After its parent company was involved in a massive cyberattack at the end of 2020, SolarWinds MSP appears to be moving forward with a plan to distance itself from corporate.
Just last month it was reported that Russian hackers had launched a massive attack on the computer systems of multiple U.S. agencies via a vulnerability on the Orion software offered through Austin, Texas-based SolarWinds. The cyber criminals were able to get in through the supply chain that SolarWinds uses to distribute software updates, which was sent to customers between March and June. The agencies impacted include the Commerce Department, Department of Homeland Security, the Pentagon, the Treasury Department, the U.S. Postal Service, and the National Institutes of Health.
Now comes word that SolarWinds MSP plans to rebrand itself as N-able as part of a potential spin-out from SolarWinds corporate. SolarWinds actually entered the MSP business in 2013 with the acquisition of N-able and further expanded via its LOGICnow acquisition in 2016.
“As we continue to explore the potential spin-off, we have some exciting news to share. We’ve chosen a new name, and I’m excited to tell you that we will be called N-able,” said SolarWinds MSP President John Pagliuca to partners. “This name may sound familiar, as N-able extends the roots of who we are as a company. It’s all about the performance, protection, and partnership you need to power your clients—and your business—forward. Additionally, we confidentially submitted a Form 10 with the SEC on December 4, 2020, regarding the potential spin-off.”
As of December 2019, SolarWinds served 27,000 MSPs, with its products being used by 450,000 organizations all over the world. For fiscal year 2020, the MSP business is expected to generate around $300 million in revenue.
The Russian hack did not involve the MSP software business, and Pagliuca pointed out that N-able will have a separate and distinct executive leadership team; independent technical support and sales teams; and its product and R&D teams will have their own leadership, standalone roadmaps, and separate repositories and build environments.
