Syncro Vs SimpleHelp

[mrchip]

My apologize if this is the wrong spot. New here (hi everyone) & can't post in MSP yet.
So I'm moving clients into MSP. I was using comodo and now looking to replace it. I'm a one man band but will be adding a tech or two to start before my plans for world domination! Struggling between SimpleHelp & Syncro. I don't mind spending the money on a system but there has to be value (if i don't use the features in my business than its a useless feature - for me & of no value).

I would much rather spend a lil more now & overbuy then switch over later. What has been your overall for best business practice experience if you have tried them?

When I compare them to each other this is what I see as main differences. Is there anything I'm missing? What nuggets/experience/caveats would you offer?

SimpleHelp (Business Ver)
Pro
Cost effective (5,000 machines/$450=.09 machine)
Fairly stable Remote Support
Seems to have good reviews for "doing the job"
Cons
Only does one aspect of the business (albeit well) Remote maint/support
Antivirus is not integrated so I believe I need to add an extra step to check if updates/scans had issues (not single pane of glass)
I'm responsible for security if I use my server. I'm not overly concerned and it lightly "weighted" in my decision but I do acknowledge it.
Would require several other "systems" for the business. A ticketing system, billing, (does SimpleHelp do reports for clients? - Important to me as it lets clients know what's been done for their $ and as a marketing tool - don't want to miss opportunities)
Would require integration into each other or manual work/multiple entry into multiple programs. (make remote connection to customer, pull up ticket system - look up customer, enter info in ticket, pull up billing, look up customer in billing app, ctrl C & V ticket reference info into billing, enter followup in CRM - lookup client, etc - all steps that introduce a chance of error & time)

Syncro (MSP Ver)
Pro
All in one business package. Seems to have everything built in (CRM/Ticket/RMM/Reporting/etc) & integrated
Appears to have a really good community and help from others
Seems like everything is at your fingertips (single pane of glass)
Cons
SAAS & pricey - to qualify compared to SimpleHelp
Remote desktop has some negative feedback. Not sure if this is resolved and I suppose I could install a 2nd rdp like single click uvnc for emergencies but there is something inherently wrong & ironic about a "repair/maintenance" program that doesn't actually work itself.

As I write this my wallet really wants to go with SimpleHelp but logic says don't be penny smart and pound foolish. How many times has a customer called in with a super quick issue that's less than 2 min to remote in and fix. On SimpleHelp and other RDP systems I would just log in and fix it. No ticket/tracking created as it takes more time than it's worth to record & I'm not sending a bill to the client for 2min or 15min minimum. I consider it a professional courtesy and value added service. "Hey he's a good guy...could have dinged us but didnt. I'll recommend him to my friends"...that's my hope. Without a ticket that value is not conveyed at the end of the month, negotiation time, or when they are considering another vendor. There is no track record of how often they could have been billed, how many problems they did have or how quickly a problem was resolved. To me that is a big marketing & business building strategy that goes missed. So how much is that worth?

Please "shoot some holes" in my thinking before pulling the trigger on one of these. Would love to hear your real world experiences both good/bad points and if I missed anything that I should consider.

Thanks everyone

 

[fencepost]

Here's a little braindump of things I'm considering about this but I don't have time to write and organize.

Antivirus is likely to be a significant factor in your monthly cost for any option once you're beyond a few dozen endpoints. I'm not sure how much GravityZone costs directly from Bitdefender, but several other options also allow you to get it at prices from US$0.99-$1.30/endpoint depending on vendor and scale.

SimpleHelp is licensed per simultaneous connection, so you can't have multiple connections open at a time unless you've licensed that. I don't believe that applies to scripts, and I'm not sure if it applies (or allows, but it likely does) remote shell. If you're small this may not be an issue, but it also means you can't resell remote access to your clients. That may be something you want the ability to do this year with a lot of companies likely looking at work-from-home options.

Syncro has a built-in remote option called Live, but I don't know that I've ever heard anything very good about it. I believe a lot of people have separate Splashtop or Teamviewer subscriptions that they integrate with Syncro. I don't think anyone here will ever recommend TV to anyone, but if you went the Splashtop route you'd also get the ability to resell those connections and possibly get Bitdefender through them (marginally cheaper than through Syncro, but not sure about the integration). Splashtop may end up costing as much as SimpleHelp but on an annual basis.

Depending on your scale, you might look at SimpleHelp + RepairShopr's free tier to start, and as you grow you can consider switching to Syncro - apparently it's not much more complicated than emailing the RepairShopr helpdesk to start the migration. At that point you'd have SimpleHelp available as a backup option (pros and cons - extra possible point of vulnerability, but also provides options if Syncro is unavailable).

 

[mrchip]

Interesting point on the a/v...maybe I'll do a 2nd post to ask where ppl find the best value in a/v.
I agree about the opportunity to offer remote for workers this year & I do like the branded ability. Many ppl seem to use Splashtop for remote here. It seems to be one of the more solid choices. My concern is having to jump from app to app and then manually needing to adjust tickets & billing & double entry/search. Not a big deal with a few clients but as I grow I can see this extra time exponentially growing as well.

I do like the idea of SimpleHelp +Repairshopr's free teir for now...that actually sounds like a really good idea...gonna go check that out. Thanks

 

[mrchip]

I guess the problem with doing the Simplehelp + repairshopr would be that they aren't integrated. My concern is that I'm having multiple panes of glass open. I look up the client on one screen (simplehelp) then have to look the same client on a 2nd app (repairshopr) for invoicing/ticketing. Copying & pasting back n forth. I know some ppl use osticket, a different RDP, RMM, invoicing, etc. Guess I could do it all scattered for free but at what point is it worth the $ to have everything in one pane and could I actually achieve it with Syncro? Do you find multiple non-integrated apps a pain and cost of time or is it a non issue?

 

[Diggs]

There is no track record of how often they could have been billed, how many problems they did have or how quickly a problem was resolved.

SimpleHelp maintains a history of all remote sessions that can be filtered and sorted. Not sure that helps your decision but I find it useful.

https://simple-help.com/technician-guide#Session History

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I'll chime in coming from 25+ years as an MSP.

You'll want an RMM....allows you to manage your clients computer, remote access, support tools, asset tracking of hardware/software, and push out managed software like antivirus, and patching.

If you're an MSP...you'll want a helpdesk ticketing system. It's nice to have it <==> with your RMM.

It's usually most cost effective, and best use of your time and billing, to manage your antivirus through your RMM...rather than through direct or other third party. Allows you the most profit, and it's soooo much easier for you to get licenses and push install, add, etc.

Now....we've been using N-Central since the early days of N-Able. And their older HDM....HelpDeskManager ticketing syste. And then Solarwinds bought them out. Things remained OK for a while...and we were spoiled by being old old clients...we had "unlimited" essentials agents. In more recent times..MSPs had to purchase those..but we had them for free. So we installed them everywhere. And could remote in, push out AV, push out patching...get 75% of the functionality of the Pro agents.

But starting this year...they pulled back in the remote agent on the essentials licenses..being free. Now it's a buck a pop. So....no more easy remote and support to unmanaged clients!

And we're spending nearly $70k/year now with Solarwinds. And the aging HDM software shows it age..and it's slow. And their new MSP Mangler software is OK...but pricey. We've been paying for it for 2 years but haven't cut over to it....just..keeps falling through the cracks.

So I've been giving SyncroMSP a look. We looked at Dattos RMM too...but no integrated AV...which we really want.

I had heard that their remote tool sucked. But...during our trial that I'm 2 weeks into....I find it works great. I read they have really poured work into it over this past winter. So...when you read people saying that the Syncro live tool sucks...I think you'll find those posts are > 6 months old. I like how it handles multiple monitors also. Yes it seems to be missing on some higher end remote support features (I don't see reboot into safe mode w/networking yet, or forced reboots) but they are adding things rapidly. And file transfer could be a bit easier for full screen..and speaking of full screen, I'd like to have the remote screen be larger.

I find their patch manager to be very easy to setup. And pushing 3rd party software...very easy to setup. AND..they both work GREAT. N-Centrals patch management and pushing software is...so complicated..and can be iffy lately with Win10. The only thing I find lacking in Syncros patch management is the ability to hold back on a bad patch. Say Tuesday KB123456 came out..and it's known to cause blue screens. With SW patching...I could "deny" that patch to all client sites in time before our patch scheduling kicks in on Thur and Fri night. I believe there is no way to deny a patch in Syncro. Or the reverse of that...say a critical zero day patch comes out one day, with SW I could force it out to all client sites...I can't find a way in Syncro.

I find the ticketing system nice in Syncro.
And I find the PSA nice in Syncro...PSA is the third component you want. So far we haven't really had one for the past 25 years...but I'm hoping we'll go with Syncro so we can utilize it and save ourselves time.

So with Syncro....you have all 3...in one. In one dashboard...one single pane of glass.
If you look at some others like simple help...yes it's cheaper than Syncro...but what will the other components cost...and then add up that sum...and add in some additional time/overhead because they may not all work together..and what's the total cost?