Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) software has emerged as an indispensable tool for businesses responsible for supporting and maintaining large deployments of connected products. RMM software provides a comprehensive platform for remotely monitoring all your connected devices, streamlining support operations, enhancing security, and reducing downtime. The top features of RMM software empower businesses to thrive in the rapidly changing market of connected products.

What are “Connected Products” and why do they need a new kind of RMM software?

First, let’s define this emerging device segment called “Connected Products.” Connected Products is a broad term for internet connected devices and smart hardware solutions used for business operations. The connected product family includes familiar solutions such as POS systems, self-checkout kiosks, digital signage, smart lockers, camera systems, access control, and many other smart hardware systems that are rapidly being deployed in businesses today.

Traditional Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are now being asked to support this growing ecosystem of connected products, pulling MSPs out of their traditional IT infrastructure and workplace device management wheelhouse.

Connected products are deployed in very different settings than traditional IT devices such as workstation PCs, laptops, or network equipment. And successfully supporting and maintaining these connected products remotely requires MSPs to invest in expanded integrations, management software, and help desk capabilities.

Many MSPs have chosen not to expand into the connected product space given the technology and training upgrades required, and as such a new breed of remote service provider (RSPs) is now entering the market to take on these more complex ecosystems. As IT operations expand to supporting more desperate systems, RMM software has become the cornerstone technology system for successful remote device management. In this article we explore the most important features of RMM software that professionals and technology teams are looking for as they expand beyond basic endpoint management.

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#1. A centralized platform to monitor and manage all your connected products.

At the core of any RMM software is a single pane of glass that provides centralized visibility across your fleet of connected products. As organizations invest in new technology and expand their footprint, the technology that is being supported needs a central system to support and maintain the solution that has been deployed in the wild. Centralized RMM software consolidates diverse device systems and tools, giving administrators concentrated visibility and control. This allows the product and engineering teams to gain insights into their connected product performance, health, and the status of their device environment in real-time.

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#2. Proactive monitoring to catch issues at early stages and reduce downtime.

A key advantage to a great RMM software services is the ability to manage connected products in real-time. RMM platforms give the ability to act proactively on any system or device by spotting potential issues as the happen. The advanced monitoring capabilities for RMM platforms can detect anomalies, performance bottlenecks, and security vulnerabilities before they escalate into critical problems. By leveraging proactive alerts and notification, teams can stay ahead of issues, minimize downtime, and ensure uninterrupted business operations.

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#3. System-wide control over your entire ecosystem (network, power, hardware, software, firmware, and peripherals).

Beyond the ability to monitor all aspects of the various connected endpoints, technical support and engineering teams need the ability to effectively have control over them as well. The power of the RMM agent allows technical teams to have full command and control of the endpoint, monitoring software but also all the apps they are support in the field as well. Users of effective RMM tools need to the ability to remotely maintain various elements their connected product endpoints. This could be anything from routine software upgrades, to device support triage, to remote resolutions attempts. Remote access and control may also be required if further investigation is needed for maintenance or live troubleshooting tasks.

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#4. Automation capabilities to streamline manual support workflows and repetitive engineering tasks.

Automation enables organizations to streamline repetitive tasks and allocate resources more efficiently. The RMM service leverages automation to orchestrate key device lifecycle management tasks such as new device onboarding, system provisioning, remote support, smart alerts, and remote recovery. Automation can be used for maintenance activities such as software updates and patch management as well as system backups. By automating these tasks, technical support administrators can free up valuable time and focus on strategic initiatives that drive growth and scale for the organization. Even more so, automation helps unify processes, ensuring a standard for their infrastructure and support.

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#5. Historical uptime reporting and performance insights through data analytics.

Each day is filled with new decisions and responding and reacting to new issues. Access to real-time and historical data is crucial for making these informed decisions. RMM software provides the user with time series data and historical insights into their connected product performance. These reports can be focused on performance, vulnerability and compliance status of their environment. Through customizable dashboards and reports, users can gain key metrics or key performance indicators (KPI) that enable them to identify areas for optimization and mitigation. This real-time visibility empowers organizations to stay in front of any issues or change and allows them to better service their customers by reducing downtime.

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#6. Scalability and flexibility to support growth and next generation hardware or software upgrades.

As a business successfully scales their footprint, the requirements on their RMM tooling increases. Their remote support approach needs to be iterative as the issues they tackled yesterday will be different from the ones they face today and tomorrow. Their RMM software must have the ability to grow and match these evolving business needs. Supporting a growing fleet of connected products means: more issues, more data points to interpret, more incidents, more endpoint various, more configuration drift, and more reporting. Growing businesses need an RMM tool and partner that reduces the noise that scaling always creates and performs remedies to reduce downtime.

Furthermore, new connected products are being created, tested, and deployed every day now. Rapid innovation with these devices means ever changing technology requirements. The next connected product could be Android or iOS based, it could be running a bespoke version of Linux or it could be the latest Windows version. As technology evolves and teams scale they expose themselves to the changing technology landscape, it is mandatory that they have a RMM that enables remote management. As a result, technology teams now talk about their remote support strategy when they qualify new technology.

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#7. Cost efficiency that creates clear ROI from using a RMM software solution.

In today's environment, businesses are meticulously reviewing every spending proposal to ensure their investments yield tangible ROI for the organization. RMM software is no exception to this new reality. The core areas of cost savings and ROI from RMM software are first reducing operational overhead by minimizing the need for manual intervention and secondly, preventing costly onsite technician visits through enhanced remote resolutions. By automating routine tasks, streamlining support workflows, and preventing costly downtime, RMM platforms help organizations streamline support and engineering labor needs over time. Additionally, rebooting devices from a remote location and enhanced remote triage with better endpoint data can consistently save an organization on having to send costly technicians out to the location for local onsite support.

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How can you start using RMM software to support and maintain your connected products today?

Every day new connected products are invented and deployed into the world with the promise of enhancing how businesses operate. The dilemma is these devices must be fully operational to actually create the value they promise. With so many new complexities and variations in the connected product landscape, choosing the right RMM software and RMM service provider is more critical than ever.

Canopy offers a comprehensive suite of Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) software, encompassing the key features that have been outlined in this blog. With its centralized platform, proactive monitoring capabilities, automation tools, rea-time insights, scalability, flexibility, and efficient pricing models, Canopy empowers organizations to streamline their RMM strategy and reduce downtime.

If you are interested in learning if our RMM software, Canopy, may be able to help your team uplevel its remote management capabilities, reach out via our website. We’d love to help you with a free evaluation of your connected product solution and your remote management and support structure to see if Canopy may be the right RMM solution for your business.