cloudscape.it

IT Services and IT Consulting, MSP

Since 2018

By 2025, it's estimated that 62% of global companies will depend on managed service providers for their IT needs, swelling to a $356B industry. ^[1,3] With over 100,000 MSPs worldwide, the demand for managed services will create competition among providers where potential for growth is limited only by the company's ability to incorporate the most efficient practices and software.

Backup software solutions are provided for 70% of all MSP's client servers, making reliable backup monitoring a necessity for MSPs intent on sustainable growth. ^[2] Cloudscape IT is one such company.

Having been in IT services for over 30 years, Cloudscape IT understands the importance of managed services for both SMEs and large, international organizations. Businesses in London, in which Cloudscape is headquartered, depend on them for comprehensive support, including data backup.

Aimee Roweth, now a Business Manager at Cloudscape IT, was the first to recognize the need for efficient monitoring of backup solutions for their clients. At the time, she relied on email notifications for status updates of backups. Manually noting each failure, Roweth spent 5 hours every week performing this task. Apart from time demands, there was a risk with her process.

CheckCentral automatically monitors backup notification emails, converting text into a color-coded status dashboard. Perhaps more importantly, it indicates when expected notifications are overdue; if a backup job doesn't run or never sends a notification email, CheckCentral will send the user an alert. "We have many different clients, and their data is very important to them," Roweth said. "If we said we've backed up their data, then it was on us to guarantee that. The assurance of knowing that was true was the main benefit of CheckCentral."

This assurance proved especially important when one of her company's clients fell victim to ransomware.

Confidence in software products stem not only from how well they function, but how responsive and helpful their creators are when it doesn't. For Aimee Roweth, it hasn't been a concern. She has contacted CheckCentral support for configuration help on occasion. Otherwise, she says, "Nothing has ever gone wrong."

As a user of CheckCentral since 2018, Roweth has seen the product grow, introducing new features to meet user needs, especially the needs of MSPs. Integrating external ticketing systems such as ConnectWise, Atera, HaloPSA, and others, CheckCentral has made it simple to be notified as well as take action. When a backup job fails, CheckCentral works with external ticket management systems, automating ticket creation and updating tickets when statuses change.

"Previously I was the service desk manager. I'd look at the dashboard everyday and create the ticket. This has taken the burden away. The integration has definitely been good."

With the automated monitoring and ticket management integration, Roweth estimates she saves over 260 hours in manual work each year by using CheckCentral, and Cloudscape IT has quadrupled their number of checks since first adopting the software. Not only has it aided in their growth as an MSP, but Roweth makes every effort to see other MSPs find the same advantage.

Roweth is an active member of MSP groups on Reddit and Facebook, recommending CheckCentral to administrators looking for efficient backup monitoring tools.

"I like seeing others use CheckCentral to save them from doing manual work." When asked if she ever considered CheckCentral competitors, Roweth replied, "It's simple, doesn't need updates all the time, and the support is always very good. There's been no need to look around."