Kaseya’s mission to change the fortunes of MSPs for the better continues unabated as its CEO has confirmed some big news is mere months away.
Speaking to Channel Pro at the end of November, fresh from DattoCon Miami and APAC, Fred Voccola gave a comprehensive recap of recent announcements and the importance of the SAS Alerts acquisition.
He also offered a glimpse into what is yet to come – and the opportunities therein for MSPs.
“DattCon Miami was a great event. We announced Kaseya 365 User. which is the second piece of our plan to really change this industry forever in favor of MSPs,” he said.
“We also spoke a lot about – and we really codified, in a way – what Kaseya is all about. For the last 10 years, we’ve been building a platform called IT complete, and we released the first integrated version of it called Kaseya 365 Endpoint back in May.”
Well-received
Just a few weeks after the announcement, Kaseya 365 User was in play at more than 800 MSPs, a number that has likely increased rapidly since thanks to the solution’s reception.
Kaseya 365 User is designed to improve security posture through threat detection and response. It is made up of five core components:
- Anti-phishing defense that blocks suspect emails to avoid inadvertent user mistakes.
- Cloud detection and response thanks to SaaS Alerts capabilities that automatically detect and immediately take action to deal with SaaS application security issues
- Dark Web monitoring, providing insight and data in cases where a business may need to proactively act to mitigate problems.
- SaaS backup, which ensures restoration of business-critical data should the worst happen.
- User awareness testing and training, helping ensure the human element in prevention passes muster.
SAS Alerts marks Kaseya’s most recent acquisition and one that Voccola has had his eye on for some time.
“SAS Alerts is a cloud detection and response solution. The only one in the world, the leader of it. Cloud detection and response, or CDR, is analogous to EDR, except where EDR is protecting an endpoint. CDR is protecting a user and all their SaaS applications, which is one of the biggest threat vectors that we’re seeing,” he said.
“I’ve known Jim Lippie for a long time, and when he and Chip [Buck] took over there and built SAS Alerts. I was the biggest cheerleader on the sideline. Watching them build that company was awesome. I wanted to buy this company from the second they told me about the idea.”
Two-steps left
Voccola added: “It’s just another step. IT Complete must be complete. For Kaseya 365 to do everything it says it must be complete. Everybody’s accessing SaaS applications. That’s the primary type of application. No one’s monitoring who’s accessing them, when, where, what it’s like, how it’s happening. SAS Alerts tells you that, it monitors. It’s a great solution. Everyone needs it. We believe everyone should be using it. That’s why we included it for free in Kaseya 365 User.”
Small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) may be little in stature, but they continue to power economies around the world, Voccola stressed. Alas, they are also big targets for threat actors.
Given most SMBs don’t have dedicated IT personnel, they are reliant on MSPs for their overall technology operations but, importantly, to help mitigate against and recover from cyber attacks and security incidents.
This is where things get even more complicated. Despite the growing reliance on and importance of MSPs for SMBs, the maths does not add up, according to Voccola.
“When we think about the MSP, their customers have two other primary service providers. One would be solicitors or law firms, and the second the people who prepare taxes and your financials. I think it’s safe to say that what an MSP does is 100 times more valuable than what the solicitors or the tax people do but 1,000 times harder,” he said.
“Yet – and this makes me so frustrated – the average MSP profit margin is 10%, whereas the average solicitor profit margin is 40% and the accounting firm is around 35%. That’s an injustice. It’s actually very risky for our entire state economy that the foundation of what’s keeping small to mid-sized businesses going is running at profit margins on average of 10%.”
Changing MSP fortunes for the better
This, Voccola stresses, is why Kaseya has invested so much time, effort, and money into trying to change the unit economics for MSPs.
“I feel very proud of the work that the employees of Kaseya have done,” he added.
“This company is all about MSPs and we are solving the most important challenge that every MSP faces, and that is making sure your business – that your customers absolutely rely on – is getting the respect, recognition, and, most importantly, the rewards, the financial rewards… It’s not about just making money, it’s to be able to invest so you can continue to protect your customers in the best way possible.”
Kaseya has made use of its own AI engine, Cooper, as well as ensuring lower costs and ease of use with MSP-centric design and operation. This, according to Voccola, means Kaseya-powered MSPs can, on average, realize a 37% margin going forward, allowing them to invest positively in their future and that of their customers.
Talking of investment, Kaseya has spent a great deal getting to this point. “North of around $14 billion,” according to Voccola. That investment will continue not just in acquisition and technologies, but also in people with feet on the ground to ensure a local presence to ensure continued success globally.
In previous conversations with ChannelPro, Voccola had talked about the company’s four-step journey. DattonCon Miami’s announcements leave us at step two, so what’s next?
February and May will be points of inflection on the MSP calendar, for sure, with Voccola describing what will be announced there as both “monster” and ‘earth-shattering.”
He hinted at big news in the compliance/standards space as well as cyber security and the use of AI.
“We’re going to see governments mandating standards, whether it’s through regulation, tax incentives, whether it’s the carrot or the stick. Depending on the part of the world and the government, small businesses must comply with various IT and cyber security standards in order to exist,” Voccola added.
“That will be the single largest opportunity for MSPs around the world. And we are going to enable MSPs to do that. So that might be one of the announcements…”
The firm is leading the charge when it comes to practical and usable AI, according to Voccola, with one million MSP technicians using its software and making use of some 300 AI-powered Cooper bots.
“Those MSPs are managing over 56 million businesses around the world, and those 56 million businesses are being managed and protected by Kaseya’s AI,” he said. “You’ll see more announcements coming around that that will be just earth-shattering.”
