The Dell move to discontinue support for its PacketTrap MSP and PSA solutions might, on the surface, appear like a bad omen for RMM/PSA vendors and managed service providers. I've been thinking about this move and why Dell made it, and I've come to the conclusion that it probably has more to do with Dell's own "reverse IPO" strategies than any indictment on the future of managed IT services.
In a well publicized struggle to take the company private, Dell has been trying to convince shareholders and potential investors alike that the company has a bright future ahead. This typically means companies go into a quiet period, as well as attempt to shed any non-core expenses and revenue lines. I think it's safe to say that in a post-PC era, Dell does not fully understand the role MSPs (and the greater channel) play in their ecosystem.
Sure, some of you may point to any number of acquisitions Dell has made in the past, related to managed services (SonicWall, SilverBack, Quest, SecureWorks, Perot Systems, etc.), but it is arguable that all these M&A deals (perhaps with the exception of SonicWall) was more about acquiring technology to further penetrate the enterprise and less about acquiring a channel.
Going back to the SilverBack deal, Dell never really got the full trust of MSPs. After the SilverBack acquisition, Dell began a campaign to sell its own managed services direct to customers, a move that angered many Dell and SilverBack partners. Again, this is further evidence that Dell's primary objective in these acquisitions was not the strengthening of its channel, but rather its own enterprise service capabilities.
You may draw your own conclusions from these events but it seems to me that Dell, in an attempt to enhance it's abilities to deliver its own managed IT services to larger enterprise accounts, developed a shopping list of technologies it thought would accomplish that goal. Perhaps unwittingly, Dell also acquired MSP channel programs in quite a few of its purchases. Whether it never intended to use these channel program, or these programs became less interesting to Dell over time, is irrelevant. What is relevant is that today Dell appears to be singularly focused on delivering its own IT services to customers and not being a vendor to the channel.
While this may seem like an extreme position, if you take what MSPs have to say about Dell and you add Dell's own behavior (including this latest announcement), I think it is a safe conclusion.
Finally, while Dell's decision may fit within it's own corporate strategies, the aggressive RMM consolidation that has occurred this year provides ample evidence that there is still a lot of money to be made in delivering technologies to managed service providers. Who knows, maybe the recent RMM M&A activity played a role in Dell's decision.
