Review: Under The Hood Of 5 MSP Platforms

Page 5 of 6

Review: AdventNet
www.adventnet.com

Unlike its competitors, AdventNet started providing managed services after years spent building a large portfolio of enterprise applications. Some of these applications now are being integrated into the company's MSP solution. For instance, for the past three years, AdventNet has been offering a stand-alone OpManager server for VARs targeting customers that need remote management.

OpManager's Professional package has a starting price of $795 per customer and covers an unlimited number of devices. To monitor server-based Windows applications out of the box, VARs have to sign up for the OpManager Enterprise package. OpManager's MSP Edition server starts at $4,995 for the first 100 customers. For an additional $99, MSPs can service up to 50 devices, and an extra $299 covers an unlimited number of devices.

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

AdventNet now is offering OpManager's MSP Edition as a 30-day free trial so new MSPs can sign up potential customers without any strings attached. During the trial period, MSPs have full access to the product and are encouraged to generate weekly inventory and status reports. The trial period also extends to AdventNet's established MSPs that are seeking new customers.

OpManager arrives with a client probe that works on Windows and Linux. The probe works over Port 443 so no special ports have to be opened at a firewall. Once installed, the probe begins to categorize every device and run scans. The probe has an internal database that stores every activity. After syncing up with OpManager's central hosted server, the probe flushes its database, so even if technicians lose a session connection, nothing is missed.

At the OpManager's MSP Edition home page, technicians get a brief snapshot of all active alarms for each customer. The alarms have designations that visually depict device and application statuses so that technicians can quickly identify and act on the most severe cases. Like the alarms, OpManager arrives with many types of monitors, each associated with specific activities. Depending on a monitor, technicians can set thresholds or identify keywords inside log files.

To make a physical connection, technicians have to use Remote Desktop, which is based on the open-source RDP so technicians can connect to most operating systems. Currently, OpManager can start services automatically but cannot reboot servers.

The MSP Edition arrives with an integrated Google Map finder so that technicians can quickly find where a problem is taking place. This is a useful feature for small MSPs that need to optimize traveling time between customers. After LPI, AdventNet's MSP solution had the best support for Windows technologies. Surprisingly, AdventNet can monitor Microsoft Active Directory.

NEXT: Nagios

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