Kaseya 2: What's the Early Buzz?

During the Channel Happy Hour podcast — hosted by Gerard Kane and Brett Martin — last night, I was asked about initial MSP reaction to the recent Kaseya 2 platform launch. I certainly have some thoughts on the matter. Kane and Chuck Lennon (president of TeamLogic IT) also shared some initial reaction on the Kaseya launch. Here’s some perspective…

First, some background: After a few delays in 2009, Kaseya 2 debuted in February 2010. The software architecture is available in various on-premises and SaaS configurations. Instead of offering Kaseya 2 to all of its partners from day one, Kaseya Executive VP Jim Alves told me in January that the rollout would occur incrementally — in order to minimize potential support issues and really scale effectively. As part of the strategy, Kaseya also launched a global SaaS partner program in February 2010.

Early Kaseya 2 adopters include base 2 ICT Managed Services of Auckland, New Zealand. According to a prepared statement from Greg Sharp, managing director at the MSP: “Our engineers gave Kaseya their thumbs up, so it was an easy choice.” Within 48 hours, base 2 rolled out the Kaseya agents to its entire customer base, effectively enabling remote support, patch management, policy enforcement, and ticketing, Sharp added.

But are other MSPs — and existing Kaseya customers — jumping on the Kaseya 2 bandwagon? I’ve got an email into Kaseya seeking an update from the company.

Chatter Elsewhere

Meanwhile, some questions are starting to emerge. During the Channel Happy Hour podcast last night, MSP Services Network (MSPSN) President Gerard Kane and TeamLogic IT President Chuck Lennon shared some additional thoughts on the Kaseya 2 launch.

In recent weeks, MSPSN has heard from several European MSPs that run Kaseya but are seeking alternatives amid the launch of Kaseya 2, Kane said. Meanwhile, Lennon said he wishes the media would take a closer look at Kaseya’s strategy — particularly the company’s pricing model for Kaseya 2.

Some pricing concerns apparently did pop up in Australia — but a media report there seem to be based on miscommunication between Ingram Micro Australia (a Kaseya SaaS partner) and VARs, rather than any factual problems with Kaseya pricing.

If Kaseya partners truly have issues with Kaseya 2 pricing (SaaS vs. on-premises), I’ve yet to hear them — but I’m all ears.

Elsewhere, managed services coach Stewart Selbst has indicated on FaceBook that some Kaseya customers are making the move to LabTech Software, a remote monitoring and management tool backed by ConnectWise Capital. I’m checking in with LabTech to see if they are witnessing any defections from Kaseya to LabTech.

Bottom Line

Whenever a software company launches a new product or service upgrade, customers reach an inflection point. They either (A) stay with what they’ve got (B) upgrade — (C) or move to another platform. Translation: Product upgrade cycles force decision points. And plenty of MSPs are evaluating their strategies right now — especially amid recent upgrades from Kaseya, Level Platforms, N-able and itControl Suite (keep an eye on CAKE), among other options.

In the meantime, I’m checking in with Kaseya for a status update on Kaseya 2:

I’ll be back with updates as I receive them. In the meantime, Kaseya 2 beta testers and early adopters are welcome to contact me with their thoughts (joe [at] NineLivesMediaInc.com).

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