Rajesh Ranganathan, Director of Product Management at ManageEngine, explains that MSP Central is a fully cloud-native, all-in-one platform built in-house to help MSPs scale efficiently, seamlessly integrating ITSM, RMM, security, and automation to streamline operations and enable future-ready service delivery.
What inspired ManageEngine to develop MSP Central, and how does it differ from other MSP tools in the market?
Over a decade of working with MSPs revealed a common challenge: scaling service delivery as client portfolios expand, from SMBs to mid-market and enterprise environments. Existing tools often struggle to evolve with this growth, leading to fragmented workflows, overlapping functionalities, and inefficiencies.
MSP Central was built to solve this problem. It’s a fully cloud-native, homegrown platform that unifies IT service management, remote monitoring and management (RMM), endpoint security, and server monitoring. Unlike many platforms built through acquisitions, MSP Central is natively integrated, supports co-managed delivery models, and is designed to reduce operational overhead. It offers MSPs the flexibility, control, and scalability needed to grow without constantly switching tools.
How does MSP Central align with ManageEngine’s long-term vision for supporting MSPs?
MSP Central represents the next phase of our commitment to MSPs. Our vision is to empower them with a platform that adapts to evolving service models—from SMBs to regulated enterprises.
Built entirely in-house and hosted in our data centers, it reflects our priorities of privacy, compliance, and control. As a modular and cloud-native platform, MSP Central allows MSPs to onboard the capabilities they need, integrate third-party tools, and adopt co-managed models. In essence, it’s not just a product—it’s the foundation of a long-term platform strategy built specifically for MSPs.
With the MSP market growing rapidly, how does MSP Central help providers stay competitive and scalable?
MSPs today manage clients across a wide spectrum, each with unique requirements. The challenge is scaling without multiplying complexity or cost. MSP Central helps solve this by offering enterprise-grade functionality with SMB-level simplicity.
Its modular design means MSPs can start with just ITSM or RMM and expand as needed, without retooling. Built-in support for co-managed IT and automation helps reduce manual effort and enhance consistency. Since it’s cloud-native and tightly integrated, MSP Central removes friction, helping MSPs scale smarter and more sustainably.
Why did you choose to build MSP Central entirely in-house instead of integrating existing tools?
We deliberately chose to build MSP Central from the ground up to ensure deep integration, consistent performance, and full roadmap ownership. Many competing platforms are a patchwork of acquired tools, which often results in uneven user experiences and costly integration efforts.
With MSP Central, every module is developed natively by us, which ensures tight interoperability, faster feature evolution, and customisation based on MSP-specific workflows, not retrofitted enterprise IT tools. This allows us to move quickly, adapt to market needs, and offer a consistent experience end-to-end.
What architectural and design principles set MSP Central apart from existing solutions, including other ManageEngine tools?
The key differentiator lies in its unified architecture. Unlike using loosely coupled tools, MSP Central integrates all service layers—RMM, ITSM, endpoint monitoring—within a native, cloud-first environment. This reduces data silos, streamlines automation, and simplifies service delivery.
It also supports co-managed models, which is essential for MSPs collaborating with internal IT teams. By moving from isolated tools to a unified platform, MSPs can deploy automation at scale without the typical integration headaches.
How does MSP Central support seamless integration with both third-party tools and the broader Zoho ecosystem?
MSP Central is built with openness in mind. It provides robust REST APIs, webhooks, and prebuilt connectors for easy integration with third-party tools, from billing to security platforms.
For MSPs using Zoho products, such as Zoho Books or Zoho Analytics, native API integrations provide out-of-the-box interoperability. The extensible architecture allows MSPs to customise workflows across their toolsets, maintaining centralised control while building a tech stack that fits their business.
What AI-powered features are included, and how do they enhance technician productivity?
MSP Central incorporates AI-driven automation to reduce noise, prioritise alerts, and accelerate response times. Intelligent ticket classification, anomaly detection, predictive maintenance, and automated remediation are key examples.
These capabilities help technicians focus on high-impact work while reducing manual effort and burnout. As AI adoption in MSP environments grows, we continue to expand intelligent workflows that streamline operations and scale technician productivity.
How does MSP Central handle endpoint security in today’s evolving threat landscape?
Security is built into the core of MSP Central. The platform includes antivirus and anti-ransomware tools, patch management, USB control, and vulnerability scanning. Upcoming modules will offer SIEM, PAM, and advanced threat analytics.
MSPs can choose to use these tools or integrate third-party security platforms. Our goal is flexibility—not vendor lock-in—so that MSPs can adopt a layered defence strategy that fits their needs, incrementally and securely.
How does MSP Central align with the growing trend of cloud marketplaces?
MSP Central is marketplace-ready. It supports modular licensing, usage-based pricing, and streamlined onboarding, mirroring SaaS standards and the expectations of modern MSPs.
We’re also developing a broader ecosystem play where partners can discover, publish, and integrate services within a marketplace-style environment. This will enable faster adoption and a more dynamic partner experience.
Do you plan to integrate directly with major cloud marketplaces such as AWS Marketplace or Azure Marketplace?
While we support integration with public cloud services, MSP Central is hosted exclusively in our own data centers. This allows us to ensure consistent performance, stronger data governance, and compliance across regions.
Owning the infrastructure helps us deliver a highly optimised experience for MSPs with demanding service-level needs. This decision aligns with our platform vision, focused on control, reliability, and long-term operational flexibility.
What support and training do you offer to help MSPs onboard successfully?
We provide end-to-end onboarding assistance: from dedicated setup specialists and migration playbooks to instructor-led training, certifications, and a rich knowledge base. For partners growing quickly, we also offer account management and solution engineering support.
Our goal is to reduce time-to-value and ensure MSPs of all sizes can adopt the platform confidently, not just enterprise players.
What’s next on the roadmap for MSP Central?
Over the next 12–18 months, we’ll introduce new modules in security, compliance, analytics, and AI. We’re also expanding automation capabilities, integration options, and ecosystem tools.
Long term, our vision is to build the most flexible and trusted MSP platform—one that enables our partners to scale, differentiate, and lead in a fast-evolving market.
