MSPSN CEO Amy Luby: Why She's Selling

A few hours ago, MSPmentor learned High Street Technology Ventures is buying MSP Services Network (MSPSN), one of the industry’s best-known Master MSPs. We published a video interview with incoming CEO Gerard Kane. Now, here’s a Q&A with MSPSN Founder Amy Luby (pictured). In which, Luby explains why she’s selling and what’s next for her and MSPSN. Take a look…

Our quick Q&A covered the following questions…

Luby’s Next Steps

MSPmentor: What will your role be at MSPSN going forward and how long do you expect to be involved?

Amy Luby: I will move to a Board of Directors role and maintain strategic involvement with MSPSN helping to guide the future direction of the company. For the near term, there is still a lot of work to do and I will be heavily involved in the transition as Gerard moves into the CEO position. Our plan is to have me involved indefinitely, but at a minimum I will stay deeply involved over the next two years as we expand the MSPSN network, add services, and continue growing the company.

The MSPSN Team

MSPmentor: Will the staff be retained?

Amy Luby: All MSPSN staff will be retained and in fact they are an integral part of the growth plans moving forward.  The MSPSN team has worked very hard over the last three years to form and build a solid foundation.

We have been “first movers” in the Master MSP arena, many times on the bleeding edge of what can or cannot be done with the existing technology and then successfully leveraging it to deliver services to the Channel that are unique and necessary to grow the SMB Channel.

The MSPSN team has experience and insight into the needs of our reseller network and experience in delivering services to meet those needs that would be very hard to duplicate or recreate. There are no plans to do anything at this time other than to hire additional staff, add services, and expand our service offerings into 2010 and beyond.

(Note: Luby bolded the text above to emphasize her point)

Decision Day

MSPmentor: What prompted the sale?

Amy Luby: There are a number of factors that prompted the sale.  Most significant to me is that I see a tremendous opportunity right now to bridge the gap between the reseller, vendor, distributor, and IT professional organization communities.

MSPSN has worked very hard over the last three years at developing the right foundation, the right systems, the right relationships, and the right services for the Channel and now is a perfect time to expand on this foundation.

There are also significant factors in the Channel that simply make sense in expanding MSPSN at this time.  To date there have been few other notable players in the space that match the MSPSN services portfolio.  Delivering this type of model is very complicated and MSPSN has the perfect pedigree and long-term history to take advantage of the market opportunity.

MSPSN to take advantage of this market opportunity and by adding Gerard to the mix coupled with MSPSN’s solid reputation and our past experience, we are perfectly poised to help our partners rapidly expand  and thereby grow MSPSN!

The Bigger Picture

For more on High Street Technology Ventures’s pending buyout of MSPSN, check out our deeper dive blog featuring a video interview with incoming CEO Gerard Kane. Plus, this early 2009 podcast with Luby provides additional background about MSPSN and the Master MSP market.

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