Liongard continues to extend its value proposition of automating the ingestion of data into documentation and other software platforms for MSPs.
Vincent Tran, Liongard’s Chief Operating Officer
ORLANDO – Liongard, which makes automated documentation software that speeds up ingestion of data into documentation platforms and other software systems in the MSP space, just came off a strong show at the ConnectWise IT Nation Connect event here. Liongard did not announce any new integrations at the event, but they did demonstrate their auto-updating of ConnectWise Manage system configuration items, and they have extended the metrics around their Roar software.
Liongard was created to fill what its founders saw as a void in connecting the dots between MSP documentation platforms and RMM and PSA systems.
“Joe Alapat, our CEO, and I used to work together running an MSP in Houston, and have known each other since the fourth grade,” said Vincent Tran, Liongard’s Chief Operating Officer. “We ran the MSP from 2002 to 2012. After we exited that business, we tried to understand how we could marry our background in application development and BI with infrastructure management.”
Liongard, which formally launched in 2015, was the result. Their software – Roar – makes it easier to work with documentation platforms like IT Glue by making it easier to collect documentation data by automating the process of system discovery, documentation, change detection and assessment.
“It took three years for us to develop this,” Tran said. “The idea was to provide a unified visibility dashboard that would give MSP actionable insights to protect customers. They are overloaded with so many things. Our goal is to go as wide as possible to collect data from all the systems that pop up. We connect the dots using automated documentation, consuming all that data and transforming it in a way that can be ingested very quickly.
Tran said that they knew their mission was validated when they saw IT Glue getting into automation and visibility as well.
“Larger systems are more stringently structured and don’t have our speed and visibility around this,” he said. “Our goal is to be Switzerland, and to work with all those systems. There is no reason that we should hang onto the data.” Liongard announced an integration with IT Glue at that company’s first-ever GlueCon event two months ago, following their first integration, which was with ConnectWise.
“We are working on an integration with Autotask, and we are starting an integration with Kaseya PSA which we expect to have completed for Q1 next year, although we don’t know yet how tight an integration that will be,” Tran said. “We are also talking with other documentation vendors – ITBoost and Passportal.”
Liongard is also working with other software vendors in the MSP space as well without formal partnerships or integrations. This includes Crushbank, which has developed an application to leverage the analytics of IBM Watson to leverage cognitive computing to make Help Desks more effective.
“We push our data into the ConnectWise PSA and Crushbank pulls that out to help MSPs,” Tran said. “They are not a formal partner, but we are seeking integration connections with other platforms.
Liongard’s first integration partner, ConnectWise, continues to be a strong asset for them.
“This was a fantastic show for us,” Tran said. “ConnectWise has been a great partner. They have been encouraging folks to come by and see us. This is also a good event for us because many of the MSPs that attend are mature. Many are very large.”
Medium and large sized MSPs are Liongard’s sweet spot.
“MSPs with more than ten staff members will see more value from us,” Tran said. “The micro ones are small enough to get through the documentation issues that they have.”
Tran said that Liongard’s biggest thing from the show was their demonstration of the extension of Roar Metrics.
“We have extended the correlation of data,” he indicated. “Collecting the data is not enough. Having the expiration date, knowing who the privileged users are, these kind of things let users create their own metrics so they can get to information quickly. Billing is a key use case Looking ahead, insights is where we are going there, and security above that.”
