Kaseya VSA Reviews

Pros

Kaseya is awesome in the automation department. I am able to set scripts in place and have them run in the middle of the night. No more staying up after hours pushing out patches and fixes. I can set the patch management to scan for new updates, then push them out on a schedule that I determine.

Cons

The product works great on Windows machines, but updating a Mac can be tricky. I would like to see them move into the Android field more too. There are more and more Android devices coming into the work sphere that having an option to remotely fix androids would be great.

Pros

Kaseya VSA is not only for MSPs, but for anyone who needs help managing their assets in the office and in the field. I'm the IT Security Manager with all the hats in the IT world at a large confectionery broker. I manage over 250+ devices on my own, with the help of Kaseya VSA. I could not do my day-to-day job without Kaseya VSA.

Cons

I'm not a fan of the app as the functionality seems to be spotty. Right-clicking the client app sometimes brings up a menu, and sometimes it only offers a simple selection of "Refresh". This is my only gripe in the 3 years I've been using this product.

Pros

Many powerful modules:
- I would not even consider Windows patching without Kaseya: it is granular, easy to use, pretty complete
- Agent Procedures and Policies allow enormous customization in what you can do - practically any script you can think of can potentially be run through here
- LiveConnect is smooth and fast and provides a wealth of tools
- Reports, Alerts, and Audit modules are clear (once understood) and provide tremendous detail and customization

Cons

Persistent, unfixed, obvious GUI issues spanning years and years after being reported:
- screens not refreshing;
- inconsistent filtering;
- misleading word choices in scheduling boxes;
- selecting multiple is a chore;
- "View" is powerful to *use* but clumsy and unwieldy to *manage/administer*

The way installation packages are created is terrible. If you have more than about a dozen OUs, you will see what I mean: you must create a new install package for each OU. We have 90. EVERY ONE OF THEM must be updated every time there is a new Kaseya client release (about four times a year). There should be one package that asks the user its OU based on a database that IT sets up.

Kaseya Anti-Virus and Kaseya Anti-Malware (which we used to use) frought with problems, in accurately reporting what was out there & in reliably installing or uininstalling packages. KAM in particular was so broken it caused us to dump the entire thing and switch to Webroot (though the Webroot integration module is a bad joke: it looks like an alpha product, nowhere near beta).

Patch rollback is difficult and usually impossible (though this may not be Kaseya's fault).

Pros

It is a secure remote connection software that allows you to assist anyone and give the power to deploy software.

Cons

It disconnects sometimes and doesn't want want to always connect.

Pros

I very much like Kaseya VSA's patch management capabilities, discovery, remote control and Live Connect, as well as the many integrations with 3rd party products. VSA has made troubleshooting and reporting on ours and our customer's networks exponentially easier. I like that Kaseya is plotting out a roadmap to a software version that encompasses all aspects of Managed IT Services, and am looking forward to the next release.

Cons

I am not particularly fond of Kaseya's Cloud Backup integration with Acronis, and while customer support was exceptionally good prior to our purchase, and for almost the next full year after, it seems that there have been some internal changes of late. We've had 4x account representatives in the 1.5 years we've been using VSA, and this last fellow just isn't cutting it. I've also noticed that our version (permissions) to the SAAS VSA do not reflect the same dashboard as others and getting features added or removed has been a process.

Pros

The software is actually quite good when it works properly.
It has a huge amount of features.

Cons

Kaseya support is terrible, I mean really terrible.
I think they only have one level 2 technician because the same guy gets back to me when the first guys can't fix it.
First point of support is guys in India with no idea of manners and very little training on Kaseya.
I currently have tickets open weeks and some for months.
I have been in IT for 16 years and never experienced such dreadful support.

Pros

Kaseya is a powerful product that allows you to complete a wide variety of endpoint management tasks. Reporting is stronger than in some competing products.

Cons

I was very happy with the product until it was sold a few years ago. Support used to be very good and management was quick to assist with problems that we found. After the company was sold, the quality of support greatly deceased and the product stagnated.

Alternatives Considered

N-central

Reasons for Switching to Kaseya VSA

At the time it was purchased, quality and support was greater than competing products.

Pros

Kaseya has been a staple at our msp for years. It was easy to deploy, easy to update and just simple for new techs to get the hang of. It has all the features we need to support our clients remotely without a problem

Cons

Nothing I don't like at this time, everything is working as advertised and kaseya has been updating regularly. VSAX has been delayed but that is ok!

Pros

Ease of remoting on user's PCs or servers. There are various tools to use when checking client's networks and other information. Automation of scripts and patches/updates is a huge plus.

Cons

There are various bugs when browsing around Kaseya VSA portal. Kaseya portal outages occurs frequently.

Alternatives Considered

NinjaOne

Pros

Kaseya VSA offers functionality similar to SMS/SCCM or LanDesk at a fraction of the cost. In addition, it includes options for additional endpoint protection management.

Cons

I was not able to get the VSA front-end working on our shared IIS server, I ended up creating a separate VM for VSA which is pretty trivial but it's one more host to manage. I probably should have just contacted Kaseya Support for assistance, but since I had licenses and VM host overhead available, the most expedient solution was just to create a new VM just for VSA.

Pros

- You can build a whole lot of automation with their building blocks;
- The depth of information should cover your needs;
- New leadership has taken some time to reform the company, but is now running full speed ahead;
- The potential of venture capital is a big benefit to what they can do, if you make them see the need.

Cons

- Old building blocks have lived on too long (this year is supposed to be the big clean-up);
- The mix of old parts (up to 20 years old) and very recent changes in limited places is confusing;
- Support can be great, but usually takes a few days to get up to speed on technical challenges;
- Integrations of Antivirus are limited and the Kaspersky Anti Virus option will cost you a lot of time;

Pros

I have logged, literally, thousands of hours in Kaseya. As stated above, I can do more in the VSA than if I'm in front of the PC. Hugely powerful. People ask me "So what kind of things have you done with Kaseya besides just remote into a desktop"? Then I give them a simple example, such as how I wrote a small agent procedure that allowed me to uninstall Office 2010, install Office 2013, and activate the product with a license key on more than 350 endpoints with (literally) three mouse clicks. And I did it with a 100% silent uninstall/install while the user was logged in and working. They had no idea anything was even happening with their workstation. Kaseya makes what could otherwise be a huge project super easy stuff. Kaseya is probably the most important force multiplier in my environment.

Cons

Identifying a con is tough. The only drawback I would point out is that for brand new users there can be quite a bit of learning curve when you delve into the really powerful features. For example, writing complex agent procedures takes experience. That being said, the initial basic use of the most common features is easy to pick up right away, so even the learning curve isn't a big deal. When you're ready to "do more" and invest the additional time to learn the more advanced features, they're there waiting for you. For basic help desk folks, they may never need to go beyond the surface features.

Pros

Kaseya built out one of the first and still most powerful RMM tools on the market. They have wide-ranging integrations, a very mature scripting language, and a web-based single-pane-of-glass user interface that is simple but effective. Their remote control tool is extremely fast.

Cons

Dealing with Kaseya as a company has been the stuff of nightmares since I first used it in 2008. Despite massive growth, management overhauls, and continued change.. the company has and still seems to feel as though their clients are an afterthought. I got my hopes up a few times with promises of change and was let down. Pricing has always made me feel a bit "nickel and dimed". Acquisitions and integrations have been a bit buggy (KNM... you had so much potential!!) and have been their focus instead of improving the core product.

Pros

We have both Windows and Mac admins and the ability to be able to administer from both platforms was a key a factor in our decision to use Kaseya VSA for our MSP business.

Cons

Connecting to an agent desktops can be delayed, we sometimes found we had to close and reopen the live connect app multiple times to connect to a host. This however works a little better when trying to connect directly from a browser.

Pros

The company behind it and the direction they are headed in. The account reps I have had for the past several years have been amazing. You need to get to know as many people as you can at Kaseya and learn to work as a team with them and you will be very happy. Their recent acquisitions will make their products better and they will continue to pull away from the competition.

Cons

It's doesn't seem intuitive at first. You need to invest a little to get things setup properly. All software is like this. They need to do a better job coming out with patches in a timely matter. Go to the conventions and get the certification and it will point you in the right direction. The networking at their conventions is priceless.

Pros

As a Managed Service Provider we were initially attracted to Kaseya for its Windows patch management and Event Log monitoring. The powerful scripting agent has allowed for us to deploy software and patches quickly.

Cons

Over the years they have bolted on several features and while they have polished up the interface quite a bit the navigation is not intuitive and there are times where you might need to go to several places to get the information you need. The remote access tool to endpoints is slow and does not always connect so we ended up using something else that was more efficient. The canned reports need a lot of work before they can presented to a client.

Alternatives Considered

ConnectWise PSA

Pros

Scripting - Single biggest reason this software is so powerful
Monitoring - Alerts - Remediation
Automation
Information quickly
Remote control

Cons

Costly - But you get what you pay for
Menus - They are working to standardize the UI

Pros

A lot of good feature for IT Management Software. On the cloud.

Cons

Very poor customer service. I can say no after sales customer service at all. No phone number can be contact for urgent issue. You need to submit a few times of ticket to get reponse. Submitted ticket take more than 24 hrs to reponse. Very confuse of ticket submit link from the website. Be aware of account payment, they will lock you out without notice if you miss the payment. They don't care you are using the software for your business.

Pros

Remote Control feature is quick on systems no matter where they are. Also, the ability create and run Agent Procedures is awesome.

Cons

The software hasn't changed. They rolled out Live Connect years too early as it has been an application that couldn't be ran in production. They focus on new things like new backup & office 365 integration but the Core of their product is still terrible.

Pros

We can do 90% of all support service remotely.

Cons

You need to pay extra for good new modules

Alternatives Considered

Spiceworks and SolarWinds Service Desk

Reasons for Switching to Kaseya VSA

Due Long-term relationship

Pros

Kaseya offers a lot of modules and so includes a lot of features for managing endpoints.
Kaseya is very reliable.
Fairly easy to configure (in relation to the number of features you want to utilize, but if you have a lot of agents then it is well worth your time).

Cons

There are bugs in the software and sometimes update break things that were previously working well.
Customer service is probably good for resolving issues for small or medium deployments on Kaseya VSA, but is not great for large deployments.

Pros

Centralised platform, easy to use, easy to manage

Cons

needs a more robust quality management regime.

Alternatives Considered

ConnectWise PSA

Reasons for Switching to Kaseya VSA

Customer Choice.

Pros

Remote management of all computers and servers. This is the best feature. As long as they are online I can access and maintain all computers on my network without actually having to be in the office. I can also set alerts that e-mail me if a server happens to go offline, which allows me to quickly respond before there is any real employee time loss.

Cons

While it is very versatile, it is not very refined. It takes a bit to get acclimated to how it works. Kaseya provides training to help with this.

Pros

Remote control is lighting fast, Audit gives you everything you need to know, Scripting the most powerful piece of this software that differentiates from the rest, & automation a must for efficiency & immediate results.

Cons

Documentation is better than it used to be but not good. Needs more how to and examples in help. Needs to have real documentation.

Pros

- Remote control is fast
- Helps track assets.
- Monitoring and scripts work well.

Cons

- Too many modules that are not developed fully.
- Focus on one thing and get it right not 100 things that are half finished, eg Software Management does not work properly. Ninite is a better product for this.
- Cant copy and paste into Windows passwords fields.
- Support tickets take too long to resolve, they ask to collect info and logs then end up escalating to senior engineers. Just escalate to the senior engineers first so they can fix the issues.