10 MSP Industry Executives to Watch in 2014
Which managed services software and business executives will have the biggest impact in 2014? Here are 10 names worth tracking across the managed services provider (MSP) market.
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Mona Abutaleb (left) is succeeding Paul Chisholm (right) as CEO of mindSHIFT, the MSP that Best Buy (BBY) acquired about two years ago. mindSHIFT in 2013 ranked among the world's top 501 MSPs and top 100 CSPs. Challenge and Opportunity: Best Buy could be looking to sell mindSHIFT to a private equity firm in order to refocus around its core consumer retail and dot-com businesses, MSPmentor has heard. Either way, Abutaleb has to show mindSHIFT's continued push beyond managed services into cloud services.
Artisan Infrastructure CEO Brian Heirholzer and independenceIT CEO Seth Bostock have similar strategies and a common enemy: Amazon Web Services. Challenge and Opportunity: Artisan must compete with AWS's IaaS cloud, while independenceIT must compete with Amazon WorkSpaces — a desktop as a service. Both Artisan and independenceIT are pure channel companies — which means they could be great partners against larger public cloud services…
AVG Technologies shook up the Level Platforms staff after acquiring the MSP software provider in mid-2013. Challenge and Opportunity: Some familiar names left the Level Platforms business, which is now known as AVG Managed Workplace. But recent hires like Mike Byrne and North America Channel Chief Marco La Vecchia could bring much-needed reinforcements to both the AVG security and Managed Workplace efforts.
Under Summit Partners' ownership since September 2011, Continuum Managed Services has continued to grow. But marketing RMM and NOC services to MSPs is a challenging task. Enter Hubspot veteran Jeanne Hopkins, who joined Continuum as senior VP and chief marketing officer in 2013. Challenge and Opportunity: Can Hopkins leverage Hubspot-style lead generation and marketing to (A) win more MSP customers and (B) make Continuum's MSPs even more profitable? The answer should be known by the time Continuum Navigate — the company's first partner and user conference — surfaces in September 2014.
GFI Software is hoping to generate a one-two punch by pairing GFI Max General Manager Alistair Forbes with recent hire Dave Sobel. Forbes has already built one of the world's most successful MSP software and cloud businesses. Now, recent recruit Sobel hopes to energize the company's partner community. Challenge and Opportunity: GFI Max has one of the world's largest MSP installed bases. But sometimes the company is overlooked by aspiring MSPs. Plus, GFI's mid-market MSPs don't get much time in the spotlight. Forbes and Sobel hope to change that.
Can Xerox finally help MSPs to master managed print services? Toni Clayton-Hine could play a big role in answering that question. Challenge and Opportunity: Xerox does a great job promoting its own enterprise managed print services (MPS) wins. But the company often fails to mention or celebrate MSPs that generate recurring revenues from Xerox hardware and related channel solutions. Enter Clayton-Hine, a CA Technologies and channel veteran known for whipping channel marketing programs into shape.
When SolarWinds acquired N-able Technologies in May 2013, N-able CEO Gavin Garbutt exited the company. No cause for panic. N-able President JP Jauvin shifted to the GM role under SolarWinds ownership. Challenge and Opportunity: Parent SolarWinds hasn't been growing as quickly as Wall Street would like. So N-able is under pressure to over-deliver on its buyout deal. So far Jauvin is delivering the goods. SolarWinds has increased its revenue outlook for N-able since the deal was announced.
Autotask CEO Mark Cattini about two years ago launched a major global initiative — localizing the company's SaaS business for Europe, Asia and more. Key to the effort was Kevin Donovan, who had to overhaul the company's sales staff to have global reach. Challenges and Opportunities: Autotask's international expansion continues. Cattini sounded confident when we visited the company's offices in October 2013. But Donovan has to push the company even harder beyond English-speaking countries like the U.S., United Kingdom and Australia. Next potential stop? Brazil.
ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini and President David Bellini are searching the market for a CFO. This could be the biggest MSP software industry hire since Kaseya named Yogesh Gupta CEO in mid-2013. Challenges and Opportunities: ConnectWise and its sister companies (CharTec, LabTech Software and Quosal) likely generate about $100 million in annual revenues, with rapid growth continuing. Both Bellini's are CPAs — so finding a CFO who brings something extra special to the table could be challenging. But we'll be watching for updates…
When Insight Venture Partners acquired Kaseya in mid-2013, Yogesh Gupta immediately succeeded Gerald Blackie as CEO. The changes didn't stop there. Kaseya purchased Zyrion (cloud and virtualization management), Rover Apps (MDM) and Command 365 (Office 365 management) in rapid-fire fashion. Challenges and Opportunities: Can Gupta weave Kaseya into a single, end-to-end IT automation company supporting MSPs and enterprise customers? That's a tall order we'll be watching closely in 2014.
When Insight Venture Partners acquired Kaseya in mid-2013, Yogesh Gupta immediately succeeded Gerald Blackie as CEO. The changes didn't stop there. Kaseya purchased Zyrion (cloud and virtualization management), Rover Apps (MDM) and Command 365 (Office 365 management) in rapid-fire fashion. Challenges and Opportunities: Can Gupta weave Kaseya into a single, end-to-end IT automation company supporting MSPs and enterprise customers? That's a tall order we'll be watching closely in 2014.
Which managed services software and business executives will have the biggest impact in 2014? Here are 10 names worth tracking across the managed services provider (MSP) market. Look above right for photo captions.
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