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ConnectWise PSA

ConnectWise PSA
Formerly ConnectWise Manage

Overview

What is ConnectWise PSA?

ConnectWise PSA (formerly Manage) is a business management platform for companies that sell, service, and support technology. The platform is cloud-based and integrates automation, help desk and customer service, sales, marketing, project management, and business analytics. It is the hub…

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

ConnectWise is a versatile platform that has proven to be indispensable for businesses across various industries. Users have found …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 13 features
  • Organize and prioritize service tickets (82)
    5.0
    50%
  • Ticket response (81)
    4.8
    48%
  • Customer portal (74)
    4.2
    42%
  • Ticket creation and submission (82)
    3.8
    38%

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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Subscription

$35.00

On Premise
Per Tech Per Month

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://info.connectwise.com/manage/bof…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

Catalyst ConnectWise Manage Integration

YouTube
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Features

Incident and problem management

Streamlining ticketing and service restoration processes

4.4
Avg 7.9

Self Help Community

Features that allow customers to self-service for support issues.

4
Avg 7.7

Multi-Channel Help

Features related to providing customer service and support via different communication channels. Communications are organized by ticket/customer/channel for the convenience of agents.

4.5
Avg 7.7
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Product Details

What is ConnectWise PSA?

ConnectWise PSA (formerly Manage) is presented as a business management platform for companies that sell, service, and support technology. According to the vendor, the product supports 110,000 users and helps them achieve greater accountability, operational efficiency, and profitability. The platform is cloud-based and integrates business-process automation, help desk and customer service, sales, marketing, project management, and business analytics in order to streamline a company's operations.

ConnectWise PSA is the hub of the ConnectWise suite, a set of solutions for technology solution providers that aims to give an end-to-end view and total control over their business.

ConnectWise also gives its users access to a network of ideas, experts, and solutions. ConnectWise has been in business for more than 15 years.

ConnectWise PSA Features

Incident and problem management Features

  • Supported: Organize and prioritize service tickets
  • Supported: Expert directory
  • Supported: Subscription-based notifications
  • Supported: ITSM collaboration and documentation
  • Supported: Ticket creation and submission
  • Supported: Ticket response
  • Supported: Automated responses
  • Supported: Attachments/Screencasts
  • Supported: SLA management

Self Help Community Features

  • Supported: Forums
  • Supported: External knowledge base
  • Supported: Internal knowledge base
  • Supported: Q and A
  • Supported: Surveys/polls

Multi-Channel Help Features

  • Supported: Customer portal
  • Supported: Live help chat
  • Supported: Phone support
  • Supported: IVR
  • Supported: Call scripting
  • Supported: Social integration
  • Supported: Email support
  • Supported: Help Desk CRM integration

ConnectWise PSA Screenshots

Screenshot of Service Ticket ExampleScreenshot of Ticket TemplateScreenshot of Work Plan TemplateScreenshot of Calendar TimeScreenshot of Meeting InvitesScreenshot of My CalendarScreenshot of Sales Overview

ConnectWise PSA Videos

ConnectWise PSA Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsWindows, Mac
Mobile ApplicationApple iOS, Android
Supported CountriesUnited States, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom
Supported LanguagesEnglish

Frequently Asked Questions

ConnectWise PSA (formerly Manage) is a business management platform for companies that sell, service, and support technology. The platform is cloud-based and integrates automation, help desk and customer service, sales, marketing, project management, and business analytics. It is the hub of the ConnectWise suite.

Datto Autotask PSA, Salesforce Sales Cloud, and Rev.io PSA are common alternatives for ConnectWise PSA.

Reviewers rate Subscription-based notifications highest, with a score of 5.6.

The most common users of ConnectWise PSA are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).

ConnectWise PSA Customer Size Distribution

Consumers0%
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)80%
Mid-Size Companies (51-500 employees)20%
Enterprises (more than 500 employees)0%
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(373)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

ConnectWise is a versatile platform that has proven to be indispensable for businesses across various industries. Users have found ConnectWise to be a valuable tool for managing projects, service tickets, and sales leads. The software allows organizations to centrally manage customers, assets, and service tickets, making it easier to track and prioritize tasks.

ConnectWise plays an integral role in streamlining operations and enhancing customer support for managed technology services providers. It facilitates communication with both existing clients and prospects, allowing sales teams to effectively manage relationships and monitor project progress. ConnectWise's seamless integration with other software tools further enhances its functionality, making it the central hub for all information.

Furthermore, users appreciate how ConnectWise helps with accounting and finance tasks by requiring timely entry of time and expenses. It assists with project/service billing, sales projection, budgeting, invoicing, and reporting, providing users with a comprehensive solution for financial management. ConnectWise also offers features like scheduling, time entry, ticket tracking, and workflow automation, enabling organizations to organize workflow efficiently, capture lost time, increase revenue, and maintain historical information.

ConnectWise University comes highly recommended as it provides users with a thorough understanding of the software's capabilities. Whether used for CRM, sales management, help desk support, marketing, or inventory management, ConnectWise proves to be a valuable business management system that caters to diverse needs. With its ability to integrate with other products and offer web access and smartphone versions, ConnectWise ensures accessibility and convenience for users on-the-go.

Overall, ConnectWise manages to address the essential requirements of organizations by providing a robust platform for managing clients, projects, finances, and workflows. It has become an integral part of many businesses' day-to-day operations while contributing to enhanced productivity and improved customer service experiences.

User-Friendly Interface: Users have consistently praised ConnectWise Manage for its user-friendly interface, with many stating that it is easy to navigate and perform tasks quickly. The intuitive design enhances productivity and ensures a positive user experience.

Integrated Sales and Equipment Tracking: The platform's integrated sales and equipment tracking feature has been highly regarded by users. It allows for seamless tracking of sales activities and equipment, streamlining the overall sales process. This functionality has received positive feedback from multiple reviewers.

Accountability Loops and Service Ticket Management: ConnectWise Manage is recognized for its ability to create accountability loops both internally and with customers. This feature ensures that all tasks and responsibilities are tracked and completed, promoting efficient collaboration and customer satisfaction. Additionally, users value the service ticket management feature as it helps manage both reactive and proactive tickets, ensuring timely resolution and proactive maintenance. Multiple reviewers have highlighted the importance of these features in their positive reviews.

Outdated and Clunky User Interface: Many users have expressed difficulty with the ConnectWise user interface, stating that it is outdated, clunky, and non-intuitive compared to other CRM systems. They hope for an upgrade to improve the overall experience.

Challenging Reporting Functionality: Users have found ad-hoc reporting and reporting on multiple projects to be challenging. They have also mentioned limitations in the reporting functionality, such as requiring manual exporting of information to gain useful insights.

Lack of Customization Options: Users have expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of customization options for fields, reporting, and views in ConnectWise. They feel restricted by the static nature of the platform and would like more flexibility in tailoring it to their specific needs.

Based on user reviews, ConnectWise Manage users commonly recommend the following:

  1. Check integration capabilities: It is important to verify if the software integrates with other tools before making a purchase. This ensures smooth workflows and efficient operations.

  2. Allocate ample time for configuration: Users advise setting aside plenty of time for product configuration. This allows for optimal customization of the software's functionalities to meet specific business needs.

  3. Seek external support and training: Due to some users' experiences of limited support from ConnectWise Manage, they suggest taking advantage of the courses and support offered by ConnectWise Manage or considering third-party implementation services for successful implementation and ongoing usage.

These recommendations emphasize the significance of integration capabilities, careful configuration, and external support in effectively utilizing ConnectWise Manage.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(76-100 of 113)
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Score 4 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use ConnectWise as our Sales CRM. It hosts our customer, company, sales activity and sales opportunity data. We are a technology service provider and also use it for our engineering tickets, which track billable engineered hours that are then billed to our customers. We also use the platforms to view, track and complete request tickets we receive from customers.
  • Ticket tracking
  • Opening and closing tickets
  • Integration
  • Reporting capabilities
  • Field and reporting customization
  • Custom views
  • Filtering options
  • Visibility
  • Very static platform
  • Great for tracking tickets and billable hours, needs much improvement on Sales CRM capabilities
ConnectWise is great for our ticket tracking. It is a wonder service for managed services providers (or for companies that track any kind of request tickets and billable customer hours).

The platform needs a great deal of work when it comes to reporting, customization and the sales CRM data. It is very static and we have had to outsource all of our reporting due to the ConnectWise inability to provide reporting we need. Custom fields are hard to integrate and our sales reps lack the visibility and ease of navigation they need in their data.
February 14, 2017

ConnectWise Review

Jewitt Bradley | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Connectwise is being used throughout the agency as a remote management software that solves the problem of having to travel to a site if a computer is having any issues.
  • Able to use your personalized web address to start a support session.
  • Being able to categorize unattended machines by department, location, OS etc.
  • Being able to integrate into ticket system.
  • Spiceworks plugins.
  • Being able to start or stop Windows services.
It is well suited for any company that is wide spread across a country, state, or county that has numerous devices.
Aaron Norman | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Connectwise is used daily by our entire commercial department. Connectwise allows each user to stay connected and informed about client information and maintain an organized work day.
  • From a sales perspective, the reminders and follow-ups that connectwise creates are extremely helpful.
  • Sales orders are extremely detailed allowing for easy reorders.
  • Purchase orders allow for tracking materials and maintaining a current inventory.
  • The ability to delete pods vs. minimizing pods that I never use.
  • Links you click on should open in the same window vs. opening in a new tab or at least have that option.
  • Different color notes for different types of notes, internal vs. external.
Connectwise is well suited for a small MSP environment.
February 03, 2017

CoreComments

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use ConnectWise (CW) to create and manage tickets, opportunities, sales orders, purchase orders, receiving, and contact management. We also integrate it with a number of third-party solutions to pull those systems into a single console. It is used as our primary tool to track and manage all service and sales across the organization.
  • Integration with well-established third-party vendors.
  • Live chat support.
  • Established as an industry leader in this space for MSP.
  • Custom Report Writer is very hard to use and understand.
  • Project Management modules need to be revamped. Although you can create a project, managing it is slow and clunky so it makes it hard to know what is going on.
  • It would be nice to have an out of the box "Best Practice" setup configuration. It took several years of us tweaking and changing things to get things set up so that we got the built-in reports from CW to work and report revenues properly.
In the MSP space, there are so many products on the market and you need a solution that actively pursues integration with the best of breed products. It is almost imperative to have a central console where everything reports to so your techs can keep their heads above water. ConnectWise has its issues, but the important part is they actively work to correct and improve them and they also keep on banging the bushes to find other tools and services to integrate with. ConnectWise has become one of the top solutions in this space so vendors are now building solutions and talking to ConnectWise right away to integrate with them.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We utilize Connectwise throughout the organization. At this point the only part we don't use is the accounting. We appreciate the efficiency of having to only enter data once.
  • Connectwise keeps you organized providing the tool you need in order to not have items fall through the cracks.
  • Connectwise keeps you forcused on the work that you need to accomplish and provides the access to the data you need to complete your work.
  • Connectwise provides reports allowing you to measure just how well you are doing.
  • I would like to see it faster, while speed is adequate faster is always better.
  • There have been major changes in the screens and that has been helpful. Still seems like there are some data "flow" issues that could be optimized.
  • I personally would like to see a "library" of configurations that can be used. I have used some from Marketplace but it feels like this could be standardized much more.
I believe that Connectwise is very good at everything. We currently continue to use QuickBooks for our accounting. While Quosal Sell is nice I really think the fact that we need to use Quosal Create to transfer information into QuickBooks could be improved.
David Lay | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Very simply - If its not in ConnectWise, it didn't happen. ConnectWise is our single most important tool to register, keep and maintain our client information. Everything we do for a client is recorded in ConnectWise (sales, billing, repairs, documentation, communication).
  • CRM
  • Billing
  • Sales
  • Service orders
  • Documentation
If you're in IT and not using ConnectWise then you're also missing a lot of opportunities with your clients and not charging enough for your service orders. In my first month of using ConnectWise it saved my rear by being able to provide a client with a full audit log of activities we had provided AND it increased my revenue because I was not billing for all my time.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized

Our entire organization uses ConnectWise. We have 2 business units, Managed Services and Insurance Billing (Revenue Cycle Management) for medical practices. We log all activities in ConnectWise to address a number of business problems.

1. Record time spent against clients. This allows us to understand profitability per client and have a record of actions taken. This is primarily in Service Tickets and Projects.

2. Track assets for Managed Services Clients and associate those assets w/ service tickets.

3. Knowledge Base to help speed resolution of future service issues. To be fair, we supplement this function with another product too, but link to that product from within the assets in ConnectWise.

4. Service billing. We track and invoice service agreements and service tickets out of ConnectWise.

5. CRM and Sales. Contacts, company info, sales leads and sales process management.

6. Integrates with our RMM tool, Labtech and other monitoring tools to automatically open tickets based upon alerts or thresholds being met.

  • Ticket management. This is where the bulk of our service work is created, tracked and closed out for invoicing.
  • Agreement management. Automated billing of contracted services, lets us see what we are doing, and compare cost vs. invoicing to determine profitability of the service and the clients.
  • Time tracking. We do payroll out of ConnectWise too and we can see what that time was spent on by employees.
  • The project management piece is a little clunky and it is hard to collaborate with third parties using just the build in PM tools.
  • Some service agreements with some third parties are particularly troublesome, but this is probably more due to the third party and the way they transmit info than anything else.
  • The customer portal leaves a lot to be desired.

Managed Service Providers - I don't know how you run a company like ours without a tool like this. I know one man shows and 200 employee MSPs who use it religiously.

Telecom companies - we've recommended the tool for friends who run telephone service companies and they love it.

If you run a service industry where you need to track what is being done for your clients, ConnectWise is a great tool. It's a CRM x 10!

Ryan Meyer, CISA, CISSP | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
ConnectWise is a full business management system beginning with CRM and leads/opportunities into sales orders and procurement into billing. (you will still need a full accounting package but it will likely speak with it out of the box). It provides time tracking, expense tracking, service desk management, project management, configuration management, and on-going marketing. Different departments within our company leverage different aspects of these systems.
  • The ticketing module is one of the best on the market.
  • There is a good amount of customization that can be done out of the box with no programming experience or staff needed.
  • ConnectWise is one of the best vendors I have ever worked with. Their staff truly cares and works to integrate with their partners at all levels.
  • The database is very "clean" and well organized allowing one to do extensive reporting without extensive research or knowledge.
  • While ConnectWise offers solutions to manage all aspects of your business, they aren't all best in class. (it's a best in suite solution). The marketing module is a good example of where time could be spent to provide addl. functionality, although that is something they're actively doing.
  • Because ConnectWise offers SO much - I would strongly recommend a SME on-staff to make the most of the program. Changes in one "area" may inadvertently affect another.
  • Their "email connector" for the ticketing does leave a bit to be desired. While the ticketing module itself is leading, their peers seem to have built out or expanded on the email intelligence.
ConnectWise was initially built for MSPs and VARs and it is extremely well suited in those arenas. We've found, however, that it is actually quite versatile - I've met peers using ConnectWise in industries ranging from video marketing to commercial cleaning. While it may not be designed for those markets, they've found at least a feature or two which led them to choosing ConnectWise over a line of business specific competitor.
Karl Bickmore | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Connectwise in all aspects of our business. We use it as a support ticketing system, documentation tool, sales management, marketing, invoicing, workflow automation, process documentation tool, quoting, inventory management, procurement, AR, etc.
  • Connectwise if very good at workflow and process management. You can create process and paths in your organization which then are executed with consistency and excellence.
  • They have a really good API so we can leverage integration with our other vendors for automation in monitoring, management, billing, etc.
  • Connectwise has an amazing online forum and community meetings. The best practice sharing and help you can get is unbelievable.
  • They have an excellent online university for training my staff.
  • They do a great job in helping me with my billing. Our monthly agreement billing can be done in minutes instead of hours and days.
  • They have some great new tools coming out for cloud management and change management. They are very innovative.
  • The IT Nation show they do every year in Florida is the most amazing industry event you can attend.
  • For IT providers with multiple locations and over 50 employees, the permission setup is more difficult than it should be.
ConnectWise is good for any service company of any type. It is made for IT outsource providers and works well for any kind. Break-Fix, MSP, Project Centric, Cloud provider, etc. We even have deployed to customers of ours that are in non-IT service based business and they love it.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Connectwise is being used across our organization. Using it has helped to organize workflow and captured time lost. In turn this has increased revenue. More recently we have started using the Sales modules allowing us to provide and follow up with existing clients as well as prospects. Overall we have had a great experience with Connectwise and would recommend it. Even to our competitors.
  • The ticketing system is awesome. It keeps us on track with our work. The ability to share information is very useful.
  • Communication with clients is easy and putting the job into a waiting client input status lets us easily see ticket updates.
  • Support is excellent. If you have an issue they are on chat immediately and if needed it gets escalated to a higher level.
  • Connectwise can be overwhelming to use. There are so many features it can be a daunting task to determine and implement everything you need.
  • The configurations are helpful but could use some improvement.
  • Integration with other programs. We are in Canada and Accounting Integration is limited. It forces you to use one product or purchase additional Apps for a monthly fee.
Connectwise is great for organising ticket workflow. The Sales and Marketing is not as powerful as it could be.
August 04, 2016

Workplace IT Review

Brad Bell | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use ConnectWise company wide. We are a managed service provider and provide end user support of the technology. We use it for the help desk ticket system and also for project management. We also use as an internal management system for our business processes. We do all our invoicing from ConnectWise. Everything we pretty much do is through ConnectWise.
  • Service Desk Ticket System - Keeps track of all communications between techs and end users. All the details are known from a company level vs. needing to ask techs what they have in their email box.
  • Dispatch Portal - We use this to dispatch all work to techs and know who is working on what at what time.
  • Agreement or Contract Management - Techs don't need to know when users call or email in whether something is or is not covered. They can concentrate on the users' experience - getting help and working with them to solve technology problems.
  • Project Management - We run all projects through the ConnectWise project management module to keep track of all phases, tickets and tasks. We have a lot of templates created so we can apply them based on needs.
  • Invoicing - We invoice all of our clients from ConnectWise. We email all invoices to the client and then sync the invoices to QuickBooks for accounting to process receivables.
  • Configurations - Configurations are used to document your clients information. We can document all devices on the network which is synced from our RMM tool. When a device is added to the monitoring system, the device is then auto created within a few seconds in ConnectWise. Configurations are also used to document everything about the client from accounts, vendors, applications, backup types, domain registrations, and phone systems.
  • Chat - We use ConnectWise chat system on a limited use and hope this will take off in the near future.
  • Overall ConnectWise keeps all stakeholders accountable from clients, techs, internal management, and owners.
  • ConnectWise is a good listener to the partners. We are involved at a level to give good feedback on new enhancements and items that need to be fixed.
  • Client Portal needs a major upgrade to the interface and usability.
  • Chat - Needs work done to make it a great product. Really need to make the use of the portal and chat together. We have been part of the first roll out and adoption has been very difficult with end users. The cost is also something that needs to change as we had remote control within chat and now with that going to ScreenConnect, 50-75% of the functionality moved to a new product that we have to pay for thus, chat should go down in price since functionality is removed. I have tried to express this many times.
  • While more of ConnectWise is going to the web interface, I would like them to continue stay with an application based interface. I've been there with a web based interface and it's not a great place to be.
  • ConnectWise Management - I manage the ConnectWise system and the overall setup grows each year. You can't really implement everything at once. You need to implement parts at a time to really understand how things work.
We have not had much opportunity to tell other companies to purchase ConnectWise. If ConnectWise needs a partner to promote the product to partners, we would be interested.
Brian Marshall | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We run all business functions through ConnectWise. We use ConnectWise as our ticketing system for all service needs. If it is not in ConnectWise it didn't happen.
  • Tracks Time.
  • Creates accountability.
  • Guarantees follow through.
  • Establishes Metrics.
  • The dispatch portal needs work.
  • Ticket speed still needs improvement.
  • Resource handling on Activities is poor at best.
Every MSP should be using ConnectWise.
Abbey Renee Colville | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Connectwise is used across our entire company- from sales and marketing, to finance, to our engineers. To date, it is the most critical line of business software used in our company. Our day-to-day operations are dependent on Connectwise.
  • Ease of communication between teammates and departments.
  • Customization of screens allows for each user and department to build out their ideal version of operating within the system.
  • Automation via work flows and tracks saves times and prevents steps from being overlooked or forgotten.
  • The mobile app is clunky.
  • Users must pay for the mobile app - a feature most other software provides for free when you already have a subscription.
  • Reporting features are still slightly tricky when building custom reports.
If you're an MSP, look no farther than ConnectWise. Its ever-evolving platform allows for ease of communication company wide. We have increased our margin and bottom-line significantly, since when we first adopted ConnectWise. Its CRM tool isn't as comprehensive as other platforms, but I am hopeful that it will continue to evolve.
David Pavuk | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized

We currently use ConnectWise as the central service, ticketing, time keeping, billing\invoicing, configuration, project and opportunity management product across our entire organization. Most recently we are adopting use of the reporting and dashboarding functionality added in v2015.

As an all in one product, ConnectWise facilitates the ease of maintaining both historical and relational information for our customer delivery from opportunity origination through billing. Having a unified database which contains information regarding the various aspects of our company also provides easier retrieval of the BI we need to successfully maintain and grow our business.

  • Service Ticketing- Intuitive interface provides time tracking, service details, inter-relational references to configuration, agreements as well as a concise audit trail of associated activities.
  • Workflow Rules- Flexible workflow rule creation allows for auto-functional event based activity such as resource assignment, board moves, email notifications and more for service ticketing, configurations and agreements. This is useful for service tickling as well as important event notification such as impending warranty and agreement expirations
  • CRM- The CRM aspect is not the strongest element of ConnectWise and could use improvement in both functionality and performance. Time outs are experienced on several database queries within this module which often frustrates our CRM users.
ConnectWise is well suited to a number of environments but is probably best at targeting the SMB market. At nearly 80 users we push its limits a bit. I would not recommend its use in larger enterprises due to performance and somewhat limited integration issues.
December 29, 2015

ConnectWise MSP

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We are a growing business in a growing industry, and we found that we were lacking a central locations for our sensitive billing information. ConnectWise is our primary platform for all service ticketing, issue tracking, purchasing, invoicing, CRM and time/expense management. It is implemented across our entire organization.
  • ConnectWise is a great ticketing system with excellent communication tools.
  • When fully implemented, ConnectWise can significantly cut down on the number of 'floating emails' between customers and staff members.
  • Creates accountability loops internally and with customers.
  • Calendar Sync does not function as advertised. Also doesn't take account of time zones.
  • Customer support on 'simple' issues is great, problems that need to work their way through the full support process can take weeks to resolve.
  • There are many undocumented tips and tricks that get picked up via word of mouth or experience. this makes training very difficult.
  • Does not handle project costing, Purchase price variance or track freight costs.
  • Lacks a functioning mechanism for working with sub-contractors (outside providing them with paid licenses)
Overall, the system functions well. I believe that we would not have our largest client without it. With all the good, there are a lot of shortcomings when you're larger than a traditional small MSP. If you have multiple resources between time different zones, use subcontractors, or need to track project costs - the system definitely falls short. Dealing with support can be very frustrating at times. While I would definitely recommend the product, in the same sentence I would warn people of the shortcomings.
November 16, 2015

ConnectWise for MSPs

Delano Collins | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
ConnectWise has the unique ability to tie together all people and processes within our organization, making it an essential tool for everyone in our organization. From service to sales to finance to product integration, ConnectWise is designed to weave all of these disparate silos together into a centralized, meaningful way. Many of the products and services we use, tie directly into ConnectWise, making alerting, ticketing and billing a snap. With scheduling, time entry, ticket tracking and workflow automation features, not only is invoicing is more efficient than ever but the product has been designed to be scalable to grow with your organization.
  • Agreement billing is easy with correct work role and work type configurations, giving you the ability to streamline your billing process, but also the flexibility to easily address your clients with unique billing arrangements.
  • Workflows can be configured to alert anyone in your team to exception-conditions. Expiring agreement in 3 months? Warranty expiration in 45 days? Negative survey? Missed SLA? Emergency tickets? Not a problem with Connectwise's workflows.
  • Product integration allows for better alerting, with improved ticket categorization for data analytics.
  • Outside Sales benefits from improved reporting helping you determine what is and is not working, track your sales quotas and project your growth based on successful sales.
  • Inside Sales benefits from streamlined quote creation and delivery, activity and ticket tracking all while delivering key sales metrics.
  • New GUI Reporting interface allows SQL-novices to drag and drop fields to make the reports that are meaningful to you.
  • Knowledge Base is weak.
  • The ability to send Project surveys is limited to tickets within the Project, but not the project itself.
  • The current release cycle is very aggressive. Be prepared to update the program every 30 (or fewer) days.
  • The program's flexibility can be a weakness, so you will need to educate your team. ConnectWise University is a great resource - use it.
The solution's flexibility ensures that you will find it being used by a lot of different companies in different ways. For a company that delivers products and services, we feel it is the right fit for us. For those choosing ConnectWise, you will want to identify whether you feel the on-premise or hosted / cloud version is the best fit for you. Up front costs can be challenging for small organizations, but make sure you allocate the time and resources to ensure proper training. In addition, try to adopt best practices and train your employees on these practices - it will save you a lot of headaches later on.
Ron Teagarden | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Connectwise is the professional services automation (PSA) tool used by my company to run the business day to day. The tool is used for invoicing, project management, ticket management and procurement (with Quosal integration in place).
  • Wide breadth of functionality.
  • Service ticketing module is mature.
  • Project management module adequate for SMB space.
  • Change management functionality should be added to the product.
  • Ad-hoc reporting should be easier for the end user to manage.
  • Sales management functionality should be improved upon.
The product is best suited for small to medium sized MSP's or technical service organizations.
Lance McGinn | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Connectwise is being used throughout our organization from sales opportunities and project tracking to service tickets, client documentation and financial reporting
  • ITIL based strategy. Helping blossoming MSP's become successful with user Videos and guidance
  • Partnering with other companies and products.
  • Providing valuable and relative content online and at IT nation.
  • Great Staff to support the product
  • Investing time into freshening up the interface and training programs
  • Reporting is painful, you must have experience with SQL to provide any sort of meaningful reporting. *Note: This has been addressed with some new reporting functionality within the program*
  • Additional charge for mobile versions, given the nature of the software and what it is for, this should be included
  • Automatic templates should be easier to populate. i.e. you should be able to have custom fields at the root. or be able to populate questions in detail description on every ticket without entering type, subtype, item or going to the templates, entering a subject line and saving just to blow away the information already gathered.
  • Updates to software can cause issues with existing functions.
One of the most difficult concepts to implementing a system like connectwise, or any PSA system, is that you might have to change the way you do business. What works for you now may not work if you are trying to make it to the next level. While connectwise has offered some great coaching for MSP best practices, some may not be too receptive and determine the software is needlessly complex. The software is as adaptable as you need it to be; branching out into the A/V market shows how flexible this software can be. Oct 2014 Update, Connectwise is making some advancements in their weaker areas. Specifically Reporting, and a agent base real time customer awareness/chat tool. Two modules can be purchased in addition to the core package. Oct 2015 Update, I am continually impressed on how connectwise is "reinventing" their software. Greater flexibility, customization, and training to use is well received. There are many software applications that stagnate and wither on the vine. Connectwise is not one of those companies. They continue to press forward with new initiatives and partnerships to adopt to a changing technology environment.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
In many ways, ConnectWise is the lifeblood of our organization. It allows the various divisions to function in unison. From finance to procurement and from sales to service, ConnectWise keeps everyone on the same page while at the same time automating many mundane tasks and helping to hold everyone accountable.
  • Service Request Managment
  • Workflow Automation
  • Service Management Integrations
  • Agreement Managment
  • Operational Finance Management and Integration
  • CRM
  • Project Management - It's good enough, but needs improvement.
  • Email Connector - While it works 100% of the time, there are fundamental issues with the way that it handles emails. Rule of thumb for me: If you have to train the users your supporting to use your system, it's too complicated or not ready to support them.
  • Calendar Sync - Since a calendar invitation has no way of knowing who you made an appointment with in your calendar, it syncs it as a generic activity. However, the ability to manage your calendar in concert with invitations from within ConnectWise is conspicuously missing.
If you are running a Managed Services business, this is hands down the best tool for your business. That said, to be successful at anything, you have to be dedicated to it's success. ConnectWise provides tools for ongoing and systematic improvements through their online university, through the triple partner profits series of web talks and the quick starts on the marketplace. The rest is up to you.
March 28, 2015

ConnectWise 2015.2

Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
ConnectWise is used across the entire company and plays major role in project managing, accounting, agreements, purchasing, invoicing etc. I often use their saying, "if its not in ConnectWise, it doesn't exist". It is crucial for our techs to enter all time/expenses in a timely manner for project/service billing and for our sales reps to keep track of customer and all sales/opportunities which also helps management with projecting sales and budgeting. It is our "go to" system for the entire company. ConnectWise once setup properly eases things on accounting/finance since it is required that everyone enter time/expenses in a TIMELY manner and helps tremendously with keeping track of agreements expiring and invoicing. ConnectWise can be pretty automated for reminders and action items but it is all about the setup, which can be daunting at the beginning and it definitely takes a team to work out how you want things to work. It's a great tool but as with anything it requires constant upkeep and daily monitoring to be most accurate and functional. Everyone really needs to do the ConnectWise University to get familiar with how things work. You can guess but you will probably not get the full knowledge of what it can do! My favorite part is that if I think of something or need something done in ConnectWise that might make it work better for us, we can always contact them and they will work it in the next upgrade/version.
  • Automation/workflow from Opportunities to Sales Orders/Projects to Purchasing/Invoicing
  • Contracts/Agreements coverage/Renewal/workflows for expiring contracts
  • Inventory
  • RMA Process
  • Workflow rules for Progress Invoicing. When we need to invoice a customer in stages based on what is completed and not have on the "invoicing" tab until it is closed.
  • More sections for internal notes for Finance/Admin. Like on the Finance Screen for Projects would be nice to have a Note Section for when Change orders happen or dollars change. Would like to see the history.
I do not have much input here, ConnectWise is great for services but I think for inventory/product it needs a little bit better workflows.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
It is our main PSA. It is used as ticketing system, marketing and sales and procurement
  • Best ticketing system for small MSP
  • Excellent procurement module
  • Very good accounts receivable
  • Better Project management capabilities
Are you in the business of providing computer consulting services? Do you offer Managed services?
March 24, 2015

ConnectWise

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
ConnectWise is used as the primary ticketing system for our IT services provider. The provider is also leveraging the functionality of ConnectWise to serve as it's Configuration Management System and to track and organize projects. It is used across the organization, from the managed services department to the sales and project departments.
  • Problem ticket management - used to manage reactive and proactive tickets.
  • Time management - allowed for very in depth time records.
  • Configuration management - integrated with our monitoring software to import discovered items into the CMDB.
  • Would like to see more options for customer support when it's necessary to escalate an issue or question.
I found ConnectWise to be very flexible and it worked for a wide range of applications. We were able to customize it to work for every department in our organization. When I last used it we were still exploring ways to integrate further aspects of ConnectWise into our daily business needs.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We partnered with ConnectWise and worked APIs to grow an even deeper partnership to help our mutual partners.
  • Nobody markets their product better - events, tutorials, branding.
  • Form a sense of community amongst their users.
  • Make it easy to partner with them.
  • More investment in APIs.
  • Work to make it more user friendly for certain verticals.
What are their key business needs? Do they track metrics within their business to ensure profitability and make them more efficient?
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
ConnectWise is being used by all business departments across the company. It allows everything to be managed from a single pane of glass. All information is available from projects, delivery, time sheets, quotes, sales opportunities, etc. Upper management also use the information gathered for metrics for business decisions.
  • Time Tracking / billable hours
  • Project Management
  • Expenses
  • Quoting function
ConnctWise is probably more suited to the IT industry.
Gavin Stone | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We are a Managed Service Provider and use ConnectWise across our entire organization. We support the IT needs of clients across the New York Metro area.
  • The ability to audit tickets for changes made has been a key feature when looking to determine if a ticket status was changed pre-maturely by mistake or if it was closed due to lack of response from a client.
  • The improvements to the Knowledge Base search have been a great improvement in tracking down necessary information when techs need to deal with or respond to complaints about known issues due to 3rd Party Vendors.
  • Training has always been a strong feature in ConnectWise. The ConnectWise University is a great resource for training new users how to use CW and finding information on making changes to the system.
  • The Google calendar sync needs to have better integration, and there needs to be a faster response time when the connection is broken.
  • Connectivity and speed can be lacking, there are times where the system is too slow for tech to be able to access information and update tickets.
  • The system is still missing the ability to add individuals CC'd to a ticket when the ticket is generated by e-mail. The only way we know if there are additional individuals cc'd is to open the original email and only do that if other people are mentioned in the ticket.
It all depends on the business need. I would not recommend ConnectWise to an in-house IT staff or a new startup managed service provider (MSP), but I would recommend to an individual that has started their own MSP and has multiple clients.
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