N-able has added Generative AI to its RMM platform, N-central. It is just one of several features in N-central that adds advanced management capabilities for iOS and macOS devices. It will make support of iOS and macOS devices as easy as Windows and Linux.
Mike Adler, Chief Technology and Product Officer at N-able, said, “We’re committed to investing in the enhancement of our award-winning platforms as we continue to deliver the next generation of RMM—our goal is to make sure our partners are leveraging the latest features to help deliver a modern user experience as our space continues to evolve.
“Whether you are managing large networks or looking to grow your current IT operations, the latest advancements to N-central are designed to ensure you are in control of a powerful hub, providing cutting-edge security, enhanced automation, and efficient device management, being the only RMM with multi-tenant Apple Device Management, including Apple Business Manager integration, to manage and secure your Apple fleet as you would for Windows and Linux.”
What is in the new release?
The release boasts a large number of new features. Among them are improved analytics and reporting, deeper integration of security and backup solutions, and generative AI for script automation.
The announcement gives a long list of things in this release. One of the main focus points is the ability to automate and scale device management for Apple devices. N-able wants this release to make managing iOS and macOS as simple as Windows and Linux. This new dashboard provides:
- New and improved macOS agent—flexibly manage macOS and iOS devices including third-party patching, deploy and configure profiles, schedule tasks, and execute remote commands.
- New Device Manager for Apple—add new devices automatically with zero-touch automatic enrolment for Apple Business Manager.
- Manage and deploy App Store purchases to company-owned apps to Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Apple TVs.
- Fully integrated Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) powered by SentinelOne and cloud-first backup powered by Cove Data Protection.
Generative AI, automation, analytics, security and backup
Generative AI has been added to the product to speed up the creation of scripts for managing devices. It should make life easier for support teams by removing some of the more basic work from their jobs. The generative AI features allow support teams to:
- Automate the creation of scripts based on prompts.
- Leverage a user’s existing ChatGPT private account to help ensure their data remains confidential.
- Profoundly impact efficiency for users, providing the tools to leverage machine learning to automate mundane tasks.
There is also a boost to analytics in this release. It takes advantage of PowerBI to create dashboards and reports. Users now have access to:
- Pre-made dashboards for quick insights, including device data, backup data, and patch information.
- Create custom dashboards and reports in minutes, with quick export in multiple formats.
- Dynamic UI for deep analysis.
- Spotting trends and service opportunities.
N-able EDR has been more deeply integrated with Cove to support the N-central layered security framework. This allows users to:
- Mitigate ransomware at lightning speed with EDR by helping them defend endpoints against a variety of attacks in real time across the threat lifecycle. Users that have standardized on EDR, can add on more advanced threat protection with Managed EDR, which supplements EDR with dedicated managed security services.
- Take advantage of Cove features, including Standby Image to Microsoft Azure, optimized OneDrive backup, and improved SQL Backup, reducing processing time from hours to mere minutes.
Enterprise Times: What does it mean?
N-able is ramping up N-central as part of a major push. It is now able to provide the same level and simplicity of support to iOS and macOS devices as it does for Windows and Linux.
In early 2024, it will be adding a range of additional features to N-central. It will include an API refresh with new REST-based APIs. That will provide additional capability, including the often-requested run script API, and enhanced cloud capabilities. Those are aimed at simplifying the management of Microsoft Cloud.
