SolarWinds Snaps Up Passportal for MSP Security

Managed services and automation software vendor adds password management through acquisition

SolarWinds coyly made known its acquisition of password and privilege management vendor Passportal by announcing the launch of a new product that performs those security functions, aptly named SolarWinds Passportal Suite. The acquisition is part of a string of investments made by the Austin, Texas-based company to expand its managed services portfolio.

The Lowdown:  In acquiring Passportal, SolarWinds will gain a product that gives MSPs more control over the management of passwords and access rights to client systems. Passportal was founded by former MSPs challenged by the problem of maintaining control over and security of passwords for client systems.

The Details:  SolarWinds did not disclose the details of the acquisition. The announcement is odd in that the acquisition is a secondary issue to the launch of SolarWinds Passportal Suite. The way SolarWinds made the announcement could mean that the two companies had been working on integrating their products, and that led to the acquisition.

The Impact:  Adding Passportal, considered one of the more innovative technology companies in the managed service universe, gives SolarWinds greater capabilities as it pushes deeper into the SMB and midmarket segments of managed services. Moreover, it gives SolarWinds a foothold into competitors’ installed bases, as Passportal is widely used among MSPs that utilize alternative remote monitoring and management (RMM).

The Buzz:  “At SolarWinds, every move we make to build out our solutions starts with one question: Does this help solve a problem for our customers? When we decided to augment our security portfolio with the SolarWinds Passportal suite, we answered that question with a definitive yes,” said Kevin Thompson, CEO of SolarWinds. “The new SolarWinds Passportal product suite will arm IT service providers with the ability to more effectively manage and secure the broad range of IT ecosystems under their purview. While many security vendors take a complex approach to solving IT security management challenges, our focus has always been to make IT — including security — look easy, despite the complexities in the background. Today’s launch fully supports that mission, and is another step in helping our customers stay focused on IT management vs. IT problem-solving. That’s our job.”  

“Passportal is honored to become a part of the SolarWinds family,” said Colin Knox, CEO of Passportal. “I’ve been an MSP myself, and I know the challenges they face every day as they grapple with how to find the right IT and security tools to support their business. We’ve always developed technologies with the MSP in mind, and that’s completely mapped to the SolarWinds approach of putting the customer first, with industry-leading IT management products designed with simplicity in mind. It’s a truly exciting move for us and the MSP market.”

“For most MSPs, password management is complex and time-consuming as they scale their service business, but they need it to increase operational efficiency and reduce risk,” said John Pagliuca, executive vice president and general manager of MSPs at SolarWinds. “The SolarWinds Passportal suite specifically addresses this need, as it was designed from the ground up for MSPs.  With a purpose-built open framework, this newest MSP security product easily integrates with the tools our customers are already using (even those which they may be unintentionally locked into using) to help them run their environments in the ways they want and need. The ability to quickly add on specialized tools like password management and privileged information management is especially critical for the MSP whose customer, the SMB, has become the new cybercrime target du jour.”