Item: Atera
Rating: 9
Author: Chris Miller

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have our techs using Atera. It is our main RMM tool--we push Windows and some third-party updates, use remote PowerShell, remote control with Splashtop, package installs via Chocolatey, a shared script library, and more. We use the built-in help desk and it gets us by but it would be nice to have some other features. We love the Splashtop integration; we even purchased a separate SOS license and can now use it from the dashboard.

Pros and Cons

Pricing--pay per tech, not by agent
Remote control with Splashtop integration
Shared script library updated by other users
Chocolatey integration for installing apps, and you can make packages for group installs
File transfer without needing to interrupt the user
Have backup building options with Acronis
Built-in AV with Bitdefender, Webroot

Helpdesk needs more features, like field selections
AD and Exchange integrations would be nice
HyperV and VMware support to manage VMs remotely

Return on Investment

Cost effective for the amount of techs vs managed computers
Learning curve is tiny, which saved a lot of training time
Setting up and onboarding a new customer has been made detailed but quick, saving us time and money

Alternatives Considered

Pulseway

We started with Pulseway and loved the features but quickly realized the cost was going to be more than we could invest. Atera is billed on a per-tech and not a per-device basis. This is much more cost effective for our model and saves a lot of money. Also, with the Splashtop integration, we are able to use the remote access on not just Windows, like Pulseway, but also Mac and Linux. Pulseway has just recently released an HTML5 remote session but it is still nowhere close to the one integrated to Atera. Atera also has the PSA side included in the price, unlike Pulseway's add-on price, and Atera includes a help desk.

Usability

The easy of use and simple approach to adding a customer has helped in streamlining our onboarding process and saved our tech valuable time. We are able to set up specific alerts per client, making important alerts into a ticket automatically or manually, schedule a script to run to solve the problem, close the ticket, and bill the customer--all without the tech clicking a mouse.

All in One

We use the Atera RMM platform multiple times a day for things like remote controlling desktops, running scripts, monitoring devices, and more. Having the PSA attached to the platform is useful in that we do not need to go to another portal to get customer data, quotes, billing, or tickets.

Other Software Used

Pulseway, Sophos Intercept X, Malwarebytes Endpoint Protection

Likelihood to Recommend

Atera excels for a solo shop or a small team trying to manage a large number of machines at the right price. No matter how many machines you want to manage, the price is the same each month. The RMM features are the bread and butter of the product but the PSA side is slowly catching up. Great when you have those customers who "don't want to pay each month" but still call you each month needing help--you can install an agent and not be charged.

Users and Roles

7 - Our tech, engineer, and marketing all use Atera. We are working on migrating our sales team--inside and outside--to move over along with the rest of the marketing team. This allows us to have a single resource to view all of our customer data without having to bounce around between many different softwares.

Support Headcount Required

4 - The help desk is the biggest use, along with patching and installing software. We manage about 18 customers at the moment and would be lost without it. Being a mostly break-fix, project based company, we usually can't bill the customer for the yearly cost of an RMM tool on all we manage, so having the Atera billing model fits us best. Moving the sales team over is the next task.

Business Processes Supported

Remote support
Patching
Tickets
Device and server monitoring
Remote software installation/removal
Scripting

Innovative Uses

Script onboarding processes
Creating problem-solution resolution without tech intervention
Monitoring network devices

Future Planned Uses

Scheduling Tickets/ Quote alerts
Engaging the PSA side of the app
Reselling the app

Likelihood to Renew

As of right now, we have found nothing that can offer as many features as Atera does along with the affordability. They are doing monthly releases each month and not just making small changes (shared scripting library, chocolatey support, Install packages, Splashtop SOS support, Scheduled tickets to name a few). The uptimes are great and accessibility to the dashboard has yet to be limited. We are a happy customer and bordering on fanboy status now.

Products Replaced

Yes - TeamViewer- Many many more features and still has a great remote tool.The ability to add as many agents we need without any extra charge. Also cheaper than just TeamViewer alone.

Pulseway - Pricing was a big factor but also has a lot more flexibility and features that we didn't get with Pulseway.

Key Differentiators

Price
Product Features
Product Usability

Can't speak enough about the Pricing model and the ability to add agents as needed without any new charges. This has given our team a lot of flexibility and helped us sign new customers by installing the agent (with permission) and then running reports at the end of the month to so the customer our value all with no extra cost to our company. If they don't sign we uninstall and walk away.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

I would recommend testing 1 product at a time and not trying to do 3-4. Maybe 2 at a time would be manageable and you could spend the time needed to give a good test. We almost chose a different product because we did not do a good job testing the software.

Atera breaks the RMM pricing mold by saving money and time

Overall Satisfaction with Atera