The Top 9 Remote Management Tools For Windows

NinjaOne (formerly NinjaRMM) is a market-leading IT operations solution that unifies remote management, system backups and IT support. The cloud-based platform is compatible with macOS, Windows, and Linux devices as well as virtual machines, enabling MSPs to remotely monitor and manage all their client’s devices from one central location. It also offers a wide range of out-of-the-box alerts and automation functionality, which allows MSPs to respond to incidents much more quickly, improving the operations of their clients’ systems while saving their own resources.

With NinjaOne, admins can easily configure their patching preferences at a granular level for operating system and application updates. This includes automating the identification of vulnerabilities, the approval and deployment of viable patches, and patch reporting, helping MSPs keep their clients secure, whilst giving them up-to-the-minute insights into OS and application health and performance, which can be used for auditing purposes. NinjaOne supports automated patching for over 125 common business apps—including the Office 365 suite. As well as patching, NinjaOne enables MSPs to deploy, uninstall and monitor third-party applications without using a corporate network, VPN or domain. Deployments can be automated or completed on-demand, with auto-remediation for failed deployments, helping to save time and improve efficiency.

NinjaOne offers a free trial of their platform, and pricing is available on request from their sales team. Pricing is based per device.

As well as their core RMM functionality, NinjaOne offers free and unlimited training and support to their customers, enabling them to access help whenever they need it without having to purchase that support as an add-on. Because of this, we recommend NinjaOne as a great remote management solution for small- to mid-sized MSPs that may benefit from increased support from their provider.

Atera offers an all-in-one Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM), Helpdesk, Ticketing, and automations platform built on its proprietary Action AI™ solution. It supports remote access, management, Professional Services Automation (PSA), and reporting via one holistic platform. Atera helps both IT teams and MSPs respond more efficiently to IT issues and support tickets, with strong automation functionality and multi-tenant support. The solution is compatible with Windows, macOS, Linux, and SNMP devices.

Atera’s Chocolatey and Homebrew integrations, as well as their own API, enable comprehensive, real-time monitoring of client systems and third-party apps for updates and vulnerabilities. IT admins can configure patch management automation for individual devices and device groups, and remotely run all software updates—including Microsoft Office updates—from one central location. Atera also offers Office 365 integration, enabling admins to manage their calendar events directly through Atera tickets so they can easily stay on top of alerts and support requests.

Atera is available via three packages. Pro ($99/technician/month) offers full RMM functionality, remote access for up to two sessions and up to five support addresses, and is suitable for IT teams wanting to monitor their own network. Growth ($129/technician/month) offers unlimited remote access, API use up to 600 RPM and up to 10 support addresses, and is suitable for MSPs supporting a smaller number of clients. Power ($169/technician/month) offers a 700 RPM API and unlimited support addresses, making it suitable for MSPs that need to monitor many client networks.

Because of its tiered pricing and powerful feature set, we would recommend Atera as a strong tool for any IT team or MSP looking to remotely manage a Microsoft Office 365 environment.

ConnectWise is a market-leading provider of flexible, scalable software for technology solution providers (TSPs). ConnectWise RMM is ConnectWise’s newest cloud-based RMM solution, which combines the powerful automation controls of ConnectWise Automate and the out-of-the-box functionality and easy setup of ConnectWise Command, to enable MSPs to more effectively monitor their clients’ systems and proactively respond to support issues. Described by ConnectWise as the “next evolution” of Automate, ConnectWise RMM offers deeper support for macOS devices, near real-time event-driven services, pre-built alerting and a more intuitive UI.

ConnectWise RMM enables admins to automate vulnerability patching across their clients’ endpoints, including the testing of patches before deployment to ensure only viable patches are rolled out. This, along with its many out-of-the-box integrations, makes it easier to keep operating systems and third-party software—including the Microsoft Office 365 suite—up to date. ConnectWise RMM also offers an intuitive drag-and-drop scripting engine, as well as alert consolidation, which bundles related events into a single ticket to eliminate alert fatigue.

ConnectWise RMM pricing is available on request from the ConnectWise sales team. The solution is packaged with a tier-based cost per agent, with the option to add on services and support from ConnectWise’ NOC and SOC experts. ConnectWise also offers a free trial so you can test before you invest.

We recommend ConnectWise RMM for small- to mid-sized MSPs looking for an intuitive solution to help them more easily manage their clients’ networks, with lots of out-of-the-box functionality and an easy set up. You can compare ConnectWise RMM to Automate by checking out their product profiles:

• ConnectWise RMM
• ConnectWise Automate

Datto is a cybersecurity provider that develops cloud-based tech solutions and software for MSPs to distribute to small to mid-sized businesses. Datto aims to enable MSPs to grow their business, while empowering them to solve the complex IT challenges faced by themselves and their clients. Datto RMM is their remote IT management tool, designed to help MSPs remotely monitor, manage and support their clients’ networks by giving them a central overview of each one.

The stand-out features of Datto RMM, in addition to the usual features you’d expect of an RMM solution, are the 16 new components added to the product in 2020, which offer added support for Microsoft Office 365 deployments. Using these scripts, which were developed in a partnership with CyberDrain, admins can receive alerts when O365 isn’t syncing correctly, an admin password is changed, an O365 user is blocked, a user doesn’t have MFA enabled, the O365 audit log isn’t enabled, and when mailboxes, OneDrive and SharePoint sites reach threshold and sync limits—among others. This makes it much easier for MSPs to ensure their clients’ Office 365 environments are running efficiently and securely.

Pricing for Datto RMM is available on contacting the Datto sales team. Datto also offers a free trial of the solution.

Cloud-based, with support for Windows, macOS, and Linux devices and offering integrations with over 200 third-party tools and solutions, Datto RMM is a highly flexible and scalable solution. We recommend Datto RMM as a powerful solution for MSPs that serve SMB clients, who are looking not only for an easier way to manage their clients’ networks, but also to become a part of a support MSP partner community.

LogicMonitor is a fully cloud-based, automated platform that enables enterprises and MSPs to monitor both infrastructures and their application stacks. With support for data centers, on-prem, and cloud environments, MSPs can use LogicMonitor to gain deep insights into all their clients’ networks, no matter how those networks are built.

LogicMonitor’s Application Performance Monitoring feature is what makes it really stand out for MSPs looking to manage their clients’ Office 365 environments. The solution gives MSPs the power to monitor any application hosted with any cloud provider, using AIOps to proactively detect and resolve issues before they have the chance to affect end-user productivity—in other words, before clients report them. This helps boost the MSP’s productivity by reducing help desk tickets and improving Mean Time To Recovery (MTTR), as well as improving the application’s performance for the client.

LogicMonitor is available via three packages. The Core package offers visibility into cloud, on-prem, and hybrid environments, with over 2,000 integrations for easier management and flexibility. Pro offers all of the above, plus automated deployment, intelligent alerting, and customizable Dashboards. Enterprise offers the Pro features, plus AI-powered operations analytics and forecasting. Pricing for all packages is available via the LogicMonitor sales team.

LogicMonitor is fully cloud-based, making it easy to deploy and giving it the flexibility to scale to any environment. Its topology mapping and pre-built integrations with over 2,000 technologies enable MSPs to monitor and manage applications as well as infrastructure, without any visibility gaps. We recommend LogicMonitor as a strong solution for MSPs looking to easily detect and manage issues across their clients’ applications, including the Office 365 suite.

ManageEngine is a division of Zoho Corporation that provides IT management software solutions designed to help businesses integrate and optimize their IT processes. Their remote monitoring and management solution, RMM Central, enables MSPs to effortlessly discover network devices, efficiently manage client networks, monitor for potential issues, and ensure security across their clients’ networks.

Leveraging advanced techniques like Layer 2 mapping and subnet scanning, RMM Central automatically identifies all devices connected to client networks. This includes everything from physical and virtual servers, to routers, storage devices, virtual machines, laptops, and mobile devices. By continuously monitoring the performance of these devices, MSPs can proactively detect and resolve issues before clients notice anything is wrong. The platform offers machine learning-based forecast reports, over 100 ready-made analytical reports, and real-time email alerts for faults and security concerns. When an endpoint issue arises, administrators can troubleshoot remotely with multi-user collaboration, file transfers, and video recording capabilities. The management console also allows for automated patch deployment across Windows, Mac, Linux, and over 1,000 third-party applications. Additionally, it supports mobile device management (including enrollment, application management, and security policy deployment) and IT asset management (including hardware and software usage, license management, and blacklisting malicious apps).

ManageEngine RMM Central is available in two editions: Free and Enterprise. The Enterprise edition offers the full suite of features, while the Free edition excludes browser security, network configuration management, multi-technician support, and a distribution server for bandwidth optimization. Both editions come with multi-language support and an optional secure gateway server. The platform’s flexible licensing model caters to varied device monitoring and management needs, all accessible through a single, user-friendly management console. RMM Central is an ideal solution for MSPs with a global clientele or a predominantly remote workforce spread across different countries.

Microsoft 365 Lighthouse is Microsoft’s own solution designed to help MSPs manage the devices, data and users of their SMB clients that are using Microsoft 365 Business Premium or Microsoft 365 E3. The dashboard offers a multi-tenant view across all client environments, making it easy for MSPs to manage multiple clients via one central, remote location.

Delivered as a user-friendly admin portal, Lighthouse makes it easy for MSPs to onboard 365 tenants by recommending configuration baselines to help ensure all SMBs are onboarded securely and efficiently. The solution also offers multi-tenant insights into device compliance and Microsoft 365 service incidents that may impact managed client tenants. Lighthouse also enables MSPs to set up identity security for their clients by configuring multi-factor authentication and self-service password resets. Finally, it provides insights into threats to Windows 10 devices detected by Microsoft 365 Defender, to help MSPs resolve security issues quickly and efficiently.

Lighthouse is available at no additional cost for all MSPs enrolled in Microsoft’s Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program, who are serving SMB customers with a Microsoft 365 Premium or Microsoft 365 E3 subscription. Support for Microsoft CSP channel partners includes those transacting directly with Microsoft and those transacting through a distributor.

While Microsoft 365 Lighthouse doesn’t include all of the RMM functionality that some of the third-party vendors on this list offer, the platform offers the benefit of being a Microsoft product, thus offering seamless integrations with the Microsoft Office 365 application suite. For this reason, we recommend it to MSPs serving SMB clients, who want an easy way to manage those clients’ Microsoft-connected environments. It’s important to note, however, that Lighthouse isn’t available in China or Palestinian Authority, or in national clouds.

N-able is a cybersecurity provider that specializes in solutions for MSPs. N-able N-sight RMM is their solution designed to help MSPs secure and maintain their clients’ systems, as well as ensure that they’re operating as efficiently as possible. The solution’s comprehensive RMM feature set can be fully managed via one central dashboard, and is compatible with macOS, Windows, and Linux, and Raspberry Pi devices.

N-able N-sight RMM offers a comprehensive remote management feature set, including device and network monitoring, troubleshooting with remote access controls, end-to-end ticket management, and integrations with a wide range of security tools, including DNS web filtering, EDR, and password management. But the most critical feature for MSPs looking to manage an Office 365 environment is the solution’s patch automation. With N-able N-sight RMM, admins can run on-demand and scheduled patch scans, as well as configure automatic patching with support for the most common third-party applications, and continuous updates for Exchange and Microsoft Office 365.

N-able offers a free trial of their N-sight RMM solution, and pricing is available on request via the N-Able sales team.

Customers praise N-able N-sight RMM for its ease of use, both during setup and ongoing use, and its intuitive interface. We recommend N-sight RMM as a strong solution for any-sized MSP looking to be able to easily manage all of their clients’ applications—including the Office 365 suite—via one user-friendly interface, and particularly those looking for granular policy configuration and powerful automation features.

Pulseway is a remote IT and asset management tool that allows MSPs to more easily manage their client’s digital environments. The solution offers a lot of out-of-the-box functionality on deployment, as well as Android and iOS mobile apps, which enable admins and IT technicians to access key management functions—including mobile remote control, troubleshooting, and a complete system overview—from anywhere, as soon as the solution is deployed.

As well as its powerful OOTB functionality, Pulseway offers robust automation capabilities that enable admins to configure automatic patching of operating system and application vulnerabilities—including for third-party apps such as the Office 365 suite—both according to a given schedule, and on-demand. As well as rolling out patches, Pulseway offers reports into which patches have been deployed, making it easy for MSPs to ensure that their clients’ Office 365 environments are secure at any given time. These reports also enable them to ensure compliance across their clients’ environments.

Pulseway is available from $32/month, with a mandatory, one-time “advanced onboarding and best practices” session for a fee of $149. Pricing is dependent on the number of devices, with volume-based tiered discounts and optional security add-ons available.

Pulseway’s strong automation and out-of-the-box functionality make it easy to deploy, enabling MSPs to start managing their clients’ networks straight away. On top of this, its mobile-friendly architecture makes it possible for MSPs to support clients from anywhere, at any time. Because of this, we recommend Pulseway for MSPs with a hybrid workforce, that are looking for a user-friendly remote management tool that they can get up and running quickly.