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The Choice Between Tradition and Innovation

When it comes to selecting a Professional Services Automation (PSA) and Service Desk tool, MSPs often find themselves comparing “legacy giants” like Autotask and ConnectWise with modern, nimble alternatives like DeskDay and HaloPSA. While Autotask boasts a broad set of features and integrations, it also comes with complexity, a steep learning curve, and an interface that some might call “a relic of the past.”

On the other hand, modern alternatives like DeskDay offer a fresh approach to PSA, emphasizing simplicity, speed, and streamlined workflows that don’t require an army of admins to manage. If you’re a small to medium MSP business, looking for a solution that prioritizes usability without sacrificing essential functionality, DeskDay might just be the upgrade you didn’t know you needed. Let’s see why! 

A Modern Take on PSA

DeskDay isn’t just another PSA. It’s a conversational PSA with a chat-based service desk that rethinks how MSPs manage tickets, projects, timesheets, billing, and contracts. Here’s how it stands out:

1. Chat-based Ticketing  

Resolving tickets becomes significantly faster with real-time chat between end-users and techs. With a chat-based ticketing approach, end-users and techs can communicate instantly, share updates, and collaborate directly within tickets, eliminating delays caused by back-and-forth emails or phone calls. 

Unlike Autotask’s reliance on email-to-ticket workflows that often tie techs to a single ticket at a time, DeskDay enables simultaneous management of up to seven tickets without switching screens by pinning them. High-priority and frequently accessed tickets can also be added to the Watchlist for quick retrieval, streamlining the entire process. 

2. Chat-led Project Management  

Managing projects is more collaborative and efficient with chat threads embedded in each task under every milestone. This feature allows team members to discuss progress, share updates, and resolve issues directly within the task. Autotask, while offering robust project management, lacks task-specific chat integration, making real-time collaboration less intuitive and reliant on external tools. This combined with a simplified UI, makes it seamless to navigate and stay on track.  

3. Quality Assurance for Ticket Health  

Maintaining visibility into ticket health is seamless with tools designed to track SLA performance, monitor progress, and collect customer feedback right after each ticket is resolved; right from the app. While Autotask provides basic SLA and ticket tracking features, it falls short in offering an integrated feedback loop, limiting opportunities for continuous improvement and swift issue resolution. 

4. Announcements Made Simple  

Communicating outages, maintenance updates, or critical notifications is effortless with DeskDay’s integrated announcement system. Unlike Autotask, which depends on manual contact lists or external communication tools, DeskDay ensures the right end-users are promptly informed without any prebuilt contact lists or additional effort, saving time and improving user experience.

5. Contracts & Billing  

Automation takes center stage with billing cycles, recurring invoices, renewal alerts, and time tracking consolidated into a streamlined process. Although Autotask supports billing and contract management, its interface can be complex, requiring more time to navigate and configure, which DeskDay simplifies significantly.

6. Multi-channel End-user App  

A dedicated end-user app, IT-Connect, empowers end-users to log tickets, check progress, and chat with techs via their preferred platform—whether it’s Microsoft Teams, mobile, or desktop. Autotask’s portal, while functional, lacks the same level of flexibility and real-time engagement, making DeskDay a superior choice for user accessibility and faster issue resolution. 

7. Mobile-first Design  

Field-based techs benefit from a mobile-first approach that delivers consistent functionality across devices, enabling ticket management from any location. While Autotask includes a mobile app, its design and usability often trail behind its web app, making it less suitable for seamless on-the-go operations.

Source: Capterra

Key Takeaway: DeskDay isn’t just a scaled-back version of Autotask — it’s a reimagined PSA + Service Desk, purpose-built for modern MSPs. With its focus on simplicity, speed, and solving the key challenges small to medium MSPs face, DeskDay addresses needs that Autotask often overlooks.

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Usability & Simplicity: DeskDay Just Feels Right

One of the most common complaints MSPs have with tools like Autotask is the clunky interface. Many describe the experience as “too many clicks, too many menus.” (Source: Capterra) DeskDay addresses this head-on with an intuitive design.

Key benefits include:

• Fewer Clicks, Faster Actions: Create, update, and close tickets and projects with fewer clicks than Autotask.
• Modern User Experience (UX): DeskDay has a modern, chat-based UX that’s quick and easy. 
• Quick Onboarding: Autotask often requires extensive training to get up and running, whereas DeskDay is quick to implement and adopt.

For small to medium MSPs with limited bandwidth, DeskDay’s ease of use isn’t just “nice to have” — but it would become essential.

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Pricing & ROI: Get More Value, Faster

Legacy PSA tools like Autotask have high setup fees and often require an administrator just to keep things running. DeskDay takes a more affordable and transparent approach.

• No Massive Setup Costs: While Autotask requires significant onboarding assistance, DeskDay allows MSPs to get started in hours, not weeks.
• Simple Pricing Model: Unlike Autotask’s request-only pricing, DeskDay offers a transparent, simple pricing model for small to medium MSPs.

The ROI is simple: fewer headaches, faster tickets, and happier clients.

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DeskDay Is Built for Modern, Growing MSPs 

Autotask is built for larger, more enterprise-focused teams. DeskDay, on the other hand, is right now in shape specifically for modern, growing MSPs who want agility.

Here’s why DeskDay fits small to medium MSPs better:

• Simplified Onboarding: Designed with an intuitive interface, DeskDay reduces the learning curve, so your team can be up and running faster than with enterprise-level tools.
• Built for Growth: No complicated “module add-ons.” DeskDay’s features grow with you, not against you.
• Focus on Agility: Lightweight and cloud-based, DeskDay enables teams to adapt to rapid changes in their clients’ needs without the bloat of traditional PSA tools.

DeskDay is designed with growing MSPs in mind — small, scalable teams that can’t afford ‘enterprise bloat! 

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If you’re an MSP evaluating DeskDay vs. Autotask, here’s the bottom line:

Autotask is great if you are a large, complex MSP with dedicated administrative resources. But for small to medium MSPs who want a solution that is intuitive, easy to implement, and onboard, with better, modern workflows,” DeskDay is the better choice.

With features like Chat-based Service Desk, Project Management, Ticket Health, Timesheets, Announcements, Contracts, Reports, and Billing — all under one roof — DeskDay is designed for MSPs who want to focus on service, not software.

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Ready to Experience DeskDay?

Tired of complicated workflows, hidden fees, and legacy software bloat? Switch to DeskDay — the modern PSA-Service Desk built to help your team work faster, smarter, and with less friction.

Book a Demo Today