Nuvotera (formerly Spam Soap), has launched a cloud services aggregation platform that will allow VARs and MSPs to source and manage multiple online applications for customers. The launch, unveiled at IT Nation 2013, represents a multi-year journey for inhouseIT, the innovative MSP that has now transformed Spam Soap into a cloud monetization and management portal for channel partners.

That’s right: Nuvotera (like a growing number of cloud and software companies) was funded and built by an MSP. The journey from Spam Soap — which promoted SaaS-based email security services — to Nuvotera involved multiple hires, custom software development, and a clear vision.

The goal is to give MSPs a way to pick and choose from multiple cloud applications for customers. Moreover, MSPs will ultimately gain a way to manage cloud services from a single dashboard — called the NuvoConnex Management Portal. The portal integrates with PSA (professional services authorization).

Getting Started With McAfee

As a first natural step, NovoConnex can manage McAfee-related SaaS security solutions. It’s a logical move, considering Spam Soap has been one of McAfee’s top cloud security partners in recent years. In a prepared statment, Leonard Dimiceli, general manager, Nuvotera, said: “When we began this, we knew we wanted to start with McAfee, the cloud security leader, but they are just the beginning of this groundbreaking platform.”

Early adopters include Network Depot, an MSPmentor 501 company that will leverage NuvoConnex to further expand and enahnce its cloud and managed serivices for customers, according to CEO Rich Forsen.

Next Nuvotera Moves?

The big question: Which additional SaaS and cloud services will Nuvotera promote on its platform? Right now it’s too early to say. But the company is part of a growing industry that some pundits call cloud services aggregation. Other experts call it value-added SaaS distribution (VAD SaaS).

Potential rivals include Ingram Micro Cloud (which has offered a cloud aggregation platform for at least two or three years) and Excel Micro, a SaaS distributor that was McAfee’s cloud partner of the year.

MSP Delivers Innovation

What makes Nuvotera different? Perhaps the answer involves ownership. The platform was built by an MSP — inhouseIT. So it’s safe to bet the platform will strive to address pain points that inhouseIT itself has felt.

Ultimately I think Nuvotera will fit somewhere between Ingram on the left (lots of SaaS solutions from which to choose) and Excel Micro on the right (a born-in-the-cloud distributor that focuses on high-volume engagements. In between, Nuvotera can likely focus on a healthy number of SaaS applications while also building relationships with MSPs that already deeply respect inhouseIT.