Account Intelligence in Atera: Offline Devices, Trends & Discovery

The real problem: most IT surprises start with poor visibility

In both MSP and internal IT environments, major incidents often trace back to something simple that went unnoticed:

• devices that quietly go offline and stay that way
• endpoints that exist on the network but were never onboarded
• machines that should be retired but still appear active
• teams spending time reconciling inventories instead of resolving issues

Account intelligence in Atera is not about flashy dashboards. It’s about confidently answering basic questions every day:

• What devices do we manage?
• Which ones are unhealthy or missing?
• What changed since last week?

What “Account Intelligence” actually means in Atera

Atera delivers account-level visibility through a combination of device data, health logic, lifecycle controls, and discovery tools that work together.

Device filtering and fast discovery

Within the Devices view, teams can quickly isolate subsets of endpoints—such as offline devices, specific OS types, or machines not seen recently. In environments where AI-powered filtering is enabled, natural-language style filters further reduce the time spent building complex queries.

Agent health logic (beyond online vs offline)

Atera doesn’t rely solely on a binary online/offline state. Agent health logic adds context, helping teams understand whether a device is genuinely unreachable or experiencing agent-level issues. This distinction is critical for prioritization and root-cause analysis.

A clear device lifecycle, including “retired” assets

Atera formally supports the concept of retired devices, allowing teams to distinguish between endpoints that are temporarily offline and those that are no longer part of the managed environment. This keeps device counts accurate and reports meaningful.

Network Discovery for unmanaged assets

Network Discovery scans help identify devices present on on-premise networks that are not yet managed by Atera. This includes workstations, servers, and SNMP-capable devices. Discovery results can be reviewed, exported, and acted upon—turning unknown assets into managed endpoints or documented exclusions.

Offline devices: three questions every team should answer weekly

1. Which devices are offline—and for how long?

Start with a simple offline device list and treat it as an operational queue:

• confirm whether the device is expected to be offline
• decide if it should be marked as retired
• investigate active devices that should be reachable

2. Is the issue connectivity—or agent health?

Agent health indicators help teams avoid false assumptions. A device may be “online” but unhealthy, or appear offline due to agent-level issues rather than true connectivity loss.

3. Are retired devices clearly marked?

Unretired legacy endpoints distort reporting, inflate device counts, and create unnecessary alerts. A clean retirement process keeps visibility accurate and conversations with stakeholders grounded in reality.

Trends: practical patterns, not buzzwords

In day-to-day operations, trends are simply repeated behaviors you can act on, such as:

• the same site frequently showing offline endpoints
• recurring agent health issues on a specific device group
• endpoints that haven’t checked in for extended periods

By combining device filtering, health indicators, and proper lifecycle states, teams gain a stable baseline they can trust—without relying on guesswork.

Discovery: finding unmanaged devices before they cause incidents

What Network Discovery adds

Network Discovery allows teams to scan local networks from an online Windows agent, schedule scans, fine-tune scan behavior, and export results for reconciliation.

Why this matters operationally

Unmanaged devices are often where problems originate:

• machines missing security updates because the agent was never installed
• printers, switches, or other infrastructure devices critical to operations but invisible to monitoring
• endpoints added during office moves or expansions that bypassed onboarding

Once discovered, teams can decide whether to:

• install the Atera agent
• monitor the device via SNMP
• document and intentionally exclude it, with ownership clarified

A practical operating model you can adopt immediately

Weekly account intelligence routine (30–45 minutes)

1. Review offline devices
2. Check agent health for repeat offenders
3. Confirm retired vs active status
4. Review recent Network Discovery results
5. Assign ownership and next actions

This simple rhythm reduces surprise outages, shortens troubleshooting cycles, and keeps inventory aligned with reality.

MSP vs Internal IT: same tools, different wins

For MSPs

• prevents unmanaged devices inside customer environments
• improves onboarding consistency
• strengthens reporting credibility during QBRs

For Internal IT teams

• maintains control during office growth or restructuring
• reduces time wasted debating device status
• enforces clean asset lifecycle management

Turn device sprawl into a managed lifecycle→ Explore Atera’s offline tracking and discovery tools in 30 minutes.

FAQs

What’s the fastest way to identify offline devices in Atera?

Use the Devices view with appropriate filters. Where available, AI-powered filters can further speed up discovery using natural language.

Why is agent health important if a device shows as online?

Because “online” does not always mean “healthy.” Agent health helps identify endpoints that need attention before users report issues.

When should a device be marked as retired?

When it is permanently removed from the environment—decommissioned, replaced, or no longer under IT responsibility.

Does Network Discovery scan cloud environments?

No. Network Discovery is designed for on-premise networks.

What happens if the scanning agent goes offline?

Scans require an online Windows agent. If the agent disconnects, the scan resumes automatically once it reconnects.

Can Network Discovery results be exported?

Yes. Results can be exported for reconciliation, audits, or onboarding workflows.

Is this the same as AI Copilot inside tickets?

No. Account intelligence focuses on device visibility and inventory awareness, while AI Copilot supports technicians across workflows such as tickets, scripts, and actions.

What’s a good KPI to track from this process?

Track:

• active devices offline beyond a defined threshold
• unmanaged devices discovered vs onboarded each month