Channel partners, MSP, Content

Pilixo Names New CEO, Preps MSP Remote Control Push

Andrew Meyer
Andrew Meyer
Kaseya Co-Founder Gerald Blackie

Pilixo Corp, is transitioning its CEO role from co-founder Gerald Blackie to Andrew Meyer, the startup MSP software company has confirmed to ChannelE2E. Next up, Pilixo plans to ramp up its MSP software business -- including a push involving Remo, a next-generation remote control platform built on HTML5.

Blackie, formerly CEO of Kaseya, launched Pilixo in 2013. Several other Kaseya veterans including Tim McMullen also are at the company. Going forward, Blackie essentially will have a chairman role and Meyer will run day-to-day operations. Blackie, McMullen and Meyer know each other well from their days in the ERP market more than a decade ago. Meyer also has extensive channel experience, including a successful run driving Websense's marketing and channel initiatives from about 1999 to 2003.

Pilixo's MSP Software Focus

Pilixo has evolved a bit since launch. The company's initial goal was to manage any type of advice that has an IP address. While it's great to have grand ambitions, Pilixo has also sharpened its focus in recent quarters. The company's core offerings now include Remo (remote control), Bodi (cloud-based employee monitoring) and Replay (a video replay system that helps admins to troubleshoot PC issues). I believe a Mac-centric management platform was spun off to Addigy, but I don't recall specifics.

Pilixo's products are "very stable" and the 12-person company will be taking steps to raise its visibility among MSPs. "The stuff works; it ain't in beta," quips Meyer. Indeed, Remo has quietly built an MSP following since launching around January 2017.

"We think we can really scale the business because our customers are happy and we have the right price points," Meyer adds. Indeed, the remote control products are priced on a per-MSP admin basis, and cost 20 to 30 percent of rival pricing, he asserts.

Pilixo has quietly navigated multiple MSP organizations, user groups and associations. TruMethods members, for instance, have provided feedback to the company about product features over the years.

Kaseya, Pilixo Veteran Launches Cenersys

Unitrends MSP’s Mike Sanders: A Kaseya veteran

Meanwhile, Pilixo veteran Mike Sanders also has a new gig. He's moved on to co-found Cenersys, which is developing a network monitoring solution for MSPs. I don't know if or how it competes with network-centric MSP tools like Auvik Networks and Kaseya Traverse -- which Kaseya is starting to promote more aggressively.

I'll share more thoughts on that in the weeks ahead...

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.