The open source mentality continues to infiltrate the managed services industry. The latest example: While Kaseya says it has support for Linux, an independent developer apparently has stepped in with another Linux hook managed service providers. Here’s the scoop.
Note: I’ve sent an email to Kaseya to see how their own Linux agents are coming along. Kaseya first told me about their Linux plans in October 2007. Time to get an update from them. [Update: 1:02 pm. eastern: Kaseya's Jim Alves replied with his thoughts. See comment section below]
In the meantime, this development: According to VirtualAdministrator Director of Marketing Paul Barnett:
“One of our [VirtualAdministrator] partners developed a process for monitoring Linux boxes with Kaseya. Thought you might be interested in it.”
Interested? Absolutely. I trust Barnett’s news tip because VirtualAdministrator is licensed to host Kaseya for peer MSPs and VARs. So, he knows the Kaseya market.
Barnett credits Mark Berry of MCB Systems for developing a way to monitor Linux boxes via SNMP in Kaseya. Berry describes the effort in his personal blog post.
Linux Reality Check
What’s the potential managed services opportunity here? One clue comes from N-able VP Derik Belair. During a panel discussion at the Autotask Community Live conference a few weeks ago, Belair estimated that 10 percent of the new systems that MSPs monitor involve non-Windows desktops.
Based on Belair’s comments and our own coverage on WorksWithU (our media site for Ubuntu Linux users): I think the current managed MSP desktop market is about 91 percent Windows, 8 percent Apple and 1 percent Linux.
Why should MSPs focus on that 1 percent? Consider this: Ubuntu (the Linux distribution from Canonical) now runs on more than 10 million desktops and is increasingly supported by Dell, HP and IBM. First quarter Ubuntu shipments were up 61 percent for System76, a small OEM. Also, Linux is infiltrating smart phones, netbooks, desktops and servers. So ultimately, most MSPs will need effective ways to manage/monitor/troubleshoot Linux systems.
Open Minds, Open Solutions
Does Berry’s SNMP solution for Kaseya/Linux work? I have no idea. But I think Berry’s work highlights a bigger story here: Managed service providers are driving the industry forward by embracing an open source mentality, developing code to fill product voids, and sharing those approaches with peer MSPs. Some code may work. Other code may require tweaking. But the overall trend is positive.
Meanwhile, MSP software vendors continue to evangelize open APIs (application programming interfaces) to help users write more code and/or snap systems together into solutions. (I hate the word solutions, but it actually fits this time around.)
A few weeks ago at the Autotask Live conference in Nashville, I heard multiple examples of MSPs using the the online Autotask Community to build and share widgets with one another.
I hope this “open” approach serves the MSP market as well as it has served MSPmentor. We always use open, shared, widely available code to piece together and customize our sites.
Note: Story updated at 1:02p.m. eastern to reflect comments from Kaseya’s Jim Alves. His comments are in the comment area below.
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Tags: Kaseya Linux | Managed Services for Linux | Mark Berry | MCB Systems | N-able VP Derik Belair | Paul Barnett | Virtual Administrator
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Jim Alves, executive VP of product marketing at Kaseya, replied to my email requesting an update on Kaseya’s Linux support. Here’s the complete note from Jim:
“The status [of Kaseya's Linux support] is the same as it has been since we released our monitoring functionality 3 years ago. We can monitor any SNMP device, which includes Linux boxes. It sounds like the third party is doing some marketing and is using the capabilities of our system to do it. Which is one the reasons so many people use Kaseya, it is extensible. We do have SNMP monitor sets within the product that already provide the basic monitoring functionality for Linux.
As stated in our Roadmap, that was published at the end of last year and is available on our web-site, we are developing a Linux agent to provide a wide range of IT Automation capabilities to manage Linux boxes and other platforms such as Windows Mobile and iPhones. These agents are currently in development and will be released later this year.”
Jim: Thanks for the note and update.
-jp
Great post Joe:
As Derik mentioned, we have seen an increase in the % of Non-Windows devices under management by N-central. This is likely due to the availability of a Linux agent and integrated SSH/ Telnet/ Web based remote control capabilities in the current version of our N-central Remote Monitoring and Management Platform. We have proudly supported Linux for nearly 8 years.
Rob Bissett
Director of Product Management
http://www.n-able.com
Joe, this brings up an interesting point. As these RMM providers duke it out for market superiority, I think the one that will win the lion’s share in the end, will be the one who is quick to adapt to new products (on which to monitor). I won’t say which one I use, but they do have a Linux agent…however they have to make one for each Linux distribution/version, which means that it is not fully compatible with everything out there at any given moment.
Nick,
Thanks for weighing in. As a whole I think the MSP industry is underestimating Linux. That comment is not directly aimed at Kaseya. It’s aimed at entire industry. I am not one of those guys who thinks the world is switching entirely from Windows to Linux.
But the last 5 years or so have proven that most MSPs need at least limited Mac OS X support. And currently, any MSPs working in midsize or large biz need Linux support. Over the next five years, all MSPs working in small and midsize will need full Linux support capabilities on the server, and at least some point solutions for desktops as Linux lands there.
Watch the netbook market closely. It’s a sign of things to come. Major service providers are going to offer Linux and Windows netbooks for free with service (WiFi/3G) contracts.
-jp
Wow – using SNMP to monitor Linux servers. Ouch – that is not a good way to do it.
Gary: Is Nimsoft supporting Linux? Also, what type of customer demand are you seeing for Linux support — both from your corporate customers and MSPs? Only servers or some desktops?
Rob: Belated thank you for the comment. It had gotten stuck in our spam filter and I just spotted it. Eight years of Linux support? Impressive, considering Canonical (Ubuntu Linux) has only been around 5 years.
Hi Joe, jumping in to answer the question you put to Gary…
Absolutely, Nimsoft supports Linux in spades – deep monitoring and multiple Linux variants are supported including; Red Hat, Fedora Core, SUSE, Ubuntu, Debian, and others.
Numerous Nimsoft partners and customers, both MSP and corporate enterprises, have brought our solution on board over the years to monitor tens, hundreds, and thousands of Linux servers. Server monitoring is the most common implementation in amongst our customer base, Linux desktops are equally supported.
For example… in 2005, Rackspace, a world leader in hosting, selected Nimsoft monitoring for its enterprise Linux managed hosting offering – here is a link to the Rackspace press release; http://www.rackspace.com/information/mediacenter/release.php?id=48
Ken Vanderweel
Nimsoft, Inc.
Ken: I know there are dozens (hundreds?) of Linux distributions out there, but it looks like you’ve got the vast majority (in terms of those with ample market share) covered.
I’ve updated my original blog post with my experience regarding the performance implications of Kaseya’s approach to Linux monitoring.
Hey Mark: Thanks for the update. I will be out at the Kaseya user conference in a few weeks and will ask where Kaseya’s multi-platform support is heading next, etc.