Moorfox
Does a one-person MSP need an RMM?
Yes, from the point where you can no longer name every machine you look after. An RMM puts an agent on each client machine that reports inventory, raises alerts (disk full, service stopped, machine offline), gives you unattended remote desktop and a terminal, runs the same script on forty machines at once, and shows which machines are missing patches.
The monthly fee is rarely the hard part. Read the pricing page before the demo, avoid minimum endpoint counts and annual contracts you cannot fill, and budget for the rollout: every client machine needs a visit, a script, or a user willing to run an installer. Start on your own machines, then your busiest client, then everywhere.
You have a few businesses that call you when something breaks. You fix it over Quick Assist, or you drive over. The list of their computers lives in a spreadsheet, and Windows updates happen when the users let them. It works, and the question is how long it keeps working before an RMM pays for itself.
An RMM (remote monitoring and management) is a lightweight agent installed on every client machine, reporting back to one dashboard. From that you get inventory (hardware, OS build, installed software), monitoring and alerts (disk full, service stopped, machine offline, backup failed), unattended remote access to the desktop and a terminal, scripting across many machines at once, and patch management. The rest of this post is about when that stops being a luxury.
What are you using instead?
Quick Assist or TeamViewer sessions, where the user has to be at the machine and read a code out to you. A spreadsheet of client machines that is out of date within a month. Driving to site. Asking users to run Windows Update themselves.
This holds up for as long as every machine is one you personally set up and can name from memory. The spreadsheet is fine because you are the spreadsheet.
When does that stop working?
The failures are specific, and most solo techs recognise at least one:
- A client calls about a machine you do not remember exists.
- A server's disk fills on a Saturday and you find out on Monday.
- You spend an afternoon repeating the same fix on twelve machines.
- A client asks for a list of their computers and Windows versions for their insurer or accountant, and you do not have one.
- You are on holiday and nobody, including you, can see what state the fleet is in.
Each of these is a job an agent does without being asked. Inventory updates itself. The disk alert arrives on Saturday. The fix runs on twelve machines from one screen. The list for the insurer is an export.
What does an RMM cost a one-person shop?
Most vendors price per endpoint per month. Several sell only through a sales call, with annual contracts and minimum endpoint counts that a one-person shop cannot fill. Some price per technician instead, which suits one person looking after many endpoints and punishes one person looking after few. Read the pricing page before you book the demo.
The bigger cost is the rollout. Every client machine needs a visit, a script, or a user willing to run an installer, and that is your time. A cheaper monthly fee is no bargain if getting the agent onto a site takes three days.
What should you look for at this stage?
- Unattended access that works through client firewalls without opening ports. The agent connects outbound only.
- Alerts you can tune. A dashboard that is red all day gets ignored.
- A remote terminal. Most fixes do not need to see the screen, and a terminal does not interrupt the user.
- Patch status per machine, so you can see who is behind without logging into each one.
- Per-device pricing with no minimum, so you can start with the clients you have.
- A free tier or a trial you can run on your own machines first.
Moorfox is an RMM built for exactly this stage. The first 10 devices are free forever. After that it is $2 per device per month with no minimum, no contract and no sales call. The agent connects outbound only, gives you remote desktop and a SYSTEM-level terminal, patch state, tuned offline alerts and an audit trail. Sign up at app.moorfox.com.
How do you roll it out without breaking anything?
Install the agent on your own machines first. That proves the dashboard, remote access and alerting on hardware you can walk over to. Next, the client where you spend the most time: if the agent misbehaves there you will hear about it the same day, and that client gets the most benefit. Then everywhere else, one site at a time.
Turn on offline and disk-space alerts only to begin with. Get them quiet. Add more once the first two are trustworthy.
Where a client has Group Policy or Intune, push the installer as a script and skip the site visit. Otherwise one line per machine from a remote session is faster than a manual install. And tell the client: the agent goes in the contract and in the onboarding email, because it gives you unattended access to their machines and they should know that.
Frequently asked questions
What does RMM stand for?
Remote monitoring and management. In practice it means a lightweight agent on every client machine reporting to one dashboard, with remote access, alerts, scripting and patching built around it.
Is TeamViewer an RMM?
No. TeamViewer is remote access only. It has no monitoring, no inventory and no patching, and unattended access on it is a separate licence.
Can I run an RMM on client machines without telling them?
No. Put it in the contract and in the onboarding email. The agent gives you unattended access to their machines, and the client should know that and have agreed to it.
How long does rollout take?
It depends entirely on how the installer reaches the machine. One line from a remote session per machine is quick; a script pushed by Group Policy or Intune covers a whole site at once; emailing users an installer takes as long as the slowest user.
Do I need an RMM if all my clients are on Microsoft 365?
Intune covers policy and some patching for tenants with the right licence. It does not give you a terminal on the machine, monitoring alerts, or unattended desktop access, which is most of what an RMM is for.