Amid news that SolarWinds has acquired LogicNow, rival Continuum and its CEO Michael George applauded the deal -- and also raised questions about potential market challenges facing SolarWinds.
"It's very good news for the industry," said George, referring to ongoing private equity investments and buyouts of MSP-centric software companies. "It's reflective of the value of the managed services model and the combination of RMM & BDR integrated from the same vendor."
Indeed, George believes the deal validates Continuum's decision to buy R1Soft in 2014, marrying RMM and BDR under a single roof. The new SolarWinds MSP division -- which combines N-able and LogicNow -- has RMM, BDR and other offerings. But there's also product overlap in the SolarWinds product portfolio. "They could get distracted sorting out two competing RMM platforms," George added.
Sort of ironic: ChannelE2E mentioned that specific concern as M&A rumors floated around the RMM industry last week.
ChannelE2E is checking to see if SolarWinds plans to continue the long-term development of its two RMM (remote monitoring and management) platforms -- one from the N-able legacy, the other from the LogicNow legacy. "Overall this is great news for the industry and for Continuum," George said.
The SolarWinds-LogicNow deal further validates a range of M&A across the MSP software market. ConnectWise triggered the trend in 2010 when it invested in LabTech Software. Just about every other major player -- from Autotask to Kaseya -- has since participated in M&A deals.
Stay tuned to ChannelE2E for more coverage of SolarWinds' buyout of LogicNow.
