In the remote monitoring and management (RMM) world, every little bit counts, be it a new partner or a single sale. In case you hadn’t noticed, a war is raging in the world of RMM and the goal of each vendor is winning over critical MSPs.
N-able, now owned by SolarWinds, is boasting of success with CDS Office Technologies, which is using the N-able RMM to drive managed services growth.
CDS is no spring chicken, having gotten its start selling copiers four decades ago. It then got into word processors in those early days when there was such a thing as a dedicated word processor. CDS then rode the Novell wave and now finds itself in the hot area of managed services, which it is quickly adding to its portfolio that still includes printers and copiers, but also contains video surveillance and networking and communications services.
The group has some 130 staffers working out of seven Illinois locations.
“We’ve evolved the IT side of our business, just as we plan to evolve the managed services side of what we do,” said CDS president Mark Watson. “With N-able, we have the opportunity to add a lot more value and to benefit more from recurring revenue. At the same time, our customers are eager to have us come in and manage their technology for them at a reduced cost.”
CDS is now using N-able’s N-central to manage 500 devices in central Illinois, and is using the N-able tool to help drive its NetCare Pro managed service.
CDS sees clear N-able value. “The CDS team is using N-able’s Automation Manager to streamline processes and also sees a lot of growth potential ahead in MDM (mobile device management) with Mobile Manager,” CDS explained.
N-able Bought, But Keeps Brand
Back in May network management software maker SolarWinds acquired RMM software maker N-able for a healthy $120 million.
N-able kept its brand with a slight tweak – its leading product is now known as N-central by SolarWinds and the company is now N-able by SolarWinds.
Besides network management, SolarWinds offers application management, help desk, mobile management, patch management, security, and systems management. Of course, this was all before N-able came into the fold.
The 13-year-old N-able brought with it a roster of some 2,600 MSPs.
SolarWinds is aiming the N-able wares at a wide swath of customers, everyone from large enterprises to small shops that have little or no IT staffers in-house.
Small business, however, appears to be the sweet spot.
Edited by
Alisen Downey
