What is RMM and PSA for MSPsDecember 14, 2017

The IT industry has a lot of software to offer when it comes to network and systems management. With all the products at your disposal, you might be confused when it comes to choosing the right platform for your MSP business.

When you were planning out your MSP business, you might had browsed through these two terms – PSA and RMM. Professional Services Automation (PSA) and Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) are connected to any small or large MSP businesses. It's like hiring your first employee that you need to trust entirely. So what are PSA and RMM? And which one do you need? Let's look closely to these two softwares:

Professional Services Automation

One of the foundations of any MSP business is the Professional Services Automation (PSA) tool. What does it do? It keeps track of your customer information, keeps track of your work, and creates invoices from that work. If you're very business-oriented, this is an important tool for you.

RMM Defined

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM), also known as remote monitoring software, is a collection of IT tools or softwares that help Managed Service Providers (MSPs) remotely monitor client networks, computers, and endpoints. This kind of remote, proactive management is also sometimes referred to as remote IT management.

Will You Choose PSA or RMM?

If you only have time to learn one then a little contemplation is in order. It should be a business decision based on where you want invest your time. Go with the PSA if your issue is cashflow because you don't have an organized system for capturing and invoicing. If you are having a problem servicing all your clients because you don’t have remote tools, go with the RMM.

If you need more help, here are some key things to consider for yourself:

• Check your cash flow and identify any issues that you are involved with it.
• Losing time and materials because of invoice documentation problems.
• Missing sales opportunities due to poor tracking records.
• There are recurring revenue items not being billed properly because contracts do not auto-update when new devices or services are added.
• When there are too many problems that emerged because you weren't notified of those issues, an RMM tool can be an answer to that.
• Doing boring, repetitive tasks that can be done through automation instead.
• Spending too much time securing the security options you placed stay updated and compliant by manually checking them.