Kaseya 6: Blending On-premise with SaaS
On the one hand, Kaseya remains committed to on-premise managed services software. But on the other hand Kaseya is preparing a Software as a Service (SaaS) strategy. The secret sauce to the hybrid on-premise and SaaS strategy is Kaseya 6, a forthcoming "new product" that seeks to serve a broader range of market segments than previous Kaseya releases. I spoke with Kaseya Executive VP Jim Alves and President Mark Sutherland for more perspective.
The goal with Kaseya 6, Alves and Sutherland asserted, is to ensure Kaseya serves multiple product segments such as:
- Break-fix resellers
- Remote trouble-shooters
- VARs with heavy managed service provider expertise
- Pureplay MSPs
- IT outsourcing specialists
Kaseya 6, Alves and Sutherland say, will address all of those segments because the software platform is actually a framework for services. Customers can pick and choose the services that best fit their needs.
Reaching New Markets
Both executives say Kaseya has a strong track record with pureplay MSPs — noting inhouseIT of Costa Mesa, Calif. as a prime example of Kaseya's traditional customer base. But Alves and Sutherland concede Kaseya's current products weren't designed for break-fix resellers who need pay-as-you-go options for simple automation tasks.
That's where Kaseya 6 enters the picture. Both executives insist that Kaseya 6's technology and pricing model will address the broad range of bulleted market segments listed above.
Kaseya's customers will be able to pick-and-choose from a range of services — some available in Kaseya 6 on premise, others available in a SaaS configuration (also based on Kaseya 6 running in Kaseya's cloud).
What's Coming — When?
Kaseya expects to launch an expanded Kaseya 6 beta the week of June 1, 2009. Then a controlled release will debut at the end of June or in July. When the final release ships, it will be available to selected customers that want to work closely with Kaseya to ensure a smooth product debut.
This is in stark contrast to the former Kaseya 5 roll out; customers had universal, immediate access to that upgrade and Kaseya was briefly overwhelmed with customer deployments and requests for product fixes.
My Perspectives
Generally speaking, Kaseya Connect User Conference attendees sound happy with Kaseya's recent performance. But Kaseya will need to work carefully as it prepares to offer targeted Kaseya 6 releases for specific market segments. And Kaseya will need to prove the company offers the right balance of services on premise and in the cloud.
Kaseya 6 reminds me a bit of Microsoft's Windows Server segmented product strategy: There's Windows Azure (in the cloud), plus Windows Server releases for enterprises, the mid-market, small business, home, etc.
Much in the way that Microsoft had to carefully weigh product features and pricing for each targeted Windows Server release, Kaseya will need to do the same for the Kaseya 6 product family.
Alves doesn't sound worried about the segmenting challenges. He expressed confidence that Kaseya understands its customer base and target markets.
Kaseya’s strategy is interesting. Having worked with On Premise organisations that have tried to build a blended On-Premise/SaaS strategy I think that there are too many commercial and organisational barriers for this to work. The organisation needs to make a choice – SaaS or on Premise as their core strategy – they cant have equal billing. My guess is that Kaseya will pay lip service to SaaS but their heart (and their focus for their roadmap) will be on premise – where their heritage is.
Bob: Thanks for your perspective. I do think certain on premise companies (MSFT, MSFT, and MSFT come to mind…) will be very successful in the cloud/SaaS world. But you’re right: Balancing sales, revenue and development models isn’t easy for many software companies that want to offer both SaaS and on-premise.
Kaseya President Mark Sutherland is demonstrating Kaseya 6 right now at the conference. I’m in the session and may offer some more Kaseya 6 thoughts later today. Broader conference coverage also will continue.
This is terrific news, Joe. They are “preparing a Software as a Service (SaaS) strategy.” Here is the bit that does not make sense though, why is it that only a select group of MSPs would value from a SaaS offering and the associated benefits:
– No servers to deploy
– No software to update
– A fraction of the price to buy (and month-to-month payments)
Our MSP customers are of all shapes and sizes and they understand that on-premise software is an anchor around your throat when you are building a services business.
I will make this offer to you and any of your readers, call us and we will be happy to put you in touch with tons of MSPs who have thrown out legacy on-premise software for Paglo IT Management SaaS.
Brian de Haaff
CEO
Paglo
650.858.3120
follow us on Twitter at /paglo
Brian: Stay tuned. I just saw a preview of the Kaseya SaaS platform today… Blog to follow…
Update: Kaseya officially announced Kaseya 6 on June 2, 2009. You’ll find the press release here. Slated to ship Q3, 2009.
After reading this blog, I have known about Kaseya 6: Blending On-premise with SaaS.Kaseya’s launch of its first software as a service (SaaS) through Ingram Micro gave some smaller resellers a nasty surprise.When a software vendor releases its products as a service it will have a major impact on the market because the vendor can define how the service is consumed by the customer – and how much they pay for it.So resellers who have bought software and used it to roll out a range of services – in Kaseya’s case, splitting managed service into tiers – all of a sudden find the vendor selling the service directly at a price below their cost price.While Kaseya may want its resellers to use its licences in only one manner, its SaaS can effectively help the vendor enforce that particular usage.
Regards,
computer consultants orange county
Warren, Thanks for taking the time to post a comment. But can you clarify your thoughts a bit? Are you basically stating that you think Kaseya and won’t treat its SaaS partners well? If so, what makes you think that?
-jp