MSPmentor

N-able Technologies, as expected, has launched  N-central 8.0 — the newest version of its remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform for MSP’s and IT departments. N-central 8.0 debuts amid intensifying managed services software competition — most of the major RMM providers have launched major software upgrades in recent months. But N-able has a loyal partner base plus a pure channel-centric sales model for MSPs and mid-market customers. Here’s a closer look at the N-able N-central 8.0 strategy.

N-able’s partner base — about 2,200 MSPs and 100 technology partners — serve about 40,000 SMB’s worldwide. All of N-able’s mid-market sales are done through the channel, and 40 percent of those sales are made outside of North America. In preparation for the N-central 8.0 launch, N-able CEO Gavin Garbutt and N-able Director of Product Management Robert Grapes shared some insights with me last week.

“How do we help technicians become more profitable? That’s the goal with 8.0,” said Garbutt. The answer involves N-central 8.0′s simplicity and sophistication, N-able asserts.

N-central 8.0 can manage audits, netflow, backup, services and reports. It has cross-customer dashboards, views and management, a new scripting workflow and a mobile user interface (UI) for far reaching accessibility. But as Garbutt and Grapes explained, it’s also a platform that N-able plans to use for future company developments. Anti-spam and policy management enhancements will arrive this month, Garbutt notes.

N-central 8.0 has been in the making for three years. “We went through an entire rewrite of the UI and simplified the navigation. Now, customers won’t see anything they don’t need to see,” said Grapes.

Once MSPs deploy the platform, they can pick and choose specific applications from the N-able marketplace to add, while avoiding applications they don’t want. As Garbutt puts it, “We don’t want anyone to buy our software and have it sit on a shelf.”

Competitive Market

N-central 8.0 debuts amid intensifying MSP software competition. A few prime examples:

• Roughly 400 to 500 MSPs are gathered this week for the Kaseya Connect conference in Las Vegas;
• a recent Quest Software SEC filing suggested that the PacketTrap MSP platform sales are accelerating faster than expected;
• early feedback on the latest Level Platforms release appears positive;
• LabTech Software has gained momentum; and
• a lengthy list of RMM companies are planning additional upgrades.

Still, N-able has a loyal channel and MSP following. To the company’s credit, N-able routes all sales leads out to partners — including mid-market IT department leads. So, N-able channel partners can potentially profit on three fronts: Offering SMBs remote monitoring services will also reselling N-able into mid-market accounts, and then earning more services business from those mid-market engagements.

Additional insights from Joe Panettieri. Sign up for MSPmentor’s Weekly Enewsletter, Webcasts and Resource Center. Follow us via RSS, Facebook, Identi.ca and Twitter. Check out more MSP voices at www.MSPtweet.com. Read our editorial disclosure here.

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