Autotask targets MSP market with endpoint backup

Backup data storage displayed on a laptop screen
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Autotask is dipping a toe into the backup and recovery space with its own product, Autotask Endpoint Backup (AEB), it officially revealed at its Autotask Community Live conference this week.

The firm, which provides IT service management software, argues that as AEB sits on top of Autotask's existing professional services automation (PSA) platform, it is easier for MSPs to provision, deploy, manage, and bill their customers for the service, compared to selling alternative backup and recovery vendors.

"With Autotask Endpoint Backup, we've leveraged our core platform to streamline the operational and business process of an endpoint backup practice," said Pat Burns, Autotask's VP of product management. "AEB is fully unified with Autotask Endpoint Management and PSA using automation and analytics to bring managed services to market with greater effectiveness and profitability."

Mark Banfield, SVP and GM of Autotask's International business, added that AEB has triggered the fastest customer take-up of any Autotask product to date.

He said a significant portion of the company's growth this year - it is now billing $6bn in annual IT services and sales - has come from expanding its portfolio, effectively layering additional services like AEB or its file sync and share (FSS) solution, Autotask Workplace (AWP), on top of its PSA platform.

"The average share of revenue per MSP per customer has gone up; there's a lot of value having products all integrated on the platform," he told Channel Pro. "The PSA is still the [MSP's] bread and butter, what they run their business on. The other products are revenue generating products."

A survey by the vendor in January revealed 55 percent of IT service providers questioned had seen a steady or significant increase in the number of endpoints they manage. As a result, they listed endpoint management as the top IT service driving revenue for them.

In the UK, Autotask has announced it plans to open an office in Manchester by the end of the year with around 15 sales, service and support staff.

Christine Horton

Christine has been a tech journalist for over 20 years, 10 of which she spent exclusively covering the IT Channel. From 2006-2009 she worked as the editor of Channel Business, before moving on to ChannelPro where she was editor and, latterly, senior editor.

Since 2016, she has been a freelance writer, editor, and copywriter and continues to cover the channel in addition to broader IT themes. Additionally, she provides media training explaining what the channel is and why it’s important to businesses.