Kaseya RMM to ConnectWise PSA Connector Gets an Upgrade

The automated, bi-directional sync plugin that links Kaseya’s remote monitoring and management (RMM) solution with ConnectWise’s professional services automation (PSA) platform, has undergone an upgrade, months after a row over who would pay for the needed updates.

Kaseya today announced it has completed upgrades to the integration that ties Kaseya VSA with ConnectWise Manage, making it easier to access RMM functions from the PSA, and improvements to ticketing behavior.

Some features, like integration with the SaaS version of Kaseya VSA – for use with hybrid environments – won’t be available until Q1 of 2018.  

“Every MSP needs to drive service efficiencies with its existing staff to succeed in this highly competitive market,” Mike Puglia, Kaseya’s chief product officer, said in a statement.

“The latest enhancements to the Kaseya PSA Connector for ConnectWise Manage demonstrates our continued commitment to our mutual customer base and deepens our industry-leading RMM functionality in the ConnectWise environment,” the statement went on. “With these new features, MSPs can easily automate service delivery across separate products and make their technicians more productive and efficient.”

Last Spring, the question of who would pay for upgrades to connectors became a public matter after ConnectWise informed Kaseya that it would no longer be funding the technical work for upgrades to an integration with ConnectWise’s RMM product, now called ConnectWise Automate.

“We have the communication,” Kaseya CEO Fred Voccola said at the time. “They’re saying that they will no longer update the connector and they encourage us to update the connector.”

In response, Kaseya sales staff targeted ConnectWise customers and asked them to consider whether the rival vendor was deliberately discouraging integrations.

“One of the things that we have stated is that usually those kinds of things – and I’m not saying that’s the case here – that’s usually the first step for a lock-in strategy,” Voccola said then. “Price increases tend to follow.”

ConnectWise officials explained they had no plans at the time to increase prices and sent a legal letter demanding that Kaseya cease the misrepresentations.

Despite the flap, Kaseya’s Voccola made it clear at the time that Kaseya would ultimately fund that integration.  

“We integrate with every PSA out there,” he went on. “We, on our dime, are going to be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to ensure that our PSA is integrated with the LabTech product (now ConnectWise Automate).

“We are the ones putting our money where our mouths are and promoting an open ecosystem.”

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