SolarWinds, the IT management software provider, has acquired EminentWare, a Windows server and workstation patch management software provider. SolarWinds VP of Network Management Sanjay Castelino offered MSPmentor some insights on where the company is heading next.

SolarWinds will use EminentWare’s Windows server and workstation patch management solutions to compliment its existing products. The deal comes roughly one month after SolarWinds acquired DameWare Development, which offers remote management software.

Update on User Device Tracker

The EminentWare acquisition comes weeks after SolarWinds released version 2.0 of its User Device Tracker.

“The first version was only designed to identify devices entering company networks. Version 2.0 lets you match specific user information to devices so that you can tell who is doing what with which device,” Castelino explained. “We don’t see a ton of competition for device tracker on the market today.”

SolarWinds and MSPs

But Castelino said that mobile devices are just a piece of the IT puzzle. The issue is being able to manage a broader set of IT-connected devices. It’s an issue that managed IT providers have been struggling with, which is why SolarWinds developed its MSP Program back in November 2011.

“They (MSPs) have been buying our product for years,” Castelino said. “Then they started saying that they would like to market themselves with the SolarWinds brand. So we developed an MSP program to give them tools to help drive their businesses.”

Those tools include marketing materials and instructions on how to best deploy SolarWinds’ technology, among other tools.

“We created the program to let MSPs work with us more easily,” Castelino continued. “They [MSPs] are an important part of our business and face unique challenges today.” Some of the challenges Castelino mentioned included system management and patch management issues. Hence, SolarWinds’ acquisition of EminentWare.