If you are a managed solutions provider, RMM software probably is high on your radar since VARs are constantly asking you about which platform you use and what features it provides.

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) tools are critical to any IT Service Provider who wants to create recurring revenue through managed services or take their managed services business to the next level. It’s no surprise that every MSP needs a PSA and RMM platform to succeed. But which platform to choose and how to choose it? Amongst the plethora of available RMM tools powered by N-able, Kaseya, LPI, Hounddog, IT control suite… the list seems endless and the choice not so easy. However, there are some key criterions to select the right platform for your service delivery needs.

Comparing some of the features might be a good way to start. Agent based vs. probe based, hosted or on-premise, support for security or back up services? Does the vendor offer operations and help desk services? Which server/desktop platforms can the tools monitor and manage? Does it integrate well with your current PSA system? It would be best to conduct a comprehensive survey with your current VAR community to understand their priorities and expectations from an RMM tool.

An industry research on RMM software was conducted online by GFI Max during June of 2009. The survey interviewed over 200 IT Support Companies and Managed Service providers about their satisfaction with the installation and running of RMM software, the necessary training, the pricing models and return on investment. The most valued features of RMM, according to respondents were server Monitoring, LAN & Windows monitoring, patch management and remote support. Top reasons for using RMM are to offer a faster fix response time and preventative maintenance. Also, RMM tools are used for preventive maintenance, cost savings and improving business margins. These should be useful data points to find the right RMM platform to partner with.

The detailed survey report on the usefulness of RMM tools for VARs  can be downloaded here.

Happy New Year to all!

Continuing from my previous post on the IT Infrastructure landscape in 2010, I will drill a little deeper into three specific areas which are going to clinch limelight this year. I added WAN Landscape in here as an offshoot of cloud computing and SaaS. If critical applications are hosted in the cloud, across an internet connection rather than through a private data center, the need to optimize delivery is clear to distinguish them from other web content and applications. Also many of these applications will be content rich, real time and bandwidth intensive as the use of Web 2.0 and gaming applications become widely utilized.

Looking at Virtualization: IDC predicts this market to grow at 26% in 2010. Flexible server pools will replace dedicated computers. With enterprise IT departments become increasingly concerned about their electric bills, virtualization offers one way to “green” the server room by consolidating the functions of several servers into a single machine. In many cases, a virtual machine running means one less physical machine in operation. Also, A GUI based, “single pane of glass” is the best solution to configure, manage, and maintain all hardware in the pool.  Administrators can move and/or balance loads, deploy server images to new hardware (local or remote), or even shut down unused resources for power savings. Virtualization of I/O is also crucial to make failover and high availability a part of any SLA.

To understand the WAN landscape, let’s review Gartner’s statistics on the worldwide market for application acceleration equipment. A compound annual growth rate of 12.22% with revenue of $4.27 billion in 2014 is forecasted by the research firm. There surely was a slump in 2009 for both buyers and suppliers but signs of greater spending are projected for the future. So while 2010 is going to be the ‘realization year’ for the cloud, WAN optimization is going to be the fundamental component for the successful delivery of cloud services. With this, enterprises will need to embrace the cost and scalability benefits of cloud computing while simultaneously continuing to meet employee standards for access and application performance. All of this means that internet and WAN are going to take new levels of importance and the most successful WAN optimization solution will utilize virtualization technologies.