SolarWinds MSP needs to design, build and maintain its own IT environment before it launches this spring as an independent, publicly traded company called N-able.
The Durham-based provider of NC and remote monitoring (RMM) will roll out new IT, accounting and email systems from scratch just months after Russian spies attacked the SolarWinds Orion network monitoring platform. While SolarWinds MSP devices have not been compromised, SolarWinds MSP President John Pagliuca said his team will benefit from the experience that SolarWinds has accumulated in recent weeks.
“We are very lucky in that Tim [Brown] and the team has close knowledge and ideas about what these bad guys did, what those threatening actors did, ”Pagliuca told CRN. “As we try to design the new N-capable systems, we are going to benefit from that knowledge and from the world’s top experts to help us design this.”
[Related: 10 Bold Statements From SolarWinds MSP After The Orion Hack]
Brown will remain with SolarWinds IT infrastructure governing body once SolarWinds MSP is turned off. It was originally supposed to move over with SolarWinds MSP after the split, but after the Orion hack, it was decided that SolarWinds MSP would find a new CISO instead.
Pagliuca said that SolarWinds MSP will be able to stand up and test in the future its new systems, environments and controls for the new N-capable industry with knowledge of the tactics, methods and methods that the SolarWinds hackers use. practice. The company has always intended to take a fresh look at N-capable system design and, knowing what it will be doing today, will take a secure approach to design with respect to its infrastructure.
While SolarWinds MSP shared its IT, accounting and email systems with SolarWinds, Pagliuca said many of the organisation’s systems were already unique such as their product billing system, customer support system and success system. , and other market-facing activities. SolarWinds MSP and SolarWinds are separate operating bodies, so Pagliuca said there has always been some separation between the two.
SolarWinds entered the solution provider industry in May 2013 through the acquisition of N-able MSP better service that supports SMB clients. Then, in June 2016, SolarWinds bought LogicNow competitor N-enabled and brought the two remote control and control (RMM) competitors under the banner of SolarWinds MSP.
The company initially said in August that it was examining the outcome of its MSP practice, and Pagliuca revealed in late December that the industry would revert to its N -able name once the split is complete. Getting SolarWinds in the name of the company following the Orion hack has been a source of confusion, he said, with MSPs asking questions from concerned customers about compromise software in their systems.
“For them [MSPs] to be able to say, ‘Hey, look, this N-capable brand, this N-able company,’ I think it will take some of the pressure off our MSPs to ask that clear question. answer, ”said Pagliuca. “So, in that lens, I think [the name change] it is beneficial. ”
In addition to a security adviser on its website, SolarWinds MSP has not spoken publicly about the massive attack on their parent group until this week. Prioritizing user safety and communicating with inspectors, as well as ensuring that everything that has been verified is verified and validated, is SolarWinds communication MSP was to slow down, but Pagliuca felt that was the right thing to do.
Going forward, Pagliuca expects SolarWinds MSP to be able to release information at a much more stable rate as the industry can more easily verify information and avoid blockages or profiteering. As more facts become known to SolarWinds MSP, Pagliuca said the company will push them out.
“For us, the aim was to make sure we work with those people [authorities], and not to worry about getting our message out or spinning this or getting propaganda of some sort, ”said Pagliuca. “We need to make sure we focus on the investigation and do what is right. And confirming before we speak. ”
Rich Delaney, president of Mahwah, NJ-based Delaney Computer Services, said SolarWinds MSP has done a better job of communicating with partners recently, but not early. “I have little respect for the company because of the way they acted,” Delaney said. ”Changing the name. I think they should have been taken on the chin. He is a fish. ”
Delaney said the role of an MSP salesperson is full of bad companies, so it’s going to depend on what he knows.
“I think the whole industry lacks ethics and is largely driven by the protection of shareholders,” Delaney said. “Still, at this stage, I don’t want to jump out of the frying pan, into the fire. I’m sticking to them at the moment. ”
With contributions from CRN Editor-in-Chief O’Ryan Johnson