new password for this account.

3. Configure Email: Ticketing tab > Configure ticketing, and either configure the Notify policy or Email reader and Email mapping functions appropriately to integrate with your PSA.

4. Configure agent menu redirection: Agent tab >Configure Agents >Agent menu and specify the URL and text you wish to use in the 2nd row of text boxes – http://help.kaseya.com/WebHelp/en-US/5000000/3916.htm

– http://help.kaseya.com/WebHelp/en-US/5000000/3480.htm

SPC RMM Audit and Optimization

Service!

Phase 1: Complete RMM Audit and Report

• Business Setup

• Customer organization information complete

• Customer Machine Groups set up

• Customer Departments set up

• Customer Staff contact information complete

• User Roles set up

• Scopes set up and in use

• Daily Basic Monitoring

• Servers actively monitored

• Workstations actively monitored

• Monitor sets assigned to machines

• Policies set up and in use

• Patch Management

• Patch policies enabled and assigned

• Patch alerts are being managed

• Alarms and Tickets

• Alarms are current

• Dashboards are customized and in use

• Tickets managed

• Policies set up and in use

• PSA Integration

• PSA is integrated with RMM correctly


Service!

Phase 2: Import Custom Monitor Sets and Dashboards

• Import Five Service Monitor Sets

• Basic Server Service Monitor

• SQL Server 2005 Service Monitor


• Exchange Server 2003 Service Monitor

• Exchange Server 2007/2010 Service Monitor

• Set Up 2 Custom Dashboards

• Monitor Dashboard

• Alarm Dashboard

• Import Six Performance Monitor Sets

• Basic Server

• Basic Workstation

• SQL Server 2005

• SQL Server 2008

• Exchange Server 2003

• Exchange Server 2007/2010

• Includes 12 Month IT Business Improvement LMS Subscription!


Service!

Phase 2: Import Custom Monitor Sets and Dashboards

• Import Five Service Monitor Sets

• Basic Server Service Monitor



• Exchange Server 2003 Service Monitor

• Exchange Server 2007/2010 Service Monitor

• Set Up 2 Custom Dashboards

• Monitor Dashboard

• Alarm Dashboard

• Import Six Performance Monitor Sets

• Basic Server

• Basic Workstation

• SQL Server 2005

• SQL Server 2008

• Exchange Server 2003

• Exchange Server 2007/2010

• Includes 12 Month IT Business Improvement LMS Subscription!

30% off – only $485!http://s.spc-intl.com/kaseyarmm

Next Steps

• More on SPC International’s Kaseya Optimization Services

http://s.spc-intl.com/kaseyarmm

• Learn more about Kaseya for MSPs

www.kaseya.com/msp

• For a free live product demo

www.kaseya.com/mspdemo

• For a free trial

www.kaseya.com/trynow

• To speak with us

www.kaseya.com/contactme

34@kaseyacorp/company/kaseya/KaseyaFan community.kaseya.com

Kaseya Industry Expert Webinars

www.kaseya.com/resources/webinars

MSP Best Practice | Optimizing RMM Solutions and Increasing MSP Profits

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