Product Information
There is also a Pricing Cap for both servers and workstations, to ensure no over-spends.
30-Day Free Trial available.
Features
Strong Reporting
Asset Management
Scheduled Automation Tools
Software Patching and Vulnerability Management
Managed Anti-Virus
Remote Control Application
Complimentary MSP Education Programme
Simple Pricing structure
GFI MAX RemoteManagement Hot
The Max RMM tool remains incredibly easy to deploy and learn how to use. Offered as a fully hosted service, it can be up and running inside 10 minutes and is very intuitive in use. A boon to MSP’s looking to grow rapidly without the headaches of training new engineers on the tools of the trade.
The product requires a small agent which is easily deployed to client sites via Group Policy or stand-alone installation. A typical client site can be deployed to quickly, and once setup, the Agent starts reporting back to the central Dashboard. From that point onwards, whilst changes can be made via the Agent (should you choose), Monitoring parameters can be created from the Dashboard, and these are synchronised to the agent.
In addition to its simplicity, Max RMM’s strength has always lain in its excellent reporting capabilities. A Daily Health-Check report can be scheduled to be automatically sent to clients at a pre-scheduled time each day (or delayed if a problem is highlighted on the network). This ability to actively demonstrate the “behind the scenes” work that an MSP is doing to keep their clients IT Infrastructure up and running is important to long term relationships between MSP’s and their clients.
Asset Management is the area many MSP’s first start using GFI Max for, and Asset Reporting remains a strong feature. In the past 12 months, Max has also built in integration with the Autotask and ConnectWise PSA tools – including Asset information.
Arguably the biggest improvement to GFI Max RMM is the addition of automation tools to aid with monitoring and maintenance. A large number of pre-scripted automated tasks have been made available, to run on any Workstation or Server with the Max Agent installed. These range from the simple (Defragmentation, CHKDSK, Clear Temporary Files) to the more advanced (Check for large Exchange Mailboxes). The automated tasks can be scheduled directly from the Max Dashboard. Additionally, you’re now able to create your own Automated Tasks and a library of such scripts are popping up on the GFI Max LinkedIn group.
GFI have now incorporated there GFI LanGuard product into Max RMM too. LanGuard has long had a strong reputation for its first class Software Patching and Vulnerability management, and so rolling this product into Max RMM has been received very positively. An Active Directory-esque hierarchy allows Max users to bring Servers and Workstations into groups, with specific patching and update rules per group. You may only wish for Workstations to be patched during a weekday, with servers of a weekend for instance. Any schedule you set can be propagated across groups – so an MSP may choose a uniform schedule for all of its clients for instance. As well as supporting the standard Microsoft patches and updates, a number of 3rd party products can be updated and highlighted by the Vulnerability scanner.
As a company, GFI have recently been acquiring other businesses to add their technology to Max RMM. One such acquisition has been Sunbelt software, which produce the Vipre Anti-Virus product. Vipre has been incorporated into Max RMM as a fully managed Anti-Virus (MAV). The Dashboard allows deployment, monitoring and management of MAV across all client sites, and once again, the ability to manage this sort of product from a single Dashboard an incredibly time saving feature for MSP’s.
Another addition to the Max product is the Teamviewer remote control application. This tool enables, again from the central Dashboard, rapid remote support to Desktops and Servers where the Max Agent has been deployed. Where the Max agent is not available (think the MD’s home PC) there is an option to send a Remote Support agent link via e-mail, which once activated allows IT Support to remotely control the PC.
I wouldn’t expect the acquisitions and improvements to end there. Over the past few months, the team at GFI Max have consistently been delivering updates to the product on a monthly basis – with the features being available through the single Dashboard.
The company is also very transparent in terms of receiving, and acting upon feedback from it’s clients. There is a thriving LinkedIn forum where MSP’s publically interact with GFI staff to help shape the product, offer praise, and indeed complain about issues – and I’ve yet to see the GFI staff “duck” an issue.
Besides the Max RMM product itself, GFI actively supports their clients in growing their business and learning the MSP trade. They produce a lot of training material, including its “Building Blocks” programme aimed at new and growing MSP’s, as well as monthly webinars and series of educational blog posts. This area of business is often overlooked, with MSP’s deploying a tool but never getting the most from it. Its sound business sense on GFI’s part to help their clients learn how to do more, and sell more.
It’s worth mentioning that whilst every Vendor is talking about Managed Services, GFI are very aware that there is a large market of IT companies that is still predominantly Break/Fix or Ad-Hoc in nature. The Max RMM tool is positioned to allow Break-Fix companies to gently move their clients onto Managed Services, GFI actively offering training to help IT companies understand how to build relationships with “Pay as you Play” clients and educate them to the benefits of Managed Services.
This outlook is supported by the licensing model of GFI Max RMM, which ensures no un-used licenses, and features you only pay for when used. GFI have introduced a pricing cap on both Workstations and Servers, which means if an MSP decides to use all the features available to them, they receive an excellent deal. Many MSP’s simply price their services based on the price cap, and then turn services on as they need them – realising they’re improving efficiency of delivering service without decreasing their profit margins.
It’s been an exciting year for both GFI Max and its client base. As a company, GFI have grown rapidly, and as a tool, GFI Max is no longer considered “lightweight” in terms of features, or only suitable for smaller MSP’s. The company has realised its ambition to offer a wealth of features whilst maintaining its greatest feature – ease of use.
GFI MAX RemoteManagement is the easy and affordable remote monitoring and management (RMM) solution used by thousands of IT Support Companies, VARs and Managed Service Providers. With set-up in just 10 minutes, it is easy to manage and monitor servers and workstations, deliver remote support, asset/inventory tracking and reporting, patch management and client reporting.
By concentrating on what causes support companies and their clients the most hassle, GFI MAX RemoteManagement delivers a highly effective solution at only a fraction of the effort and expense of other more bloated RMM systems.
Fully integrated within the dashboard, GFI MAX Managed Antivirus is an easy and affordable managed antivirus solution developed just for IT Support Companies and MSPs. Easy to get going with just a few clicks, it’s really simple to administer. With our pay as you go pricing, it helps you offer a monthly managed security service; increasing your recurring revenue at the same time as offering an affordable and high value antivirus service to your customers.
GFI MAX RemoteManagement: Helping you build recurring revenues and deliver best-of-breed service to your customers.
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Editor reviews
Not just for small MSP's
As an MSP owner, we were long time users of Hound-Dog, and subsequent to their acquisition by GFI, GFI Max. On a personal level I've enjoyed working with the team at GFI Max in Dundee, their support has always been strong, they have a very friendly team across the board, and I have watched with interest as they've grown as a company.
The initial allure of GFI Max for us was its simplicity out of the box. It's very simple to set-up, and so Junior members of staff were easily trained to deploy to new client sites. GFI have recently added the ability to roll-out it's Agent using Templates, as well as centrally edit or add multiple monitoring checks - which further simplifies the deployment and management process.
Workstation Monitoring added a new opportunity for us. We were able to help clients highlight out-dated Workstations and keep control of their software license usage through auditing on a regular basis. Financial Directors love the ability to budget for these things rather than being slapped with a cost when things break-down!
The Patch Management feature was invaluable. Saying goodbye to WSUS was not a hard decision to make!
A lot of 3rd party services integrate into the Max dashboard. Most MSP's like to go for "Best of Breed", and Max integrates with plenty of popular AV's, Backup Software and other services. What is interesting is that as GFI grow as a company, they are adding more GFI services such as Managed AV which integrate directly into Max. I'm sure this will be of interest to many MSP's who like the idea of having one Dashboard to manage many services. One to watch!
There is a perception that GFI Max is aimed solely at smaller MSP's. I'd argue that Max scales well, and features that you'd previously "upgrade" to larger RMM's like Kaseya for - such as scripting - are not only available within Max, but very easy to use too.
Certainly, a couple of years ago we reached the point where we assumed a move to Kaseya was in order. GFI shared their roadmap with us, and not only did we save a fortune - with hindsight I'd now struggle to think of a feature that Kaseya would offer us that GFI Max doesn't.
I always tell people never to underestimate the large investment required for a RMM tool not only in money, but more importantly in time. For me, Max wins here - it does 90% of what most MSP's want "out of the box" - needs little or no maintenance - and its killer feature, reporting, throws open a host of opportunities to MSP's savvy enough to realise that it's not just about delivering a good service to clients, but being SEEN to deliver a good service!
GFI Max has made huge strides in the past couple of years, and seem to be gathering even more momentum still. I like the fact that really, there is no excuse for any IT company not to be thinking about Managed Services now. Both the investment in time and cost to move to Managed Services has been dramatically reduced by tools like Max - and they've clearly sparked a lot of competition in the RMM marketplace as other companies try to offer the same levels of features, without added complexity, for a low cost.
User reviews
Average user rating from: 2 user(s)
Good for new MSPs
We used GFI Max for about 6 months before we outgrew it. This is a great product for smaller networks and new MSPs.
GFI Max was our first RMM tool. We really liked the simple, easy to use web-based dashboard and the reporting. We found the client installation to be somewhat cumbersome as you had to configure the client every time you installed. We also had issues with having to hunt for the MIBs needed to monitor most of our SNMP based devices.
We give GFI Max kudos for 3rd party patching support, Autotask integration, and remote control, but have advanced beyond what it can give us. The "Building Blocks" approach to starting small is very cool and the pricing structure is hard to beat, making it more of an entry-level RMM.
We are currently using a more full-featured RMM that does everything we need, although with an on-premise server. We are really sad that we had to move on as we really liked the guys from GFI; they really are awesome. We spent a year continuing to monitor MAX hoping that we could go back. When we decided to leave our last tool we looked at MAX again and decided it still wasn't quite what we needed.
Bottom line is GFI Max is a great starter RMM. You can sign up for free, use it cheaply, and leave for free at any time. If you are a new MSP and really have no idea what you need or how to use it then this could be the RMM tool for you - at least for a while.
Perfect for monitoring my Small Business Customers
I've been a GFI user since early 2008, and couldn't be happier with the product.
The low price and no minimum-node restrictions make it the only affordable option I've been able to find that allows me to scale up as my client base grows. Because the entry point is so affordable, I'm able to offer my new clients a free trial of my monitoring service, which helps me to get my foot in the door and close more deals.
Having the live dashboard available from anywhere lets me demo the product for prospective clients in sales meetings and it never fails to impress. The dashboard displays all the critical items that are important to the small business customers I'm presenting to, such as backup status, virus updates, hack attempts, etc. in a very easy to identify "Green Check" or "Red X" display. The instant alerts are also very easy to show customers from my BlackBerry, and the dashboard-based Inventories also make for an impressive demonstration of services I know my customers want.
Because the dashboard is branded with my own company's identity, it greatly increases the professional image I want to project.
The low entry price also makes it easy to offer new clients a limited set of managed services if they seem reluctant to go for a full-fledged support package. For instance, I can say, "How 'bout I only monitor the backups and virus updates for starters, just to make sure these very critical components don't fail?" Since GFI lets me pay for only what I use, I can offer a limited monitoring service at a rediculously low price, still cover my GFI costs, lock my new customer into a recurring service with me and lock me in as their go-to IT Provider.
All-in-all, GFI Max is a very easy product to demonstrate and has helped tremendously in increasing new sales volume for me.
Once the product is installed for a paying customer, I have no complaints about functionality or performance issues. The dashboard is super-easy to install and use, the instant alerts work flawlessly and the weekly reports are excellent for keeping my customers informed that I'm on top of keeping their network performing optimally.
Excellent product at an excellent price. Couldn't give it a higher recommendation.
