Silverback Adds Support To MSP Menu
Al Gossett, president of Digital-DNS, a SilverBack partner in Greenville, S.C., who will beta-test the tools, said this will make the SilverBack platform more profitable.
Up until now, the SilverBack MSP platform has leveraged standard Windows network utilities to perform basic levels of desktop management, said Jonathan Wolf, vice president of product marketing at SilverBack, Billerica, Mass. When the new features are released to all of SilverBack's customers by the end of July, a more granular level of desktop management will be available.
This month's release will deliver improved desktop monitoring capabilities as well as an expanded deck of default policies for monitoring desktop clients—policies that will enable SilverBack partners to quickly deploy managed desktop services based upon common operational baselines, explained Wolf. Support for dynamic IP addressing also will arrive then, he added.
In October, SilverBack is expected to introduce features to its desktop support menu that include automated scripting and agent-based mobile client support that includes patch management and scripting tools for PCs that operate outside the internal network environment, he said.
The new features will "benefit us in many ways," Gossett said. "It will benefit our current [MSP] client base, and increase revenue there."
The desktop tools from SilverBack will start at $118 per client, with volume discounts, Wolf said.
In related news, MSP platform vendor N-able Technologies has begun offering a rebranded version of AutoTask's Professional Services Automation platform. AutoTask, a hosted PSA offering, is now available as an N-power service for customers of Ottawa-based N-able, said Bob Vogel, chief marketing officer at AutoTask, Rensselaer, N.Y.
It's the first time an MSP platform vendor has private-labeled the AutoTask service, Vogel said.
AutoTask gives MSPs a CRM system for managed services that helps identify and plug leaks in profitability caused by inaccurate billing for field services, help-desk services and other project-related activities. With N-power, N-able customers now have tighter integration to AutoTask, Vogel said.
AutoTask has marketing partnerships with other MSP platform vendors, including SilverBack, Cittio and LPI Level Platforms, Vogel said.
Available as a component of N-able's flagship Velocity System MSP platform, pricing for N-power starts at $50 per month per user, plus additional setup and training fees, according to N-able.