MSPmentor 250 List 2014: Honorees R

Welcome to the seventh-annual MSPmentor 250 list, honoring the world’s top managed services provider (MSP) executives, entrepreneurs and experts. This list is in alphabetical order, split into separate pages.

Background: The list is based on our annual global readership survey plus MSPmentor’s daily coverage of the managed services market. For more information about MSPmentor surveys and lists visit http://www.mspmentor.net/top250 (people) and http://www.mspmentor.net/top501 (companies).

MSPmentor 250 List 2014: Honorees R

Rob Rae, Vice President of Business Development, Datto

Rae is a trailblazer is a well-known and respected voice in the channel and a fixture at all the important channel events each year. He has supervised the development of Datto’s successful Partner Plus program and he created the Datto Partner Conference which in only three years has become a top channel events for MSPs.

@RobTRae

blog.dattobackup.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robtrae

Mike Ralston, CEO, Solsoft

Ralston helped pioneer managed services in the UK, as one of ConnectWise’s and N-Able’s first partners there. He is a strong advocate of managed services as a far better alternative to the traditional VAR model.

Zachary Ramsey, Technical Sales Engineer, Solutions Inc.

Ramsey’s company has been leading the charge in updating county governments in Iowa to the newest business continuity solutions. His efforts earned the company an Innovator of the Year at the Datto Partner Conference 2014. The company currently manages a quarter of the state of Iowa’s computing and is moving the counties forward with latest technology and advancements.

Chip Reaves, President, Bigger Brains

Reaves has built five IT companies (and sold three of them), including the global 300-plus location Computer Troubleshooters franchise. In his most recent company, Bigger Brains, he supports over 200 MSPs with training opportunities and promotional support.

https://www.facebook.com/chip.reaves

Shael Risman, CEO, PACE Technical Services Inc.

Along with partner Michael Sugrue, Risman was one of the earliest adopters of the Managed Service philosophy in a small business context, building PACE Technical Services from a tiny break-fix shop to over 20 employees and nearly $3.5 million in revenue, all during a recession.  Risman is a featured Xpert for Talkin’ Cloud’s IdeaXchange, is an original member of TruMethod’s Winner’s Circle and has been a speaker at key industry events like Xchange 2014 and Connectwise IT Nation.

http://www.twitter.com/#!/shaelrisman

Phil Robinson, CEO, i.t.NOW

Robinson has built i.t. NOW from 2 employees to 26. His love for technology and his desire to use it to solve real life business problems for customers have driven him to innovate and develop new products such as 3D accelerated hosted desktop solutions.  He has authored articles published in local magazines, and is committed to giving back to his community by partnering with non-profit organizations and donating time and materials.

http://itnow.net/about-us/our-blog/

Ted Roller, LogMeIn

Roller spent over a decade running his own IT solutions provider business before taking his years of experience and knowledge to the vendors who serve IT service providers. He’s most recently served as a VP at LogMeIn but has also worked at Intronis, itControl Suite and Perimeter eSecurity. He has also served on the board of directors of CompTIA.

https://twitter.com/TedRoller

Jason Rorie, President, Elevated Technologies

Rorie built an MSP and CSP practice that grew from $100,000 in revenue to $1 million in revenue in 4 years with fewer than 6 employees.  The company is one of only a few MSPs offering cloud services to other MSPs.

elevated-tech.com/blog

www.linkedin.com/in/jasonrorie/

Matthew Rosenthal, President, Mindcore

Matt Rosenthal has successfully transformed his time- and materials-based company into a leader in managed services and private cloud solutions, that has seen 30 percent growth year over year, three years in a row. Fueled by this success, Matt identified a regional company similar to his own and in need of an MSP transformation, and he led a successful merger of the two firms. The newly combined business, operating under the name Mindcore, is positioned to continue its growth. 

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/matt-rosenthal/33/a33/538

Marie Rourke, Owner, WhiteFox Marketing and Communications

Rourke (aka Channel PR) has built one of the most reputable & specialized channel marketing and PR firms. Her company, WhiteFox Marketing & Communications, works exclusively with leading & fast-growing IT channel players including MSPs, the world’s leading technology distributor and a top-performing RMM provider.

https://twitter.com/ChannelPR

Josep Ruano, CEO, CAPSiDE

Ruano built Barcelona-based CAPSiDE from scratch and led it to an over 25 percent sustained growth rate and over 40 percent this current year. The company’s funding is 100 percent private and without outside investors. CAPSiDE grew from 9 employees in 2010 to more than 25. Ruano is also an educator in both technology and business, serving as a speaker and author.  

http://twitter.com/josep

http://capside.com/en/company-blog/

http://linkedin.com/in/josepruano

Kevin Rubin, Managing Partner/CEO, Stratosphere Networks

Rubin has led Stratosphere Networks to a doubling of its employees in the past three years and revenue growth of 148 percent. The company is a winner the Channel Partners 360° Award, and has ranked on CRN’s Next Gen 250, Inc. 5000 and MSPmentor 501 Global.

http://www.stratospherenetworks.com/blog/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinscottrubin

Rich Rubinstein, CEO, America’s Remote Help Desk

Rubinstein founded this managed services business out of his basement in 2000. Today, America’s Remote Help Desk employs 55 people and has over 80 clients.

http://www.remotehelpdesk.com/blog/

www.linkedin.com/in/richrubinstein1

Matthew Ruck, Vice President, designDATA

Ruck has has produced double-digit revenue growth every year since 2007, and opened new company offices in DC and North Carolina. He has crafted a new hybrid-cloud service offering for small businesses – all while delivering 99.99 percent customer uptime. Ruck is also a frequent business speaker, addressing audiences at the American Society of Association Executives and other operational conferences in the Midatlantic region, and has served on ASAE’s Technology Council.

http://www.designdata.com/connect/blog/

www.linkedin.com/in/mattruck

Steve Rutkovitz, CEO, Choice Technologies

Rutkovitz has created an end-to-end structured enterprise grade security solution for small to mid-size organizations. The company launched its Choice Channel Partner Program for MSPs to join in 2014. The solution builds on Rutkovitz’s 20 years of experience as an MSP himself, and two years of experience as a managed security service provider.

http://www.choicetech.com/blog/

Jay Ryerse, VP Business Development, Digitel Corporation

Ryerse’s MSP organization has doubled in size for each of the last 5 years. It provides support to hundreds of companies in 35 states. Ryerse is also the author of the book Technology 101 for Business Owners and personally mentors top MSPs in New York, Idaho, Washington DC, Indianapolis, Phoenix, St. Louis and New Mexico as well as several MSPs throughout Canada.