Datto CEO Austin McChord is set to keynote DattoCon16 this morning in Nashville, Tenn. Several hundred MSPs are on hand to see and hear what's next for the business continuity and data protection company.
McChord just took the stage. More than 700 partners from 12 countries are on hand. He's jumping right into the news. The highlights include:
1. Datto Backupify: Nearly all of Backupify's platform has been migrated from Amazon to Datto's own cloud. The migration involved 60 billion objects. New features include protection for OneDrive and SharePoint.
2. Datto Drive: He reinforced the need to commoditize the file sync and sharing market with a free first-year offer. Since the early May launch, the platform now has users in 10 countries across thousands of businesses. Those adopters are now Datto sales leads for MSPs. Stay tuned for point-in-time protection as a service, agent-as-a-service capabilities for MSP lead management and more coming this summer.
3. Datto Network Appliance: "It's probably the single biggest bet we're making at Datto. We can build something better than what's out there." He pointed out that nearly all of today's third-party offerings fail to address MSPs. "A router is not enough. We have to go beyond that. Our goal is to build the best UTM -- unified threat management -- platform." The overall pitch drove home the point that this is more than a WiFi router, with a heavy emphasis on security, reliability and cloud-centric management. DNA remains in beta for now and it will be released later this year, McChord said.
Side note: DNA was originally scheduled to ship next year. Now, it sounds like a late 2016 delivery. Explaining the situation without specifically mentioning the delay, McChord said: "You know the fits and starts we had to get Siris off the ground but we built something incredible. It's the same story with DNA. We're out to give MSPs an amazing tool."
4. Datto Partner Portal: Datto hired Sergio Espinosa, portal product manager, to overhaul the management interface. He demonstrated partner portal enhancements that make it easier for partners to manage large fleets.
5. Datto Siris 3: McChord highlighted how the Siris platform has evolved since launching in 2011. Next up is Siris 3, "the new benchmark for disaster recovery." It's designed to run anywhere, protect anything and restore at any time, he asserted. Among the architecture changes -- it's built on Ubuntu 16.04, KVM (Kernel Virtual Machine) and Apache (replacing Cherokee). He claims it's a "platform for business continuity and disaster recovery." Also, Siris 3 has a five-year warranty. Bonus: Keep an eye on the Siris 3 X1 (S3X1). It's designed for one agent. Every partner attendee is getting one for free.
6. Datto for Mac: "It's true image-based backup. It's a capability that not even Apple has."
7. Infinite Cloud Retention: Available for all Siris 3 products and coming to Siris 2. It costs only 20 percent more than traditional retention -- though I concede I need to get more info/details on this.
8. Engineers Take A Bow: In a world filled with marketing and brand management, McChord closed by thanking Datto's engineers for their R&D work.
Keep checking back for more updates.
Also, here's our five-point preview of the conference.
