This checklist helps you distinguish between Fortra and other monitoring, automation, and reporting solutions so you can make the best decision for your company.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
• Ease of Implementation
• New Client Transitioning
• Advanced Reporting
• Single Pane of Glass
• Proactive System Monitoring
• Operational Efficiency
• Software-as-a-Service Model
• Scalable Solutions
• Support Services
• Reasons to Change
| EASE OF IMPLEMENTATION | Others | HelpSystems |
| Deploy plug-and-play solutions that support all major platforms, including IBM i, AIX, Linux, and Windows. | ✓ | |
| Partner with a vendor that has experience working with MSPs, who knows your pains and speaks your language. | ✓ | |
| Begin with built-in, best practice monitoring templates and then easily build automation around routine issues. | ✓ | |
| Collaborate with the development team to keep products intuitive and ensure your future needs are met. | ✓ | |
| Get training and regular review meetings. | ✓ | |
| NEW CLIENT TRANSITIONING | Others | HelpSystems |
| Speed up and simplify new client transitioning. | ✓ | |
| Create a standard template of rules and actions that can be applied to every single client that comes on board, regardless of the applications they’re running. |
✓ | |
| Pair with existing tools until the client is comfortable enough to commence the service. | ✓ | |
| Set up a unified console only once (initially) and then simply add clients. | ✓ | |
| Integrate with help desk packages. | ✓ | |
| ADVANCED REPORTING | Others | HelpSystems |
| Report on end-to-end Service Level Agreements (SLAs). | ✓ | |
| Empower clients to generate and review their own web-based reports. | ✓ | |
| Run reports based on specific audit criteria to meet compliance regulations. | ✓ | |
| Tailor reports to meet specific needs for content and frequency. | ✓ | |
| Run reports directly from your browser for rapid deployment, no client install required. | ✓ | |
| Allow access to reports according to individual authorization levels. | ✓ | |
| Consolidate all your cross-platform reporting requirements into a single solution. | ✓ | |
| Reduce the quantity and improve the quality of alerts from your environment using alert trend analysis. | ✓ | |
| SINGLE PANE OF GLASS | Others | HelpSystems |
| Manage multi-platform environments via a single pane of glass. | ✓ | |
| Offer both on-site and cloud-based services with a single, multi-platform solution. | ✓ | |
| Make clients more comfortable with increased visibility and control via mobile apps for Apple and Android. | ✓ | |
| View all alerts—not only those from the vendor, but from any tools used—from a central console. | ✓ | |
| Set filters to automatically reply to alerts, escalate actions, change severity levels, and forward alerts via SMS and email. | ✓ | |
| PROACTIVE SYSTEM MONITORING | Others | HelpSystems |
| Offer extended monitoring hours to help your clients go 24/7. | ✓ | |
| Create intelligent rules to reduce the amount of alerts that you must manage. | ✓ | |
| Receive early warnings of threshold breaches. | ✓ | |
| Monitor critical applications, including ERP, high availability solutions, and business applications, using pre-defined templates. | ✓ | |
| OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY | Others | HelpSystems |
| Make time for expanding your service offerings by mastering monitoring and moving to automation. | ✓ | |
| Eliminate the need to add staff by automating the response to repeat issues and routine tasks. | ✓ | |
| Measure operational efficiencies for ROI. | ✓ | |
| Flag and be notified if service levels are at risk. | ✓ | |
| Manage by exception and automate everything else. | ✓ | |
| SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE MODEL | Others | HelpSystems |
| Experience monthly rentals using our proven software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. | ✓ | |
| Receive long-term fixed costs for the duration of your agreement. | ✓ | |
| Choose from multiple billing period options (3-month, 6-month, 12-month). | ✓ | |
| Add new clients to your schedule at any time. | ✓ | |
| Terminate software rental for clients who leave your IT services with ease. | ✓ | |
| SCALABLE SOLUTIONS | Others | HelpSystems |
| Keep current on technology with best practice templates and an agile development cycle. | ✓ | |
| Upgrade clients to a higher level of service in the future. | ✓ | |
| Expand your offerings while staying with a single vendor to include security or business intelligence solutions. | ✓ | |
| SUPPORT SERVICES | Others | HelpSystems |
| Access complete online help for easy reference. | ✓ | |
| Work with a designated support consultant. | ✓ | |
| Call for live support during business hours. | ✓ | |
| Take advantage of 24/7 after-hours support. | ✓ | |
| Download software updates for new features and fixes. | ✓ | |
| Receive online technical alerts. | ✓ | |
| Use product setup and upgrade assistance. | ✓ | |
| Increase your knowledge with product certification testing. | ✓ | |
| Attend industry and product webinars. | ✓ | |
| Get discounts on classes and event fees. | ✓ | |
| Read white papers, case studies, how-to documents, and other helpful resources. | ✓ | |
Reasons to Change
The Fortra experience is what managed service providers like you are looking for. We provide quality products, delivered efficiently on a rental basis—no surprises. We’ve worked with managed service and cloud providers for over a decade, and we’ve gained valuable insight into what success means for your business.
It’s likely that you already have monitoring tools in place and are reluctant to change unless there is a clear business case that demands it. That business case will require the following four elements:
1. A product set that delivers more automation than you already have to drive efficiency gains.
EVRY Group is a major European-based MSP with 10,000 employees running three state-of-the-art data centers. For a particular platform, EVRY moved from the incumbent solution to the Fortra tool set and realized between 60 and 80 percent efficiency gain.
2. A product set that can be delivered efficiently.
Our built-in templates give you the ability to deliver an easily repeatable set of automation and monitoring tasks to each new client. On-boarding is measured in minutes and hours instead of days and weeks.
3. A rental basis.
Our simple, monthly rental assists in driving volume into already competitive markets. The minimum rental period for any Fortra solution is three months, so there is no long-term lock-in. That means you have the flexibility to deliver solutions to your clients as your business evolves. Your commercial team can make pricing decisions locally.
4. No surprises.
Typical client contracts last three to five years. During this period, Fortra delivers a no-surprises package. Our prices are fixed for three years, provided you remain in the appropriate band.
You can tell when the products you’re using are inefficient. When you don’t have time to implement a new solution because you’re spending all your time dealing with the extra workload that your existing solution can’t handle, that’s when it’s time for a change. Fortra is happy to come out and lend a helping hand to get you up and running right away.
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