MSP

SolarWinds MSP Software Roadmap Arriving In November

John Pagliuca
John Pagliuca

SolarWinds MSP plans to unveil its software roadmap during a UK-based conference in November, ChannelE2E has confirmed. The roadmap will cover the SolarWinds N-able and LogicNow product lines, with quarterly roadmap updates to follow thereafter, multiple sources say.

SolarWinds acquired LogicNow in June 2016, aligning it with the SolarWinds N-able business to serve 20,000 combined MSPs. LogicNow veterans including former CEO Walter Scott and GM Alistair Forbes have since exited the business. To fill the void, SolarWinds CEO Kevin Thompson last week named former LogicNow CFO John Pagliuca to lead the combined MSP software operations. Company insiders on both sides of the aisle -- N-able and LogicNow -- applaud Pagliuca's new role, according to multiple sources at the company.

Pagliuca won't be working in a vacuum. During a Sept. 28 interview with ChannelE2E, he described the updated SolarWinds MSP org chart. He also confirmed a software roadmap will emerge at the Max 2016 conference, which is set for Nov. 14-15 in Edinburgh, UK. "Our engineers have been working right out of the gate on the roadmap," Pagliuca said.

Among the organizational milestones Pagliuca mentioned:

  • SolarWinds MSP Sales: JP Jauvin, an N-able veteran, will drive the group's overall sales and support activities. Key lieutenants include N-able veteran Mike Cullen. Customers will retain their existing N-able and LogicNow sales representatives. The top edict is to "put the right solution in the MSP's hands," Pagliuca says. That means SolarWinds reps will funnel business to N-able reps (and vice-versa) based on specific customer needs. A singular salesforce -- where a rep is fully trained to sell all N-able and LogicNow products without any type of handoff to another rep -- isn't expected in 2016.
  • SolarWinds MSP Technical Support: Leo Sanchez, a LogicNow veteran, is now VP of worldwide technical support for the overall group. He's also working closely with the integration team.
  • SolarWinds MSP R&D: August Wehrmann (VP of engineering) and Steve Rodda (VP of product management) are driving the R&D efforts. Rodda and Wehrmann both report to SolarWinds Executive VP Doug Hibberd.

Next Moves

Keep a close eye on how the MSP team works with SolarWinds' corporate team going forward. Hibberd and Executive VP of Products Christoph Pfister are part of the SolarWinds corporate team, which the MSP team will aggressively leverage, says Pagliuca.

Bottom line: It's been roughly three months since SolarWinds acquired LogicNow. Some of the executive departures were expected, but I believe some weren't. SolarWinds has perhaps been too quiet about its roadmap plans. But a clear leader is now in place (Pagliuca); the MSP R&D team now has direct access to the corporate R&D team; and a combined roadmap is coming in November.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.