MSPs Applaud New Kaseya Sales and Security Products

KASEYA CONNECT GLOBAL — At last year’s Kaseya Connect Global, Neil Medwed, vice president of corporate development and M&A at Meriplex, remembers he could hear a pin drop after CEO Fred Voccola’s keynote. Kaseya had recently announced its acquisition of Datto and most of the company’s MSP customers were not happy with the move. This year, the audience reaction at the conference was much different.

Meriplex’s Neil Medwed

“I love the standing ovation,” Medwed said as many MSPs were still on their feet, applauding Voccola’s keynote. “From the nervousness of last year to the enthusiasm of this year, it’s a big change. The new products announced for IT Complete and the dropping of prices, it all certainly makes a difference for their community and is beneficial to the IT community as a whole.”

Voccola received several rounds of applause after he announced Kaseya’s new security and sales presentation products, as well as a discounted cyber insurance and a remote IT and security management (RITSM) certification program. Throughout the keynote, Voccola continued to repeat Kaseya’s strategy of offering a fully integrated platform with lower prices than most competitors.

“Our platform contains all of the kit required to deliver all of the IT and security management [products] integrated in one place to maximize and optimize the experience and the efficiency and the automation of the engineers,” he said. “All of this is done to drive peak operations at a very effective price point.

“One of our commitments that we’ve made over the years,” Voccola added, “is every time we buy a product, we buy a company, we lower the price. Our goal is to be 33% or more less expensive than any of our single-product competitors out there.”

Spotlight Shines on Kaseya Sales and Security Products, Insurance Programs

The packed crowd gave a big round of applause after Voccola announced the acquisition of Vonahi Security, a maker of an automated network pen-testing platform that evaluates risks in real-time.

“It’s a pretty badass company,” Voccola said. “It’s very affordable and very critical product. The company built a great business to make it consumable for MSPs and budget-limited internal IT shops.”

As we reported earlier Tuesday, Kaseya announced the completed acquisition of audIT, a tool that makes it easier for MSPs to create sales presentations and quarterly business reviews, close deals, and upsell and cross-sell products and services. MSPs get five free licenses, while current audIT customers will get an extra five.

“One of the challenges we hear a lot from MSPs is that they stink at selling,” Voccola said. “That’s not an insult. Most MSPs are technicians and engineers; selling and going to market are not their specialties.”

Another round of applause went up for Kaseya’s new Cyber Insurance Fast Track Program, which was four years in the making. MSPs that leverage Kaseya’s security suite will receive $1.5 million in cyber protections at prices about 30% lower than traditional cyber policies. Their customers will too. MSPs that are already insured can add the $1.5 million to their existing policies.

“Most of us out here struggle with cyber insurance. It’s hard to get and it’s super expensive,” Voccola said. “The substantial portion of the [cyber insurance providers] are leaving that space. The projection is that cyber insurance rates will double, maybe triple, and the amount of coverage will be limited.”

New Certification Program for Young Techs, Engineers

The RITSM certification program is a 40-hour program available to prequalified students studying for a tech degree or young people with a computer science or tech background. The program teaches technical and soft skills, as well as the basic financials around service delivery. All classes are taught on the IT Complete stack. Voccola expects 5,000 certifications awarded by the end of the year and 1 million by 2027.

“They will know how to use our kit in the way that everyone in this room wants it to be used,” Voccola said. “The labor talent that this room has been looking for to assist in the scaling of your businesses will already have predefined knowledge of the technology that you use at the rates you want to pay.”

Joe Bancroft, CIO of MSP GO2 in Philadelphia, has always appreciated Kaseya’s approach to full integration and lower prices. He also said his new Kaseya account reps on the Datto side are much better than those he had before the acquisition.

“Every year, the company is getting better and better,” he said.

Medwed believes Voccola’s keynote helped guide the company in that direction.

“It was a very uplifting and well-done opening,” he said. “It laid the foundation for the rest of the show. They’ve come a long way in the last 12 months.”