MSP software provider N-able has hired Bluehost and Vistaprint veteran Jeff Nulsen as chief marketing officer (CMO). Nulsen arrives as N-able prepares to potentially spin out from parent SolarWinds sometime this month.
N-able, led by president John Pagliuca, has made multiple executive and leadership moves ahead of the proposed company spin-out from SolarWinds. For instance, the MSP software provider in May 2021 named Dave MacKinnon as chief security officer and Peter Anastos as executive vice president, general counsel.
Generally speaking, the recent hires do not involve executive replacements. Instead, the recruits filled newly created executive seats that will help N-able operate as a standalone, publicly held business. Moreover, Pagliuca will shift from N-able president to CEO once the expected spin-out occurs.
N-able Hires Chief Marketing Officer: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement about Nulsen joining N-able, Pagliuca said:
“Jeff’s vision and strategic marketing expertise will be invaluable to our team as we continue to share our N-able story. Jeff has a real passion for the channel and our MSP partners, and is focused on continuing to drive momentum for our brand in the market. His leadership will be pivotal to our company mission—to empower MSP partners to protect and help digitally evolve their customers, which are made up of the small businesses we all rely on every day.”
Added Nulsen:
“Our MSP partners and their customers are a real motivation and I believe them to be the lifeblood of our economy. Joining a company that is 100% partner led is important, and N-able really does walk the walk; our business model is fully built on partner feedback, growth, and success. I’m excited to lead the N-able marketing team at this point in the company journey and build on all the great work that’s been done to help further the N-able brand and drive the next phase of growth.”
N-able has been busy on the MSP enablement front. Recent developments include MarketBuilder, a platform that allows MSPs to build branded marketing programs that drive lead generation and nurture sales pipelines, the MSP software provider says.
SolarWinds announced the potential N-able spin-out in mid-2020, and has taken multiple steps since that time to prepare the MSP software company to operate as an independent business. The spin-out is highly likely, and expected to be completed before July 2021, ChannelE2E believes.
MSP Software Companies Become MSP Market Bellwethers
The MSP software market was largely bootstrapped by entrepreneurs from around 2000 to 2010. Major portions of the market shifted and consolidated to private equity ownership over the past decade. Private equity firms continue to strongly influence the sector. But publicly held businesses -- such as Datto -- have provided important bell-whether measurements for the overall health of the MSP industry. Parent SolarWinds during quarterly earnings calls often shares N-able business performance stats, but N-able's overall performance may be disclosed even more widely once the expected spin-out occurs.
