10 Things To Watch From Tigerpaw Software In 2015

Tigerpaw Eyes Bigger MSPs, Office Equipment Resellers

Change is in the air for Tigerpaw Software, as the professional service automation (PSA) vendor introduces new mobile and analytics offerings, embraces a new marketing and sales strategy, and seeks out a new customer base.

James Foxall, president and CEO of the Bellevue, Neb.-based company, spoke with CRN about Tigerpaw's decision to seek out larger MSPs, its pursuit of office-equipment VARs and the additional customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities on its new mobile version.

He also discussed why Tigerpaw hasn't followed the lead of Autotask and ConnectWise in purchasing a remote management and monitoring (RMM) company.

Read on to learn what the channel can expect from Tigerpaw in the coming months.

10. Bigger MSPs Are Better For Tigerpaw Going Forward

Tigerpaw has decided to change its approach to targeting clients, Foxall said, forsaking its quest to land managed service providers (MSPs) with one to three employees and instead go after MSPs with 10 or more employees.

Tigerpaw's competitors, Autotask and ConnectWise, both also aggressively pursue the smallest MSPs, and Foxall feels that any of the PSA companies can provide equal value to firms at that size.

Where Tigerpaw really differentiates itself, though, Foxall said, is with full business automation products that facilitate cross-departmental management and inventory control. Since very small MSPs only have one department, Foxall said they don't benefit much from the offering.

9. Larger MSPs Will Benefit From Tigerpaw's New Multilocation Billing

Tigerpaw plans to release a product in early spring that will save MSPs lots of time and money when carrying out large installations.

Foxall said the multilocation billing feature would, for instance, roll up all of the accounting data associated with installing networks in 10 different schools and create a single invoice for the school district customer.

The product also will enable MSPs to attach contacts across multiple accounts -- making it easier to take notes and do follow-ups -- as well as attach contact records to mutual clients in a subcontracting or consulting situation.

8. Tigerpaw's Mobile Version Wasn't The First, But It Could Be The Best

Though Autotask and ConnectWise were first out of the gate with mobile versions, Foxall said the late start allowed Tigerpaw to build its mobile version on more modern technology.

Tigerpaw leveraged the superior technology for its new mobile app released in February, which offers faster load and response times, as well as a redesigned user interface with new agenda and dashboard pages.

Foxall said the new mobile version extends access to business management, service automation and tracking tools from just the services side of the business to also include the sales side.

7. Tigerpaw's New CRM Functionality Should Help Sales Reps On The Go

The signature feature of Tigerpaw's new mobile version, though, are upgrades to the CRM functionality.

The new CRM database will provide sales reps with realtime access to customer accounts, contacts and opportunities using their smartphone. Through the app, reps will have full access to customer data and journal notes anywhere, anytime.

Plus the CRM is tied into the back end for business automation, Foxall said, allowing for the automatic scheduling of phone calls and sending of service-related emails.

The CRM improvements should significantly boost sales rep productivity and organization, Foxall said.

6. Tigerpaw Is Seeking New Leadership, Ideas In Sales And Marketing

Tigerpaw is changing up its leadership in sales and marketing in hopes of taking the company to the next level.

On the marketing side, the PSA vendor has hired Corey DeJong to spearhead operations and tasked him with bringing focus and methodology to what Tigerpaw had been doing in a scattered way.

Specifically, Foxall said DeJong has pushed Tigerpaw to do more email marketing, be more proactive with the press and improve its process of evaluating tradeshows. DeJong also is trying to get the marketing team more involved with the sales process, Foxall said.

Tigerpaw is currently conducting a national search to replace its sales leader, Foxall said.

5. Tigerpaw Plans To Roll Out A Hosted Platform Over The Summer

The proliferation of remote desktop technology has prompted Tigerpaw to move toward a hosted model, Foxall said.

Instead of rebuilding its application, Tigerpaw plans over the summer to begin providing a desktop app in the cloud, Foxall said, with multiple rich, GUI toolbars delivered over the web.

Similarly, Tigerpaw has stopped using middleware, Foxall said, since its latest application program interface (API) integration allows for RMM updates to go through automatically.

The new API even supports bidirectional updates, Foxall said.

4. Tigerpaw's New Data Analytics Tool Will Revolutionize Sales

The most exciting product coming down Tigerpaw's pipeline is the Matrix, a brand-new, customizable decision-making engine powered by data analytics, Foxall said.

The Matrix empowers MSPs to build dynamic, customizable lists in real-time, breaking purchasing history down by customer size, average amount spent and geography, Foxall said.

Plus the lists have multicolumn sort and embedded hyperlinks, allowing MSPs to be taken to specific pieces of data and more easily uncover groupings or patterns.

The Matrix has many business applications, Foxall said, from analyzing service-level agreements to helping determine which customers sales reps should call.

3. Tigerpaw Is Only PSA With Concurrent User Pricing Model

Tigerpaw's per-user price is higher than Autotask or ConnectWise, Foxall said.

But MSPs shouldn't be scared off by the price tag, because they'll almost certainly end up purchasing far fewer user licenses with Tigerpaw than with a competing PSA, he said.

That's because Tigerpaw relies on a concurrent-user model, meaning MSPs only need to pay for the employees who are logged in at a particular time.

Autotask and ConnectWise use a named-seats model, Foxall said, where a separate license must be purchased for every individual user whether they are on the system or not.

2. Tigerpaw Seeks More Customers In Office Equipment Space

The strongest emerging market for Tigerpaw's offerings is the office-equipment space, where Foxall said many of the solution providers selling printers and copiers are looking for tools that will help them easily transition into reselling networking products.

From a technology standpoint, though, the move into data shouldn't be difficult, Foxall said, plus they have familiarity with inventory.

Other emerging areas for Tigerpaw include the commercial market, point-of-sale and ProAV, Foxall said.

Tigerpaw already has the leading market position in the voice segment, Foxall said, and is, therefore, looking to play defense in that area.

1. Tigerpaw Is Not Actively Looking To Purchase A RMM

Tigerpaw is the largest PSA without an RMM under its umbrella, and Foxall doesn't feel any pressure to do that.

Autotask got into the RMM space in September when it acquired CentraStage, a 40-person firm in the United Kingdom with strong cloud capabilities.

And although Foxall noted that Tigerpaw has a strong cash position, he said the company is happy to work with all RMM vendors and is comfortable not having an affiliation with any particular RMM.