Kaseya VSA 9.4, the latest release of managed services software maker Kaseya Ltd.‘s remote monitoring and management solution, is now in general availability.
The new system, which MSPs can run either on-premises or in the cloud, features optional BDR functionality designed to let technicians backup data on PCs, servers, and virtual machines or in applications such as Microsoft Exchange through a single interface.
“You have one place to run it, one place to alert off of it, one place to manage it, one place to apply policy,” says Mike Puglia, chief product officer at Kaseya, which has dual headquarters in New York City and Miami.
MSPs can store backups in Kaseya’s public cloud, or locally on a customer’s network or private cloud. “It’s really flexible,” Puglia says.
Though priced separately from VSA itself, based on how many machines users protect and how much space they consume in Kaseya’s cloud, if any, the new BDR system comes at what Puglia calls a “groundbreaking price.”
“[It’s] about half the price of what else is out there today,” he says. The upshot for MSPs, predicts Kaseya CEO Fred Voccola, will be higher attach rates for BDR services, and hence increased revenue.
“It’s so inexpensive that the MSP can lead with that product or can offer backup to their customers who normally wouldn’t otherwise think of it,” he says.
Kaseya customers retain the option of using the many third-party BDR solutions VSA supports as well. “I want to make sure that our customers have the maximum amount of choice,” Puglia says.
Also included in VSA 9.4 is automated issue remediation technology that detects and resolves technical issues without an engineer’s assistance. Should a customer’s web service crash overnight, for example, the Kaseya software will restart it on its own rather than alert a tech. Kaseya expects that functionality to reduce ticket volumes by at least 30 percent.
Enhanced integration between VSA and Kaseya’s BMS professional services automation solution lets technicians go straight from support tickets to relevant information in their RMM system with a single click. Kaseya launched BMS just under a year ago.
New discovery capabilities in the latest VSA release are designed to save MSPs additional time by identifying all of an end user’s managed devices—including printers, switches, routers, and other network hardware—rapidly. Algorithms in the new solution automate the deployment of patches, software, and antivirus systems as well.
“Onboarding, which is one of your bigger costs, is literally an automated event at this point,” Puglia says.
VSA 9.4 makes onboarding new technicians simpler too, he adds, thanks to its enhanced Live Connect GUI, which is based on Google’s familiar Material Design interface language. Kaseya began introducing that simplified look and feel in the previous release of VSA, which rolled out last May.
An upgraded VSA mobile app newly available today utilizes the same interface as the desktop system. Based on HTML 5, the app runs on almost all smartphones and tablets, including Windows Mobile devices and even Amazon’s Kindle Fire.
“You’ll be able to get the same kind of usability and remote support control over your environment from any modern mobile device,” Puglia says.
Other new features in VSA 9.4 include remote control functionality that enables end users to give technicians access to devices that don’t have a Kaseya agent installed via an intuitive connection process.
“It’s kind of like joining a WebEx session or a GoToMeeting,” Puglia says.
VSA 9.4 is available worldwide immediately.
