SolarWinds Confirms Managed Services Provider Push

SolarWinds, which develops IT management software, is set to work more closely with managed services providers (MSPs). SolarWinds will likely make an official announcement for MSPs sometimes this week, the company has confirmed to MSPmentor.

Yes, SolarWinds already works with "hundreds" of MSPs worldwide. But generally speaking, the software company has focused mainly on enterprise IT managers and datacenter managers, rather than the MSP market. Going forward, SolarWinds will promote more MSP information (site coming soon) to help service providers leverage the company's software.

"We have customers from all different verticals and segments," said Sanjay Castelino, VP of product marketing at SolarWinds. "But we haven't done anything that's so specific to the MSP segment. In the past two years, we've had this ongoing discussion about letting the MSP market know we're out here."

Now, it's time to have a more formal dialog with MSPs, Castelino said. Still, SolarWinds does not plan to revamp its product or licensing for MSPs. Starting at under $2,500, SolarWinds is not a big financial burden for MSPs, "but we do want to share our learnings with MSPs and provide them the ability to co-brand the software," said Castelino.

SolarWinds considers the MSP market to be a global customer opportunity -- ranging from  small MSPs to large telcos. "The MSP market itself isn't monolithic," said Castelino. "There are all  types of businesses that are MSPs. We've taken the software that works and tried to combine it with co-branding that lets MSPs use it for their own needs. "

SolarWinds' growing focus on MSPs has been rumored for most of 2011. The company also has been working more closely with Cisco channel partners, many of whom are MSPs.

In some ways, SolarWinds competes against traditional remote monitoring and management (RMM) software used by many MSPs. However, MSP-focused software companies like Kaseya and Nimsoft (now owned by CA Technologies) have been watching SolarWinds' competitive moves for multiple years.

SolarWinds, which is publicly held, is set to join our Talkin' Clouds Stock Index after U.S. markets close on Friday, Oct. 28. SolarWinds will replace RightNow, which Oracle acquired this week, in our stock index. Also, SolarWinds will announce quarterly results on Thursday, Oct. 27.