Meanwhile, other IT business transformation technologies seem to have moved closer to the “mature” category, including managed services. Adoption by the general solution provider community is in full swing, and advances to the technology itself have become more evolutionary than revolutionary with each affecting the makeup of the IT workforce over time. That’s not a knock against the developers and manufacturers, just an acknowledgement that the tools have become so highly developed that momentous changes will be harder to come by. But remember, even if the industry is relegated to incremental advances in managed services technology, the business model is truly proven.
Expect revenue and profitability to continue to climb in 2011, especially with tweaks to the tools MSPs use and the programs the vendors build to support service providers. News this past week from N-able, Kaseya, PacketTrap (Quest Software), and Level Platforms supports this managed services movement.
Kaseya Highlights MSP Management Tools
During its annual user conference in Las Vegas this week, Kaseya introduced several evolutionary new product features to its remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform. To kick off the event, company executives announced completion of an agreement to acquire Intellipool, which offers network performance monitoring solutions that complement Kaseya’s current product suite. The current Intellipool solution will be added to the portfolio as an integrated add-on in late May, with plans to assimilate the technology into the company’s management platform in future releases. Kaseya executives say that MSPs can expect to see those changes by the end of 2011.
In addition to the Intellipool acquisition, Kaseya announced several other evolutionary improvements to their platform, including directory services to allow for automatic linking of users and computers inside system administrator portals and service desks, enabling password and account management from inside an MSP’s Kaseya console. In addition, a new policy management module is expected to “revolutionize” the way machine groups can be managed inside the managed services platform.
Other Remote Monitoring Advances
As mentioned previously, Kaseya wasn’t the only RMM provider with news over the past couple of weeks, and from what I’ve seen, any number of other announcements will be coming before summer gets here. Each manufacturer appears to be honing their tools and programs, enabling MSPs to get more efficiency from the platforms they employ and more flexible purchase or deployment options from the vendors from which they work. For example, streamlining the processes that can be managed in a single management console saves an MSP time, and new reporting capabilities give them access to information that can improve their customer service support processes, and provides details that can help justify new projects— and potential revenue. Other developments include reduced license commitments and marketing incentives that help a provider grow their managed services business. This week’s highlights include:
- N-able released the latest version of the company’s RMM platform which includes an extensive number of new features. Without going into the infinite details, the changes consist of advanced dashboard and management controls, enhanced hardware discovery, and a mobile user interface that improves technicians’ accessibility to system controls. According to 10-100 Partnership Ltd Technical Director Will Smith, "The new N-central 8.0 mobile UI gives our technicians the flexibility to service clients remotely from anywhere, at any time and without delay using a Smartphone. That’s tremendous business value we just couldn’t offer before." Whether you believe this is revolutionary or evolutionary, feature advances provide incremental benefits that help an MSP manage both their client sites and own business better.
- PacketTrap: Quest Software’s managed services group is touting its Business Acceleration Program and, although the program has been in effect for more than a year, tailoring the steps to individual MSP needs allows PacketTrap team members to keep it fresh. Mike Byrne talked with MSPMentor earlier this week and pointed out the success their clients have with managed services using advanced business success, including greater profitability and faster customer adoption.
- Level Platforms: The RMM platform provider recently announced a distribution alliance with SYNNEX, giving MSPs access to additional managed services tools within the distributor’s suite of managed services. While the news may not seem significant, the availability of Level Platforms’ solution to a wider audience— combined with the SYNNEX NOC and its other ON Demand Services (email, online backup, etc.)—it allows an IT business to transition to a managed services and cloud model more successfully. That access and “foundational work” lowers the barrier to entry for MSPs and gets their business up to speed (and profitability) faster.
Brian Sherman is founder of Tech Success Communications, specializing in editorial content and consulting for the IT channel. His previous roles include chief editor at Business Solutions magazine and industry alliances director with Autotask. Contact Brian at Bsherman@techsuccesscommunications.com.
