N-able Fosters Ecoverse Vision to Tame MSP Tool Sprawl

To make it easier for MSPs to manage devices, the cloud, users and data, N-able introduced its vision of the N-able Ecoverse – a layer between managed digital assets and a unified interface for MSPs to manage them as part of the N-able platform.

N-able announced this Ecoverse vision along with product roadmaps and visions and new and expanded technology partnerships with Rewst, HaloPSA, and Microsoft during its N-able Empower event for its MSP partners in Frisco, Texas this week.

The event drew 500 managed service providers to the three-day event, which featured keynotes from several executives, including CEO John Pagliuca, who spoke about horizons for MSPs. The opening keynote also featured a tribute to the Godfather of MSPs, Mike Cullen, a trailblazer in establishing the managed services business model and creating playbooks for achieving success. Cullen passed away earlier this year.

N-able’s collaboration with Microsoft includes the introduction of N-able Cloud Commander, a multi-tenant solution for the Microsoft Cloud, built to help MSPs manage, secure, standardize, and automate Microsoft 365 users, Azure resources, and Intune devices from a single console.

N-able Ecoverse: Open Interoperability and the MSP Ecosystem

The Ecoverse vision encompasses N-able’s recent work with APIs to improve its interoperability with tools in the broader MSP market. Mike Adler, chief technology and product officer at N-able, announced the Ecoverse during a keynote address at the event.

“This is a really important part of what we see as our Ecoverse as we move forward. It’s not building up walls within our solutions. It’s a statement that we see ourselves as part of the MSP ecosystem. We want to be open. We’re going to open more and more of our products and solutions to be API centric and connected,” he said.

N-able said that the Ecoverse will deliver unified management, cybersecurity and data protection capabilities across physical devices, user identities, and cloud resources and data.

New Integrations with HaloPSA and Rewst

Along with the Ecoverse vision, N-able announced new integrations with HaloPSA and MSP automation specialist Rewst.

HaloPSA integrations are designed to:

“This integration is set to be the most comprehensive integration of Halo with an RMM that is available,” said Tim Barton-Wines, an executive at HaloPSA.

Rewst’s integrations are designed to enable MSPs to:

Microsoft, N-able Collaboration for MSPs in the Cloud

The N-able collaboration with Microsoft brings multi-tenancy to Microsoft cloud solutions, making it easier for MSPs to offer desktop-as-a-service and to leverage Intune endpoint management.

The collaboration is similar to what Nerdio pioneered in terms of offering a way for MSPs to partner with Microsoft Cloud – making it easier for MSPs to offer those services.

Canalys principal analyst for MSPs Robin Ody told ChannelE2E that over the last two years Microsoft has taken note of how it could improve in serving the MSP community.

“They’ve done a lot of work internally to gather that information,” he said. Whereas 10 years ago Microsoft told partners they would need to build services on top of products like Microsoft 365 to make margins, “Now what they are doing is actually trying to get a handle on how they enable partners to do that.”

N-able’s Adler said that by partnering with Microsoft on these technologies, N-able is making desktop-as-a-service and other virtualization technology approachable for MSPs. That’s a positive development because DaaS is a cost-effective solution for SMBs. N-able brings the management piece for MSPs, Adler told ChannelE2E.

“We have an ability to introduce that multi-tenant management layer over that technology stack which will allow MSPs to adopt more broadly,” he said.

N-able Cloud Commander will enable MSPs to manage, secure, standardize, and automate Microsoft 365, Azure, Intune, and Windows 365 all from a single view. Multi-step tasks such as client onboarding and help desk tickets can be fully automated, Adler said.

“Cloud management continues to be a top priority for MSPs and their SME customer base,” he said.