ConnectWise Automate, formerly LabTech, is a remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform. It provides powerful automation to discover and manage devices, monitor for problems, and scripts repetitive action.
$700
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
DameWare Remote Support from Austin IT company SolarWinds is remote administration software for the remote control of desktops, laptops, and servers behind or outside the firewall, allowing registry editing, restart services, logging activity, account and password management, and more. The mobile app also provides access from a phone or tablet.
DameWare Remote Support licensing is per technician, the number of end-user remote machines is irrelevant; one technician may receive a license for…
$276
per technician, unlimited end users
Pricing
ConnectWise Automate
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
Editions & Modules
Agents
$1.00-$6.00
per month/per agent
Implementation Fee
$700
Dameware Mini Remote Control
$276
per technician, unlimited end users
Dameware Remote Support
$388
per technician, unlimited end-users
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ConnectWise Automate
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
Free Trial
Yes
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
No
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
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DameWare Remote Support and Mini Remote Control are licensed based on the number of technician users that use the software for remote administration. There are no limits or restrictions for the number of end-users supported or the number of remote endpoints/computers supported. As you buy higher counts of licenses, the per-seat pricing goes down giving you a reduced total price.
I recommend it to all IT colleagues; regardless of the size of the PCs with which you work most of the time, the application allows connection stability between computers that make it possible to continue working or taking care of the infrastructure from afar.
I feel like this is a very robust solution that I would recommend to anyone who relies heavily on remote support. Most of the colleagues I work with already use SolarWinds products to one extent or the other. I feel the price for the solution is very fair and a good value for the product.
They have conflicting scheduling paradigms. When scheduling patching for clients, the 1st Friday is interpreted as the very first Friday of the month, even if this is the 1st of the month. For scripting, the 1st Friday of the month is interpreted as the 1st Friday of the 1st FULL WEEK of the month. This makes no sense to have two different interpretations, and makes it unreliable to schedule recurring scripts to fall when recurring maintenance does. The scripts need to be done manually because of this.
There is no way to dictate reboot orders for patch policies. This tied directly in with my first point. We have some clients that require reboot orders. This is not possible without having different patch policies for each server and specifying a time this way. But, there aren't small enough increments of time to make this reliable, plus patching duration might vary. Excluding reboots with patching and scheduling reboot scripts fixes this. However, this can't be done once on a recurring schedule due to the different scheduling paradigms already discussed. We have to schedule these manually each month.
It would be nice if the installed agent would be able to check in with the server so that I can connect to laptops, etc that have the agent pre-installed for when they are off network.
DameWare could do better with the mobile app. I cannot connect in from the outside with the mobile app to provide quick support if needed. This kind of defeats the purpose of a mobile app. If I am on the network, I probably have access to my workstation.
The primary reason for this rating is that ConnectWise Automate is currently so integral to our operations that moving away would involve more man hours than we would realistically have to invest. However, ConnectWise Automate is also completely capable of meeting all of our business needs and customizable to the point where if something is not meeting those needs out of the box, it can be modified to do what we want. From only installing software on machines if a different software package exists, to push a new version of that software is available, to check if credentials for user/machine have been updated to our new standards and then updating them if they have not, ConnectWise Automate is capable of doing everything we ask of it.
This application is one of my most used tools when it comes to supporting end users and the network as well. I don't have to run all over the place to get things done when I can access multiple computers on the network at the same time to accomplish multiple tasks in a minimal amount of time.
Basic use of the product is fairly easy. Information about the machines you manage can be found in customizable dashboards, which can be unique for each user, and, therefore, properly suited to the users' needs/job function. This is not a 10 because some of the interfaces are very clunky (Patch Management), and some features are not intuitive and not well documented (reporting). Scripting and Patch Management have a fairly steep learning curve (For structure in patch management and syntax in scripting), but once learned, they work well.
Because it has enhanced my ability to trouble shoot more issues during the day. Instead of having to go to each machine and spend time at the machine, I can remote in from my desktop and assist the person 90 per cent of the time. I also use it from home to remote in which saves me the time from having to return back to the workplace.
It used to be great, but then they broke reporting, speed and responsiveness with version 11 and the new Patch Manager. It's really bad and their support people are way behind on fixing so many bugs. They have really gone downhill. If they don't get it together soon, we'll start looking around.
ConnectWise Automate lets you manage more endpoints, with enhanced productivity and improved service, all without increasing expenses. It can manage patches and updates across thousands of computers. We also use it for customized monitoring and alerting on workstations and servers. Monitoring is really robust and granular. It does a great job of gathering a TON of data about the network, and that data is searchable. There are a bunch of different reports built in. Integrates with Manage, Control, and other applications. It does a ton of stuff out of the box, and has endless customization options.
I use a Samsung mobile device; DameWare Mobile was working and then after an Android update it started crashing. I reported the issue to DameWare and worked with the technicians and developers to gather data for them to correct the issue. They quickly published a beta release for me to test (which corrected the crashes) and then published an update to the Google Play Store.
The Online training has been re-done and needs a lot more work. When you look at training in different roles, it shows a lot of the same topics but no explanation to what is different about them. Several times that topics are the exact same, but they make you re-take the same information for a different topic, instead of marking that you have already completed that portion of training.
Start small and learn the in's and out's before making policies and rolling things out company wide. Ask the questions of why if you don't agree with something or your company does things a different way. Usually they are done a certain way for a reason. Start simple with roll out and slowly enable or add on the functionality that is needed.
It helps greatly if you know someone already using DameWare Remote Support. I was fortunate as my tech support guys were using it at their hospital and assisted me through the purchase, download and implementation of remote support. As well as, knowing how many licenses to purchase at the time. You have to make sure that anyone assisting in IT can have access to the program with their own license.
I believe the monitoring and alerts in Continuum command is better, but [ConnectWise Automate (formerly LabTech)] does have stronger scripting, and perhaps a better interface. N-Central is inferior on all fronts to both. I did not make the purchasing decision. I would myself likely pick Continuum if I had to make a on the spot choice.
We previously utilized LogMeIn. They increased the pricing of their solution which made us reconsider it. I inherited LogMeIn. I am not a big fan of hosted solutions for some vital IT processes. There was convenience in LogMeIn, but there were also risks about the solution that I was never completely comfortable with. I had utilized DameWare at a previous company, so I knew what I was getting with it. It was an easy decision for me to make. DameWare is an exceptional product.
We found we were able to provide good monitoring of our customers sites which was an objective. However, that came at a significant time investment that never seemed to be finished.
We were able to negotiate a price that worked for us for an up-front purchase which was nice.
We found the pricing to be very competitive.
Bottom line for us was despite the pros of the product, we found other RMM solutions to be a better overall "value" due to not having to dedicate technicians to maintaining the product.
DameWare has allowed us to maintain our non-traditional approach to IT support. It allows our administrators to work from anywhere and has extended their reach to clients domestic and abroad.
Return on investment was realized as soon as we purchased the licenses. We don't have to maintain a large office space or overhead costs due to the flexibility it allows our administrators.
First call resolution has increased drastically since implementing DameWare company-wide. The user no longer has to wait to reproduce an error. We can screen share and view it as it happens and mitigate the issues.
