Introducing IT Glue Copilot

Kaseya CTO and GM of IT Glue, Nadir Merchant, introduced IT Glue Copilot during the keynote. This advanced feature leverages AI technologies such as natural language processing, generative AI, machine learning and traditional intelligence algorithms to revolutionize IT documentation. IT Glue Copilot simplifies the documentation process by automating the creation of related items, offering smart templates and providing intelligent suggestions for relationships based on user preferences and historical data. This tool integrates seamlessly into any stage of an organization’s journey, enhancing accuracy and adaptability in managing IT documentation dynamically. With the launch of IT Glue Copilot, Kaseya takes a monumental leap forward, introducing cutting-edge AI technologies, such as natural language processing, generative AI, machine learning and traditional intelligence algorithms to revolutionize how IT documentation is created, curated, accessed and orchestrated.

Microsoft Entra ID Password Rotation

We also unveiled the Microsoft Entra ID Password Rotation, a new feature designed to enhance security management capabilities within IT Glue. This tool allows IT administrators to manually rotate or establish a rotation schedule for Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft 365 passwords directly within IT Glue. Extending to both admin and service account passwords, this feature offers a streamlined, secure method to manage and update sensitive credentials, aiming to consolidate password management tools and simplify security operations.

Device Lifecycle Management

Device Lifecycle Management is another key enhancement that has been integrated into IT Glue. This feature enables IT professionals and their clients to effectively manage the lifecycles of devices, from deployment to decommissioning. It integrates seamlessly with products from leading manufacturers like Lenovo, HP and Dell and provides flexibility in setting and tailoring lifecycle policies for client devices. It also ensures timely notifications on policy due dates, allowing for smoother operations and enhanced peace of mind.

Smart Relate: Datto BCDR Appliances to Agents

The Smart Relate: Datto BCDR Appliances to Agents feature automates the linking of backup appliances to agents, providing a comprehensive view of asset backup health. This tool enhances core asset documentation by suggesting relationships across various items such as passwords, devices, contacts, locations, domains and documents whenever similarities are detected, significantly saving time and improving operational efficiency.

Future innovations and panel insights

To get the true essence of IT Glue’s secret sauce, three amazing IT Glue Power Users were invited to join GlueXperience:

• Brad Dunning, Director of Integration Services at Networking Technologies and Support
• Chad Wiggins, Co-Founder and Director of Business Development at PulseOne
• Jason LaPorte, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Security Officer at Power Consulting Group

They shared their first-hand experience and insights on utilizing IT Glue and leveraging all it offers to achieve an incredible ROI, higher efficiency and seamless automation power like never before. With IT Glue at the heart of their businesses, our panel members had some priceless tips and tricks to take IT documentation to the next level. Collectively, these leaders stress the importance of IT Glue in enhancing MSP operations, suggesting that through careful planning, targeted integration and fostering a strong documentation ethos, MSPs can achieve significant operational benefits.

Workshops and learning sessions

IT professionals at GlueXperience were immersed in workshops brimming with practical insights. The “Automation Workshop” highlighted the essential role of AI and APIs in modernizing IT documentation, providing tools like AI prompts and API scripts to integrate into IT Glue’s open framework. “Beyond the Frontlines” shifted focus to the strategic side of IT service, encouraging professionals to demonstrate their value beyond ticket resolution by adopting strategic planning and tools like automatic payments and the Kaseya quote manager. Additional workshops like the “IT Trifecta” and “Maximize IT Documentation ROI” offered strategies to turbocharge service delivery and uncover IT Glue’s latent potential, ensuring attendees walked away with a toolkit of tips for immediate application.

Anticipating what’s next at Kaseya Connect Global

Thank you to everyone who joined us. Your engagement and enthusiasm make our community stronger, and we look forward to continuing this journey together, ensuring that every day is an opportunity to innovate and improve with IT Glue. Stay tuned for more recaps, exciting highlights and product updates from Kaseya Connect Global 2024.

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Fortunately, breaking free might be simpler than you think. Time to channel your inner Bill Murray from everyone’s favorite time loop movie and snap out of the cycle with — automation.

Read on to find out what key IT tasks you should automate to liberate yourself from monotony and unlock high efficiency.

10 IT tasks to automate

Here are some common IT tasks that you should start automating right away.

User onboarding

Make your onboarding process hassle-free with automation so you can impress clients and end users with a seamless experience. Imagine a process where all onboarding tasks, like configuration hardening, software deployment, patching and even removing bloatware, seamlessly run side by side. Kaseya VSA’s automation workflow builder can make it happen for real by stringing all these actions together into one coherent and blazing-fast automated workflow. With automation as your ally, you not only save time but also elevate your user experience to a whole new level.

Password resets

Dealing with password reset requests from clients and end users can be a real headache for IT professionals. With 20% to 50% of help desk tickets revolving around password resets, the frustration is real. However, despite the annoyance, the task is undeniably crucial for end users. VSA gives you the power to turn things around. You can either automate the process using your scripting skills using PowerShell or Batch, or you can dive into VSA 10’s script library for ready-made solutions.

Freeing up disk space

IT professionals would be millionaires if they got a penny for every time a customer complained about their slow computer. VSA is equipped to detect low disk space and fix the issue automatically.  From clearing out the recycling bin to deleting those pesky temporary files and even tagging an endpoint as a frequent offender — we’ve got the tools to help you keep those slowdown complaints at bay.

Rebooting machines

The number of tickets you receive can be significantly reduced if end users reboot their endpoints enough times. Using VSA, you can set up policies to automate reboots so that they occur at a time convenient for the end user. You can even detect whether an endpoint has been put to sleep at the end of a day so a reboot can be initiated. The best part? You don’t need a script.

Restarting services

With VSA, you can proactively solve problems for your end users by restarting services as soon as they crash while also freeing your IT team from the load of high-volume, low-value tickets. All you have to do is monitor critical services and applications and restart these vital components as soon as they go down. Besides resolving issues proactively, you also prevent them from causing a tidal wave of support tickets.

Deploying software

Experience effortless software deployment with VSA’s extensive library, featuring over 280 third-party applications. Whether you’re deploying the right software to specific endpoints or adding additional applications through .msi or .exe formats, VSA makes the process incredibly straightforward. In contrast to the tedious maneuvers required by conventional remote monitoring and management (RMM) solutions, VSA stands out with its instant and user-friendly approach. Streamline your operations and experience software deployment as a one-click affair.

Patching

In a world where 57% of successful ransomware attacks result from unpatched software, patching should not be treated as optional. Cyber insurance and major compliance standards enforce this essential practice, even if it’s not the favorite task of tech professionals. With a concerning 26,447 vulnerabilities disclosed in 2023, 1,500 more than the previous year, the time to take action is now. VSA steps in to ensure thorough patching across Windows, Mac and Linux devices, covering even third-party applications. Finding the right balance, VSA allows you to set reboot controls, providing end-user flexibility without compromising security. It’s a proactive approach that fortifies your defenses, keeping cyberthreats at bay.

Backups

Taking regular backups of your crucial data and applications is a crucial cybersecurity measure. With VSA, automating backup management becomes a breeze. It seamlessly integrates with both appliance-based and cloud-based backups, such as Datto BCDR, Unitrends or Spanning. This ensures that your data remains safe and secure, providing peace of mind regardless of unforeseen circumstances.

Ensuring 100% antivirus, antimalware, endpoint detection and response (EDR) compliance

Ensuring the uninterrupted operation of your security solutions is as crucial as any other security function. In today’s highly critical cybersecurity environment, VSA makes deploying AV, AM and EDR solutions a seamless experience. With VSA, organizations can be one step ahead of ever-evolving threats and 100% compliant with the required regulations.

IT reporting

VSA has an extensive library of high-value reports that makes showcasing your work to stakeholders extremely easy. The report templates are tailored to satisfy the requirements of different stakeholders with varying levels of technical competencies. Whether you’re aiming to showcase patching compliance, track warranty expiration dates or highlight your team’s value to the executive suite, VSA has you covered.

Conclusion

Automation is the key to breaking free from your own IT Groundhog Day.

Most conventional RMM solutions come with inadequate automation capabilities that don’t help much to build integrated workflows. Eventually, MSPs and internal IT teams wind up investing in a big stack of solutions that end up being expensive. Furthermore, a lack of integration between tools results in technicians grappling with “toggle tax,” leading to a decline in overall efficiency.

This is why Kaseya VSA is a game changer in the world of RMMs. It is equipped with the most advanced automation capabilities to streamline all mundane and monotonous tasks. This not only frees up technicians to focus on more important tasks but also reduces the cost of managing IT infrastructure and maximizes efficiency. Experience the power of VSA automation by scheduling your free demo today!

The post Break Free From Your IT Groundhog Day: Top Tasks to Automate appeared first on Kaseya.

When done correctly, a content calendar can help you manage content; however, it’s of no use to you and your team if you don’t put it into action. Here are a few content planning tips to help you save time and work efficiently on your marketing efforts. 

Sticking to the basics 

Remember this: A content calendar is supposed to make your life easier, not harder. Adding too many layers to your content calendar can create confusion and uncertainty. Try to avoid complicating things by sticking to the basics. Simply put, your content calendar should help you and your team create, track and schedule content. If it doesn’t, you may want to rethink your approach and elicit feedback from your team on what you can do to improve the planning process. 

Choosing the right software for your team 

Choosing the right software for your team makes all the difference. With all the content calendar solutions to consider (e.g., Marketing Calendar by CoSchedule, Buffer, Hootsuite), it may be challenging to choose only one. Before selecting a solution, start by assessing your team’s needs. How many people need access to the calendar? What are your team’s goals for the content calendar? Understanding the functionality of the platforms you’re assessing is crucial to the success of your planning.   

Customizing your calendar to fit the needs of your team members 

While there are many templates and solutions you can use to track content in the pipeline, your content calendar should address the unique needs of your team. For instance, can your team members access it on the go? Does the content calendar increase productivity instead of stifling it? When team members look at your content calendar as a chore, they’re less likely to feel connected to the marketing goals and participate in brainstorming activities. Every company’s content development process is different, so what works for someone else in the industry may not work for you and your team members.   

Decluttering your content calendar 

Keeping track of content isn’t easy. You may have various content types (e.g., webinars, whitepapers, blog posts, videos) coming from several sources. One of the reasons why you have a content calendar is to help you stay organized and on top of what’s due and when. For example, your team may be developing webinars or other time-sensitive content. Knowing where content is in the development process helps with scheduling to ensure a steady flow of content is being pushed out to your audiences.

If you look at your content calendar and there’s too much going on, you may want to reconsider what you’re tracking. Are there too many columns? Would it be better to purchase software instead of using Google Sheets? Your content calendar should be simple yet easy on the eyes.   

A content calendar should be helpful to you, and if it doesn’t make your life easier, you may be using the wrong solution. However, here’s some good news! Powered Services Pro has you covered when it comes to creating new and valuable content each month. We have some awesome content that will help you successfully fill up your content calendar.  

The post Creating a Successful Content Calendar for Your MSP Marketing Plan appeared first on Kaseya.

Endpoint security is the process of securing various endpoints, such as desktop computers, laptops, servers and other specialized computing hardware. These devices can either be on the corporate network, or, as is the case with remote workers, off-network and connected via the Internet.

Why is Endpoint Security Important for Remote Users?

With more companies shifting their employees to remote work due to the COVID-19 crisis, vulnerable endpoint devices can become easy points of entry for cybercriminals. Endpoints become vulnerable if the software running on them isn’t patched in a timely manner. To drive home this point, there were more than 12,000 publicly disclosed software vulnerabilities last year.

Every month on Patch Tuesday, Microsoft provides security patches to remediate vulnerabilities in its software products, from Windows to browsers and business applications. The May 2020 Patch Tuesday provided patches for 111 vulnerabilities across 12 products.

If your end users are working remotely, they’re off the corporate IT network, which means managing and keeping those devices updated could be challenging unless you have the ability to also patch those off-network devices.

Unpatched endpoints can be susceptible to cyberattacks, with hackers:

• Taking control of endpoints to launch DDOS attacks
• Using endpoints as entry and exit points to steal company and personal data
• Holding sensitive data or machines for ransom

When ransomware infects a single computer, it can quickly spread throughout the network, paralyzing your entire business.

Cyberattacks can not only shut down businesses, but also put IT leaders out of jobs. With the current crisis at hand, dealing with a cyberattack is the last thing you need on your plate.

Best Practices for Remote Endpoint Security

Organizations have, for decades, relied on antivirus/antimalware (AV/AM) software to secure endpoints. However, you need more than the traditional AV/AM solutions to secure your remote endpoints against today’s sophisticated attacks.

Here are five best practices you can implement to create a secure remote environment for your business:

Enable (Virtual Private Network) VPN for remote endpoints

Setup VPN on your remote endpoints to allow your users to access a secure link back to the office environment. You can use your endpoint management solution to deploy the VPN client, configure it, and once it’s all set up, you can monitor it and ensure that the client is up and running.

Patch your off-network devices

Automate patching of your off-network devices, monitor the patch status on all machines and track the vulnerabilities that can impact your environment. Your endpoint management tool automates patch management to ensure that patching occurs in a timely manner, without burdening the IT team.

Implement two-factor authentication (2FA)

2FA provides a second layer of authentication to access your applications by requiring users to provide a password (something they know) and a mobile app or token (something they have). 2FA is one of the easiest methods you can use to prevent cybercriminals from taking advantage of weak or stolen credentials (passwords) and hacking into your systems. Your employees’ credentials are probably out there on the Dark Web just waiting for cybercriminals to take advantage of them. Don’t let them!

Provide cybersecurity training to all your employees

With more employees now working from home than ever before, cybersecurity training is absolutely essential. As noted in our earlier blog, Top 10 Cybersecurity Threats in 2020, phishing attacks are getting more sophisticated everyday. Cybersecurity training can help prevent employees from falling victim to these kinds of attacks. This training can be accomplished through online videos and simulated phishing emails sent to all your remote workers.

Use cloud backup for your remote workforce

Your workforce may be scattered at the moment, but your IT staff and equipment doesn’t have to be. Protect end-user data without the hassle of setting up an appliance or local storage at every office location. Cloud backup is the simplest way to back up from anywhere with internet connectivity—including WiFi, so the data on remote endpoints is covered as well.

Kaseya VSA for Remote Endpoint Security

Kaseya VSA is a remote monitoring and endpoint management solution that helps you secure your systems as well as your remote, off-network endpoints.

With Kaseya VSA, you can:

• Monitor and remotely manage all devices on- and off-network
• Automate deployment, installation and updation of software on all endpoints, even over low bandwidth (e.g. Wi-Fi) networks
• Automated patch management covers Windows and macOS, as well as browsers and third-party applications
• Maintain compliance with your company security policies

Integrated with industry-leading AV/AM solutions, such as Bitdefender, Webroot, Kaspersky, and with a backup solution, such as Kaseya Unified Backup, Kaseya VSA provides you with complete endpoint protection for your business needs.

To learn more about endpoint security for a remote workforce, watch the video below:

The post Why Endpoint Security is Important for Remote Workforces appeared first on Kaseya.

Meanwhile core IT apps such as ERP and productivity tools like Office are now commonly run in the cloud. Let’s face it, the momentum is moving from on-premises to cloud.

Do these successes mean IT groups should move everything to the cloud ASAP, or take a cloud-first approach to all new applications and services? Not necessarily.

One set of companies always seems to go “all in” the cloud. These are tech startups who want to focus their attention and capital on creating new inventions and getting them to market. Some ventures capitalists will only invest in startups that use the cloud for their IT infrastructure. In fact, if you were creating an all new company, and had serious growth ambitions, you’d be crazy not to go with the cloud.

Most environments are not so pure. After years of being in business, most SMBs have an array of legacy gear that works, that is understood by IT, and that is paid for. Sometimes even decades-old servers handle specific functions well, and would be difficult to replace. So even as many new apps, such as ERP, email and backup move to the cloud, others, such as DBMS and accounting do just fine on in-house servers.

Don’t Forget Gordon Moore

In 1965, Intel co-founder established Moore’s Law. It postulates that the density, and thus the power of a processer doubles every 18 months. There is a debate as to whether Moore’s [prediction remains a hard and fast rule, but with the regular increase in the number of cores a processor contains these days, we’d say the power increases Moore anticipated are still basically in play.

Since servers generally last five years (though they may be replaced a bit more frequently), if you want to replace your five year-old server, either it will be 7.5 times faster for the same price or 7.5 times cheaper for the same speed. As mentioned, much of these efficiency boosts today come from the rise of multicore processing.

With these economics in mind, SMBs would do well to compare maximizing the benefits of their existing on-premises applications and infrastructure against the benefits of migrating these to the cloud. Keep in mind that once you move to the cloud, it might not be so easy to move back.

Be Skeptical of Cloud Economics

Cloud pricing and contracts can be highly complex, which is why businesses sometimes turn to experts such as R “Ray” Wang, a software licensing guru and principal analyst at Constellation Research.

Wang helps customers negotiate a minefield of issues. On the surface contracting with a cloud service may seem cost effective, but there are conditions and hidden costs that can turn what sounds like the deal of a lifetime into a money pit.

The main issue is the pay-as-you-go model. IT knows that data use and processing power always experiences increased use. So when you start using more capacity, your costs rise – in often unforeseen ways.

These issues are why Constellation and Wang created “The Enterprise Cloud Buyers Bill of Rights” which you can read here.

Another issue raised by Wang is that cloud providers control cloud pricing. Unlike a piece of on-premises software which you already own, you may find the cost of cloud service rising – apart from fees for increased use. Often there is little recourse than to absorb the cost as it can be difficult to migrate to another service.

Vendor lock-in is another issue. “Buyers do not own the rights to the code in most public Cloud models. Buyers pay for the right to access functionality and use the intellectual property, but at the full mercy of the Cloud vendor. Should the vendor decide to take a different product direction or find itself bankrupt, users remain at the vendor’s mercy,” Constellation says. “While users have access to and ownership of their data, the hurdle in moving from one Cloud vendor to another increases with usage over time. Without rights over the app’s functionality, users face lock-in if they cannot easily export their business processes that are instantiated in the vendor’s functionality,” the Cloud Bill or Rights argues.

Cloud vs. the WAN

Internal IT networks can be awfully snappy. We have high-speed network adapters, high-speed wireless routers, and high-speed Ethernet LAN backbones. These connections are almost always faster than the WAN connections that attach the LAN to the Internet.

While the LAN is only as fast as its slowest hop component (which all tend to be high speed), the cloud is only as fast as the slowest WAN connection and the slowest network and hops in between it and the cloud provider.

If you move major apps to the cloud, such as embracing Microsoft Office 365, you may be fielding complaints from end users about lag time. To reduce this latency you may have to upgrade the WAN connections, which is an additional expense. Adding to the burden, you may need to buy Quality of Sevice (QoS) tools, bandwidth shapers and other WAN speed boosting solutions.

A Strong Case for the Cloud

I’ve explained some major reasons why not everything needs to move to the cloud ASAP, as well as  pitfalls that, if avoided, create a better cloud experience.

But let’s face it – the cloud is here to stay. Major market researchers show the cloud momentum is virtually unstoppable. This means these cloud services, despite some lingering reservations, are providing true value.

While you may not need to move all your legacy apps to the cloud now, new apps could easily be deployed as cloud services with far less burden on IT.

The momentum is obvious. IDC argues that IT services over the public cloud are experiencing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.5 percent, and the cloud is expanding some five times faster than the overall IT industry.

One hot area is storage. The beauty here is IT doesn’t have to maintain as much backup infrastructure. At the same time, restores are more reliable because the data in a provider’s hands that focuses on storage, versus IT where storage maintenance and testing is often an afterthought.

Research and Markets explains why cloud storage and backup, are so hot. “Emergence of innovative storage technologies such as inline data deduplication, inline compression, WAN optimization, cloud-based security solutions and storage gateways are pushing the growth of the Cloud Storage Market. Small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are rapidly adopting cloud-based storage services to reduce cost and IT complexity compared to large enterprises, thereby pushing the market growth,” the research house said. “The small- and medium-business segments are the major adopter of cloud storage services and this trend is expected to continue for next few years.”

And with the cloud, your backups can achieve nearly infinite scalability.

Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) is also hot, according to MarketsandMarkets which says DRaaS is growing at a CAGR of 55.2 percent and will be a $5.7 billion market by 2018.

The SaaS Play

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is one of the hottest areas of cloud computing. Just look at the success of Salesforce.com and Office 365.

Potential benefits are just too big to ignore. Volume licenses for on-premises software can be insanely complicated whereas, in comparison, licensing for SaaS apps is far simpler. Upgrades are easier too since, in  the cloud, they are automatic – no per machine manual software updates. Just as important, end users can get their application-related files from most any device and location.

Conclusion: Is a Private Cloud the Best of Both Worlds?

A private cloud may be a great option – and easier to do than you might think.

If you are already virtualized, it is not a big leap to turning your data resources into a private cloud, where the systems act as a unified, scalable utility. Here you gain all the benefits of a public cloud with fewer of the downsides.

Make On-Premises Management Simpler, Faster

As argued, on-premises computing can be fast, affordable and highly efficient. Managing it all, though, can be a bear. IT automation, such as that offered by Kaseya VSA, can dramatically reduce the administrative burden while insuring all end points remain up and secure.

Kaseya VSA is an IT system and endpoint management solution for IT, and supports remote management of your devices which is done through a single console.

With Kaseya VSA, IT pros can:

• Discover, audit, inventory and monitor clients, servers and the network
• Perform patch management
• Monitor end points for performance or problems
• Resolve issues – including non-working hard drives
• Maintain and run antivirus/anti-malware tools.

The great news is all that all these benefits can be automated, based on predefined policies that you set and manage based on your business’ needs.

Learn more about Kaseya VSA.

Monitor Your Cloud with Traverse

The cloud presents special network management challenges for IT. That’s because internal IT doesn’t have full control of the provider’s cloud infrastructure or a full view of all the network pieces that support these cloud applications and services.

And while IT struggles to monitor and manage the cloud, it still needs to take care of internal networks and even hybrid cloud configurations. Kaseya Traverse is a full-featured network monitoring solution designed to holistically monitor performance across on-premises, cloud and hybrid infrastructure.

With Traverse, IT staff can view even the most complex infrastructure based on service-level views. This service-oriented view enables fast root cause analysis, so network and service problems are quickly resolved and don’t hold operations up.

Learn more about Kaseya Traverse here.

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