Action1 vs. BeyondTrust Network Security Scanner, powered by Retina (Legacy)

Any place that has multiple computers that need to be managed can benefit from using Action1. Currently that means Windows PC's and servers, Linux PC's and servers and devices running MacOS can be managed by Action1 and benefit from their patch management and software management tools. Mobile OS need not apply at this point.

Retina Network Security Scanner is well suited for any environment and infrastructure that would like to expose security deficiencies across their network as well as visualize vulnerabilities as they pertain to assets in their environment. I cannot think of any scenario that would not be appropriate for this product. Since the product carries over to pretty much all assets in your environment, I don't know off the top of y head what it wouldn't be appropriate for.

Incentivized

• Automations. We utilize scheduled tasks that we define within Action1 to provide additional controls for reporting, alerting, and for endpoint management. It is a unique way to expand functionality by use of centrally managed scripting events.
• Able to create and view reports showing detailed information of all types of endpoints within my enterprise. We can also create custom reports from a large set of available data points and can also create custom alerts based on these data points.
• Vulnerability detection and resolution management. Able to detect vulnerabilities and apply controls or actions based on the vulnerabilities found. Along with the Security patching, this adds and extra layer of visibility and control to secure my environment.
• Custom application deployments. Action1 provides a large set of third part applications you can deploy and patch updates for, but if you have custom applications built in-house or just an application that is not available in the software repository that Action1 has, you can build your own custom deployments easily.

Incentivized

• Besides the fact that Retina NSS performs the fundamental task of scanning all my network devices, one of the main strengths is the speed at which it scans. Time is money and I know people tent to wear that cliché out a bit, but when you are as small as we are of a team, every minute counts.
• We have utilized other network security scanners over the past 21 years and Retina NSS seems to have the smallest footprint with no evidence of scanning degrading performance of the devices scanned.
• They seem to update their database frequently enough that we notice a correlation of threats to discovery.
• There is a small learning curve, but overall, a seasoned IT professional can quickly get up and running in a few hours and get usable results quickly. This falls back on the speed at which Retina NSS scans. My previous network security scanners would sometimes take hours to complete a full vulnerability scan of between 250 - 400 devices, now it only takes a fraction of that time.

Incentivized

• Remote Access could use added functionality
• The deployment screens for update deferrals can be hard to understand at first and easy to skip since it carries some default info when you create a new automation rather than a more conspicuous prompt to update.

Incentivized

• I do not have any obvious cons to report at this time.

Incentivized

it is an excellent product

Incentivized

Easy to use. Straight Forward. No hidden settings or stuff that's buried several layers deep and you have to watch a video before you do it. Point. Click. It works and I can feel assured that my CVE issues are being handled.

Incentivized

I never contacted support services

Incentivized

very easy to start using it.

Incentivized

Freshdesk and Freshservice are great products with Freshservice being the better of the two. However, in comparison to Action1 with regards to our budget, it was an easy choice to select Action1. I selected Action1 not only because of the "free" price tag, but also because I didn't need a full fledged ITSM product. Action1 is cheaper, easier to setup and use, and is cloud based as well so you don't need to install it on a server to utilize.

Incentivized

Retina Network Security Scanner is the only product we have used in our enterprise. I have used a product in the past called GFI LanGuard Network Security Scanner and while it did perform the functions of vulnerability testing, etc...it just wasn't nearly as refined as Retina NSS. It was slow and was not as lightweight as Retina as far as end-user detection.

Incentivized

• It's pretty hard to negotiate investments / costs in IT when you have a small team in a mid size company. Everything is seen as useless cost and not investment. As of now, I'm pretty sure that if we ever cross the free-tier, I'll have no problems with investment approval since the tool is proven and useful on a daily basis. I believe this was the single most importat decision that Action1 took in their sales model.

Incentivized

• The product is extremely easy to deploy, extremely positive.
• If you take full advantage of this product as I did, you will maximize your ROI quickly as we did.
• We were able to visualize our vulnerabilities efficiently and effectively and maintain scheduled scans that allowed us to maintain a continuous improvement atmosphere while securing our investments.
• The ability provide reporting allows our IT department to prioritize issues and remediate as required without chasing down low risk issues over high risk issues that need immediate attention.

Incentivized