Apple Mac Support? iPad Mini? Microsoft Windows 8? Eh.
One of N-able’s big roadmap announcements at last week’s Global Partner Summit in Montreal encompassed support for Mac devices. Yes, the remote monitoring and management vendor said it would extend its N-central platform to support Macs. The announcement came on the same day that Microsoft was rolling out Windows 8 and The VAR Guy was meeting with Michael Dell in New York City to talk about Windows 8, Dell devices that have the new OS installed, and plenty of other, more MSP-related topics. Oh, and Apple announced the iPad Mini last week, too. (And although I’m still punchy from my ongoing power outage, spotty Internet access and hit-or-miss phone service, I will refrain from feminine hygiene jokes this time around.)
Yet, in spite of all this big news from Microsoft and Apple last week (and N-able’s nod to the growing importance of the Mac platform in business environments), the MSPs I spoke with at the N-able Global Partner Summit last week weren’t blown away by any of these announcements. They were much more interested in and impressed with N-able’s new integrations with Autotask and ConnectWise in Report Manager 4.0. This was the improvement that would actually help their businesses win more sales. This was what enabled them to create executive summaries for C-level executives at customer companies.
So support for various platforms? Merely a check mark on the list of services offered. But a new integration to deliver better information to customers that would improve sales? A long-awaited and much appreciated feature.
What do you think? Is Mac support a big deal for your customers? Any clients clamoring for Windows 8?
As a small Mac-focused MSP, I have to say yes. Mac support is a big deal for my clients. And after a LOT of research, my general impression is that the Mac agents from Windows-focused RMM vendors (Continuum, Kaseya, Labtech, etc) were developed in a vacuum. They seem to be based on giving their core Windows-based MSP customer something that they can go to their clients with and allow them to say they can support Macs. As opposed to developing a robust agent truly centered on the Mac. It’s almost like a person who can’t see trying to describe a classic painting. It’s as if the SaaS-based Mac agents were built without regard to what Mac professionals really need to support Macs properly. Software delivery is an excellent example of this. To date, I feel that none of the SaaS-based RMM providers understand how to easily and flexibly deliver Mac software packages (.pkg and .mpkg) to client machines and report results. And if an RMM offering can’t at least do that for me, then I have no use for it at any price.
So far, the best Mac-based RMM offerings I’ve seen are Casper Suite and Absolute Manage. Both are excellent, but neither product was really designed for MSPs. MSPs have shoe-horned them to serve the purpose effectively, but they weren’t developed with MSPs in mind. And both products are premise-based, with a reasonably significant up-front investment required.
There is an emerging group of Mac support professionals who are embracing the managed service model of support delivery. Most of whom are looking for truly great Mac-focused RMM tools. Tools designed specifically for supporting Macs in an MSP environment. There’s absolutely a market there. But so far, it seems like the current Mac agents geared toward meeting the bare minimum requirements of the Windows-centric MSP, when people who make their living supporting Macs set the bar a little bit higher.
For now, I’m still waiting on the perfect Mac-focused RMM tools.
Mike Castaldi
Wild Frog Consulting
Member, Apple Consultants Network
I have to agree with the article. The Report Manager 4.0 features are a much more needed feature from a business and sales perspective.
Mike@1: Thanks for the Mac-centric perspective. Have you expressed your perspectives directly to RMM software companies? If so, did they offer any reaction..
Trent@2: Is it safe to say you’re an N-able customer/partner?
-jp
Joegt; I have. Their responses have typically fed my perspective that their Mac agents are aimed at being “just good enough” to satisfy their Windows customers who need to support a Mac or two. I completely understand this perspective, as any business has to satisfy their core customers. However, with the Mac platform’s increasing presence in the enterprise it’s very disappointing that the current crop of RMM vendors don’t seem to be looking forward and setting their sights higher with regard to Mac support. I know of no Windows-based RMM vendor who has really engaged the Mac support community to help determine what features/functions Mac professionals feel would be necessary of beneficial. Most just think they can try to clone the feature set of their Windows agent and call it good. This plan invariably falls short, particularly in the areas of monitoring and software deployment.
Mike: Thanks for the background.
Memo to RMM and MDM Vendors: Do you have a response for Mike? Thoughts? This is your opportunity to prove him wrong.
-jp