Kaseya Connect 2025 in Las Vegas has just come to a close. For the global audience of the IT platform provider, this is the biggest event of the year and packed with announcements. But more than new product innovations, Kaseya is emphasizing the need for cost reduction for thinly spread IT teams, according to Dermot McCann, Executive Vice President and General Manager for EMEA and APJ at Kaseya.
It’s no wonder that Kaseya is making a huge number of announcements during Connect. “Because our portfolio is so large, we can never discuss all the announcements,” says McCann. Instead, in conversation with Techzine, he emphasizes the level of innovation across the entire Kaseya platform, with new versions of Autotask, IT Glue, updates for RMM tools, and cybersecurity.
Most of these developments originate in Kaseya’s global development centers in locations such as Krakow, Poland; Dundalk, Ireland; and Orlando, USA. However, Kaseya is far from alone in its innovation, as we will see later.
Ops efficiency and value
The biggest announcement at Connect was Kaseya 365 Ops, the latest addition to the company’s platform strategy. We have already discussed this in more detail. “It is the first step toward leveraging AI within the Kaseya platform to drive efficiency,” explains McCann. There are various AI applications within the platform, focused on workflow optimization within Kaseya 365 Endpoint, enabling different modules within the Kaseya 365 suite to work together, and automating repetitive tasks.
The goal is to improve the daily performance of Kaseya partners, including ticket efficiency, service desk ticket management, and better reporting of the value MSPs deliver to their customers. My IT Process is also more integrated with the other Kaseya modules. The latest version of Kaseya 365 adds an operational layer that extends the platform beyond simply delivering various services. The platform now consists of Kaseya 365 Endpoint for endpoint protection, Kaseya 365 User for user management, and Kaseya 365 Operations for operational efficiency.
Best-of-breed in one package
Kaseya’s strategy is to be a best-of-breed platform provider – according to McCann, the only player capable of doing so in the IT Management & Security space. Through acquisitions of companies such as Datto, IT Glue, and Autotask, Kaseya has built a distinctive management platform. But, “it’s not just about combining products,” McCann emphasizes. “The real functionality is in the integration, the AI within multiple modules, and the shared AI functionality.”
McCann sees this as an important shift in the market, away from point solutions to complete platforms. This is not due to individual vendors, but rather the sum of their parts. “Vendor fatigue is a big problem, especially for smaller MSPs, but also for larger players due to integration issues,” he says. “The average MSP has about 15 vendors to maintain relationships with, even the smaller ones.” That adds up quickly. It means 15 account managers, 15 events, 15 support calls, 15 certifications, and so on, McCann explains. This complexity not only leads to additional costs but also to integration problems that can cause errors. And, just as important, you have to keep doing this with all kinds of updates.
Kaseya’s platform approach promises best-of-breed capabilities within a single integrated system, which McCann says promotes workflow efficiency, reduces workload, and minimizes errors. This helps new MSPs get started and enables existing MSPs to leverage the full capabilities of the platform at no additional cost, according to McCann. “Compared to individual products, customers save about two-thirds of the cost, and in many cases even more.”
Platforms everywhere
He predicts that all products will eventually become platforms, similar to how the smartphone replaced devices such as the TomTom, Walkman, and digital camera. In fact, you can buy a brand-new DSLR camera that far surpasses a smartphone lens in the right hands, but as a total package, even a luxury phone is many times more affordable and multifunctional.
To return to where innovation comes from at Kaseya: it is partner-led and customer-driven. “Customers vote with their money,” says McCann. During Connect, the company had about 300 meetings with executives in just a few days. Kaseya also collects feedback via support tickets, telemetry, responses, and feature requests. The IT & Security Management market is evolving rapidly, and customers say they are struggling to keep up with the pace of change, both in terms of speed and cost.
An important area of focus is security in the SMB segment. “When a partner wants security, they are often put off by the cost of protecting all endpoints,” explains McCann. While large organizations invest heavily in security, smaller companies do not always see the value in it, despite the fact that most cyberattacks occur in the SMB space. With Kaseya 365 Endpoint, partners can consolidate eight different vendors at a fraction of the cost, says McCann, so security no longer has to be an afterthought for end users.
MSPs are changing
McCann also emphasizes how MSPs themselves are changing. “Everyone has a lawyer; people in that profession are critical service providers for medium-sized organizations,” he says. “But they don’t have to be on call all the time: in a legal matter, an email and a few days’ wait are acceptable.” This is not the case with MSPs, who have to respond immediately to security incidents, which McCann believes makes them much more important.
Nevertheless, with an average net margin of 10 percent, MSPs do not have the same breathing space as law firms, for example (35-45 percent). McCann therefore calls MSPs “heroes of the industry” who, due to their precarious situation, struggle to stay ahead. They are often dependent on a few large customers and find it difficult to invest in enhanced security or experiment with it. An important goal for Kaseya is to raise the profile of these MSPs with higher margins. Not as a thank you, but as an engine for much-needed improvement.
Upcoming regional Kaseya events, such as in Dublin, will address local nuances with sessions by local speakers and thought leadership on specific market issues. In Europe, for example, the emphasis is mainly on a compliance-driven approach. During its events, Kaseya not only wants to make announcements, but also share expertise and act as the expert on behalf of MSPs in areas where they themselves do not have the capacity. In this way, Kaseya strives to remain true to the principle of “Think globally, act locally” in its content and offerings.