The overall MSP (managed services provider) software market remains very healthy. But when it comes to standardized toolsets, the RMM (remote monitoring and management) software market remains overly fragmented. Frankly speaking, there are too many players and too many options. And I've reached a simple conclusion: A shakeout has got to be coming. I'm just not sure which products, if any, will wind up unplugged.Every IT sector eventually consolidates around fewer players. Some stark examples:Consolidation and integration among those various toolsets has been a rather wild journey to date. Among the early consolidation milestones that nearly happened:
- Rewind to the 1980s when we had hundreds of PC suppliers. Today, we've go the big four (Apple, Dell, HP, Lenovo) and all the rest.
- In the 1990s, we had multiple network operating systems (Novell NetWare, Microsoft/3Com LAN Manager, IBM LAN Server, Banyan Vines, DEC Pathworks, Artisoft LANtastic and the list went on). Today, we've got Linux and Windows.
- And how about the commercial relational database market, where Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server eventually steamrolled most of the x86 competition.
MSP Software Building Blocks
To understand how the RMM sector may shake out you need to look at the bigger picture. More and more MSPs are adopting three to five basic building blocks to automate their businesses. The components typically include:- RMM to remotely monitor and manage customer servers and PCs. Sometimes, there are additional RMM tools that are network- or cloud-centric.
- PSA (Professional Services Automation) to track and optimize internal business performance.
- BDR (backup an disaster recovery) or another business continuity/data protection-type offering.
- Security (beyond basic endpoint protection).
- Quoting and/or sales proposal software platforms to help speed customer engagements.
- And a few categories I've overlooked.
- A decade or more ago, N-able Technologies (now owned by SolarWinds) considered extending beyond RMM to offer a PSA-type platform built atop Sugar CRM. The move never happened, though SolarWinds has since acquired and integrated a ticketing system into N-able's RMM offering.
- Also around a decade ago, ConnectWise and Kaseya considered merging. But they had different views of the universe. ConnectWise saw PSA at the center of that universe. Kaseya saw RMM at the center. And culturally, at least at the time, Kaseya and ConnectWise were at opposite ends of the spectrum.
