the automation imperative
DESCRIPTION
As an MSP, you face the daily challenge of trying to provide the very best service to your end customers at the very best prices. Learn how automation can become a key strategy for your organization. We cover: Quick Fixes Making time for Automation The right resources for the job Tracking automationTRANSCRIPT
The Automation Imperative – Invest in Better Service
Ryan ValleeProduct Manager
© 2014 N-able Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Agenda
• Quick Fixes• Making time for Automation• The right resources for the job• Tracking Automation• Automation Demonstration• Q&A
© 2014 N-able Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Quick Fixes
• Alleviate common support issues from the Service Desk:– Low Disk Space• Execute Disk Cleanup activity
– Application Issues• Ensure all relevant Windows® Services are running
© 2014 N-able Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Making time for Automation
• Include Automation as part of your documentation– Document steps to resolve issue– Document manual time required to resolve issue
© 2014 N-able Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Adobe® 10.0.1 – Users Cannot Print
Manual Steps:• Login to remote device• Open Adobe Reader• Edit > Preferences >
Security (Enhanced)• Deselect Enable Protected
Mode at Startup
Automation Policy
Time:
© 2014 N-able Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
The right resources for the job
• Many MSP’s employ experts in respective areas of IT support:– Exchange – Active Directory®– Firewall Management– Etc.
© 2014 N-able Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
The right resources for the job
• Automation Polices built by the experts, executed by anyone– Leverage input parameters to expose only
necessary execution details– Allow IT Experts to empower your Support Desk
by creating practice configurations and issue resolution processes for customer issues
© 2014 N-able Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Backup Cisco® Router Configuration
Manual Steps:• Connect Customer Network• Connect to Router• Logon as: Admin• <admin_password>• Enable• <priviledged_mode_password>• config terminal• ip ftp username <user_name>• ip ftp password <password?• End• Copy running-config ftp:• <FTP_Server_Address>• <running-config_name>• Exit
Automation Policy
Time:
© 2014 N-able Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Tracking Automation
• Integration your automation with a PSA solution
• Create PSA tickets that include all details and output for:– Each on-demand management task execution– Each recurring management task execution– Each Self-Healing management task execution
© 2014 N-able Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Tracking Automation
• Create PSA tickets that include:– Ticket Details
• Queue/Service Board, Status, Priority, Issue Type, Source, etc.
– Notification Settings• Notification Acknowledgement, Handling Repeat Failures,
Windows Event Log, etc.
– Associated Notification Profiles– Time Entry
• Billable time associated to issue resolution
– Management Task Output• Steps taken to resolve the customer issue
© 2014 N-able Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
PSA Knowledge Portal
• Detailing customer issues, billable time and resolution steps
© 2014 N-able Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Automation Use Cases
• N-central® Self-Healing AMP Execution– Monitor Disk Space• Execute Disk Cleanup steps if low of free space
– Monitoring Critical Windows Services• Restart Windows service if stopped
• N-central On-demand AMP Execution– Adobe 10.0.1 – Users cannot Print
• N-central Scheduled AMP Execution– Backup Cisco Router running configuration to FTP
© 2014 N-able Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
N-central Automation
© 2014 N-able Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Thank You!Questions? [email protected]
N-central Trial: http://www.n-able.com/trials
© 2014 N-able Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Legal Information N-able Technologies, Inc.’s trademarks, service marks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of N-able Technologies, Inc. and its affiliates. For a complete list of N-able’s trademarks, service marks, and logos, please visit http://www.n-able.com/trademarks.aspx. All other trademarks or works mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and may be or are intellectual property of their respective companies. N-able Technologies and SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC are not affiliated with any of the respective companies.
© 2013 N-able Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.