ConnectWise was founded in 1982 as an IT solutions provider, making it one of the most experienced players in the industry right now. Over the years, it has continued to introduce and improve its products that have helped IT professionals worldwide. 

It recently won the 2024 Channel Futures MSP 501 Gala Award in the ‘Preferred vendor’ category for its RMM product. Additionally, it has also won 25 other awards in 2024 across various categories. This speaks volumes abouts its reputation, reliability, and effectiveness.

ConnectWise RMM offers excellent value for money for teams of all sizes. From automated patch management to AI scripting, there’s a lot you can do with ConnectWise. Plus, its informative dashboards, coupled with unified UIs, make it an easy-to-navigate tool, even if you use multiple ConnectWise products. In this article, we'll take a deep dive into ConnectWise, explaining what makes it such a sought-after RMM solution.

ConnectWise: Plans and pricing

ConnectWise offers three plans: Essential, Pro, and Premium. As the name suggests, Essential is the entry-level plan, with features like automated OS and third-party patching, AI scripting, intelligent monitoring, and several third-party integrations. We found this plan sufficient for most small and medium-sized businesses and MSPs.

However, should you decide to upgrade to the Pro plan, you’ll get additional features like advanced intelligent monitoring​, network monitoring, and backup monitoring.

The Premium plan is meant for cloud and SaaS management, as it comes with features like unlimited ScreenConnect Remote, remote camera sharing, and Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 SaaS backup.

However, to find out the exact pricing of each of these plans, you’ll have to contact ConnectWise’s sales team. It's worth noting, however, that most RMM platforms maintain an on-request pricing structure because they offer customized plans, which isn’t the case with ConnectWise. The plans are all well laid out in advance with pre-determined features. So, keeping an on-request pricing seems a little odd in this case.

ConnectWise: Features

ConnectWise offers a lot of handy features that make remote management a breeze. For instance, it’s one of the few RMM platforms to come with integrated ScreenConnect – its proprietary remote desktop access management software. The best thing is that you get this right from the most basic plan. 

This brings in functions like seamless and quick endpoint connections, a shared toolbox, and universal compatibility. IT teams can solve problems remotely via the user’s camera without any additional downloads. With other RMMs, however, you have to integrate a third-party access software, which doesn’t work as seamlessly as an out-of-the-box solution like ConnectWise.

Speaking of integrations, BrightGauge is another addition we liked. It’s basically a reporting tool that consolidates all your information in one place, giving you access to insightful business intelligence (BI) dashboards. It can capture data to convert it into skimmable charts, which helps you analyze trends and patterns quickly. Just like ScreenConnect, BrightGauge is also available on the Essential plan.

ConnectWise supports both OS (Windows and Mac) and third-party patching. You can even automate the patching function with customizable scripts. What’s more, you don’t have to write a script from scratch, either, thanks to the platform’s AI-generated scripting function that does it for you.

ConnectWise also offers dedicated NOC services, where, essentially, the platform takes the workload off your shoulders. This applies to regular patching activities, day-to-day BDR, routing management, and recovery backup. 

This allows your IT teams to focus on more critical client issues, ensuring a better overall customer experience. However – and it's not very surprising – that this comes at an extra cost and isn’t included in any of the pre-designed plans mentioned earlier.

ConnectWise: Interface and performance

The main ConnectWise RMM dashboard is clean and neatly showcases various widgets. You can find information in the form of charts and graphs, and a quick glance will be enough to know the status of your endpoints.

However, it is ConnectWise’s Asio dashboard that steals the deal for us. Unlike other RMMs, the Asio dashboard combines all of ConnectWise’a product functions and 20+ UIs in a single place.

You can get live endpoints, patching, and network statuses from the ‘Unified Monitoring & Management’ tab. The ‘Solutions’ tab lets you manage your PSA functions, such as assigning and resolving customer tickets. Next, the ‘Centralized Data’ tab at the bottom combines all your data across various products to avoid repetitive functions and enable hyper-automation across various functions. 

The best part is that the dashboard isn’t limited to ConnectWise products – you can also add third-party vendors to extend your data into Asio, ensuring that all your apps share only a single data portfolio. This eliminates constant back and forth and makes data management seamless and unified.

ConnectWise: Security

ConnectWise has put in a lot of effort to build a robust security architecture. It has adopted the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) and complies with ISO27000 standards that focus on network security, vulnerability and threat management, and incident management, among other things.

The platform employs a formal change control process, which reviews, approves, and tests changes to network devices, information systems, and other system components. ConnectWise also maintains audit logs, with a detailed access history of various systems.

The endpoints are also secured through regular and thorough penetration tests, vulnerability, and phishing assessments. Plus, in case there’s any loss of data during a major catastrophe, ConnectWise has active disaster recovery programs running across their cloud environments.

However, it's worth mentioning that ConnectWise’s ScreenConnect was hacked in February this year when malicious actors exploited two vulnerabilities in its system. Both issues were patched in time and ConnectWise has, since then, strengthened its security infrastructure. 

Overall, the platform has put in a lot of thought into designing and enforcing its safety measures to ensure users have a safe experience.

ConnectWise: Support

The level of customer support you get from ConnectWise depends on your plan. Here’s a quick look at the support channels available. 

It’s good to see that email and live chat support are available to every single user, irrespective of their plan. However, do note that if you’re on the most basic plan, you’ll only be able to connect to the service team on weekdays between 8am and 5pm. For users of the Standard plan, support is available 24/7, and Premium users can access assistance even on holidays.

Additionally, there’s a dedicated community forum where you can discuss your queries with platform experts. We also found a good deal of product documentation on the website that will help you out with common issues or questions.

ConnectWise: Final verdict

ConnectWise is a fairly robust RMM software offering functions like intelligent monitoring, automated patching, and AI scripting. However, its unified Asio dashboard is the showstopper and easily what impressed us the most. 

Even if you have purchased a number of ConnectWise products, the Asio dashboard combines the data of all the platforms into a single panel. This saves you a lot of data duplication and gives teams a holistic view of the statuses of various endpoints. 

Next, the entry-level Essentials plan, according to our testing, is more than enough for most modern IT teams and MSPs. It comes with integrated features like ScreenConnect, which lets you remotely access and troubleshoot endpoints. Plus, its Business Intelligence reporting tool, BrightGauge, pulls out information-driven reports in no time.

However, you will have to reach out to ConnectWise’s sales team to get a quote, even though the website has well-laid-out pre-configured plans.

ConnectWise: FAQs

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Founded in 2000, Kaseya is a well-known name in the IT and security management industry. With more than 24 years of experience, it now caters to more than 45,000 customers in 21 countries. In addition to its VSA RMM platform, Kaseya also offers a lot of other IT solutions, such as PSA, BCDR, cloud backup, email security, and pen testing. This makes it a one-stop destination for all your business's security needs.

Its VSA is an award-winning RMM platform offering features like device monitoring, IT automation and patching, remote access and control, omni-network SNMP monitoring, and mobile device management. You also get native ransomware detection and 600+ out-of-the-box scripts that help achieve quick automation.

However, a slightly steep price tag and a recent cybersecurity incident may have you wondering if it's the best network monitoring tool for your business. Read on to find out.

Kaseya VSA: Plans and pricing

As is the case with most RMM platforms, you’ll have to request a custom quote from the Kaseya sales team. However, after some digging, we found out that the prices may fall between $4-5 per endpoint per month, which, in our experience with RMM platforms, is a bit too high.

If you’re a large business with many endpoints, you’ll have good bargaining power. However, there are several other RMM platforms like TeamViewer that cost less than $0.50 an endpoint.

A silver lining when it comes to Kaseya VSA’s pricing is that you get a 14-day free trial. This gives you ample time to try out the platform before committing to a paid plan. It's worth noting that N-central RMM, another fantastic platform, also offers a free trial (30 days).

Kaseya VSA: Features

Kaseya VSA offers several monitoring and patch management functions, making it a complete RMM platform. You get the benefits of zero-configuration SNMP device monitoring for all your switches, printers, and routers in the IT network.

All you have to do is check a box, and Kaseya will start detecting and responding to alerts to various SNMP IT incidents. You can also automate actions to be taken whenever an alert is triggered. These include creating an alarm or a ticket or sending emails to recipients.

There’s also a VSA Network Topology Map, which shows you all the devices. Here, you can quickly identify an open alert – just look for a red alarm badge.

Kaseya automations can also be used for auto-remediation of IT issues by running scripts. For example, simple tasks like restarting a printer or rebooting a system after installing an application can be automated. There’s also an automation library with 600+ scripts, reports, and monitor sets, which gives you a head start, ensuring you don’t have to build a script from scratch.

IT technicians can remotely access endpoints with Kaseya to resolve any issues with full console access. There’s also a stealth mode remote control tool called Live Connect which gives you access to an endpoint without the user’s knowledge.

You can access the device’s desktop, memory utilization, and file and directory transfer. Feel free to even browse their drive, add, modify, or delete files, and make changes to files locally. The best part is that you can launch multiple sessions simultaneously.

Plus, just like Datto RMM, Kaseya VSA also comes with native ransomware detection, which detects any crypto-ransomware on endpoints using behavioral analysis. It immediately sends a notification to the IT technicians and starts the process of quarantining the affected files. This can come in handy even if you have a dedicated antivirus solution. After all, an extra layer of protection is always good to have.

Kaseya VSA: Interface and performance

Kaseya follows a simple interface with a white background laced with blue headers. All the functions can be accessed from a panel on the left. You’ll find various sub-options under each function, allowing you to quickly access any feature you need. All in all, it's nothing out of the ordinary, which, by the way, is a good thing!

Although the interface may appear to be too basic at first glance, it’s super effective and gets the job done. There are no lags or technical glitches with the platform, ensuring a seamless experience.

Just like with Datto RMM, you can create custom dashboards in Kaseya as well. This can be done using various widgets and charts. The default dashboard houses important pieces of information, such as system statuses, active alerts, etc. You can also edit each of these widgets – add or remove them as per your priorities.

Kaseya VSA: Security

Kaseya VSA complies with various security standards. For instance, the company conducts SOC 2 Type II audits, which validate the operating efficiency of its internal controls.

They're also in active compliance with the ISO 27001 standard, which lays down guidelines for the management of ISMS (information security management system). Users can also exercise their data privacy rights under GDPR and CCPA with Kaseya VSA. All communications between Kaseya agents and the Kaseya server are protected with industry-standard AES 256-bit encryption.

Apart from this, the company also conducts regular penetration tests (both internal and external) to ensure there aren't any unnoticed vulnerabilities in their system. You can also set up various role and scope-specific access permissions and enable two-factor authentications. Overall, Kaseya’s security structure is among the most robust we've seen.

With all that in mind, the fact remains that Kaseya was a victim of a ransomware attack this year. However, there wasn't any damage reported and the attack was neutralized in time. While this incident can be considered a black mark on Kaseya’s integrity, it has only helped the company bolster its security infrastructure.

Kaseya VSA: Support

Kaseya offers technical support through three channels: support tickets, email, and call. Phone support is available from Monday to Friday between 6am and 6pm EST. An advantage of using a global product like Kaseya is that there’s an active global community of users and technicians, where you’ll find answers to all your common queries.

Plus, Kaseya itself offers a lot of documentation, help, how-to articles, and YouTube videos that help you climb the platform’s learning curve.

Kaseya VSA: Final verdict

Kaseya VSA is a feature-rich RMM solution ideal for large IT teams and MSPs. VSA’s network discovery and SNMP monitoring will not let any device go undetected in your IT environment. You can then monitor them and get alerts in real time.

It’s also possible to auto-remediate common alerts with pre-designed scripts. There’s also a stealth remote control tool that gives technicians full access to any endpoint, with the authority to modify files without the knowledge of the end user. The Kaseya dashboard is likable, too. It's simple and allows you to drill down on various endpoint parameters with custom filters and reports – and you can also add a custom dashboard with widgets of your choice.

However, while Kaseya is certainly not short on features, they're priced at a premium. Although it doesn’t reveal its pricing, final costs may fall anywhere between $4-5/endpoint/month, which may be a tad too expensive for most businesses.

Plus, Kaseya suffered a cyberattack this year when the Russian ransomware gang REvil exploited a vulnerability in its systems. Although the issue has been resolved, the same cannot be said about the customers’ confidence in the company, which has affected its business as well. With that said, however, the company boasts a beefed up set of privacy and security credentials, which includes regular penetration testing to avoid such incidents in the future.

Kaseya VSA: FAQs

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