Articles
RSSGFI Survey Reveals Interesting Tidbits About RMM Tools
November 16, 2009
By Gennifer Biggs, security, storage, and managed services editor
I have been waiting anxiously to hear about the results of a recent GFI MAX industry survey focused on how MSPs use remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools in their business. With that market growing every day, it intrigued me what myths might be busted and what perceptions altered when someone asks a group of IT providers how they use the tool, what they like, and what they don't.
Sure enough, there were some unexpected results.
For example, I was surprised to read that when asked about functionality, 32% of the 200 respondents ranked "help desk and trouble ticketing" as the least essential feature offered by the RMM tools. The top four — server monitoring, LAN and Windows monitoring, patch management, and remote support — seemed right on target. Perhaps, that reflects the market penetration of professional services automation (PSA) software that also handles those functions and is likely used in conjunction with RMM tools. As an interesting side note, the majority of group admitted they are still learning their way around the tool, with a miniscule 4% using the full breadth of the software.
In terms of the reasons why these MSPs are implementing and using an RMM tool, the top two reasons weren't surprising: faster fix response time and offering proactive maintenance. But ask the group about how that implementation goes — look out. There is clear indication RMM vendors have a way to go in terms of implementation as nearly half (47%) say it took at least one month to implement the tool and a quarter say more than six months. That is particularly interesting given the number of vendors who tout "easy to get started" as a strong point. Even once the tool is in place and up and running, 41% of users say training technicians on the system can take longer than a month. Sometimes the complexity of the tool itself has a negative impact, say 40% of those surveyed. They state that techs get so tied up in trying to use the RMM tool, they let customer service and focus slide.
