WatchGuard Lands Kaseya President Joe Smolarski As New CEO, His Plan Is To Double MSP Margins

“We believe we're going to be able to drive significant increases in margin that hopefully allow them [MSPs] to double their margin when it comes to cybersecurity offerings,” said new WatchGuard CEO Joe Smolarski. “That’s exactly what we are looking for!”

WatchGuard is shaking up the intensely competitive cybersecurity landscape by hiring Kaseya President Joe Smolarski – who helped change the economics of the MSP landscape with big increases in partner profit margins - as its new CEO.

Smolarski, a seven-year Kaseya veteran who helped drive a massive shift in the cost and profitability of managed services, says he is ready to take a page from the Kaseya playbook to provide the same kind of benefits to MSPs in the cybersecurity market.

“It needs to occur,” said Smolarski of the fundamental economic changes he aims to bring to the MSP cybersecurity market. “The market is ripe for it! We have the technology and the foundation to do exactly that. We believe we're going to be able to drive significant increases in margin that hopefully allow them [MSPs] to double their margin when it comes to cybersecurity offerings. That’s exactly what we are looking for!”

Smolarski said that when he looked at taking the WatchGuard job he saw the opportunity to drive the same market dynamics that he did during his tenure at Kaseya.

“At Kaseya we were able to drive down costs significantly internally and pass that cost savings on to our customers and help them double their margins, which absolutely changed their lives,” he said. “And when I looked at the Watchguard opportunity I know for a fact we have the same foundation, the same capabilities to do so in the space that we are in. I know we can do that very quickly. We're already taking steps there.”

Smolarski, a 25-year industry veteran, told CRN that he is tripling down on MSPs and bringing new integration to drive MSPs to sell the full zero trust WatchGuard platform.

“The MSP community wants it to be a fully integrated platform,” he said. “We have a great foundation for that. We have a tremendous amount of integration today, and we're going to accelerate the unification of that platform through integration. It's going to be a no-brainer to turn on the next piece of security through WatchGuard in a very, very short timeframe as we double down on that particular path.”

Smolarski said he is laser-focused on providing a lower total cost for the WatchGuard zero trust platform and driving margin improvements with a platform built from the ground up for MSPs.

“The MSP community is different than the enterprise,” said Smolarski. “Dollars are their dollars. It's affecting their lives and their bottom line. We know how important it is, and we are very, very passionate here at WatchGuard about doing exactly that: providing security for all, making security attainable for every partner throughout the world to give that to their end customers and end users, and to do so while they're able to grow their profit margins. I have no doubt with the technology platform that we have built here with a tremendously efficient operation behind it, that we can drive improved margins [for MSPs] significantly in 2026 and beyond.”

MSPs told CRN they expect Smolarski to kick the WatchGuard MSP cybersecurity offensive into high gear.

Kevin Willette, president of Verus, a New Charter Technologies company and a top WatchGuard and Kaseya partner, said bringing Smolarski on board as CEO is a “home run” for WatchGuard.

“Joe did a fantastic job at Kaseya, integrating all the acquisitions,” said Willette, who has led Verus to multiple WatchGuard Partner of the Year honors. “He definitely has a handle on what the MSPs need. I see him taking WatchGuard to the next level. He’s going to be great! There are going to be a lot of good things happening for WatchGuard with him running the show.”

Willette said he has been driving all of the New Charter Technologies MSPs to adopt the WatchGuard cybersecurity platform as a standard offering. “I see Joe taking WatchGuard even further into New Charter and other MSP platforms with his experience,” he said. “I would like to have New Charter adopt it as its primary security offering. Joe knows the New Charter executives from his time at Kaseya. I am very happy he is the new CEO.”

Willette, who has known Smolarski for the last seven years, said he has been impressed by the industry veteran’s ability to drive operational changes for both Kaseya and his company.

“He really helped us look at the best way to help us build our business,” he said.

Willette, who expects his WatchGuard business to double this year, said he is pumped up by the opportunity ahead to double down on WatchGuard with Smolarski at the helm. “This only makes us want to go faster,” he said.

Don Gulling, president and CEO of Verteks Consulting, a longtime WatchGuard partner based in Ocala, Fla., said he was “excited” to learn that WatchGuard had Smolarski.

“WatchGuard is lucky to bring onboard someone like Joe that has that experience with Kaseya, a massive, massive player in the industry with significant revenues, a giant team and a global footprint,” said Gulling. “I’m glad they got him!”

Gulling, who is also a Kaseya partner, said Smolarski’s track record driving big operational improvements at Kaseya, including stronger centralized account management for MSPs and cross-selling of the Kaseya MSP platform, are going to be critical to driving future growth for WatchGuard.

“One of the things that Joe implemented was a dedicated point of contact [at Kaseya] that could talk to us about the entire stack,” he said of the Kaseya account management change. “That’s been a major blessing. It has deepened the relationship. I think that’s the reason Kaseya has had an expansion in MRR [Monthly Recurring Revenue]. It’s kind of surprising that they have found someone like this who is such a good fit for this puzzle.”

Gulling said he is also excited about Smolarski’s nearly three years of experience as chief operating officer of MRP, a global marketing intelligence provider. That experience will be critical in helping MSPs drive new account growth with a knowledge of how to reach buyers when they are ready to make a purchase, he said.

“Joe clearly understands what a buyer’s journey looks like, what competitive differentiation is about, and how do you go out in the marketplace and compete,” Gulling said. “It’s all about winning new accounts by displacing others. WatchGuard has the products, solutions, the partnerships and a lot of great happy MSPs. What we need is the leadership that’s going to allow us to do more competitive displacement, expand our footprint, and get more market share.”

Gulling said he is looking forward to Smolarski helping his business grow from two thirds of his customers selling two or more WatchGuard solutions to 100 percent with his WatchGuard business doubling in revenue every three years. “I see Joe having a major positive impact on our business,” he said. “I see him helping us do more cross-selling and protecting the WatchGuard culture built over many, many years.”

Smolarski, for his part, said he is ready to move at 200 miles per hour to drive margin and platform improvements to WatchGuard.

“We have a fantastic opportunity in front of us to capitalize on,” he said. “You're not going to see us sitting on our laurels. We're going to move very, very fast. There is so much for the MSPs and our partners to benefit from. We’ve got to get out there, front and center, and capitalize on that great opportunity. We have the technology. We have the people. We're going to get it done quickly!”