We are committed to helping MSPs drive the highest levels of efficiency to create unparalleled business value: SolarWinds MSP

IT has increasingly become a strategic function for most businesses. With an emphasis on service delivery efficiency, many IT service providers, managed services providers (MSPs), and even in-house IT departments have turned to IT service management (ITSM) software.

Yet, as cyberthreats have also proliferated, businesses have recognized the need for their ITSM platforms to help them provide strong, effective IT security.

SolarWinds MSP provides this security-focused ITSM platform to both MSPs and in-house IT providers. Additionally, with customers ranging from small and midsized businesses (SMBs) to larger enterprises, the company places a premium on delivering efficient and easy-to-use tools.

From the company’s foundation in 2004 to its acquisition by SolarWinds in 2016, SolarWinds MSP has ruthlessly focused on providing and offering strong security products and features to its customers. Its flagship remote Monitoring and Management product, SolarWinds® RMM, provides a layered security suite, including proactive measures like robust patch management, detective capabilities like antivirus, and reactive security with hybrid cloud backup and recovery. Even though each of these features can be accessed from a single, web-based console with SolarWinds RMM, many of the company’s products can also be purchased as standalone versions.

With IT security, this consistency and reliability is crucial, as small mistakes can have large consequences. The company believes that an IT professional shouldn’t have to switch to separate programs to check that all systems are patched, respond to security alerts, and monitor backup integrity. Bringing everything under one roof reduces the potential for human error and allows IT admins to fix issues faster.

Additionally, SolarWinds MSP remains deeply invested in their customers’ success. From dedicated events and online communities to white papers and research, the company endeavors to continuously provide free resources to keep their customer base up-to-date with the cybersecurity field. The company’s leadership credits much of their success to a deep connection with their user base and their obsession with customer outcomes.

The following conversation with John Pagliuca, General Manager gives more insight into  the company

What are the grounds on which you have expanded your company and its offerings over the years?

We really have focused on a few fundamentals in growing our business. First is a relentless focus on cybersecurity. The threats constantly evolve, and our goal is to keep our customers (and their customers) ahead of the game in fighting these threats. Beyond that, we focus on making the IT management process as efficient as possible. We know that, for MSPs and IT service providers, making the entire process efficient not only allows them to take on more customers, but to also provide better, more reliable security. For example, having a centralized view into the status of every backup gives IT admins the confidence that, if a disaster does occur, they won’t have to waste time checking backup integrity and can just get to work on restoring functionality and data.

What struggles did you encounter in the initial years? What can your peers learn from them?

The biggest hurdles we overcame were around the pace of change in the market. We saw a major uptick in cybercrime year over year, with new tactics that were used to devastating effect. Keeping up with this required constant vigilance and constant development. The important thing our peers can learn from this is to avoid resting on your laurels. Today’s threat du jour won’t always be the weapon of tomorrow—so make sure to stay ahead and respond quickly.

If you had to list four factors that have been/are the biggest asset to your organization, what would they be and why?

Our people and culture: It’s a cliché, but it’s a cliché for a reason. We developed a culture where people come in every day, work to help our clients, and maintain a frank and open atmosphere that allows us to be honest about issues so we can fix them.

Our technology: We’ve invested heavily in providing the best technology for our customers, either by building in-house, purchasing, or by integrating other technology when needed. For example, we chose our antivirus engine after an exhaustive search based on multiple ratings, all simply to upgrade what we had and improve our customers’ outcomes.

Our parent company: SolarWinds has invested heavily in our division and the MSP market. They brought the same bold, forward-looking vision that set the standard for IT and network management for large companies to the MSP market. 

Aggressive improvement: SolarWinds MSP works hard to constantly improve in all aspects of the business. Even after a major release, taking a breather simply isn’t an option. Instead, we always ask the question, “alright, what’s next?”

Do you have any new products ready to be/getting ready to be rolled out into the market?

We recently rolled out NetPath™ as part of our RMM solution. Sold originally by SolarWinds, NetPath allows IT providers to get a better handle on all of the services in their network. They can check connectivity across the entire network path, from in-house on-premises services to external cloud services to hybrid services. This offers unprecedented visibility into network performance.

Where do you see you and your company a couple of years from now?

We’re going to be here, helping even more MSPs (and in-house IT professionals) face the latest and greatest cyberthreats while still improving their bottom lines. We’ll bring our relentless focus to bear on anything the cybersecurity world throws at us and our customers, and we’ll help them do their best to conquer it all.

About the General Manager

John Pagliuca is the general manager of SolarWinds MSP. He currently oversees all aspects of the business including sales, customer retention and success, support, marketing, financial planning and analysis, and business applications. Prior to stepping into this position, John led the financial operations for nearly four years, having served most recently as CFO. Before joining SolarWinds MSP, John was the vice president of finance for Airvana, a leading mobile data software company, where he played key roles in taking Airvana public in 2007, and later in reaching over $500M in revenue prior to the company’s acquisition by Siris Capital Group. Earlier in his career, John also held significant roles with Sandburst, a fabless semiconductor company acquired by Broadcom, and Arthur Andersen LLP.

"We deliver comprehensive, scalable IT service management solutions to empower MSPs of every size and scale worldwide to create highly efficient and profitable businesses that drive a measurable competitive advantage."