Review: Under The Hood Of 5 MSP Platforms

Page 4 of 6

Review: N-Able Technologies
www.n-able.com

N-able now offers two routes for MSPs: a hosted Momentum MSP platform and a server-based Velocity system.

The Momentum system is a scaled-down version of the Velocity offering, which costs $4,200. Momentum serves customers that primarily use Windows, Mac and SNMP devices, whereas the Velocity program expands across Linux, Solaris, HP-UX and Novell systems. Entry-level pricing for the Momentum system is $99 per license per month for one or two licenses, $70 for two to five licenses, $60 for six to 15 licenses and $50 for 16-plus licenses.

1. SilverBack Technologies  2. LPI Level Platforms  3. N-Able Technologies  4. AdventNet  5. Nagios

VARs starting out in the Momentum system must complete a three-hour technical training program before activating customers on the hosted system. The training walks VARs through initial settings of an N-able hosted server, how to configure and deploy a client at a customer site and how to proactively monitor a network. On one of its tabs in the hosted solution, N-able added a direct link to its community message board so new MSPs can share experiences and find specific how-to topics right away.

To make an even smoother transition into managed services, N-able hosts a weekly Q&A session for Momentum partners where they can address their most immediate concerns on the use of monitoring tools. By contrast, Velocity partners receive tailored training sessions on how to create custom services and customized reporting. Velocity partners also get dedicated access to solution architects and device specialists. The company provides the same technical support for both channel programs.

N-able's hosted system has one of the simplest and most logically structured NOC views that CRN Test Center engineers have tested. Upon login, technicians first see all outstanding tickets and alerts on the right-hand side. By clicking on the links, technicians start an inspection process on devices and applications. N-able provides three connection choices per device: VNC, Terminal Services and RAdmin. MSPs have to install a probe on a single Windows system at customers' sites and work over Port 443.

The Momentum system is rather basic, though. MSPs start out with only 18 scripts. To build more sophisticated monitoring solutions, MSPs are forced to rely on their programming skills and the N-able community. The scripts are simple batch files that run basic programs that are driven by command-line parameters. However, the hosted system has various page settings such as thresholds and regular expressions to extract information and design alerts. As far as supporting Windows technologies, N-able provides the basic WMI interfaces for Exchange 2003 and SQL Server, including Windows patching.

NEXT: AdventNet

<< Previous | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Next >>