Kaseya 2’s Little Brother: Managed Service Edition G1 Debuts

Kaseya, as expected, has launched G1 — an on-premises managed services platform for small and mid-size MSPs. Officially, Kaseya says G1 addresses small and midsize MSPs that need to “deploy services quickly and increase productivity within budget.” Basically, G1 sounds like a potential stepping stone to the higher-profile Kaseya 2 managed services platform. But unofficially, some Kaseya customers are wondering if G1 is Kaseya’s answer to LabTech Software’s aggressively priced MSP wares. Here’s the story.

First, let’s stick with the official announcement from Kaseya. As you likely know, Kaseya in February 2010 launched Kaseya 2, a managed services platform with on-premises offerings (available now) and SaaS offerings (in beta now, but expected to be available in July 2010). And this week, Kaseya launched G1 (officially called Kaseya Managed Service Edition – G1, or MSE – G1).

In the news announcement, Kaseya says G1 starts at $1,000 (USD) for a 25-seat starter system, with adjustments for regional currencies. Kaseya says “a seamless upgrade path to the powerful Kaseya  K2 TM product line is also available for Kaseya MSE – G1 customers, with a full Kaseya MSE – G1 license fee purchase credit applied.”

Now, the Chatter

During the Kaseya Connect User Conference (June 1-3, 2010), two of Kaseya’s customers suggested to me that G1 is Kaseya’s response to Labtech Software. The MSPs suggest that Labtech, funded by ConnectWise Capital, is offering aggressive pricing vs. traditional Kaseya offerings. So, G1 is meant to address that price gap, the MSPs claimed.

I know I drive vendors crazy with this that type of speculation. But hey: I trust the two MSPs who made the claims. So, I reached out to Kaseya Executive VP Jim Alves for perspectives. In an email to Alves I raised two questions:

1. Is G1 based on the Kaseya 5.x or K2 code base? Or another code base?
2. Two MSPs suggested to me that G1 is a response to aggressive pricing from LabTech. True?

Alves’ reply:

1. “G1 is based on an internally developed common code base.”
2. “Not true.  MSE – G1 is directly related to the strategy we laid out last year when we identified the markets and segments we are targeting.  We are providing choice to the small and medium MSP market.  Our prospects and customers provide feedback on what they would like and how they would like to consume it.  We have heard and continue to see a need for an easy to deploy and use on-premises solution that meets business requirements and model of the market.  MSE – G1 is another choice for this market and demonstrates our intention to capture a large share of this market in the same way we have captured the attention of mid to higher end of the MSP market. In addition, we do have our SaaS delivered solutions that we have discussed and are very close to release.  These solutions also address the needs and business model requirements of the entry level and mid-markets.  More choice for our prospects and customers.”

Bottom Line

Alves has one view. And I appreciate his email reply. The two MSPs with whom I spoke have another view. Either way, one thing is clear: Kaseya believes G1 fills a gap in its product line, delivering a lower-cost starter alternative to the higher-end Kaseya 2 platform. We’ll be listening to learn if MSPs embrace G1.

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