Kaseya Reacts to Dell's MSP Move

Kaseya, the managed services platform provider, has some strong opinions about Dell’s decision to enter the MSP market by purchasing Silverback Technologies. Here’s Kaseya’s take on the situation, which the company shared via email with The VAR Guy. While downplaying the Dell-Silverback combo, Kaseya also plans to offer Silverback customers a special deal when they migrate to Kaseya’s managed services platform.

Instead of pressing the panic button, Kaseya CEO Gerald Blackie is putting a positive spin on the situation. “Silverback’s offering is not competitive with Kaseya’s offering so we don’t see its acquisition by Dell impacting Kaseya’s business,” asserts Blackie. However, he adds: “Kaseya will offer any Silverback customers a purchase protection program with a full credit of their Silverback investment against a Kaseya upgrade. Stay tuned for this announcement.”

Blackie believes the Dell/Silverback deal validates the need for managed services in the SMB sector. But Blackie makes the case that Silverback could get lost in the broader Dell organization. “This is a good outcome for Kaseya,” he asserts. “In our opinion, the Dell acquisition effectively relegates Silverback to the sidelines, at least for a while, as they will undoubtedly get lost in the Dell organization.”

Hmmm. The VAR Guy thinks Silverback is a key acquisition that will make Dell work even more closely with VARs. But Blackie does raise some legitimate points. If Dell somehow uses Silverback to compete more fiercely against VARs in the MSP space, the Dell turnaround strategy could suffer a serious setback.