Dozens of the industry’s leading sponsors crowded the show floor at ChannelPro‘s latest SMB Forum event in Charlotte. Here are some updates from four of them.
Quickpass Rolls Out New Feature for ConnectWise Users
Quickpass Cybersecurity, a provider of privileged access management and help desk security automation for MSPs, has commenced a public beta of credential injection functionality for the ConnectWise Control remote access solution. The company also announced that it has promoted Jimmy Hatzell, previously director of marketing, to vice president of revenue.
Both announcements come on the heels of a $7 million Series A investment by Arthur Ventures, finalized in June.
With the new feature, MPSs can now use the new Quickpass desktop app to directly log into remote machines using credentials stored in IT Glue, Hudu, or Quickpass Password Manager.
This is something partners have been asking for, Haskell says. “To be able to inject the credentials automatically [to ConnectWise Control] is a huge step forward and a big time saver,” he notes, explaining that this previously was a manual copy-and-paste process. “So now MSPs can actually take their credentials from inside IT Glue or Hudu or in our own password vault and spin up a ConnectWise Control instance inside of the Quickpass app. … We’re all about making MSPs not only more secure, but also more productive.”
The beta release follows a “quiet release” in Europe, which Hatzell says received positive feedback from partners. “We’re going to do a second release in full GA within the coming weeks, but we wanted to give all of our partners access to be able to request features that we can push out between now and then.”
The same credential injection feature will be offered for Datto RMM next, Hatzell says, followed by other RMMs.
Hatzell calls building a footprint for Quickpass in Europe a priority in his new role. “We’ve tripled in size in the past six months employee-wise, and we plan to continue to grow, because our partners have supported us,” he says. “Any initiatives that are coming from me or the company are all about enabling MSPs and being partner first, and we want to continue with that trend as we grow.”
ConnectMeVoice Weeks Away from Post-Acquisition Roadmap
VoIP and unified communications vendor ConnectMeVoice, which was acquired by Montreal-based voice, data, and messaging provider Cloudli Communications in June, expects to have a roadmap for the combined business communications companies in September, according to channel chief Frank Seltzer.
Until then, he adds, “partnership programs are staying the same. Commissions, compensation, everything they want about ConnectMeVoice is remaining the same,” including ConnectMeVoice personnel. Soon though, Seltzer continues, the acquisition “will mean more people, more resources, possibly new products and improved products from the Cloudli end.”
Integration with Cloudli’s fax service is a near-term objective, he adds. “They’ve got a really good fax solution that might really benefit our current partners and new potential partners.”
Unlike ConnectMeVoice, which sells only to partners and agents, Cloudli is not 100% channel and sells direct as well. Seltzer says the ConnectMeVoice by Cloudli line will remain channel focused.
US Signal Has Managed XDR and Advanced Email Security for MSPs On the Way
US Signal is developing MSP-ready versions of its two latest online solutions.
Introduced a little more than two months ago, the vendor’s managed XDR and advanced email security offerings are both built around the needs and budgets of large businesses, notes Jerry Clark, the vendor’s director of cloud sales development.
“They’re just a little pricey,” he says. Versions of both products scaled for SMBs and sold at significantly lower per-seat rates, however, could be available as soon as the end of this year.
The managed XDR solution combines firewall services from Palo Alto Networks with EDR software from Sentinel One. Fully managed out of US Signal’s SOC, the system collects and correlates data from endpoints, servers, cloud workloads, networks, and more.
The advanced email security system, which is based on software from Acronis and equipped with proprietary software algorithms that examine code at the CPU level, is designed to safeguard end users against spam, phishing, spoofing, business email compromise attacks, advanced persistent threats, and zero-day malware. It is compatible with Microsoft 365, Microsoft Exchange, Open-Xchange, Gmail, and other cloud email services, and is compliant with SOC 2, GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA requirements.
US Signal’s most popular solution for MSPs at present, Clark notes, is its hosted virtual desktop solution, which runs on Cisco hardware and VMware software. Fully managed, like other US Signal services, the system comes with RMM software, managed detection and response protection, and replication to a backup data center on a separate power grid owned and operated by the vendor itself. Subscriptions sell for around $30 per seat a month plus 8 cents a gigabyte for storage.
“That’s wholesale to MSPs,” Clark notes. “When you scale that cost over 20 users, it’s a no brainer.”
Gradient MSP Adds TraitWare to Synthesize
TraitWare, a maker of plug-and-play identity and access management software that combines passwordless multifactor authentication with single sign-on functionality, is the latest vendor to join Gradient MSP’s Synthesize vendor integration program.
The agreement arms TraitWare partners to automate an otherwise burdensome monthly billing reconciliation process.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Gradient as a premiere Passwordless MFA/SSO vendor for their MSP community,” said TraitWare CEO Heath Spencer in a press statement. “Gradient’s focus and heart for MSPs and the Channel is a huge reason we sought an integration with them. This highlights our commitment to supporting the MSP and Channel communities. We are confident the partnership will continue to have a long-lasting positive impact on both our networks.”
Introduced in February, Synthesize is an integration platform and associated partner program for Billable, the billing reconciliation solution Gradient shipped last November. Some 80 vendors either have or are currently developing integrations for the platform, which also exchanges data with PSA software from Accelo, Datto, ConnectWise, HaloPSA, Kaseya, Pulseway, Syncro, and Tigerpaw.
“We’re so pleased to have TraitWare join the Synthesize Integration Program,” said Andrea Ayala, director of technology alliances at Gradient MSP, in prepared remarks. “This integration will enhance TraitWare’s service offering, making MSPs even happier to partner with them.”
Synthesize was named Most Innovative Solution by attendees of this week’s SMB Forum event. Mailprotector announced an integration with Synthesize during the SMB Forum event in Dallas two months ago. Mailprotector announced an integration with Synthesize during the SMB Forum event in Dallas two months ago.
