Here Are 12 Hot Software Products And Services For MSPs

MSPs who attended XChange NexGen 2023 in Houston this week got a chance to peruse some of the hottest emerging products and services in IT across security, cloud and AI.

A New Generation of Products

MSP executives who attended XChange NexGen 2023 in Houston this week got a chance to check out some of the hottest new products and services across AI, security, cloud and MSP software.

XChange NexGen 2023, hosted by CRN parent The Channel Company, was attended by dozens of software vendors who got a chance to showcase their forward-thinking tools and services in front of hundreds of MSPs. Next-generation, cutting-edge tools were on display for managed service providers to dive into to see how they can their businesses forward into a new age of technology.

In a post-digital transformation landscape and the increase of AI, many vendors are using the latest and greatest tools to manage the cloud and more and more workloads live there.

One such vendor is Nerdio, which rolls out features around Microsoft Intune and Microsoft Defender while investing in more training camps and keeping an eye on generative artificial intelligence.

In case you missed the show, or just wanted to refresh on some of the key products you saw there, the CRN team on the ground rounded up some of the showcases that grabbed our attention at XChange NexGen 2023.

Intermedia

Intermedia’s Spark AI offering, which uses generative AI, large language models, and natural language processing, is being embedded into the company’s platform to improve efficiency and productivity for SMBs. The company took to the event to highlight some of the features of Spark AI, including Audio Transcription of voicemail, video and customer call recordings, Notes and Action Items to help users identify key topics and actionable items, such as tasks, decisions, and follow-up actions during video meetings when can then be sent out to team members, and Virtual Backgrounds that offer greater visual privacy during meetings, especially in remote environments.

The company believes that AI is quickly becoming table stakes that communication systems will need to help users perform more efficiently, improve customer experience and drive better business insights, Intermedia told CRN.

Cytracom

Telecommunications and networking service provider Cytracom’s cloud-based management platform ControlOne was created for solution providers and integrates network connectivity and enterprise security and offer it up as a managed service. The offering includes SD-WAN connectivity, zero trust networking, cloud connectors for seamless connections to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, DNS and web content filtering, micro segmentation and SIEM reporting, among other features.

ControlOne, launched in 2022, is available exclusively to partners and can be set up in minutes. ControlOne can help partners expand their services and margins quickly when added onto their exsiting offerings, the Allen, Texas-based company told CRN.

Vanta

Vanta came to NexGen 2023 ready to show of its mission: to automate compliance and streamline security reviews with its trust management platform. Vanta, according to the company, helps SaaS businesses of all sizes manage risk and prove security in real time.

The San Francisco-based company specializes in the automation of governance, risk and compliance (GRC) workflows and centralizes security program management. Its automated vCISO platform can evaluate security posture and create remediation plans by reducing manual workloads and increasing recurring revenue. Vanta said that its partners play a critical role in how it serve customers because it relies on solution providers for their deep expertise in managed services, compliance, and technology integration work to help automate security and compliance. To that end, the company offers training, templates and documentation to get partners up to speed and provides a unified view of security landscapes that MSPs can use to quickly address vulnerabilities.

Wasabi

Cloud storage technology developer Wasabi used NexGen to introduce its new Custom Cloud Console. Custom Cloud Console, or CCC, is a follow-on to the Wasabi Account Control Manager, or WACM, which is a way to provision storage accounts and manage sub accounts, said Andrew Smith, senior manager for strategy and market intelligence a the Boston-based company. He said WACM lets MSPs check who’s using what storage and bill accordingly.

CCC is aimed at giving MSPs more to their customers, Smith said.

“CCC basically enables all aspects of OEM and white labeling that an MSP would want to do with Wasabi,” he said. “So you can have your own console. You can white label storage regions so that you have the concept of cloud storage regions. You store at Wasabi dot US East dot whatever for your location, and you can white label all of that down to the URL. The user doesn’t know it’s going through Wasabi. That gives the MSP more control if they want to brand it. White labeling makes sure everything’s kind of in-house for a single user experience. That’s what CCC is designed to deliver.”

Both WACM and CCC are available to MSPs at no extra charge, Smith said. “There’s need to pay extra to get CCC or WACM,” he said. “If an MSP says, ‘Hey, I want to use it,’ we provision the account for that and they can get all the features. We’re trying to keep it simple.”

Arcserve

Data protection technology developer Arcserve used NexGen to introduce its new SaaS backup, said Shawn Massey, vice president of sales engineers for the Americas at the Minneapolis-based company. “Our SaaS backup is a purpose-built cloud-to-cloud backup that’s totally secure and can protect Microsoft 365, Microsoft Dynamics, Google Workspace, and other different types of SaaS applications,” Massey told CRN. “Our biggest differentiator is our ability to backup Azure AD (Azure Active Directory), as well as being able to get really deep into different components, such as individual Microsoft Team chats. And it’s our fastest growing product right now.”

Park Place Technologies

Park Place Technologies is a data center and networking optimization company, and does anything in the lifecycle of the data center including supporting equipment, helping procure equipment from a secondary perspective, providing professional installation services, and providing server and storage management and patch management, said Brian Allenick, director of channel sales for the Cleveland, Ohio-based company.

Its Entuity software increase staff productivity and efficiency while reducing the cost of delivering network availability.

“Our bread and butter is supporting the equipment through its lifecycle, including post warranty from the manufacturer, and then also providing professional services all the way through ITAD (IT asset disposition,” Allenick told CRN. “So if you are decommissioning the equipment, we can help in data destruction.”

While Park Place has been known for years for its data center life cycle company and a third-party maintenance company, the company used NexGen to talk up its newer professional services and managed services related to patch management, storage management, and server management, Allenick said.

“Getting out after COVID and seeing people doing those types of things, it’s really doing more than just maintenance,” he said. “We’re not just a maintenance company anymore. We’re that true data center lifecycle organization.”

Nerdio
Nerdio is at work rolling out new capabilities around Microsoft Intune and Microsoft Defender while investing in more training camps and keeping an eye on generative artificial intelligence.
The Chicago-based company’s Manager for Enterprise platform aims to simplify Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop management has plans for a component for Microsoft’s Defender security application to “really be built out” by the end of 2023, Chief Revenue Officer Joseph Landes recently told CRN in an interview.
When asked by CRN about the opportunity for Nerdio with generative AI technology from Microsoft and Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Landes said that his engineering team is looking into it. Given the automation capabilities within the Nerdio platform, generative AI could give the platform a boost.

DataStream
DataStream continues to lock in new vendor partnerships as part of its mission to create a two-way street for MSPs and insurance providers.

The company offers a cyber insurance risk assessment tool to estimate the likelihood of an attack and its cost.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based cyber insurance broker recently launched partnerships with Acronis, Trend Micro, Liongard and Nodeware in an attempt to simplify and accelerate cyber insurance application and fight against insurance pricing volatility.
DataStream boasts more than 40 cyber insurance carriers compared to ensure maximum cyber coverage and lowest cost along with broad coverage for your first-party and third-party losses, including data breach, ransomware, cybercrime, cyber terrorism and risk analysis tools, according to the company.

DataStream also offers an incident response plan (IRP) builder to minimize the effects of a cyber incident, according to the company.

Rewst
Just ahead of NexGen 2023, Rewst published 50 new pre-built automations, more than doubling the size of its automations marketplace.
The Tampa, Fla.-based robotic process automation (RPA) platform provider’s automations, or Crates, are built and maintained by Rewst’s Robotic Operations Center (ROC). The new automations work for Microsoft 365, IT Glue, SentinelOne, ConnectWise and other tools used by MSPs.
Users have saved up to 8,000 hours a month with the vendor’s automations, according to Rewst.

Infima

The Infima simulated phishing product hosts simulated attacks by way of phishing emails. Every user receives a phishing email monthly with varied messages and timing, and those who fall for the simulated attack are immediately made aware that they’ve been “phished.” The next day, that user receives a reminder that outlines how to avoid such attacks.

Orlando, Fla.-based Infima and its tool offers tactics to track trainings by monthly reports to see a team’s training progress and highlights risk areas to be mindful of. Along with simulated phishing emails, Infima offers security awareness training guided by the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) framework and 10-minute targeted courses driven by behavioral psychology that are email based and easy to access.

Kroll

Kroll, a New York-based cybersecurity firm, provides MSPs a way to build, protect and maximize value through its unique financial and risk advisory and intelligence. Kroll MDR (managed detection and response) provides extended security monitoring 24/7, earlier insight into targeted threats and complete response to contain and eradicate threats.

Its full suite of offerings include incident response with digital forensics, crisis communications, cyber risk retainer and cyber litigation support. It offers breach notification with call center services, credit and ID monitoring and ID restoration and consultation and its penetration testing includes risk and privacy assessments, cloud security services and ransomware preparedness. It also offers managed detected and response, vCIO and advisory services and has a team of insurance professionals to help guide the conversation around cyber insurance.

Panorays

Panorays is a New York-based provider of third-party security risk management (TPRM) solutions. Through its AI-powered platform, Panorays transforms the TPRM process by providing a comprehensive and secure solution.

Its Cyber Risk (360-Degree) Rating platform provides a bottom-line rating of a supplier’s cyber risk through a external cyber posture assessment and a contextualized view of evolving third-party risk that combine questionnaires with external attack surface assessments. It also has automated, tier-based workflows with the ability to prioritize third parties based on inherent risks. Lastly, its scalability provides a centralized remediation management tool with real-time alerts as well as the ability to view the impact of cyber events.