SaaS Alerts, whose principals include former IndependenceIT execs Seth Bostock and Chip Buck, is targeting MSPs of all sizes.
Wilmington N.C.-based SaaS Alerts has announced the general availability of their unified monitoring and alerting platform for the MSP market. They have also announced what amounts to a free trial program for MSPs. The MSP Resilient Response [MRR] program will give MSPs free unlimited use of the platform through October 1st.
SaaS Alerts is a new company specifically created to help MSPs monetize the SaaS applications market more effectively. They have four managing partners, two of whom are well-known in the channel as former principals with IndependenceIT, which made Workspace-as-a-Service [WaaS] enablement software to automate deployment of applications, data, and complete workspaces in the cloud, and which was acquired by CloudJumper in early 2018. Seth Bostock was IndependenceIT’s CEO, while Chip Buck was the CTO. Keith Engelbert, the third Managing Partner, ran the IT shop for a billion-dollar transportation company, while the fourth partner is a quiet one without public visibility.
“The company is all self-funded, so we have zero debt,” Engelbert told ChannelBuzz.
Monitoring and protection of SaaS applications has become a hot market because of the massive expansion of the role of SaaS applications by organizations, with the typical employee of an SMB organization using eight SaaS applications. SaaS Alerts provides a solution specifically made for MSPs which provides visibility and alerting into their software stack.
“We cover three areas, data theft, data that which is at risk because of unintentional employee mishaps and actions taken by bad actors,” Engelbert said. “Today, we configure it, but we are building a rules engine so MSPs can do that themselves. We cross-correlate all data from the apps.
The solution is fully multi-tenanted, and has integrations with the three largest PSAs in North America, Kaseya Datto, and ConnectWise, which is where they will focus for now.
Out of the gate, only a small number of apps are supported – but they include the big ones, Microsoft Office 365, Google G Suite, Salesforce, and Dropbox. Support for Box and Slack are coming soon, along with a roadmap for other popular SaaS applications
“The roadmap will really be determined by MSPs’ priorities though,” Engelbert indicated. “We will also be adding new capabilities like license management and audit functionality.”
SaaS Alerts is targeting all types of MSPs, from the very small to the large.
“We are going after everybody,” Engelbert said. “We have been testing with around 20 MSP partners for the last 90-120 days, getting very good feedback from them. They are of all sizes. Some very large and some are very small.”
Keith Engelbert, one of SaaS Alerts’ Managing Partners
“Our solution is so simple that a small MSP can sign up today and be monitoring tomorrow,” Engelbert continued. “Many of these smaller MSPs aren’t even in SaaS yet. But they will be forced to move that way quicker than they might want because that’s where the market is heading. They can make money with us because the MSP has a lot of markup space above the 50 cents per user per month that we charge. We also let them be a one-stop shop for the console, so they don’t have to go to Google or Azure.”
The company’s MSP Resilient Response Program is also formally launching, although it has been publicized for a while, since the original launch plans had to be adjusted to deal with the explosion of COVID on the marketplace. It now provides free unlimited use of the platform through October 1st, which is later than the original planned expiry date.
The MRR program has also been expanded from the original plans. Initially, it was to be free to the first 500 MSPs who signed up, but that now has been expanded to all enrollees.
The plan is to make a broader range of channel enablement resources available after the MRR program runs its course.
“Right now, we are focusing on signups, but as we ramp up after MRR, we will get more resources out,” Engelbert said.
With the pandemic closing down physical shows for the foreseeable future, that poses particular challenges for a company like SaaS Alerts, since both startups and MSP-focused companies depend a lot on meeting new people at shows to build up their ecosystem. They just ‘attended’ the virtual Kaseya Connect IT event this week, and this event, at least, did well for them.
“These virtual shows are a first for all of us, and there is a challenge because you can’t attract people to booths” Engelbert indicated. “The Kaseya event platform was very solid, however. Our booth was virtually manned by five people and all five of them were in chats at some points. So I would give it an A+ for effort, and four and a half stars. But would I rather have been in Vegas this week for it? Absolutely.”
