New SADA CEO: ‘The Future … Is Very Different than a Year Ago’

There’s a new SADA CEO in town and Channel Futures sat down with him to learn more about his plans for the 24-year-old managed service provider.

On Oct. 1, Tony Safoian, longtime SADA CEO, announced his impending retirement. Dana Berg, who has served as chief operating officer at SADA for nearly seven years, has been appointed his successor. Thanks to that tenure, Berg isn’t starting from scratch, which means he’s able to dive right into his new role with some transition help from Safoian.

Indeed, Safoian led the family-owned SADA for more than 20 years, turning it into one of the most prominent MSPs in the channel. In 2019, SADA decided to align with Google Cloud exclusively. Then, late last year, SADA agreed to be purchased by Insight Enterprises for $410 million.

The latter, a large solutions integrator, already had expertise in Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, but was missing that Google Cloud component. As SADA CEO, Safoian led the decision to sell, and he has no regrets. This past April, he told Channel Futures that Insight “is the best possible home for SADA.”

Now, as Berg takes the reins, he’s expressing the same confidence. He’s also starting his time as the new SADA CEO with expressions of admiration for Safoian.

“He's not only was my CEO, but he … is still very much a dear friend,” Berg said. “[T]he imprint that he has left will never be lost and … I feel the most amount of privilege and responsibility to take his wonderful legacy and continue it in the future.”

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To that point, find out Berg’s plans as he assumes the mantle of SADA CEO, learn about his leadership philosophy, where he sees challenges for the company, and where there’s ample growth opportunity.

Note that we've edited this transcript, in our slideshow above, for length and flow.