LabTech Software To Offer Free Integrated ScreenConnect Remote Control Tool

LabTech Software will be adding ScreenConnect remote control to its remote monitoring and management platform, free of charge to its IT service provider customers.

The remote control tool addition follows ConnectWise’s acquisition of ScreenConnect, announced this morning. ConnectWise holds an equity stake in LabTech Software, Quosal and a handful of other companies. LabTech Software CEO Matt Nachtrab told MSPmentor that the ScreenConnect deal was ConnectWise’s largest investment to date. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

What LabTech is getting

The deal accomplishes several goals for LabTech Software. The first and biggest is the addition of a solid, robust, high-performing and mature remote control tool that will be integrated within the LabTech platform, but also will continue to be offered as a standalone remote control tool to non-LabTech customers.  LabTech Software’s previous solution was based on VNC and wasn’t good enough for many IT service provider customers, Nachtrab said.

“It was the one chink that I had in our offering,” he told me. “I now have the best remote control technology in the world. We solved that problem. Our customers are going to love it.”

The addition of ScreenConnect to LabTech Software’s RMM platform (which will actually arrive in a March release of the LabTech 10 platform) comes at a time when more managed service providers (MSPs) are grappling with a changing landscape for remote control software. LogMeIn significantly raised its prices for its LogMeIn Central offering last month, leaving many IT service providers searching for alternatives.

The search for a remote control tool

Nachtrab said he’s looked at several remote control solution over the last few years as he searched for one that would work for LabTech Software. He said he was most impressed by ScreenConnect’s connection speed and connection experience, which was closer to working on the actual desktop of the remote user rather than over a network.

LabTech and market expansion

The second benefit of the deal for LabTech is an entryway to a host of prospects for LabTech Software.  Nachtrab said that Raleigh, North Carolina-based ScreenConnect has about 6,000 customers right now. More than 5,000 of those are not current users of LabTech Software or anything else in ConnectWise’s Modern Office Suite (comprised of ConnectWise, LabTech and Quosal). But they could benefit from LabTech’s platform. About 25 percent of ScreenConnect’s customers are IT service providers. The other 75 percent are IT pros or use the software in another capacity.

Nachtrab also said that ScreenConnect offers multilingual capabilities that will help LabTech in its international expansion plans.

Pilot program

Ten LabTech partners are currently piloting the integrated LabTech Software/ScreenConnect tool. Nachtrab said in a prepared statement that the tool has meant a 95 percent improvement in the time to connect for remote control sessions, and a vastly improved user experience.

ConnectWise noted in a prepared statement that the acquisition comes at a time when ConnectWise and LabTech are rapidly expanding their product portfolio and advancing commitment to investing in the platform approach through open APIs that solve for different solution channels based on a variety of needs, complexity, size, budgets and markets.

“ConnectWise has an unmatched commitment to delivering its partners the most extraordinary solutions in the global marketplace and our acquisition of ScreenConnect is further proof of this,” said Arnie Bellini, chief executive officer, ConnectWise, in a prepared statement. “Not only does ScreenConnect immediately boost our capabilities in the remote support space, but it is a game changer for the technology service provider market; we’re excited to be at the helm.”

Technical details

ScreenConnect currently works as an on-premise solution installed on a server at an end-customer site. LabTech is creating a cloud version of the technology which will be available in the next few months. ScreenConnect can be used to remote in to Macs, PCs, and a selection of mobile devices.