Global expansion is a key factor in retiring the Intronis brand as a business unit in favor of Barracuda MSP. The Intronis name will live on as the backup product within the MSP platform.
Brian Babineau, SVP and GM, Barracuda MSP
Adios Intronis! The brand of the company that Barracuda bought in 2015 to jump-start their MSP business is changing. Intronis MSP Solutions by Barracuda – the first, transitional, rebranding of Intronis from early last year – is now Barracuda MSP. Barracuda has timed the rebranding with the rolling launch of the new version of ECHOplatform, the MSP platform. They are also announcing two new educational programs to help IT channel providers sell managed services.
The rebranding of Intronis is primarily related to Barracuda’s push to expand its MSP business globally.
“Barracuda is one of the more powerful mid-market IT brands, and that brand is global,” said Brian Babineau, SVP and GM, Barracuda MSP. “Intronis was centred on North America and that was where the brand was known. We have expanded the MSP business in the Western European market, and developed quite a nice footprint there. We also have grand plans for expansion into Asia Pacific in the future. Having a global brand is the key to that.”
Babineau said that the key thing is not the Intronis brand, but Barracuda’s commitment to what that brand stood for.
“That’s a solid MSP business with backup technology,” he said. “By combining this continued focus on the MSP market with our global Barracuda brand, we think we have the best of both worlds.”
The Intronis brand will not disappear completely. It will be used to identify the backup product as part of ECHOplatform.
Barracuda MSP is also launching the latest version of ECHOplatform.
Chris Crellin, Senior Director of Product Management, Barracuda MSP
“It is a staged launch,” said Chris Crellin, Senior Director of Product Management, Barracuda MSP. “We are doing this in conjunction with the branding change. We launched the new version of ECHOPlatform first in the U.K. a couple of weeks ago.” The rolling upgrade will continue throughout the month of September, and people will see it over the next couple of weeks.
A big enhancement in this version of ECHOPlatform is deeper integration with Barracuda’s legacy platform.
“Before this, ECHOPlatform and the Barracuda platform were managed entirely separately,” Crellin said. “Now they talk to each other, and there is a single sign-on between both. All the Barracuda products can now be viewed from the ECHOPlatform interface. This includes Barracuda Backup appliances, Essentials for Office 365, and Email Security products, allowing the partner to activate and provision them as well.
“There are still some things to be done in the platform integration, but we are certainly closer than before,” Babineau said. “We have now fully integrated the business view. The administrative console tasks are different, and there are things to be done there. On the Barracuda side, while email and data protection are a single pane of glass, firewall is still separate. We are always striving though, for that single pane of glass. We aren’t done yet, but we have some pretty solid roadmap plans.”
The third element of the announcement is the launch of two new educational programs, SmarterMSP.com and Ready, Set, Managed!
“MSP momentum is unparalleled right now,” Babineau said. “MSPs have to add new services quickly, and can profit from information sharing. SmarterMSP.com is for insights and information sharing to help MSPs improve their business, and for partners who want to become MSPs. It is live content, where we will be constantly adding and subtracting, and bringing in thought leadership.”
Ready, Set, Managed! is an interactive educational and networking program for VARs and MSPs to learn best practices for successfully growing their managed services operations.
“It is focused on enabling partners to transition to a hybrid or pure managed services offerings,” Babineau indicated. “This is not something where we are shooting for quantity. It is focused on repeating steps, and providing tips on selling managed services at a contractual level.”
Babineau said that it’s still not too late for traditional solution providers to make a transition to MSP business, at least for part of their revenue.
“Our belief is that most solution providers will exist on a hybrid model, with some on-prem and some managed services,” he said. “Some customers want to make the transition. Some aren’t ready. Good channel partners, however, can operate in any world.”
Babineau said that the common Barracuda brand will help partners working both models.
“We think the common brand will help partners operating in a hybrid model,” he said. “We also think it will assist MSPs who have not been in security before, but who now see a market opportunity. The Barracuda brand will help MSPs move to the most profitable part of the market. We have hundreds of partners every month that expand into the security part of the business.”
Babineau also noted that new MSPs coming into Barracuda are increasingly showing a preference for security.
“Since the acquisition, new MSPs to the company have been very balanced between data protection and security,” he said. “However, in the last two quarters, new partners have been heavily weighted to firewall and email security. They realize they have to add security to their portfolio.”
