Kaseya aims to raise the stakes in the management of mobile computing devices and applications. With the release of an upgrade to its MSP platform, the company said it effectively reduces the cost of supporting mobile customers to $1 per user per month.
While managed serviced providers (MSPs) may still bring in as much as $20 to $30 per user per month, depending on the depth and scope of the mobile managed services they offer, that basic mobile device and application management has become a commodity, according to Kaseya CEO Yogesh Gupta
“Customers now want a more integrated mobile experience,” Gupta said. “That means we have to go beyond simple mobile device management.”
The impact that this reduced cost structure will have on MSPs and channel partners will vary. Many MSPs bury the cost of mobile management inside a larger service while others price it as a distinct service.
Kaseya, which sells both direct and through resellers and MSPs, joins Good Technology and Hewlett-Packard in driving the cost of mobile device and application management down through the proverbial floor. As part of that effort, Kaseya has reworked the backend infrastructure it uses to provide managed services in anticipation of being able to manage mobile computing users at scale, Gupta said.
In general, mobile computing has been a challenge for solution providers because the devices are often acquired direct and the applications downloaded directly from an app store. However, demand for mobile management services has increased as the number of mobile devices being used per user has risen alongside the number of applications they use.
The challenge is that there is no shortage of vendors now offering these services. Gupta said that at $1 per user per month, however, Kaseya only needs to have a million users under management to create a very profitable service. At its new price point, Kaseya has a lot of confidence that it can bring in that number of users either directly or via one of its reseller and MSP partners, Gupta said.
Michael Vizard has been covering IT issues in the enterprise for 25 years as an editor and columnist for publications such as InfoWorld, eWEEK, Baseline, CRN, ComputerWorld and Digital Review.