SolarWinds N-able Launches N-central 10 with Direct Support

N-central 10 launches today. The release updates the remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform from SolarWinds (SWI) N-able (note the slight name change) and comes on the heels of strong growth for the managed services division of SolarWinds. It’s hard to believe it’s been just two years since SolarWinds acquired N-able.

We’ve got news on the enhancements now available in N-central 10 (including an a la carte version of their updated remote control tool), news about SolarWinds N-able’s financials and momentum in the market, plus a look at some of the future technology the company plans to address in the months to come. And then there’s the name change from N-able by SolarWinds to SolarWinds N-able. But let’s start with the platform news.

Big release, great feedback

SolarWinds N-able GM JP Jauvin told MSPmentor that N-central 10 is the largest release in the platform’s history.

“We’ve got great feedback from customers during the beta cycle that this is the best release yet,” he told me. “It’s been a close cooperative effort with our partners and demonstrates a strong working relationship with our customers. It is also our first release we’ve done in cooperation with SolarWinds.”

That means the new release incorporates SolarWinds’ typical ease of deployment and ease of use.

Remote control and Direct Support

It also enhances a technology that’s been top of mind for managed service providers and IT service providers in for a few years now – remote control.

N-central 10 updates the platform’s native remote control function to create a direct support feature that lets technicians to remotely access and work on customer devices in the background without interrupting the end user’s work.

Direct Support is available a la carte on an Essential license or is included in the platform with a Pro license.

“Many of our MSPs have been looking for features to let them use N-central in a more reactive help desk way,” Jauvin said. Direct support lets technicians visualize, troubleshoot, and isolate issues, and it lessens dependence on third party tools to help.

Deeper PSA integration with Autotask and ConnectWise

N-central 10 also provides better workflow and improved integration with professional services automation (PSA) platforms Autotask, and ConnectWise.

“Now you can open, update and close a ticket from within N-central,” Jauvin told me. “Our customers are really happy and impressed with that enhanced workflow.

Direct support and PSA workflow/integration are the top two big new features, but N-central features many other updates. Here’s a quick look at a few of them.

Financials and momentum

SolarWinds reported its Q1 earnings a little over a week ago, and broke out some momentum information about N-able.  As MSPmentor reported earlier, SolarWinds reported MSP and cloud revenue of $14 million for Q1 2015. Executives told analysts on a conference call that the revenue reflected an 80 percent growth over the same period last year, and much of the growth came from the N-able business.

SolarWinds N-able saw new subscription business sales up 30 percent on a reported basis and up 39 percent on a constant currency basis in Q1.  Executives also reported dollar-based retention rates for subscription and maintenance customers at the highest levels it has seen in its history.  N-able now has 3600 MSP customers, a spokesperson told me.

Technology roadmap

Finally, what’s on the roadmap for N-able going forward? JP Jauvin doesn’t want to give any secrets away to competitors. But I hear that the company is looking to the Internet of Things (IoT) as an opportunity and that the N-central platform is already capable of monitoring and managing much of what falls into the “things” category.

We look forward to hearing more from SolarWinds N-able about this opportunity and how it will translate into real revenue for MSPs. We’ll keep you posted.