ImageNet Sees Big Demand For New Security And Device Subscription Service

The MSP is bringing together HP’s Device-as-a-Service with offerings from leading vendors in security and networking to provide a complete SMB solution.

ImageNet Consulting is expecting to quadruple sales each quarter of its recently launched "full-blown solution" to the IT needs of most small and medium-sized businesses, according to an executive at the MSP.

In late September, Oklahoma City-based ImageNet launched the new solution, which combines HP's Device-as-a-Service offering with security and networking to create a solution that fits the needs of the majority of SMBs, said Juan Fernandez, ImageNet's vice president of managed IT services.

"This is a complete solution to the SMB problem, end to end," Fernandez said, noting that more 40 customers have come aboard since the launch. "We've sold so much so fast."

[Related: HP CEO Weisler: Device-As-A-Service Pipeline Is 'Extremely Strong']

ImageNet is "not just going to distribution, buying product and soldering things together," Fernandez said. "We brought the big companies together, to sit down in the same room, and said, 'How do we fix this problem?'"

The result is a unified SMB solution featuring backup, PCs (including support), security, infrastructure and wireless, he said. Vendors that are part of the offering include HP Inc., WatchGuard, Continuum, Extreme Networks, Unitrends and SentinelOne.

Sold as a monthly subscription by user and device, the solution is still affordable compared to the cost of buying all of these solutions individually, according to Fernandez. Pricing specifics were not disclosed.

Key to the solution is leveraging HP's Device-as-a-Service offering, which provides not only PC leases but also includes HP's TechPulse software for proactive identification of device issues—such as an impending battery or hard drive failure.

"All of these problems that we've had over the history of IT can now be discovered with the click of a button," Fernandez said. "I think the visibility that HP DaaS gives us is incredible."

Lorri Jefferson, vice president and head of software and services product management at HP, said that ImageNet has been "leading the way" among MSPs at envisioning how to deploy HP's Device-as-a-Service offering with customers.

"This is a very leading-edge solution that solves pain points for customers," Jefferson said. "They've really offloaded a lot of the complexity and challenges for customers."

Ultimately, ImageNet has "done a great job of assembling partnerships with different companies that are experts in different areas--and then making that a very easy-to-consume, usable solution that's really hitting the mark with their customers," Jefferson said.

ImageNet gained some early validation for the new solution by taking home the top prize at Continuum's "MSP Shark Tank" event in September, a contest that featured pitches from dozens of MSPs on their security solutions. Judges in the contest included Barbara Corcoran of the ABC show "Shark Tank."

Fernandez said that with quarter-on-quarter growth expected to quadruple for the solution over the coming year, the solution is resonating strongly with ImageNet’s SMB customers.

"It scales quickly and easily, and provides a fixed cost for everything they need," he said. "From a security perspective, it answers all of their questions to the Nth degree … This solves the problem before the customer even asks the question."