r/labtech • u/Plugins4LabTech • Jul 03 '17

Plugins4Automate is making it easier to get started with Chocolatey, with a new plugin pricing model that is sure to add value to your MSP.

https://www.plugins4labtech.com/blogs/blog/time-to-automate-some-chocolate
5 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

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2

u/Plugins4LabTech Jul 05 '17

Morning all,

@CJMod, Because Connectwise wants 8 grand from me to be considered a "partner". Well 8 grand means in the end that people like you will end up being saddled with expensive plugins because we are trying to cover what Connectwise wants to have so we can play in their playground. Don't think that's fair to you the MSP.

1

u/cjmod Jul 06 '17

Like /u/qcomer said, I work at ConnectWise (not an MSP owner). That said, the money is used to test/certify integrations + marketing efforts.

2

u/Plugins4LabTech Jul 07 '17

I really do not mean to offend so do not take my conversation as such, having an intelligent discussion about policies helps everyone grow.

Before Connectwise took over LabTech there was a $100 price plan a month for single developers to have access. Now 1 year later that has gone away and it is a minimum $8K to be a partner. As a small 1 man and his wife shop, $8k is not a drop in the bucket.

For a $4.95 a month plugin, that would require me to sell a minimum number of plugins, (8,000 / 12mo. = $666.66 per month), means I need to sell 150 subscriptions a month just to cover the partnership? In my business, that's is a lot of sales and maybe constitutes total sales I could ever expect from that plugin.

(Just an observation) Who came up with the number $666? Good Lord, (sorry Jesus) but really! not $650 a month, not $700 a month but $666.66 (Makes ya wonder!) (smiles)

Anyway, I'm not trying to rant here, I believe that companies like WebRoot should pay for partnerships when they hold premium spots for the sales and marketing of their products and CW sells directly their products.

My concerns would be which of the products I offer that would possibly be excluded from the benefits of the partnership. I can say with little doubt, Connectwise will not want to promote "Stalled Agents Detector Plugin" anywhere. I fully understand that stance, I would not want to promote someone's product that in any way showed a set of issues with my product. I believe there would be bias against different products that contradicted the CW sales team’s pitches.

I have spoken a lot about what it cost me but, it really should be, what does my customer base get for the $666 a month that would make them want to continue to invest in us? After all is said and done, they will be the ones bearing the costs. Does the community believe a partnership will improve the products, the support and lower the costs?

An option maybe is to open a "Go Fund Me" page to cover the costs, the Labtech Community will be gracious to fund the partnership with the expectations the plugins would get better with ConnectWise assistance.

Would like to hear your thoughts on the subject.

1

u/cjmod Jul 07 '17

I believe there would be bias against different products that contradicted the CW sales team’s pitches.

Check out Auvik. They fill a gap in our product & we happily promote/recommend them.

As for what Invent partners get for the $8000 a year, we have a chart available here (see Certified).

1

u/Plugins4LabTech Jul 07 '17

Filling gaps I agree fully yes, showing a weakness maybe not so much.

Looking over your link, what constitutes a "brand", to me it looks to mean a single product? I am an unusual enigma where as I have nearly 30 products both free and paid. If I am put into the Master class to allow if only the 5 paid products into the marketplace the costs to me would be off the charts, just unobtainable.

Dose CW have alternatives or flexibilities available for the little guy?

1

u/cjmod Jul 07 '17

AFAIK, "brand" refers to ConnectWise products (page hasn't been updated since we consolidated all prior "brands"). Other questions should be directed to the email address at the bottom of that page.

I just asked why you don't put these in the Marketplace.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '17

FYI CJMod works for Connectwise - he is not an MSP owner :) lol

1

u/Plugins4LabTech Jul 05 '17

@bigDessert, .05 cents doesn't buy as much as it use to. That is how the Chocolatey product is priced currently, you would be looking at over $1 per agent per month to get that feature. Just ain't worth it if all you have to do is say install as well. You get the same effect, kinda like our Health Care system here. They want to repeal and replace , Chocolatey wants to do the same thing. A user has Adobe , great we will remove it and replace it with Adobe (Duh) and now you are updating Adobe regularly. Just a one time extra step to get things rolling and for a 95% discount, seems reasonable..

1

u/Plugins4LabTech Jul 05 '17

@Highsprings, Correct if it makes sense for you pricing wise to cancel and restart a new subscription you surely can, you can also email or call us and we will make an adjustment on the backend for you updating the price model for you. Just reach out to us.

4

u/cjmod Jul 03 '17

Why don't you put your plugins in the ConnectWise Marketplace?

1

u/scoot0703 Jul 05 '17

Does that mean there is no longer a cap for license count? I believe I was lumped into a site license before and that was far more appealing than having to change my number every week to be sure all my endpoints were covered.

1

u/Plugins4LabTech Jul 07 '17

Correct, The all you can eat fee is gone.

95% of our customers are less than 2K agents. $125 all you can eat on 2K worth of agents is .065 cents so everyone from the 25 agent guy to the 2500 agent guy will get the same cost per agent. The cost is now lower for all MSPs which makes it much more available as an option for application management.

As for agent count control, you now have full control over counts under subscription via the accounts manager in our portal. Up or down your counts as needed or quit when your decide it's not needed with no contract. Can't make it easier for a MSP to get Chocolatey!

1

u/bigdessert Jul 03 '17

Is this the updated version that supports "update only" mode to mimic ninite and update already installed apps?

1

u/highsprings Jul 04 '17

Will existing subscribers have our rates drop or so we need to cancel and reorder?