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What Is Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)?
As more and more people work from home, business owners need to monitor and manage their company’s IT network from a distance. The right RMM tools can help.
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WFH Research’s Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, and an additional 41 percent work from home between one and four days per week. These remote working arrangements are why it’s important for business owners to have the right tools to manage their employees and monitor their IT networks’ security from afar.
That’s where remote monitoring and management (RMM) comes in. RMM is a type of IT software that allows managed service providers (MSPs) to monitor a workforce’s devices, endpoints and networks remotely. For any business owner who oversees a remote workforce, these features are vital to ensuring employees’ and customers’ data security. Business.com spoke with technology professionals and remote work experts to learn how RMM works and how it can benefit companies with distributed teams.
How does RMM work?
An RMM system can include one or more types of software that help MSPs identify, report and fix any problems within a company’s IT network. The software is installed on any device or application the business uses, including laptops, desktop computers, tablets and mobile devices. Because these devices aren’t limited to those within a single physical workspace, RMM goes hand in hand with high-quality remote PC access software.
Typically, the RMM solution identifies the problem, and then the MSPs manually fix the issue. This system can also help businesses maintain their networks by updating their operating systems, adding antivirus definitions, and keeping hard disks clean and efficient.
“RMM systems are not reactive monitoring but predictive, preventing disruptions before they happen,” John Russo, vice president of healthcare technology solutions at OSP Labs, told us. “In my experience, what makes these systems powerful is that they can analyze continuous data streams and find problems before they become critical.”
Samuele Gantner, chief product officer of digital employee experience at Nexthink, explained that “investing in good RMM allows businesses to go beyond just ‘see, diagnose and fix’ by making smarter decisions about how to manage their entire IT infrastructure and where best to invest in digital transformation initiatives.”
As a result, your business is likely to see more than just security benefits. “By identifying the specific employees that are being most impacted by poor digital experiences and the main blockers they are facing, IT leaders can ensure that any projects to remove digital friction are addressing the right problems and targeted at the right people, providing the biggest productivity ROI possible,” he said.
RMM solutions monitor a network’s entire remote system, thereby helping MSPs maintain all of the devices used within a business’s system regardless of whether workers are in or out of the office. RMM platforms can collect and organize usage data, generate reports for MSPs and automate any system maintenance. The specific features included depend on which software is used and how the business customizes its features.
What are the benefits of remote monitoring and management?
RMM programs can save your business time and money by automating certain processes and monitoring your network’s devices and applications remotely. Below, we highlight some of the specific advantages of using a remote monitoring and management solution.
Proactive real-time monitoring and alerts management
One of the biggest wastes of time is when an employee has a technical issue and needs to wait for your IT team to identify and fix it. This can cost your team hours of productivity, especially if the issue affects multiple employees at once. The best way to solve a technical problem and the work loss it causes is to prevent it from happening in the first place.
RMM software employs real-time monitoring technology across all of your distributed team’s applications to identify potential problems. If any warnings or issues come up, the program will alert the MSP, which can monitor the issue more closely or take remote control of the device and fix the problem before it becomes a major incident.
>> Read more: Why You Should Tell Your Employees You’re Monitoring Them
Time-saving IT automation and scripting
Many users delay maintenance of their devices or software because it’s too time-consuming. They’ll mute an update notification until the next day, only to keep postponing the update indefinitely. RMM systems monitor all of your company-owned devices and can automate tedious update tasks. This frees up your IT experts to work on issues that require their expertise and allows your employees to maintain their devices without cutting into their work time.
These are some of the tasks an RMM program can automate:
- Creating system restore points
- Deleting temporary files
- Deleting internet history
- Rebooting a device
- Shutting down a device
- Running a disk check
- Running scripts
Unintrusive patch management
When an application or software program needs to be fixed or has an update, the vendor will send out a patch so the user can update it. Patch management functions in RMM tools allow your system to download patches automatically and update the program while the user is offline. RMM software that automates and monitors these patch updates gives your IT team more time to handle pressing tasks. Your MSP can monitor the implementation of these patches and see how they’re running on your system at any time.
Valuable reporting and analytics
RMM systems monitor the tasks mentioned earlier, collect the data from those processes and turn it into an analytical report. Your IT team and managers can easily read these reports and use them to monitor projects and make larger decisions for the organization. These reports can be generated automatically through a recurring schedule or on demand.
Here are some of the report types that RMM software can generate:
- System health
- Device health
- User health
- System inventory audit
- Licensing
- Software inventory
- Patch feedback
Robust cyberthreat detection and prevention
Russo noted that RMM solutions improve a business’s cybersecurity through artificial-intelligence-driven insights and real-time monitoring.
“[RMMs] continuously monitor system behaviors and instantly highlight anomalies that could signal potential security threats like unauthorized access, malware infiltration or insider risks,” Russo said. “RMM solutions do a vital task here by detecting these indicators before they spin out of control and preventing them from a data breach.
“This proactive approach is beneficial and essential for industries that handle sensitive patient information,” Russo added. “In milliseconds, the ability to identify and neutralize threats can mean the difference between maintaining patient confidentiality and facing potentially catastrophic regulatory and reputational consequences.”
Scalable technology solutions
One of the biggest challenges with business technologies is that, sometimes, the best solution for your current situation will become less effective as your company grows. Russo said you won’t face this problem with RMM.
“RMM solutions are exceptionally scalable, allowing businesses to grow their technological footprint without the disruptive, expensive overhaul,” he said. “These tools provide a flexible, adaptive framework as organizations bring new devices online, add users and implement complex software ecosystems. Contemporary RMM platforms are designed intelligently to enable smooth, incremental growth, from endpoint management to sophisticated software integrations.”
Increased energy efficiency
With some RMM platforms, your company can see which devices are consuming the most energy. Gantner said this feature benefits businesses’ electric bills, sustainability efforts and device performance.
“Improving RMM allows businesses to obtain comprehensive insights into the sustainability of their digital workplace at any level of detail, providing the essential data required to report on CO2 emissions and [establishing] a baseline for continuous improvement,” Gantner said. “By pinpointing energy-intensive devices, businesses can implement proactive measures to minimize their environmental impact and integrate sustainability criteria into hardware refresh and procurement decisions.
“Additionally,” Gantner continued, “by swiftly identifying inefficient, abnormal and unnecessary energy consumption, IT leaders can take decisive action on energy-intensive devices or processes, ensuring that devices are optimized for maximum energy efficiency.”
What features are included in RMM software?
RMM software can include many features. Here are the most beneficial functions to look for when you shop for these tools.
Remote access
Because more of today’s workforce is working from home, MSPs must be able to maintain their networks remotely. A good RMM solution allows MSPs to access a user’s device from afar to troubleshoot and fix issues. The RMM program allows MSPs to see CPU, process, memory and other errors on the remote device. This makes it easier to pinpoint problems and reduces resolution times.
Patch management
One of MSPs’ main responsibilities is maintaining an organization’s business security. The best way to secure an IT system is to make sure all of its patches are up to date. RMM programs can report and install any patches from operating system updates and third-party software. They can also report on the quality of the patch and how the devices and applications are responding to it. The RMM tool can document these findings in a report or send the information directly to your MSP if there’s an urgent issue.
Alerts
MSPs need to know of any issues or updates to the IT system to maintain and quickly fix any problems. RMM platforms can send timely alerts to your support team. You can set these alerts to go out as frequently and to as many devices as you’d like. The RMM tool will even alert MSPs to an issue before the business notices and calls them.
Reporting
One of the best RMM features for the long-term health and growth of a business is the reports. These reports can verify that your system is healthy and compile data to help you make future decisions. Report types might include an inventory of your devices and software, a view into the health of your systems, and analytics on your products and customers.
Gantner said that, alongside reporting, a quality RMM solution should enable data-driven competitor comparisons.
“By having comprehensive benchmarking [against competitors] across various dimensions — such as locations, teams, hardware, configurations, connectivity and applications — businesses can draw much deeper and richer insights about how their digital workplace is performing,” Gantner said. “Not only does this allow for easier adoption of best practices, but it also unlocks essential perspectives on what competitors are achieving and how to learn from their success.”
Orchestration engine
IT systems are complex; they must fuel everyday operations and handle security threat blockage in equal measure. It’s a lot to monitor, but with an orchestration engine, your IT team can manage it more efficiently and effectively.
“Good RMM should provide a strong real-time, low-code orchestration engine to continuously optimize complex workflows, monitor progress, handle exceptions and ensure that all tasks are completed as intended,” Gantner said. “This allows IT teams to repurpose hours previously spent on recurring issues toward optimizing resources, saving costs, and improving IT and employee productivity.”
Advanced compliance reporting
Data usage requires adherence to legal regulations. Many of these laws, including the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) credit card processing laws, apply to all businesses, and others are relevant to certain industries, like HIPAA laws in healthcare. Russo said RMM software’s advanced compliance functions ensure that businesses adhere to these regulations.
“Advanced compliance reporting is a feature that RMM software can utilize to track, log and audit system activity to ensure compliance with [PCI-DSS and HIPAA],” Russo said. “This feature eliminates the risk of costly penalties, and audits are made easier by producing detailed, preformatted compliance reports.”
>> See our top security tips for protecting your business information
Self-healing capabilities
Traditionally, MSPs manually fix the problems that RMM identifies. Newly emerging self-healing technology within RMM platforms is transforming this picture.
Self-healing technology is one of the most innovative features in RMM systems, Russo said. It “frees the software to run predefined fixes automatically without human intervention,” he explained. These fixes include restarting services, reallocating memory and resetting configurations. “It minimizes downtime, freeing IT resources to focus on other higher-priority tasks,” Russo said.
Integrations with IT service management platforms
Self-healing technology isn’t the only way RMM programs automate IT tasks. With IT service management (ITSM) integrations, ticketing and resolution workflows become much more efficient.
An ITSM integration “facilitates the logging and management of RMM incidents seamlessly with a better response time and team coordination,” Russo said. “This integration can be a game changer for any organization balancing remote and on-site IT operations.”
What should you consider when looking for remote monitoring and management software?
The right RMM software can reduce IT problems, make your employees more productive, and ultimately save your business time and money. Every RMM solution is different, so there are various elements to investigate when you’re choosing one for your business. As you research and compare RMM solutions, consider the following factors:
- Cost
- Number of users supported
- Security features
- Customization
- Remote access to files and devices
- VPN implementation
- Compatibility with other software
In addition, “When looking for a remote management solution, employers with distributed teams should look for solutions that are simple to use,” said Sahin Boydas, founder of RemoteTeam.com. “Some tools are just [too] complex, and employers also need to remember that the fact that they have an IT department doesn’t mean they can navigate any computer system.”
You also might want to get your team’s input when you look for a remote management program. “Employers should also go with tools that can easily adapt to their distributed teams’ needs,” Boydas said. “The work environment is changing every now and then, and your company’s needs will also keep changing. A solution that can accommodate your team’s workflow and changing environment is the best option when looking for a remote desktop management tool.”
Management and monitoring from afar
If your team is hybrid or remote, management and monitoring entail more than just ensuring your employees have everything they need to be productive. It also involves securing their work devices and your IT network, both of which can be exposed to more data breaches and other threats when employees are working out of the office. RMM software makes it easy to address this need. Work with your IT team to choose the right platform, and your remote setup and employees will be efficient and secure.
Max Freedman and Lauren Kubiak contributed to this article. Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.
