Pulseway has released version 9.7 of its RMM solution. The release sees several enhancements including ones to Patch Management, Remote Control and new integrations. Enterprise Times spoke to Edgar Zacharjev, SVP of Product and Strategy, about the update.
Patch Management Status page
For patch management, Pulseway has introduced an interactive patch status page. It allows larger organisations to have a greater granularity around what they patch and when. The new status page enables a technician to review each new patch and decide whether they wish it to be rolled out.
Technicians can filter by patch category. Also, by clicking on a specific patch, the technician can see which devices will be affected.
Remote Control session recording
With this release, Pulseway has introduced the ability to record remote control sessions. The recording is Zipped and stored on the PC being recorded, though Pulseway will support this being replicated to a server on or offsite. Importantly, an audit log is also recorded within Pulseway so that even if the recording is deleted there is a record that the remote-control event occurred.
The solution is flexible and supports a variety of use cases and permission sets. Pulseway has thought this through carefully, and it is a welcome addition to the Remote Control sessions. Technicians do not have access to the option to record or not, nor the ability to switch off the audit. The feature supports Windows devices, and Zacharjev indicated that Mac devices would be supported later in the year.
I asked Zacharjev why they introduced this feature. He replied, “A lot of it is compliance-based, and companies need a track record of what happened during a session. It allows them to reference it if there’s a debate of what the technician did or if something was broken on that session.”
Integrations
The release sees two main integration updates. The first is to Autotask with an improvement in the way that Pulseway Assets synchronise with Autotask configuration items. More information will now be visible within Autotask.
The second and probably more important are new integrations with Datto. From the Pulseway web application, it is now possible to deploy Datto BCDR backup and disaster protection to Pulseway agents and view backup statuses. Technicians can now deploy the Datto BCDR protection agent using Pulseway. It is also possible to see the backup status within Pulseway. According to Zacharjev, this is a full integration with Datto BCDR, as it was a popular customer request.
The integration with Datto Networks, enables technicians to retrieve information from and perform management operations on assets within the Datto Network, including switches, routers, access points, and managed power devices. Ultimately, this will enable technicians to resolve issues faster, improving customer satisfaction.
Automations
Already one of the most comprehensive workflow and task management systems in the industry, Pulseway has further enhanced its capabilities. The role-based access controls in User Defined team permissions now cover all the features available in the Automation menu, which include:
- Scripts
- Tasks
- Workflows
- Workflow History
- Custom Fields
- Managed Files
It allows admins to set more complex permissions for technicians to carry out specific tasks. There is a new ability that enables tasks to be skipped if a device is offline. Once the device is brought back online, the tasks are executed, ensuring that devices will not avoid having the update critical for security updates.
Other improvements
Pulseway has included several other improvements that are worth noting. It now records the exact time a patch update takes to execute. Zacharjev believes that it will allow technicians to investigate when a patch is slower than expected, leading to identifying issues with bandwidth or something else.
It has also improved the patch policy to enable technicians to set software requirements for third-party software. It means that technicians can determine whether to globally update applications via the patch policy.
Zacharchev explained, “Now you can filter if you want to make some adjustments to the being a workstation or server for specific applications. Or maybe you don’t want to update applications on servers. Now you can filter by that without having to do true groups.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
While there is no major functionality within this release, Zacharjev rightly called out three as his favourite. The patch management status page, the improvements to the remote control and the Datto BCDR. All three were popular demands from customers, and each will make the lives of technicians within customers easier.
What is noteworthy was Zacharjev’s passing comment about his update. It is not all about the technology. He added, “We keep adding to the product. The other thing we’re obviously trying to push is making sure our client our clients see the updates and actually utilise them. It’s all about training these days, we still have clients just using remote control they are not utilising automation in the way it should be. We keep pushing our incentive to train our clients and provide certifications and all those elements.”
Organisations must review updates from cloud vendors. They are often installed almost invisibly, and without learning and taking advantage of the new updates. They may, in time, feel disillusioned with the software and look for something better. However, often, the solution they use has the features. They are just not using them or may not even be aware of them.
