BDR vendors Acronis International GmbH and StorageCraft Technology Corp. have rolled out new integrations between their solutions and core managed services line-of-business solutions from ConnectWise.
Both companies timed their releases to coincide with Tampa, Fla.-based ConnectWise’s 2018 Automation Nation conference, which concluded today in Orlando.
Acronis, which operates in the U.S. out of Burlington, Mass., linked its Acronis Data Cloud platform to both the ConnectWise Manage PSA solution and ConnectWise Automate RMM system.
The ConnectWise Manage integration adds support for the Acronis Files Cloud and Disaster Recovery Cloud services to previously introduced support for Acronis Backup Cloud. Other enhancements include support for automatic, rules-based closing of resolved tickets and tighter cross-platform billing integration.
“For usage-based agreements, we report usage from our cloud back to ConnectWise Manage, allowing MSPs to invoice their customers correctly,” says Victor Batraev, senior program manager for cloud solutions at Acronis.
Due next month, the new integration between Acronis Data Cloud and ConnectWise Automate allows technicians to define separate default backup plans for servers and workstations, and create backup policy scripts for mass deployment across multiple endpoints.
Introduced last October, Acronis Data Cloud is a unified hybrid cloud platform for backup, disaster recovery, and file sync and share services. Acronis Files Cloud, Disaster Recovery Cloud, and Backup Cloud are its three core components.
Like Acronis, StorageCraft, of Draper, Utah, has also tightened existing connections between its BDR products on the one hand and ConnectWise Manage and Automate on the other.
The new ConnectWise Manage plug-in now allows MSPs to import licensing and cloud usage data directly into the PSA system they use to prepare invoices.
“We’re able to sync up all the licenses that an MSP is using from StorageCraft with Manage, so that they can do unified billing and reporting to their customers,” says Hugo Parra, senior director of product management at StorageCraft.
Users can push license and cloud consumption changes from StorageCraft system to ConnectWise Manage as well, either on demand or on a scheduled basis.
The latest ConnectWise Automate integration enables channel pros to increase operational efficiencies by managing and monitoring StorageCraft services from inside the ConnectWise Automate Control Center. Supported functions include configuring backups; monitoring status, errors, and warnings; and remotely installing, uninstalling, licensing, and updating ShadowProtect SPX backup agents.
Significantly, while ConnectWise drove the creation of past Automate integrations with StorageCraft, the new plug-in was created by a recently formed development team within StorageCraft itself.
“StorageCraft has taken ownership,” Parra notes.
Integrating its solution with products from third-party providers like Acronis and StorageCraft is a central part of the product and platform philosophy outlined by ConnectWise Chief Product Officer Craig Fulton at Automation Nation this week.
StorageCraft announced an integration with the Autotask PSA system, from Datto Inc., this week as well.
