When SolarWinds acquired LogicNow last week, rival ConnectWise remained mum -- perhaps waiting for the first wave of media coverage to subside. Now, ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini is breaking his silence -- sharing thoughts on the deal, while also describing ConnectWise's own business journey.
Bellini's thoughts are below -- in their entirety. ChannelE2E will be back a bit later today, weighing in with our own perspectives on how the MSP software market has been evolving -- and what it means to IT solutions providers overall.
Arnie Bellini's Statement on SolarWinds Buying LogicNow
SolarWinds purchase of LogicNow, similar to Kaseya’s acquisition of Vorex and Autotask’s acquisition of CentraStage, is a recognition that PSA and RMM integration are important to the Technology Solution Provider (TSP) community. This is something that we (ConnectWise) have understood for some time. We are 6 years into perfecting the integration of PSA and RMM; our competitors have a lot of work to do to catch up to our level of interoperability.
We were the first company dedicated to the IT entrepreneur, and so we know this market better than most. We understand that most Technology Solution Providers have multiple practice areas that demand services from their PSA/RMM toolset. Managed Services is just one of these areas. Additional practices could include Systems Break/Fix, Technology Resale, Physical Security, Consulting, Software Development, and more. Our partners in the “IT Nation” are diverse and we are unique in offering the breadth and flexibility, across our product line, to support their business journey. In fact, no single company has more to offer the Technology Solution Provider than we do; our ConnectWise Business Suite ties PSA, RMM, Sales Quoting, and Remote Control together into a unified solution set that helps the TSP drive top-line revenue as well as reduce costs through more efficient operations.
While our competitors in the MSP space are furiously aligning their products to become more relevant and approach the completeness of our offering, we are lapping the field with our initiative to help our partners evolve their cloud businesses. With ConnectWise Cloud Console they will be able to hook themselves into the cloud revenue streams being generated by Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Google and others. Currently, our unique relationship with Microsoft gives us a preeminent role in supporting Microsoft partners as they move to a cloud business model. We are delivering monitoring, billing, and management support for Office 365, and soon, other popular applications will follow. To date, our partners have over 1,000,000 Office 365 seats under management with Cloud Console. We believe that ConnectWise stands alone in helping today’s MSPs chart the way forward to the cloud with strategies to make healthy profit margins from cloud apps.
Our industry has become very active. We are seeing Private Equity firms jump into our space making acquisitions. This is validation of the growth potential of our industry and should give every member of “IT Nation” some comfort. Nevertheless, we believe ConnectWise is still the smart choice. We remain a very stable company and enjoy steady, double-digit growth rates year over year. We don't just have customers, we have a community of partners with whom we maintain very strong bonds and friendships.
Reality Check
We've now heard directly from Bellini, Continuum CEO Michael George, Kaseya CEO Fred Voccola and other industry leaders. ChannelE2E will return soon with more thoughts on the shifting MSP software landscape.
