On Tuesday, 13th February at 11:00am, we sat down with Stephen from SNC Solutions and Chris from AVAST Business to discuss why the adoption of managed security services is on the rise. Chris also touched on why he chose the Managed Workplace RMM solution from AVAST Business.

SNC Solutions is a service provider that deals a lot with manufacturing who currently offer cloud solutions including Barracuda and Microsoft CSP, having used AVAST Managed Workplace for over 2 years.

(S – Stephen, Managing Director from SNC Solutions, C – Chris, SMB Sales Engineer from Avast Business, B – Beatrice, Cloud Marketing Specialist from Synnex Australia)

Q: What are the roadblocks that prevent your clients from moving to the cloud?

A[S]: They worry about security, so it’s important that they have trust in us. We have had some clients that happily moved to Office365 as long as they are dealing through us.

It is also important to take into account their data speeds to make sure that it’s suitable for them to move to the cloud.

Q: What were the problems going on in your business before you started using Managed Workplace?

A[S]: We didn’t have a good overview of our clients’ networks, nor were we up to date with issues, such as low disk space, memory alerts, even security.

The main one was patching – being able to track all the patching that it was being updated. Another big issue for us was reporting, we didn’t get the reports to our clients frequent enough.

B: Those are the common pain points that a lot of partners are having, the lack of time to build a new service to differentiate themselves.

This is where AVAST Business can help MSP’s to sell, market, and deliver managed security services to SMB clients, which will help you provide a differentiated service offering – quickly and easily.

“Another thing I love is the reporting feature – being able to generate weekly and monthly reports for our clients.”

A: It was very simple to implement and even simple to use. Being able to monitor and keep up to date with everything and since it is cloud-based, my staff can access it from anywhere, even from home – they can log onto our clients’ computers and manage remotely.

Another thing I love is the reporting feature – being able to generate weekly and monthly reports for our clients.

We use the security dashboard a lot, it gives us a score on all our networks out of 100% on how secure they are, based on if they have anti-virus, user security and passwords, patching.

We can then send a report out monthly so that our clients know we are doing everything we can to keep them secure.

Q: What are your most-loved features that AVAST Managed Workplace offers?

B: SMBs are now a primary target for cybercriminals and most of them really rely on MSPs like SNC Solutions to help them. Adding managed security services to your portfolio now becomes essential.

With the security tools built into Managed Workplace, you can quickly identify vulnerabilities across endpoints and networks, generate detailed reports to show your customers where their weak points are, and explain how issues can be resolved with your security service.

S: We also use their Network Operations Center (NOC). Their technicians to do all our patching and it’s all done on a Sunday when we’re all still in bed. They do a lot of work on our servers from maintaining it to conducting restore tests every couple of weeks.

For any new alerts, we can have the NOC team handle that 24/7. It helps in reducing our cost and increases the security and benefits for our clients.

B: The goal and opportunity is to take a proactive, systematic approach to assessing, securing and monitoring your clients’ day-to-day security needs, while at the same time building a relationship with them.

“For any new alerts, we can have the NOC team handle that 24×7. It helps reducing our cost and increases the security and benefits for our clients.”

Q: Chris, can you please elaborate on the reports feature that is available on Managed Workplace?

A[C]: Most of the work you do gets unseen and reporting plays a key part of building that relationship and becoming a trusted advisor.

With Managed Workplace, it comes with over 280 reports – they are fully customisable; everything from visibility to site security, antivirus, internet security and data security.

A[S]: We have weekly backup reports that goe out to all our clients – we get a copy and they get a copy – and that’s just so the client knows it’s all happening in the background and it’s important to have that constant communication and constant contact with the client.

C: It also gives the client buy-in to the service and makes them feel like they are a part of the solution and they are working with their provider.

“We were using a different system at the time but we found that whilst it started off cheap, it started to add up in price the more we wanted to do with it.”

Q: What convinced you to try the Managed Workplace?

A: We were using a different system at the time, but we found that whilst it started off cheap, it started to add up in price the more we wanted to do with it.

Things like reporting, remote access, managing backups even, it wasn’t achieving what we wanted, and we had that for about a year. So, we ended up having a look at the AVAST Managed Workplace.

Q: Also, being able to invest in a product and know that you can grow with it?

A[S]: Yes, that has been a key. My staff learns it very easily and we use it every day, and that’s even as we rolled into NOC services, our customers use it as well.

Quite often clients want remote access rather than anything with LogMeIn, or screen connection and different software on the networks, we have set them up to remote through our system with the clients and the vendors. So, we do it all on one system.

Q: What would you tell other service providers who were thinking of deploying Managed Workplace?

A[S]: To be honest, we have been on it for 2-3 years and it is a very good and flexible system. Like I said earlier, we find it very easy to use.

Probably the biggest thing to know is that we got fantastic support from the local agents and Synnex. The emails are responsive, our NOC is responsive and that was a big part of what we needed.

Q: What does success look like for you in 2018?

A: It looks quite good. Last year we were very busy and this year it is continuing.

We are expanding our services, we are doing MRP now for manufacturing and continuing to integrate our IT services into our manufacturing areas. For us, it is looking quite positive and there is a lot of work out there.

Q: What is the hardest part of achieving that success for you?

A: Not growing too quickly and ensuring that we look after our clients and staff correctly. To ensure that as we grow, we are still providing top service to our clients as well as being up to date and being ahead of the game.

Q: What are your thoughts on what MSP’s need to focus on to ensure success in 2018?

A[S]: Again, customer relationships and security. Listening to the clients. Not everyone wants the cloud, so whether it’s on-premise or cloud, usually we find that it’s a mixture.

Also, being right up to date with security and the way we are looking after those clients, keeping them informed and making sure we are also up to date.

B: As Stephen said, it is about looking at the services you provide and building that customer relationship. Once you strengthen those relationships, it makes it harder.

C: Also changing mindsets – I do find in my experience that changing people’s mindsets about being proactive and going into the cloud and looking into different solutions is the key.

There are a lot of opportunities out there, just don’t be afraid to take those chances.

“Customer relationships and security. Listening to the clients, whether its on-premise or cloud, usually we find that it’s a mixture.”

If you have any questions, leave a comment below or please contact the Synnex Cloud team at: team@synnexcloud.com.au