https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Master Agents
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity & Inclusion
  • MSSP Insider
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • Apply Now
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Channel Educational Series
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
    • Channel Convergence
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Content Resources
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Circle of Excellence
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • DE&I
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Master Agents
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity & Inclusion
  • MSSP Insider
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • Apply Now
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Channel Educational Series
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
    • Channel Convergence
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Content Resources
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Circle of Excellence
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • DE&I
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Agents
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • Channel Partners Events
 Channel Futures

Business Models


Jeannine Edwards and Arnie Bellini tell the IT Nation about ConnectWise39s new APIs and RESTful API development architecture

IT Nation 2014: ConnectWise Platform Adds RESTful APIs, Adopts Agile Development

  • Written by Jessica Davis 1
  • November 14, 2014
ConnectWise has added RESTful APIs and adopted an Agile development process to speed additions to its platform. That means MSPs will see features developed faster, and will get more input into getting the features they want put into the platform sooner. I spoke with executives heading up these efforts this week. Here are the details.

IT Nation 2014’s theme was Reinvent, and behind the scenes at professional services automation company ConnectWise over the last year, that’s just what the development teams have been doing.  MSPmentor spoke with Jeannine Edwards, Director of the ConnectWise Platform, and Senior Product Manager Craig Fulton, who led much of the internal development of plug-in applications at ConnectWise for a status check. Here are the details on both internal and external development.

ConnectWise has relied upon the SOAP development architecture for APIs, which most developers today consider way past its prime. So the company has been working to build a RESTful API development framework, which is preferred by today’s developers, Edwards told me.

“This is a service-oriented architecture play,” Edwards said. “It allows us to move faster.” The new development framework has been available to a select few in a pilot program but will be generally available in Q1 2014.

Separately, MSPmentor spoke with one of those pilot developers who got early access to the RESTful APIs about the addition of the new development architecture.  It’s a big deal, he told me. The previous SOAP APIs were really designed for a Windows-centric, LAN-based world. The new architecture is much more dynamic and designed for the web services world.  

And they are something that ConnectWise’s own development team has been quick to make use of.

Agile development

 “RESTful makes things much faster for us,” Craig Fulton told me.  His team, which is building new modules such as Chat Assist (released in September) and next year’s Cloud Migration Manager, has been pushing development of many of the APIs, he said.  “We are forcing ourselves to become that platform for our own need.”

Fulton and ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini both told me that the company is now using the Agile development process to eliminate bottlenecks and get the “minimum viable product” out as fast as possible and then let users dictate what features need to be added. That’s the opposite of how technology used to be developed  — heavy planning, front end work and specs. Today Agile development spends much less time upfront and then builds to the features users say they want added to that minimum viable product. The approach speeds development and delivers what the customer wants.

Both Bellini and Fulton recommended the book The Lean Startup to me to learn more about Agile development.  It’s among several new books downloaded to my Kindle this week. (I’ll provide a roundup of all the book recommendations I got this week from IT Nation and the HTG Peer Groups soon.)

More new SDKs to go with the new APIs

Edwards told me that ConnectWise will also be introducing more SDKs to go with the RESTful APIs, including .NET, javascript and PHP.

ConnectWise will also be introducing a tiered developers program that can provide ConnectWise certification to plugins or integrations. Developers participating in this program will receive exactly the same APIs and SDKs, Edwards assured me. But they will receive a greater level of assistance in terms of support, testing and awareness.

ConnectWise has more than 100 vendor integrators – companies that create integrations between their own technology software or services and the ConnectWise professional automation services (PSA) platform.

Partners leverage APIs, too

In addition, a number of partners have created their own plug-ins, for instance Bright Gauge and Stack Advisor.

“2015 is the year of the partner integrator,” Edwards told me. She expects many more partners to jump on this bandwagon. Some may be looking to add another revenue stream by charging other partners to use their plug-ins. Others may simply want to use the APIs to customize the ConnectWise platform for their own businesses’ needs.

The following is a list of new and existing APIs for development-minded IT service providers who use ConnectWise:

  • accounting
  • activity
  • agreements
  • generic billing
  • company
  • configuration
  • contact
  • documents
  • invoice
  • managed device
  • marketing
  • member
  • opportunity
  • opportunity conversion
  • product
  • project
  • purchasing
  • reporting
  • schedule
  • SDK
  • service ticket
  • system
  • time
Tags: Agents Cloud Service Providers MSPs VARs/SIs Business Models RMM/PSA

Related


  • Convergence
    New, Changing Partner Programs: HPE, Zoom, Fortinet, Microsoft, More
    Telecom and IT vendors are courting partners to sell their solutions.
  • Governance and Compliance
    Key Updates from Kaseya Support Remote Work, Compliance Requirements
    The updates allow IT professionals to customize cybersecurity training modules and navigate CMMC guidelines.
  • Lenovo DDoS ThinkBook
    Lenovo DaaS Touts 'Dramatic Growth' for DaaS, ID's Top Vertical Sales Opportunity
    “The number of seats we manage is into the millions of DaaS customers."
  • BCDR-TCO
    Why Every MSP Should Consider TCO When Selecting a BCDR Solution
    TCO directly impacts your ability to build a margin on your services. If your BCDR solution requires constant attention, you’ll chip away at that margin quickly.

One comment

  1. Avatar Anonymous December 29, 2014 @ 11:45 pm
    Reply

    > The new development
    > The new development framework has been available to a select few in a pilot program but will be generally available in Q1 2014.

    Should this read Q1 2015?

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • TBI Adds Rival Intelisys Alum, Tech Data, 8x8 Vets
  • Convergence in the Channel: Is It Happening, and What Does This Mean for MSPs?
  • Marketing Agency Marketopia Continues European Expansion with New UK Facilities
  • T-Mobile Acquisition Fallout: Shentel Wireless Job Cuts Create 'Disruption and Uncertainty'

Galleries

View all

Biden Administration Issues Russian Sanctions in Response to SolarWinds Hack, Election Interference

April 16, 2021

Industry Perspectives

View all

Why Digital Transformation Is the ‘Invisible Hand’ of Our Time

April 19, 2021

SD-WAN Supports More Purposeful Shift to Cloud

April 16, 2021

How Tech Is Transforming Public Safety–and the Implications for Channel Partners

April 15, 2021

Webinars

View all

What to Look For: 2021 Threat Report

April 22, 2021

Health Care and SD-WAN: A Seller’s Guide

April 27, 2021

How MSPs Can Leverage SOCaaS to Improve Security & Grow Revenue

May 4, 2021

White Papers

View all

Carbonite Data Protection and Cyber Resilience

April 15, 2021

Top Tips: How Resellers Can Leverage Rackspace to Enhance Customer’s Cyber Security Protection with Microsoft 365 Security

March 30, 2021

Top Tips: Optimize Your Microsoft 365 Investment with Rackspace Technology

March 30, 2021

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Conference & Expo

November 1, 2021 - November 4, 2021

MSP Summit

November 1, 2021 - November 2, 2021

Channel Evolution Europe

November 30, 2021 - December 1, 2021

Videos and Fastchats

View all

5 Reasons Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Is Important

Five9 Shares Insights on Implementing a DE&I Strategy

April 13, 2021

FASTCHAT: How Fortinet Reduces Complexity Through Networking, Security

March 31, 2021

Strong Customer Experience Needs Strong Partner Experience

December 22, 2020

Twitter

ChannelFutures

.@Avaya Cloud Office by @RingCentral further expands globally, includes new features. #UCaaS dlvr.it/Ry1QMg https://t.co/sVTkX6u4SO

April 19, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@attcyber and @SentinelOne teamed up around endpoint #security. dlvr.it/Ry1GMh https://t.co/LGV3RjpUBK

April 19, 2021
ChannelFutures

#Kubernetes expertise will help #channelpartners win big in move to cloud, says @Infoblox. dlvr.it/Ry16sP https://t.co/8lB4T93fuN

April 19, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@CambiumNetworks unveils new #partnerprogram focused on health care. dlvr.it/Ry12RG https://t.co/uGNMBQyQUa

April 19, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@solarwinds pays top executives more than $65 million despite massive hack. #cybersecurity dlvr.it/Ry0tXf https://t.co/1XjFpk7WMl

April 19, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@DruvaInc now valued at $2 billion. What does this mean for #Compass channel partners? Find out what we know.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

April 19, 2021
ChannelFutures

Learn how you can make apps and #cloud work for you. @VMware #appmodernization #digitaltransformation… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

April 19, 2021
ChannelFutures

We're dedicated to bringing important ideas & perspectives that will enlighten & empower our audience at #CPExpo an… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

April 19, 2021

MSSP Insider

Business advice for MSSPs and news from the broader security channel.

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Galleries

Educational slide shows and images from live events.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Events
  • Telecoms.com
  • MSP 501
  • Black Hat
  • IoT World Today
  • Omdia

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X