Continuum has rebranded and expanded its portfolio of solutions for MSPs. But the real story likely involves how Continuum can potentially piece all of those technologies and services together (the Continuum Platform as a whole) into an artificial intelligence (AI) system to further automate MSP businesses, ChannelE2E believes.
The newly branded Continuum lineup -- positioned as "the platform for what's next" -- includes:
- Continuum Fortify (formerly Continuum Security);
- Continuum Command (formerly Continuum RMM);
- Continuum Recover (formerly Continuum BDR);
- Continuum Assist -- a rollup that leverages Continuum's NOC, SOC and help desk services; and
- Continuum Enable for MSP training, certification and sales coaching.
A Brief Case of Deja Vu
At first glance, the Continuum rebranding journey is similar to rival ConnectWise's move in 2016, when that company shifted to verb- and action-centric brands for all of its tools -- including:
- ConnectWise Sell (formerly Quosal)
- ConnectWise Manage (formerly ConnectWise PSA)
- ConnectWise Automate (formerly LabTech RMM)
- ConnectWise Control (formerly ScreenConnect)
Perhaps ironically, both ConnectWise and Continuum now have the same private equity owner -- Thoma Bravo, though the software companies are completely independent of one another.
Continuum: MSP Business Automation Through Artificial Intelligence?
Although their branding journeys have some similarities, there are major differences in the Continuum and ConnectWise business models -- and the resulting services for MSPs.
Most notably: Continuum promotes outsourced help desk, NOC and SOC automation (AKA Continuum Assist) to partners. Those services tightly integrate with Continuum Command (RMM).
But the differences don't end there. Things get very interesting when you look at the data portion of the conversation. Indeed, Continuum's cloud-based services have collected and managed MSP customer system alerts for roughly a decade.
Just a hunch, but I think it's a safe bet Continuum plans to use all that data to build some sort of artificial intelligence system that further automates MSP businesses.
After all, neither Continuum nor its MSP partners can afford to endlessly hire, train and retain staff in such areas as cybersecurity. Instead, Continuum will need to double down on automation and machine learning -- for itself, and partners.
All that data in Continuum's cloud -- linked to MSP customer endpoints acting as sensors worldwide -- should help with the journey, ChannelE2E believes.
