Nerdio for Azure (NFA) vs. Nerdio Manager for MSP (NMM)

Applies to: Nerdio for Azure (NFA) and Nerdio Manager for MSP (NMM) partners

This article is intended as a guide to help you understand both the technical differences between each product and when one is strategically better utilized over the other. 

Table of Contents

1. Overview of Each Product
   1. Nerdio For Azure (NFA)
   2. Nerdio Manager for MSP (NMM)
2. Key Reasons to Choose NFA or NMM
   1. Nerdio For Azure (NFA)
   2. Nerdio Manager for MSP (NMM)
3. Detailed Technical Side-By-Side Comparison
4. Pricing
5. Final Thoughts 

Overview of Each Product

Nerdio For Azure (NFA) - Designed for MSPs who are new to Azure and looking for a tool to help them price, provision, manage, and optimize their cloud environment. NFA builds the complete foundation for a fully functional cloud environment. This includes components such as:

1. Infrastructure
   1. Domain Controller - DC01 - (with Active Directory and Microsoft Entra Connect preconfigured)
   2. File Server - FS01 - (for RDS Collection profile disks or AVD FSLogix profiles)
   3. Proxy Server - PRX01 - (for ADFS)
2. AVD 
   1. Golden Image (standard Image for the entire environment)
   2. AVD Pool (with its own "Template" or reference Image)
3. Network (predefined address space - 10.125.0.0/16)
4. Backups (can be enabled)

Nerdio Manger for MSP (NMM) - Designed for MSPs with a foundational understanding of Azure and who are confident taking full ownership of the identity management component of their environment. NMM provides more flexibility with pricing, provisioning, managing, and optimizing Azure environments. Here's a comparison to NFA when looking at the initial deployment architecture: 

1. Infrastructure
   1. Integration with existing identity solutions (Microsoft Entra Domain Services, existing VM-based AD, or new Microsoft Entra Domain Services)
   2. Option to leverage existing File Server VM for FSLogix or integrate/build new Azure Files Storage Container. 
   3. No new infrastructure servers are deployed by default
2.  AVD
   1. Flexible Image management (one to one, or one to many)
   2. Option to utilize Images from Azure Marketplace or import existing templates
3. Network (flexible address space set by MSP)
4. Backups (can be enabled)

Key Reasons to Choose NFA or NMM

Nerdio For Azure (NFA)

1. New To Azure - If you are new to Azure and just getting started in the Cloud then NFA might be your best option. Every new NFA environment provisions accounts based on Microsoft best practice and Nerdio standards. Post provisioning you can then login and customize the environment to fit the clients specific use case and needs. This is beneficial as Nerdio is able to orchestrate a turn key environment with components like Networking, Backups, and Identity management.
2. Deploying RDS or AVD Classic v1 - NFA supports greenfield deployments for both RDS and AVD Classic v1 whereas NMM does not.  For AVD, FSLogix is preconfigured to allow minimal setup and configuration with profile management that is stored on FS01.
3. Not Comfortable With Identity Management in Azure - NFA provides a fully configured Domain Controller VM complete with necessary group policy to allow for baseline functionality as well as Microsoft Entra ID sync for an SSO end user experience. This is good if you plan to either create a fully Greenfield deployment, or migrate an existing on-prem environment over to Azure. 

Nerdio Manager for MSP (NMM) 

1. Deployment Flexibility - NMM is ideal for partners with Azure experience looking to deploy new environments or leverage NMM with existing Azure resources/deployments. The flexibility and variety of deployment options make NMM an ideal solution. Listed below are the 4 deployment paths that exist for deploying NMM in client environments
   
   
   
   
   
2. Security - Since NMM is a hosted application installed directly into the partner Azure tenant and subscription, access and permissions are completely under partner control. This allows for better industry compliance and adherence to GDPR guidelines by country and Azure region.
3. Application Flexibility - NMM is partner hosted directly in the partner tenant and includes native integrations and service principles to allow for more secure and dynamic product. Things like Azure files, Microsoft Entra Domain Services, and more advanced Image Management and monitoring are feature benefits from leveraging Nerdio Manage for MSP. 

Here is a high level overview of each product along with a more technical side-by-side comparison: 

Pricing 

The Nerdio price for both products are the same at MSRP = $12/month per desktop user. Both products include 10 free Internal Use Licenses [IUL assignment] for a partner to use in production or as a sandbox. This can only be applied to a specific account for partner internal use.  Use with a live client deployment is prohibited. 

Final Thoughts 

If there is uncertainty as to which product to choose we recommend starting with NFA.  With experience and a good foundational understanding of Azure and NFA a partner can always migrate from NFA to NMM (note: there is not a migration path from NMM to NFA).