N-able Launches Free Endpoint Security
Let's start with the nuts and bolts of the announcement...
The Problem
I considered multiple headlines for this blog entry. But ultimately, the story comes down to this: N-able says it’s offering roughly $75 million worth of free software — including monitoring software and endpoint security software — to help managed service providers accelerate their growth and engage more customers. Is this a publicity stunt or a game-changing move by CEO Gavin Garbutt? Here’s some analysis.
Let’s start with the nuts and bolts of the announcement…
The Problem
Garbutt says MSPs are serving only 10 percent of the addressable SMB market. In order to increase penetration, MSPs need to eliminate traditional barriers such as cost and complexity. It’s hard to argue with that thought process.
N-able’s Proposed Solution
N-able is taking multiple steps to help MSPs engage more customers. The steps include:
- N-able is launching a new, free software license called N-central Essential. It offers asset management, monitoring and remote control, among other things.
- MSPs will receive one free N-central Essential license for each N-central Professional license they have in place.
- N-able is also introducing N-able Endpoint Security Manager licenses (free for one year). The licenses, based on software from Panda Security, include Anti-Virus, Anti-Spam, Anti-Malware, Personal Firewall and Host Intrusion Prevention for Windows devices.
- I’ve skipped a bunch of details, and certain restrictions certainly apply, so please check in directly with N-able for deeper details about how the free offers work.
- Update, 12:53 p.m. eastern, Oct. 15: Here’s the official N-able press release in case you want to dive into deeper details.
Preparing Your Pitch
Now let’s tie all of those bullet points together: If you’re an N-able MSP, you’re potentially in position to receive free N-central Essential monitoring software… and free endpoint security software licenses for one year.
So in theory, N-able is empowering its MSPs to reach out to new customers with a pretty compelling endpoint security and remote monitoring pitch.
Garbutt explains the strategy a bit more in this MSPmentor FastChat video, shot Oct. 14 at the N-able Partner Summit in Arizona:
Is Free Good?
I always get a little nervous when software companies introduce “free” offers. But in this case, N-able is a pure channel company — meaning that VARs and MSPs can use the pricing benefits to their advantages, pricing the free code any way they see fit.
I do think N-able is onto something in terms of targeting the security market. Our own MSPmentor 100 annual survey reveals that most leading MSPs offer managed security and managed storage — two key pieces of low-hanging fruit for the industry.
I will gather more reactions from N-able MSPs during the N-able Partner Summit on Oct. 15 and 16.
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N-able briefed me about the announcement yesterday (Oct. 14). CEO Gavin Garbutt delivered the announcement during his N-able Partner Summit keynote this morning (Oct. 15). Attendees seemed impressed and were rapidly taking notes. Curious to see how the “freemium” strategy performs over the next few months. We’ll be watching…
-jp
Wow, this sounds very exciting. I will be curious to find out if these offerings will be available with N-Able’s SaaS package, or just their traditional licenses. Also, I’m a little confused about getting the free licenses “for 12 months”. Does that mean after 12 months, the free ones go to paid, or they go away, or the promotion ends?
I can certainly see the “essentials” version as a key way for me to get all of my un-managed endpoints on my RMM and on a “silver” managed package, and then up-sell into full managed services agreements. I would think that this is part of N-Able’s strategy, but I will be waiting to hear more specifics than what is in the press release.
-Dave
http://www.managed-data.com
Hi Dave: All good questions. I will make sure N-able’s team offers up some answers in this forum. I “think” I know the answers but I don’t want to misstate any specifics.
Hi Dave,
The offering mentioned is available to both Hosted (SaaS) and platform partners. The offer is two parts: For every Professional license purchased, you receive 1 free Essential license (no expiry) and you receive 2 licenses of End Point Security Manager (free for one year). After the year is over, they become paid for subscription licenses.
Hope this helps. As always, feel free to contact me directly should you have any additional questions (or should this answer not make any sense)
Thanks
Derik
V.P. Marketing amp; Bus. Dev. N-able
Not very effective. Many systems getting multiple viruses that other free programs block and remove.