IT Glue Licensing Frustrations

[Moez]

I am a one-man-shop that extensively uses MSP tools without actually being an MSP. It works for us. From the beginning of starting my company, we made sure to document as much as possible, including passwords. We also made everything available to our clients. We started out using Secret Server Express and eventually moved to SIPortal. Every client, at no charge, has a login to our portal that allows them to view/edit the passwords we have on file and view the documentation we have on file (it's part of our marketing actually). And while SIPortal is great, IT Glue is better. But their minimums make it a tough pill to swallow.

When we first looked at IT Glue, there was no way it could happen. We'd have to pay $19USD/month for every client we have in order to get them access into the portal. Recently, however, they introduced My Glue, which is designed specifically for what we need. So when I first became aware of it, I got excited. Even with the $19USDx5/month charge that has me paying for 4 licenses I don't need, it was closer to what I'm paying for SIPortal. But then I found out I'm looking at a 100 My Glue user minimum, bringing the cost to over $200USD/month. No thanks.

So I talked to them and they agreed to come down a bit on the My Glue minimum users. But it's still giving me 4 full users I don't need and 20+ My Glue users I don't need. So I guess this is one part rant one part trying to understand why. Do they not realize that they are turning away so much potential business? I definitely see us eventually moving to it, maybe after adding another employee and some more clients. But that just means more stuff to move over. I just don't understand the need for the minimum users, especially when they charge a $495USD setup fee.

 

[dgoglio]

I don't think you have a clear understanding of their pricing. The per-user cost is for you, not your clients. Clients can access the information you have on your portal free. You just grant them access to their account. The new MyGlue is an integrated product for you to sell to your client to add a similar documentation portal for their company. Even with their minimum licenses the product value far outweighs the cost for any size shop.

 

[Moez]

The lite role, which they recommend for clients, is read-only. Our clients currently have write access to passwords to allow them to change them. This is what My Glue was implemented to help solve. So while I understand that the per-user cost is for me, because of the way we would have needed to license it before My Glue, each client would need a full license to edit passwords.

 

[dgoglio]

The cost per seat for MyGlue is $1.25 per user I think it has a minimum of 50 seats but of that right now they are giving you 5 free. Our clients only need read access to our records. I am not quite sure why you would need or have them to go in and change passwords in your documentation but if that is the way you do it, it is what it is.

 

[vickie thivierge]

I think the question you should be asking is....DO I REALLY NEED THIS TO GROW MY BUSINESS?

What I'm hearing is a couple of things, it's costing you more per unit than the previous services and you are uncomfortable about passing this cost on to your clients....and/or you have to pay for seats you can't fill right now....am I right?

If sounds like what you had was working well at a cost you could afford? If this was the case, then why did you change? If My Glue is truly adding more service/features to benefit your customers than you should pass the cost on to your customers. Just split the cost of the 50 seats between your clients and call it a day. You know, send out the "Good News" letter that you have just improved their service's and it's only going to increase their monthly cost by only....$22.00. I do this all the time. It's called doing business.

The other thing is, instead of spending time trying to get My Glue to reduce their minimum seats, go out and get a few more customers. After all this could be the motivator to add clients you're looking for.

 

[Moez]

TI am not quite sure why you would need or have them to go in and change passwords in your documentation but if that is the way you do it, it is what it is.

Off the top of my head ...

1. Many of our clients share web logins with us, like GoDaddy or DNS solutions. If they need to change the password for any reason, without the ability to update that password directly in the portal, what happens? I'm certainly not going to have them email it to me and I'm not going to force them to pay us to change it for them.

2. We have clients who need to keep us informed of AD password changes for certain accounts. Quickbooks passwords need to be changed frequently and we need those too.

But you are right, the clients that absolutely need write access are fewer than those who could do just fine with read access. So we may be able to work around it with the 5 free users.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I think the question you should be asking is....DO I REALLY NEED THIS TO GROW MY BUSINESS?

What I'm hearing is a couple of things, it's costing you more per unit than the previous services and you are uncomfortable about passing this cost on to your clients....and/or you have to pay for seats you can't fill right now....am I right?

If sounds like what you had was working well at a cost you could afford? If this was the case, then why did you change? If My Glue is truly adding more service/features to benefit your customers than you should pass the cost on to your customers. Just split the cost of the 50 seats between your clients and call it a day. You know, send out the "Good News" letter that you have just improved their service's and it's only going to increase their monthly cost by only....$22.00. I do this all the time. It's called doing business.

The other thing is, instead of spending time trying to get My Glue to reduce their minimum seats, go out and get a few more customers. After all this could be the motivator to add clients you're looking for.

This. If this is a SERVICE that you provide to your clients then bill them for it, put a margin on it for your time and trouble and get more clients to make the minimums. I really don't see what the problem is other than providing for FREE a service that most of your competitors probably don't even offer at all let alone offer for free.

 

[Porthos]

1. Many of our clients share web logins with us, like GoDaddy or DNS solutions. If they need to change the password for any reason, without the ability to update that password directly in the portal, what happens? I'm certainly not going to have them email it to me and I'm not going to force them to pay us to change it for them.

Sounds like they need their own password manager. I personally would not like to have that info to be liable for.
Are these clients on a MSP plan with you? Or are these break/fix clients.

 

[Moez]

If sounds like what you had was working well at a cost you could afford?

Not had, have. We haven't moved to IT Glue / My Glue yet.

You know, send out the "Good News" letter that you have just improved their service's and it's only going to increase their monthly cost by only....$22.00. I do this all the time. It's called doing business.

This might make sense for MSPs, which we are not. We charge our clients monthly for things like RMM, backup, etc. But the ability for them to access their passwords has always been value-add, which in my honest opinion is the way it should be.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Really? Sounds like you are one to me.

Not had, have. We haven't moved to IT Glue / My Glue yet.

This might make sense for MSPs, which we are not. We charge our clients monthly for things like RMM, backup, etc. But the ability for them to access their passwords has always been value-add, which in my honest opinion is the way it should be.

 

[BitsPleaz]

Check out IT Boost, we're testing this in place of IT Glue, my technicians like it better.

 

[Moez]

We ultimately bit the bullet and went with IT Glue. We spoke to IT Boost, but they won't be supporting our RMM until 2018 and have no plans to support our PSA at this time.

 

[ChrisB009]

Sounds like they need their own password manager. I personally would not like to have that info to be liable for.
Are these clients on a MSP plan with you? Or are these break/fix clients.

I totally agree - I would not want to be responsible for a clients password list with multiple people accessing the site due to the legal ramifications it presents. I do carry client passwords however I only have access to the list I carry and the list is on a secured / encrypted machine which is not used for every day activities - the client maintains their own password list as they choose. If I were to go to court over the matter I can show the court the machine I used is secured and encrypted to today's standards thus I took necessary precautions to prevent exposure of the sensitive material.