We use ConnectWise PSA Manage to run the operations of our Managed Services and project business. All engineers enter time against tickets, the tickets and time track the efficiency of the agreements. We use ConnectWise to bill the clients and sync the data over to Business Central.
Pros
Ticket Management
Time sheet tracking
deeply customizable
Cons
Project management
support for application development teams
integration with tools like DevOps
Custom scheduling/tech availability
Likelihood to Recommend
PSA is well suited for standard managed service shops. It doesnt work as well for AppDev shops or project heavy scenarios. Its a leader in the market for time/ticket/billing/agreements for Managed services
VU
Verified User
Director in Information Technology (Information Technology and Services company, 11-50 employees)
We use ConnectWise PSA (Manage) as our ticketing system for service tickets and projects. We also use it for receiving, and picking product for projects and sometimes services tickets. We also use Workflow Rules for a level of automatic triage. We also integrate with Automate, and several 3rd party tools that feed tickets for alerts and issues into the PSA. It also feeds into Quickbooks.
Pros
Basic Ticketing
Integrates with many 3rd party tools (dependent on the 3rd party for how well)
Time tracking against clients, per tech, and across business units.
Cons
Project ticketing, tracking, scheduling, etc.
Workflow rules
Reporting is challenging.
Likelihood to Recommend
ConnectWise PSA is fairly good for helpdesk and general support ticketing and time tracking. It can be very unclear what some options are and documentation while "complete" in most cases, lacks clarity on some items that are not intuitive. The Project functionality is very limited for clear project tracking, including ticket dependency. Reporting is not particularly useful as built. Workflow rules allow us to automate certain ticket actions, but there are lots of gaps were conditions or actions simply were overlooked that ought to have simply been "on the list" when addressing fields that can be checked and updated.
VU
Verified User
Manager in Customer Service (Information Technology & Services company, 11-50 employees)
I am a ConnectWise PSA and CPQ Consultant, so I use it every day in many different environments to address many problems that are unique from client to client. We also use PSA at Pivotal Crew (my company) as well. It's our backbone for running our business.
Pros
Time Tracking
Ticket Tracking
Invoicing
Recurring/Contract Billing (Agreements)
Cons
More workflow triggers
Known Issues Resolved in a Timely Manner
Likelihood to Recommend
If you are an MSP or a reactive/proactive provider of services, ConnectWise is a great tool. It's all about the setup however you need to have it setup correctly from the start, because if you do not, things can go bad and get confusing. Setup, Setup, Setup!!
I have been implementing, administrating and using ConnectWise PSA for over 10 years. ConnectWise can help organisations making that leap from being an IT break/fix shop to becoming a fully formed MSP. The implementation of ConnectWise PSA can replace any disparate systems being used across a business or delivery function. Allowing you to bring in a single system to fill all your needs. The main function is ticketing, but also includes Projects, Quotes, Sales, Configurations, Marketing, and more.
Pros
Ticketing
KPI creation/management/monitoring
Automation
Simple implementation
Cons
UI needs updating
New features dev cycle slow
Likelihood to Recommend
MSPs wanting to find a single system to fill all their needs. Businesses wanting to increase their ability to deal with tickets, with advanced management and KPI monitoring. Small IT business who need more than just a ticketing system and are looking to make the leap to a full PSA with integration options, client portal and advanced configuration.
We are trying to use it to manage our project and CMSP client based services. We wanted a application to track projects, tickets, CMSP services, contracts, and sell for proposals, contract creation and lead follow-up. We were seeking efficiency for managing operations in a rapidly growing business. The challenge is the lies CW Salesperson told us on the native integration, simple data entry, ez management, interfaces with all of our business apps easily, calendars sync immediately, works with our office suite, CRM, etc. Unless you business is fully running on Microsoft Dynamics and O365 this may not be for you. It is an absolute money pit in my opinion.
Technology wise, it is comparable to an early access database. A very homegrown antiquated feel. It also requires a 100% dedicated resource for managing it. The salesperson told us it it was like having an added person as a resource. It certainly is having an opposite impact.
Pros
Connects with Sell
Inventory management
Numerous daily nuisance emails
Cons
Too many disparate pieces
Manage and Sell should all be on the same application
Integration to work properly requires costly 3rd party apps
Significant hours lost in training, integration and implementation
Too many to list
Likelihood to Recommend
You absolutely need a full time individual on this program to manage it properly. It is likely a powerful application. However, you have to know how all the disparate parts interact with the other content in the application. How they actually interface with your businesses operation applications (really check this one out as it only seems to play nice with Microsoft suites based on our experience.) and decide how much time and additional money you are willing to bury into this. Figure at least 2x over CW cost your initial period of out-of-pocket costs.
Please don't make the mistake that I did by working with ConnectWise. Once you are locked into a contract the only change you can ever make is to ADD to the contract. If you want to remove something or make a change that would reduce your billing you must wait until your contract period is up.
For example, I use ConnectWise Automate, and a client is required for each computer. You have to purchase clients in blocks. If you don't use all the clients, that's your problem, you still pay for them. If you don't have enough clients you can't utilize it on those computers.
I had a simple request for ConnectWise. Please let me add a few hundred clients, but if I want to reduce that number, please let me do so with 30 days notice. ConnectWise said, very clearly, NO. You can only add clients and can't remove them. What kind of vendor engages in this sort of behavior?
Pros
Billing
Contracts for multiyear periods
Docusign
Inflexibiilty with contract terms
Cons
Allow us to add and remove items without being locked into a contract
Allow us to have people to speak to that are allowed to do more than give us their names
Treat your customers like they matter
Likelihood to Recommend
I don't recommend using ConnectWise unless you want to work with a company that will only allow you to add products and increase your cost but will never let you remove items unless your entire contract is up/expired. I know of no other company that enforces terms like this and is a good partner to work with.
We use Connectwise across the business, as an MSP it integrates across all departments from sales and marketing to the service desk. Prior to using this platform, we had disparate systems that weren't linked and maintaining communication across departments in a growing company was challenging. Connectwise handles leads from right at the top of the funnel through to sales and then onto support. It's easy to use and most sections are pretty intuitive, the university links in all areas are really handy to get help if you're stuck with how an element functions.
Pros
The flow of information through the system works well
A great CMS system for MSPs
Easy to find help articles
Today screen collating the days activities us useful
Cons
Whilst the help links are always handy they can be a bit boring to watch in the university
Likelihood to Recommend
A really great CMS for MSPs. If you want a system to track a lead from a prospect through to a customer it can work really well
ConnectWise Manage allows easy features configuration and its overall management quality is excellent. The platform has been very helpful on easy multiple project management and also on scheduling ConnectWise Manage is perfect. Reporting via this solution is easy and the analytics offered are excellent and easy to manage workflow even the project planning this system is the best choice.
Pros
Easy to create all the reports needed.
Excellent management system with simple functions.
Useful services and data management.
Cons
Reporting on many projects is not easy to all users.
Maintenance of the platform to some small business.
Configuration of the interface to new people is not simple.
Likelihood to Recommend
Perfect on Cloud services and it helps create excellent and valuable reports on all the project activities and other project services. Easy to manage all the project documents and analytics, ConnectWise Manage is a reliable and useful solution with easy features and easy navigation. The ability for project team collaboration with the software is incredible.
Prior to using Connectwise Manage, we used a variety of software to keep track of our customer's information including spreadsheets and databases we wrote but nothing was all-encompassing as Connectwise Manage. We reviewed many different products but since we were already using the Remote Connect part of the suite, we tried Manage and have not looked back. Everything is online so no matter if we are at the office or 500 miles away, we have access to the information about that customer and support problems our other techs have documented so we can get an answer quickly.
Pros
Service Tickets
Documentation
Keeping track of inventory
Cons
Sometimes the program to transfer Email to Manage doesn't work
Would be nice to have a way to move texts into Manage because requests get sent that way as well
Likelihood to Recommend
If you are an MSP or someone that provides those kinds of services, you need to invest in Connectwise Manage - it will keep track of all your customers, their employees, those people's computers, tablets, printers, servers, etc. You can keep track of every support ticket by either manually entering it or importing it from Outlook. The best thing is that you can access all of this information wherever you have an Internet connection. As with all Connectwise products, it complements the other products in the suite.
JagFT is a Technology Enablement Specialist NOT a Managed Service Provider. We use ConnectWise Manage, Connectwise Sell & ITBoost for a combined CRM capability (sales, procurement, finance). We do not have an on-premise solution.
Pros
Pre-sales
Cons
Customisation in the cloud - the current capability is poor. Templates, reports, workflows are not intuitive or easy to implement.
Local presence - it can be very difficult to deal with the time difference - Miami FL, is a long way from Brisbane Australia.
Basic issues are not easily resolved - a lot of time is spent troubleshooting issues only to find that the simplest answer is the correct one.
It is very expensive for what you get
The customer portal is outdated and we don't use it as it is not user friendly.
Add on products are ok but have all of the same issues outlined above.
It is very ticket centric, rather than customer centric
Likelihood to Recommend
It just too difficult to use consistently. There never seems to be day where we aren't troubleshooting something.
