Happy New Year! I am pleased to report that 2008 was yet another record-breaking year of growth for many of our partners – not to mention a very innovative year for our N-central network and systems management software and business support services.
The economy, although challenging, has rendered a new appreciation for corporate IT. Many of our partners, IT manufacturers and analysts alike are reporting that companies of all sizes are beginning to understand the value and advantages of aligning IT with the goals and objectives of the business – that’s great news for us, and our partners!
This growing demand for better IT management, more productivity, less cost and maximized up time is one of the many reasons N-able and our partners grew in 2008, and will certainly help fuel growth in 2009. Managed services has without question become one of the industry’s hottest technologies and demand for managed services and fixed fee contracts will only escalate as a result of the economic pressures businesses are facing these days.
On this front, we also saw increased demand globally for managed services software and welcomed a number of new partners from all areas of the globe. As we highlighted in our recent press release – here are just a few key excerpts from our global efforts.
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N-able’s international sales grew by more than two-hundred percent in 2008
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Successfully expanded our global footprint to include Australia and New Zealand, as well as countries in Northern and Western Europe
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Market share in the UK and North America continues to grow
In addition, 2008 was a great year for strategic alliances – both technical and marketing driven. The technical and marketing alliances we have with Intel and Microsoft continue to grow which is great news for our partners as we enter into 2009. We’ve also established new relationships with a number of solid companies including Xerox, American Power Conversion (APC), 3Com, VMware and others. Partners can expect us to strengthen these alliances in 2009, as well as strike up new ones with other channel-friendly vendors.
On the technical side of the fence, our team made great strides and introduced several major product enhancements in 2008. Out the gate we debut our new N-central Express which is our hosted, one-year subscription based software offering which can be downloaded by Microsoft partners and MSP Alliance members at no cost and with no obligation for one year.
We also announced N-central 6.7 which has turned the On Premise and On Demand versions of N-central into turn-key applications and removed the technical barriers to entry. I must admit N-central 6.7 is like nothing else on the market – and the fact that it enables our partners to more easily monitor virtually any IP-enabled device, including networking infrastructure such as routers, switches and printers is something you just can’t find in any competitive offerings.
Many will recall that we also enhanced our N-compass reporting software – making it easier for our partners to demonstrate ROI to clients, which is a big value when you’re faced with a challenging and competitive marketplace.
Like I’ve said before, 2008 has encouraged innovation and growth and allowed us to bring to market multiple new product offerings and MSP programs in the first half of 2009, not to mention the industry’s best network and systems management software at a time when businesses need it most. We look forward to another great year in 2009, and want to thank you for your continued support and partnership.
All my best to you and yours!
-Gavin