N-able Launches Help Desk Manager For MSPs, Updates RMM Platform

Remote Monitoring and Management company N-able by SolarWinds has rolled out a new Help Desk Manager and update to its flagship N-central platform, the company said Tuesday.

The update to the N-central platform and the rollout of a Help Desk Manager will bolster its capabilities for the managed services provider market that it works to service, said N-able's JP Jauvin, general manager of N-able by SolarWinds and former CEO of N-able prior to its acquisition.

Features of the Help Desk Manager include email-to-ticket support, customer portals, automatic ticket assignment, time and material billing, integrated knowledge base system, integrated survey engine, drag-and-drop and drilldown dashboards, option to integrate with N-central and more. Updates for the N-central 9.4 platform include usability and UI enhancements, OS X support, monitoring support, Patch Manager updates, new TeamViewer support and Automation Manager enhancements.

[Related: Stratus Technologies Acquired By Investor, Plans Fault-Tolerant Software, Cloud Push ]

id
unit-1659132512259
type
Sponsored post

"We work very closely and listen to our customers on their ideal information and ticketing solution. I think our product reflects that. It provides a very comprehensive solution for MSPs to automate their business processes and provide their customers with a very intuitive easy-to-use ticketing solution," Jauvin said.

There are two key points for N-able behind the move, Jauvin said. The first is that it exemplifies the company’s commitment to its MSP partners. The Help Desk Manager can be used as a standalone solution for companies that don't have an RMM platform but want a ticketing solution, or can be used as a fully integrated solution with the N-central platform.

The second key point of the solution, Jauvin said, is that it demonstrates the synergy with parent company SolarWinds, which completed its acquisition of N-able in May 2013.

Jorge Vargas, director of IT at Plexxis Technologies, a Woodbridge, Ontario-based N-able partner, said that he has been using the new Help Desk Manager solution for two weeks and that "it had everything I wanted and more." Vargas said he has been searching for a new ticketing system for quite some time, but other options were simply too expensive.

Vargas said that he appreciated the depth of capabilities that the Help Desk Manager offers. In particular, Vargas said he likes how the system has email-to-ticket support, which allows his employees to open and start tickets through email. However, he said that the amount of capabilities can make it intimidating to get started with the program.

"That’s a good and bad part. It has a lot of features, and like I said, it can be good or bad," Vargas said. "That being said, in the last two weeks I've probably just brushed on its capabilities."

Vargas said in the short time he's been using the Help Desk Manager internally, he has seen a notable increase in efficiency. He said his group only has five employees to manage tickets for 50 to 60 clients, each with five to 100 users apiece. He said that he hopes the ticketing system will help make his group stronger and more able to access and repair customer concerns.

"As far as quicker response, definitely. Just the emailing component alone to create a ticket alone is huge ... that's helped us out quite a bit," Vargas said.

Going forward for N-able, Jauvin said that they hope to push the solution further into cloud and mobile automation. "Help Desk Manager specifically will play a prominent role in terms of our strategy going forward," Jauvin said.

A free, 30-day trial of the Help Desk Manager product is available on the N-able website.

PUBLISHED APRIL 2, 2014