Autotask: Salesforce.com Meets Facebook?

bob_vogel

First, all the usual disclaimers: I am not saying Autotask dominates its market. MSPs are fortunate because intense competition between Autotask, ConnectWise, Tigerpaw Software and other players drives continued innovation.

Drawing Some Parallels

Now, to Vogel’s statement. Think about these two points:

Similar Strategy, Different Markets

Now, let’s jump back to Autotask. While many MSP software providers offer on-premise and hosted options, Autotask bet the farm (and its data center) on SaaS. The company is all SaaS, all the time — the Salesforce.com model.

Now, shift to Autotask Community, the company’s social network for customers. The community allows VARs and MSPs to communicate and collaborate. As we’ve pointed out, custom code development and code sharing are increasingly common within the Autotask Community. It’s as if the spirit of open source collaboration (without the open source licensing model) has spilled over into Autotask’s community.

Narrow and Deep

Am I saying Autotask can be as large as Salesforce.com and Facebook? Absolutely not. But by combining SaaS with social networking, Autotask goes narrow and deep in the IT services automation market.

To be sure, Autotask rivals have online communities and SaaS strategies. But Vogel was the first guy to put a complex strategy in simple terms to me: For MSPs, Autotask thinks of itself as mashup of Salesforce.com and Facebook.

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