Kaseya Pursues Smart Phone, Linux Managed Services Markets

kaseya linux remote administration

I concede: Kaseya has been promising Apple iPhone, extensive smart phone and Linux support for quite some time. And many  remote management software companies have already addressed the smart phone and Linux markets. (Check in your vendors for specific product details.)

Still, Kaseya has a big installed base of corporate IT managers and managed service providers who have been waiting on the mobile and Linux efforts. So how are the efforts coming along?

Kaseya Executive VP Jim Alves gave me multiple updates on January 8. First, we covered Kaseya’s forthcoming Kaseya 2 managed services framework launch, which includes SaaS and on-premise efforts. Then we moved onto smart phone and Linux discussions in the following two FastChat videos.

Kaseya Mobile for Smart Phones

0:00: Intro
0:19: Kaseya 2 meets Kaseya Mobile
1:03: Tailoring specific apps for smart phones
2:02: Beyond the Apple iPhone — Symbian, Google Android, Chrome OS, Blackberry and more
2:45: More info
3:02: Conclusion

To recap, Kaseya Mobile is actually a platform for multiple applications and functions such as:

I suspect we’ll hear more once Kaseya 2 is announced in late January 2010.

Kaseya for Linux

0:00: Intro
0:15: Pushing beyond Windows to Linux
0:38: A management console on Linux?
0:50: Which Linux platforms will Kaseya support?
1:00: Estimated Linux agent availability
1:33: More information
1:51: Conclusion

According to Alves, Kaseya’s Linux agent will support remote discovery, audit, inventory management, patch management and backup (among other services). Alves says Kaseya’s Linux agents are in alpha test now; a beta is expected in Q2 or Q3 2010, Alves added.

Proper Perspective

I want to reiterate: Most of the major RMM (remote monitoring and management) and PSA (professional services automation) companies have either delivered or promise to deliver iPhone support. And a lengthy list of RMM players are making Linux moves. (Don’t forget: N-able, a Kaseya rival, wrote its entire platform on Linux.) So check in with your specific providers before making any decisions.