Joe Panettieri, Former Editorial Director

December 22, 2009

3 Min Read
Checking On ConnectWise Hosted

Two ConnectWise customers say Hosted Server — recently rebranded as ConnectWise .net Cloud Server —  is down, and ConnectWise has sent emergency notification emails to both customers. Here’s some quick analysis but I’m being cautious here: I don’t know if this is a really small, isolated outage or something larger. Updated Dec. 22, 7:40 p.m. eastern: ConnectWise has restored the service. Here are the details.

ConnectWise sent an automated email to at least two Cloud Server customers at 6:31 a.m. pacific on Dec. 22. The email included an emergency notification stating:

“You are currently unable to access the ConnectWise .net Cloud Server, formerly known as the Hosted Server.

We are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and you will receive notification as soon as the problem has been resolved.

Thank you for your patience and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.
For assistance, please contact the Partner Support Services Team.”

One ConnectWise customer says he has received roughly 5 email updates from ConnectWise today, stating the service is still down. A second ConnectWise customer says the Cloud Server system failed around 9:00 p.m. on Dec. 21 and he started receiving ConnectWise alerts the morning of Dec. 22.

I’ve got voicemails into multiple ConnectWise representatives seeking comment.

ConnectWise’s Response

Updated 7:40 p.m. eastern, Dec. 22: I just got off the phone with ConnectWise COO Santo Cannone. He confirmed the outage and said it was an operational issue and service has been restored. Cannone says there was no data loss and incoming emails to partners were queued and are now being processed into service tickets.

Also, ConnectWise has sent the following email to affected customers:

Dear [Name removed by MSPmentor],

Your access to the ConnectWise cloud was affected by an outage in our data center today. The outage was caused by an operational error by one of our staff.  We are truly sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you.

We understand that any downtime is unacceptable, so we are offering a full month’s credit on your PSA service.   We will implement new procedures to assure that this type of outage does not occur again.

We recognize that ConnectWise is central to your operations and we are committed to continually making investments that increase the value of our products and services to you.

Santo Cannone
Chief Operating Officer

Key Questions

I’ll strive to keep things in perspective until an official ConnectWise statement arrives.

Back in October 27, 2009, I jumped the gun (and the shark?) a bit when I wrote a blog headline stating “ConnectWise Cloud: Dark Until Oct. 28.” The outage was real, but in reality it involved a small portion of ConnectWise customers. No customer outage is good but I overstated the issue.

Fast forward to the present, and there’s little chatter about the current ConnectWise outage on Twitter. But there is chatter. Contacted by phone, multiple sources confirm they can’t access their ConnectWise  .net Cloud Server. In short: Something’s up but I’m not sure if it’s a small or large outage.

Updated 7:40 p.m. eastern, Dec. 22: It was, indeed, a significant outage but there was no data loss.

Growing Pains

Multiple cloud providers have taken lumps in recent days. Big cloud providers like Amazon.com and RackSpace both have suffered outages. Ironically, MSPmentor’s own web site has hit bumps lately and we’ve drawn up some migration plans that will unfold soon.

Back in the MSP market, rivals ConnectWise and Autotask continue to compete fiercely; while Autotask positions itself as a “cloud-based IT services management pioneer,” ConnectWise has been pushing beyond its on-premise heritage to introduce cloud efforts.

ConnectWise’s march into the cloud hit a bump in October 2009. Did another issue occur today?

As soon as we have a status update regarding the ConnectWise .net Cloud Server issue we’ll share it with readers.

Updated Dec. 22, 7:40 p.m. Yes, it was a significant business issue since the outage was widespread but there was no data loss.

ConnectWise’s Cannone says service has now been restored and the company is now reviewing its operational business processes to avoid a repeat of this outage.

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About the Author(s)

Joe Panettieri

Former Editorial Director, Nine Lives Media, a division of Penton Media

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