LogMeIn, Solarwinds IPOs Energize Managed Services CEOs

Executives across the managed services software market are feeling bullish as they begin their fiscal Q3 quarters. The reason: Both LogMeIn (this week) and Solarwinds (May 2009), emerging players in the managed services and network management markets, have launched successful initial public offerings (IPOs). Here’s some perspective and MSP industry reactions.

First, some background: The MSP software market is filled with privately held software companies. Some intend to remain private and closely held forever. Others have been forced to rethink their financial and IPO strategies because of the recession.

Reasons for Optimism

Now, the good news: Successful IPOs at LogMeIn and SolarWinds could help peer MSP software providers to (A) move forward more quickly with potential IPOs and (B) fetch higher valuations.

Admittedly, financial markets remain unsteady. But the news from LogMeIn and Solarwinds is reassuring.

• LogMeIn‘s shares rose roughly 25 percent when they debuted on July 1. You can use LogMeIn for basic remote PC access capabilities like checking your email or grabbing files. But MSPs can also use LogMeIn’s software to remotely troubleshoot customers’ systems.

• Solarwinds‘ shares are up 32 percent, according to The Motley Fool, since the company’s IPO in May 2009 (here’s a chart).

Expert Perspectives

MSP software industry CEOs — such as Nimsoft CEO Gary Read, N-able CEO Gavin Garbutt, and Paglo CEO Brian De Haaff — are sitting up and taking notice.

Nimsoft’s Read was watching closely as Solarwinds prepared its IPO.

Meanwhile, N-able‘s Garbutt offered this perspective on both IPOs:

“This is awesome for MSP’s and the whole Network and System Management industry. The success of the Solarwinds and LogMeIn IPO’s reflect a broad understanding that SMB’s depend on their networks and systems to operate their businesses, maximize employee productivity and ensure customer satisfaction.”

In an email to me, Garbutt is quick to connect the dots between those recent IPOs and N-able’s own N-central management tools. N-able is privately held… But I’ll be sure to push him on the IPO question when we meet at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC09)

Adds Paglo‘s De Haaff:

“Just in case you hit the snooze button — here comes LogMeIn. Their wild success reminds us of what’s possible when you reject the nightmare of enterprise software implementations and use the cloud to efficiently deliver massive customer value. Be transparent and make it easy for your customers to try and buy your services and they will love you for it.”

For now, Wall Street seems to be loving MSP- and network management-oriented IPOs. We’ll see if the financial love fest lasts.

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