itopia Inc. has integrated its workspace-as-a-service (WaaS) solution with the ConnectWise Manage PSA system.
Users of the Miami-based vendor’s offering, which hosts virtual Windows workspaces on the Google Cloud Platform, can now import client and user information directly from ConnectWise’s software into the itopia management interface, rather than recreate it manually, and export changes back out to their PSA system in return.
Tasks created in itopia’s administration console can now automatically become tickets in ConnectWise Manage as well, enabling service providers to track WaaS-related activities in the same centralized repository they use to keep tabs on other maintenance and repair work. itopia customers can now streamline invoicing too by exporting information on consumption-based variables like number of users or storage capacity utilized into the ConnectWise solution as billing items.
At present, ConnectWise Manage is the only PSA system that itopia’s platform exchanges data with in that manner. The vendor plans to add similar support for East Greenbush, N.Y.-based Autotask Corp.’s PSA solution in 2018, but started with ConnectWise based on input from customers, according to Ted Hulsy, itopia’s chief revenue officer.
“More than 50 percent of our partners use the ConnectWise platform,” he says, noting that MSPs in itopia’s client base that use ConnectWise Manage or an application like it generate nearly 50 percent more monthly recurring revenue on average than those that don’t.
Hulsy joined itopia in June. The company recorded 60 percent quarter-over-quarter revenue growth in Q3 of this year, he reports, and is rapidly accumulating new partners.
“We are adding roughly 40 MSPs to the platform monthly,” Hulsy says.
Itopia’s all-in bet on Google Cloud Platform as the hosting option of choice for Windows workspaces is based on a conviction that while the Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure public clouds lead Google in market share they trail it in performance, reliability, and security. Google Cloud Platform is a more cost-effective choice for MSPs as well, according to itopia, which in August rolled out a free cost calculator that lets users directly compare monthly Windows infrastructure costs across all three environments.
Global spending on WaaS solutions will climb at a 12.1 percent CAGR through 2022 to $18.3 billion, according to Transparency Market Research.
