Kaseya Connect User Conference: What’s the Mood?
Like scores of managed services providers, I’m scheduled to arrive today at the Kaseya Connect User Conference in Las Vegas. The event, as I’ve written before, arrives at a rather intriguing time. On the one hand, Kaseya CEO Gerald Blackie (pictured) says sales have never been stronger. But on the other hand, the Kaseya 2 launch in February hit a few initial bumps. So, how are Kaseya and its MSP partners feeling now?
The answer will surely present itself over the next three days. From Tuesday through Thursday, I’ll have the opportunity to check in with scores of MSPs to see how early Kaseya 2 deployments are progressing. (Roughly 300 MSPs and corporate IT managers are expected to attend the conference.)
But the real progress report should occur Wednesday morning when key Kaseya executives (CEO Gerald Blackie, President Mark Sutherland and Executive VP Jim Alves) step onto the stage and tell attendees the secrets to “Getting More Out of Kaseya Today.”
No doubt, Kaseya has used previous Kaseya Connect conferences as a stage to address support issues and outline corrective measures that Kaseya has recently taken and continues to take. As promised, I’ll be poking around with my five top questions. And I’ll investigate Kaseya’s rumored plans to launch a new ISV (independent software vendor) partner program.
Generally speaking, I think the majority of Kaseya’s existing MSPs believe in the company’s long-term vision and strategy, and plan to eventually make the move to Kaseya 2. Plus, Kaseya continues to make upbeat statements about the company’s growth.
Still, some early Kaseya 2 adopters seemed to have under-estimated the platform’s hardware requirements. And there have been some defections to alternative MSP platforms, if you believe claims from folks like LabTech Software and CentraStage; it seems like a growing list of MSP software providers are eagerly positioning their wares as Kaseya alternatives.
Still, Kaseya has home field advantage at this conference. If you’re an MSP making a trip to the conference, that’s likely a vote of confidence in Kaseya and Kaseya 2. I’ll be able to draw stronger conclusions over the next couple of days.
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