Deploying Datto took us a few months, and we mostly handled it ourselves, but the package we got included training and support. You can get them to help more if you want, but we were doing it from the ground up, so there was a lot of stuff that we had to figure out in terms of workflows and how we wanted to do it. I did a sample system and figured out what we liked. The company didn't like it on the first try, so we restructured it based on what we learned. In total, it was probably two or three months before we went live with it. We don't have to do any maintenance. That's all included, so all we have to do is use the product.

Setting up Datto was pretty straightforward. I can't remember if I had a hard time when we first installed it, but I don't think so. We were using a different ticketing system outside of Autotask at the time.  To maintain and manage the solution, we have around eight techs. Four of them are on the help desk, and we have a couple on-site. Then we have the Level Twos doing projects or dealing with escalation. 

The initial setup is straightforward. All you need is admin rights on the server to push out the agent on a domain. 

If the client is not on a domain, we would send them a small batch file to add an administrative user that we could then use to push it out over the network. It was a little cumbersome for those clients not on a domain.

It's majorly complex. There is definitely a steep learning curve, which is fine. With any product of this magnitude, there is going to be a learning curve. So, it's expected. I don't want to criticize the product for this. There is going to be a lot to embrace. The equivalent would be driving an automatic car versus a semi-truck trailer, which would have a lot more going on.

In terms of duration, it took us two weeks and about four to six hours a day. 

I was the one who deployed it, and it has been pretty straightforward. They had some tools that you can use for existing systems, such as Active Directory, and group policies to help you push out the software. 

If the software is on one machine, you can use that machine as the master, and it will find the others on the network and push it out that way. That's how we went about it, and that was a big help.

It took a few hours of work on my part to get it started.

It is very complex. There is nothing out of the box, and you have to custom design it for everything.