10 Hot Products And Services We Saw At XChange NexGen 2022

MSPs who attended NexGen 2022 in Orlando this week got a chance to scope out some of the hottest emerging products and services in IT across security, cloud and next-generation unified communications.

Flying Off The Shelves

MSPs who attended XChange NexGen 2022 in Orlando this week got a chance to scope out some of the hottest new products and services across security, unified communications, cloud and MSP software.

XChange NexGen 2022, hosted by CRN parent The Channel Company, provided a look at the offerings from dozens of top vendors and channel-focused startups on the show floor, perfect for attracting new business or upgrading longtime customers who have new requirements. And speaking of new requirements, the hybrid work trend, for one, is prompting enterprises and SMBs alike to rethink their IT infrastructure and move into the future. In some cases, that means moving more applications and workloads into the cloud and leaning more on cloud-based services. For others, its means more of a focus on securing the now much larger attack surface and arming employees with more flexible communication and collaboration tools.

In addition to vendors, there were a couple of new organizations showing off their services on the show floor that have spun off from MSP organizations, like in the case of TruNorth Dynamics and AudIT.

In case you missed the show, or just wanted to refresh on some of the key products you saw there, the CRN team on the ground rounded up some of the showcases that grabbed our attention at XChange NexGen 2022.

Adaptive Shield SSPM

Adaptive Shield’s SSPM (SaaS security posture management) platform integrates with all SaaS applications, identifies misconfigurations and provides visibility into all SaaS apps connected to the main SaaS stack. It also manages risks due to compromised devices, according to the Tel Aviv, Isreal-based company.

Once issues are detected, the platform deploys detailed alerts and automated fixes. It also provides misconfiguration management, SaaS-to-SaaS access and discovery, device-to-SaaS posture management, and identity and access management.

AudIT

AudIT offers sales and business review presentation software aimed at MSPs. The Holmdel, N.J.-based vendor offers SaaS that promises quick, simple creation of nontechnical sales presentations for closing deals, according to AudIT. The company has thousands of MSP customers worldwide.

Founding partner and CEO Frank DeBenedetto—who is also president and chief technology adviser of MSP Two River Technology Group—started AudIT as a repeatable way to create enterprise-level, nontechnical presentations in less than an hour, according to the company. DeBenedetto founded AudIT in 2015 and Two River in 2004, according to his LinkedIn bio.

In February, AudIT added new capabilities including an electronic fact finder, business impact summary statements and integration with Kaseya BMS.

ConnectMeVoice VoIP Cloud Connect

Hosted VoIP specialist ConnectMeVoice, a company that does 100 percent of its business through the channel, is arming partners with every tool they need to address their customers’ communication needs. VoIP Cloud Connect is a package of UC features that links a mobile app with web phones and softphones to traditional physical desk phones to enable a blend of working remotely, or from the home office or branch office.

The VoIP Cloud Connect app allows users to review voicemails, place outside phone calls and make and receive text messages using the company telephone number, make internal person-to-person video calls and text messages, call transferring to fellow employees, and making three-way calls, among other features. The VoIP Cloud Connect phone app is compatible with iOS, Android and the Chrome browser.

The Summerville, S.C.-based service provider is known for removing complexity around billing so that partners can be freed up to focus on margins, the company told CRN. ConnectMeVoice was acquired by Montreal-based Cloudli Communications in June.

Deep Instinct for Applications

Deep Instinct, which describes itself as a “deep learning” cybersecurity startup, has had a number of security products on the market for a while now, including Deep Instinct for Endpoint to prevent advanced attacks, Deep Instinct for Web Gateways to prevent downloads of malicious files and Deep Instinct for Could to prevent downloads/uploads of malicious files from a cloud repository. In August, the company unveiled its latest product, Deep Instinct for Applications, which prevents uploads and downloads of infected files from applications. The company said the product is an “agentless, on-demand, anti-malware solution for the enterprise that is device and operating system agnostic.”

Joe Santamorena, AVP for global MSSP programs at Deep Instinct, told CRN that major financial institutions and big MSPs are among the top customers and partners for Deep Instinct for Applications, as well as for the company’s other products.

Lane Bess, the former CEO of Palo Alto Networks and COO of Zscaler, was recently appointed CEO of Deep Instinct.

Field Effect Covalence Complete

Field Effect’s Covalence Complete has MDR, XDR, SIEM and SOC to detect, analyze and respond to abnormal behavior in the network. As a “holistic cybersecurity” offering, the platform delivers visibility into threats and other risks in the network through automation and human intelligence. Covalence extends across the entire IT infrastructure and is designed to work seamlessly across endpoints, networks and cloud services. It also provides 24/7 network traffic analysis and active malware and advanced persistence threats protection.

HelpDesk.Tech

Founded just last year, HelpDesk.Tech offers MSPs white-label help desk services, taking on support calls and emails.

The Fresno, Calif.-based startup uses partner-customers’ domains, and the company’s offerings integrate with Autotask, ConnectWise, ITGlue and other MSP-focused IT tools, according to HelpDesk. HelpDesk promises to not compete with MSPs and has the goal of keeping IT issues from escalating to their partner-customers’ higher-level technicians, according to the company. Partner-customers receive three help desk technicians, and the team works 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in whichever time zone in the contiguous U.S. the partner-customer wants. HelpDesk.tech expects a minimum of 100 supported users.

The HelpDesk team, led by President and CEO J. Colin Petersen, has 25-plus years of experience in the MSP business.

Lumu Technologies’ Lumu Defender

Founded in 2018, Lumu recently raised $8 million in new funding, led by Panoramic Ventures, with other investors including KnowBe4 and Lane Bess, former CEO of Palo Alto Networks and current CEO of Deep Instinct.

Perimeter 81 SASE

Perimeter 81’s Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) takesoutdated, complicated and hardware-based network security technologies and transforms them into one simple offering. The scalable, easy-to-use platform secures data, resources and users in the network. With capabilities to service SMBs or Fortune 500 companies, SASE’s user-focused authentication and access control make it easy to move to the cloud.

It’s identity-driven and uses least-privilege access, provides visibility over all major cloud providers and secures the network from on-site hardware to mobile edge endpoints.

ScalePad

On-site at NexGen 2022 was upstart ScalePad, which provides MSPs applications for scaling the business. The Vancouver, B.C.-based company, founded in 2015, has more than 10,000 MSP users worldwide, according to ScalePad. Its applications aim to help MSPs identify risk in environments and backups, establish recurring revenue, automate manual tasks, identify revenue opportunities in customers’ infrastructure and other actions.

Shortly before NexGen, ScalePad introduced updates to its Lifecycle Manager tool, including new scorecards feature for providing customers with simple calls to action and a road map feature for quarterly timelines for tracking budget requirements and improving long-term planning internally and with customers, according to the company.

Earlier this year, ScalePad recruited Datto channel leader Eric Torres as its vice president of channel.

TruNorth Dynamics

Microsoft Dynamics partner TruNorth Dynamics came armed to XChange NexGen 2022 and ready to talk to MSPs about implementing Dynamics 365 and Dynamics GP, Microsoft’s suite of business applications, including enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management, as well as Azure and Business Central.

The company said that it’s seen a great deal of demand from businesses to migrate business operations to the cloud, and TruNorth offers a team of professionals who can help MSPs digitally transform their customers through Microsoft Dynamics solutions so they can bring sales, services, finance and project operations teams together within one cloud business management solution.

The Fargo, N.D.-based company is a spinoff of Microsoft Gold partner TrueIT, led by CEO Zac Paulson.