Our new co-managed MSP recently moved us from Ninja to N-able N-central. Since the change, several machines have become noticeably slower and less reliable. Applications take much longer to open, and on at least one system I could barely launch a web browser because everything was sitting and waiting. I manage IT, so I'm familiar with the normal performance and stability of these systems, and the decline started right after the agent swap. Could N-central itself, its monitoring jobs, or additional bundled security tools be responsible? Has anyone else experienced this with an MSP migration, and what should I check first?
4 Answers
First confirm exactly which N-able components the MSP installed, not just the base N-central agent. Endpoint protection, web filtering, patching, backup agents, vulnerability scans, and remote-control tools can all add resource usage. Check CPU, memory, disk activity, and process names while the machine is slow, then compare with a system that has not yet been migrated.
There may also be an urgent security issue affecting the N-central ecosystem, so I would contact N-able and the MSP immediately for current advisories and mitigation steps. Don’t assume the slowdown is only a performance problem—check endpoint alerts, unusual processes, active connections, and recent changes while investigating. If the MSP cannot explain the resource usage or provide a clean remediation plan, evaluating a return to the previous platform may be reasonable.
Some bundled security products can cause a major hit during their initial installation or full-disk scan. Web protection may continuously use significant CPU, while an EDR product can be especially heavy during its first scan. Ask the MSP whether they added endpoint protection or other security modules, and test whether performance improves when the responsible service is safely paused under their direction.
Also check the remote-access and monitoring services. An active Take Control session can be fairly CPU-intensive, and poorly scheduled monitors or jobs may run several tasks at once. Review the N-central device details, look for repeated jobs or scans, and have the MSP temporarily disable individual policies on a test machine to isolate the cause.
The MSP is using N-central. I’ll verify which endpoint-protection and other security components were included, then check their resource usage during the slowdown.