ConnectWise RMM review | TechRadar
Smart connection It was established in 1982 as an IT solutions provider, making it one of the most experienced players in the industry today. Over the years, it has continuously introduced and improved its products to help IT professionals around the world.
Recently, its RMM products won the Channel Futures MSP 501 Gala Awards 2024 in the “Preferred Supplier” category. Additionally, it won 25 other awards in 2024 in different categories. This speaks volumes about its reputation, reliability and effectiveness.
ConnectWise RMM provides great value for money for teams of all sizes. from automation Patch management to AI scripting, there’s a lot you can do with ConnectWise. Additionally, its information-rich dashboard combined with a unified UI makes it an easy-to-navigate tool, even if you use multiple ConnectWise products. In this article, we’ll take a deeper dive into ConnectWise and explain what makes it such a popular RMM solution.
ConnectWise: Plans and Pricing
ConnectWise offers three plans: Essential, Pro and Premium. As the name suggests, Essential is the entry-level plan with features like automated operating system and third-party patching, AI scripting, smart monitoring, and multiple third-party integrations. We’ve found this plan to be adequate for the needs of most SMBs and MSPs.
However, if you decide to upgrade to the Pro plan, you will get additional features such as advanced smart monitoring, network monitoringand backup monitoring.
The Premium plan is suitable for cloud and SaaS management as it comes with unlimited ScreenConnect Remote, remote camera sharing and Google workspace and Microsoft 365 SaaS Backup.
However, to find out the exact pricing for each plan, you must contact ConnectWise’s sales team. However, it’s worth noting that most RMM platforms maintain an on-demand pricing structure as they offer customized plans, while ConnectWise does not. These plans are made in advance and have predetermined functions. So keeping on-demand pricing seems a bit odd in this case.
ConnectWise: Features
ConnectWise offers many convenient features that make remote management a breeze. For example, it is one of the few RMM platforms to feature integrated ScreenConnect – its proprietary remote desktop Access management software. The best thing is that you can get the right results from the most basic of plans.
This brings features such as seamless, fast endpoint connectivity, shared toolboxes, and universal compatibility. IT teams can resolve issues remotely through the user’s camera without any additional downloads. However, with other RMMs, you must integrate third-party access software, which does not work as seamlessly as out-of-the-box solutions like ConnectWise.
Speaking of integrations, BrightGauge is another new addition we like. It’s basically a reporting tool that consolidates all your information into one place, giving you access to insightful business intelligence (BI) dashboards. It captures data and converts it into browsable charts, helping you quickly analyze trends and patterns. Like ScreenConnect, BrightGauge is available on the Essential plan.
ConnectWise supports operating systems (Windows and Mac) and third-party patching. You can even automate patching functions using customizable scripts. Additionally, you don’t have to write a script from scratch, thanks to the platform’s AI-generated script feature that does this for you.
ConnectWise also offers dedicated NOC services, essentially taking the workload off your shoulders. This applies to regular patching activities, daily BDR, route management and recovery backups.
This allows your IT team to focus on more critical customer issues, ensuring a better overall customer experience. Not surprisingly, however, this comes at an additional cost and is not included in any of the pre-designed plans mentioned earlier.
ConnectWise: Interfaces and Performance
The main ConnectWise RMM dashboard is clean and displays various widgets. You can find information in the form of charts, and a quick glance is enough to understand the status of your endpoints.
However, ConnectWise’s Asio dashboard gives us an advantage. Unlike other RMMs, the Asio Dashboard combines all of ConnectWise’s product features and more than 20 UIs in one place.
You can get real-time endpoint, patching, and network status from the Unified Monitoring and Management tab. The Resolution tab lets you manage PSA functions, such as assigning and resolving customer tickets. Next, the Centralized Data tab at the bottom combines all data across various products to avoid duplication of functionality and enable hyper-automation of various functions.
The best part is that dashboards are not limited to ConnectWise products – you can also add third-party vendors to extend data to Asio, ensuring only one data combination is shared across all your applications. This eliminates constant back and forth and makes data management seamless and unified.
ConnectWise: Security
ConnectWise puts a lot of effort into building a strong security architecture. It adopts the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) and adheres to the ISO27000 standard focusing on network security, vulnerability and threat management, and incident management.
The platform uses formal change control processes to review, approve and test changes to network equipment, information systems and other system components. ConnectWise also maintains audit logs that contain detailed access history to various systems.
this endpoint Security is also ensured through regular and thorough penetration testing, vulnerability and phishing assessments. Additionally, ConnectWise runs proactive disaster recovery procedures in its cloud environment should any data loss occur during a major disaster.
However, it’s worth mentioning that ConnectWise’s ScreenConnect was hacked in February this year, with malicious actors exploiting two vulnerabilities in its system. Both issues were promptly fixed, and ConnectWise has since strengthened its security infrastructure.
Overall, the platform puts a lot of effort into designing and enforcing security measures to ensure users have a safe experience.
ConnectWise:Supported
The level of customer support you receive from ConnectWise depends on your plan. Here’s a quick look at the support channels available.
| Support channels | basic | standard | high quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Live chat | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Outbound call support | No | Yes | Yes |
| Inbound phone support | No | No | Yes |
Glad to see this email and Live chat Support is available to every user, regardless of their plan. But please note that if you are on the most basic plan, you can only contact the service team between 8am and 5pm on weekdays. For Standard plan users, we offer 24/7 support, while Premium plan users can get help even on holidays.
Additionally, there is a dedicated community forum where you can discuss your queries with platform experts. We’ve also found extensive product documentation on the website to help you with common questions or queries.
ConnectWise: Final Verdict
ConnectWise is a very powerful RMM software that provides functions such as intelligent monitoring, automatic patching and AI scripting. However, its unified Asio dashboard is the most eye-catching and the one that impressed us the most.
Even if you purchase multiple ConnectWise products, the Asio dashboard combines data from all platforms into a single dashboard. This saves you a lot of data duplication and gives teams a complete view of the status of each endpoint.
Next, based on our testing, the entry-level Essentials plan is sufficient for most modern IT teams and MSPs. It has integrated features like ScreenConnect, which allows you to access and troubleshoot endpoints remotely. Additionally, its business intelligence reporting tool, BrightGauge, can instantly pull information-driven reports.
However, you must contact ConnectWise’s sales team to get a quote, even though the site has well-designed preconfigured plans.
ConnectWise: Frequently Asked Questions
How much does ConnectWise cost?
Although ConnectWise doesn’t disclose its pricing, it has three clear plans: Essential, Standard, and Premium. Entry-level plans come with all necessary RMM features, such as remote Windows and Mac monitoring, operating system and third-party patching, and automation.
The Pro plan comes with advanced smart monitoring features and basic network monitoring. Finally, the Premium plan offers unlimited remote access and support as well as Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 SaaS backup.
Is ConnectWise legal?
Founded in 1982, ConnectWise is a trustworthy and legal company. With over 40 years of experience in the IT industry, ConnectWise has grown to become one of the most reputable names in RMM. The more than 25 awards it received in 2024 attest to the quality and reliability of its products.
Additionally, it takes security measures seriously and has detailed vulnerability management and threat mitigation strategies in place. These are based on the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), and the platform is also ISO27000 compliant.
