Channel technologies, CSPs, IT management, MSP

IT Monitoring, Analytics Become One

Where is IT monitoring and management heading next? Keep an eye on Numerify for some new clues -- including the blending of IT monitoring and analytics systems. The goal? Uncover business insights for channel partners and their end-customers.

Numerify's platform is designed to work with ServiceNow, the popular SaaS platform for IT service management. Specifically, Numerify "converts your ServiceNow data into intelligence." That sounds a bit like what LogicNow is doing with LOGICcards for MSPs, or what Clarity Intelligence Platform wants to do for the MSP relationship with SMB end-customers.

No doubt, MSP- and channel-centric software platforms have offered basic business intelligence and reporting capabilities for years. Whether it's RMM (remote monitoring and management), PSA (professional services automation) or BDR (backup and disaster recovery), everyone wants to see KPIs (key performance indicators) that measure partner and customer health.

Meanwhile, the blending of IT monitoring, analytics and big data is accelerating in the enterprise -- and spilling over into the IT channel. New tools reveal whether customers are ready for big data systems. And purpose-built data solutions will reshape of VARs and MSPs manage their own businesses.

Analytics Meet IT Monitoring

So where does Numerify fit into that conversation? Numerify was "founded with the vision of making analytics the status quo for all facets of the enterprise... From Fortune 500s to top universities, organizations are uncovering insights, making data-driven decisions, and finding business value with Numerify."

So far, the results sound promising. Numerify just raised $37.5 million in Series C funding. Over the past year, Numerify's bookings have enjoyed triple digit, the customer base has grown seven-fold, and U.S. headcount has doubled, the company says.

Within the IT channel, Numerify's true believers include Cloud Sherpas (now owned by Accenture), Kloves (a ServiceNow partner) and Sigma Innovations Unlimited (application development and BI consulting).

Reality Check

Admittedly, it's important to keep all those momentum milestones in perspective. Numerify doesn't disclose actual revenue figures; the fast-growth figures likely involve small baseline numbers; and I don't have a feel for how quickly Numerify plans to march toward profitability.

All that said, it's hard to argue with the bigger picture: Customers want more data-driven insights. VARs and MSPs will need to adjust their business strategies -- and their monitoring tools -- accordingly.

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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.