Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Autotask Agreement Passes Ownership of VARStreet through Employee Buyout

Transition Ensures Seamless Continuity of Ongoing Development, Implementation and Support

EAST GREENBUSH, NY - December 22, 2011 - Autotask Corporation, the world’s leading provider of hosted IT business management solutions, today announced that it has signed an agreement to transfer ownership of its VARStreet quoting and e-commerce product line, including all ongoing development, sales, hosting, implementation, support and billing, through an employee buyout. The new company, VARStreet, Inc., backed by private investors will be led by VARStreet veterans Shankar Gopalan and Shiv Agarwal who built VARStreet’s existing client base and customer relationships, and Vikas Bhir and his team, who have helped create, develop and support the VARStreet service since its inception.
 
The sale was structured to ensure that current users see no change in their VARStreet service, catalogs, add-ons or customizations, and user data will not be moved or at risk during the transition. Ongoing support, implementation and development activities will proceed without interruption as the VARStreet team remains fully in place.

Autotask software manages critical business operations and processes for technology services centric organizations, and its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform is designed to be open:
  • Open on the front end; to allow users to access it through any browser or mobile device
  • Open in the middle; to support optimization and automation of clients’ existing workflows
  • Open on the backend; to integrate the other tools and systems clients use to service their clients
  • Open to IT and other technology solution providers around the world
“The decision to divest from VARStreet was not an easy one, but I am confident it was the right one for VARStreet users, for the VARStreet team and for Autotask Corporation,” said Mark Cattini, Autotask President and Chief Executive Officer. “Autotask’s strategic goal is to remain open, especially to the tools our global clients use to service their customers, and the ongoing development and support of VARStreet is outside of our core focus. Therefore, we believe our users will be better served with VARStreet as an independent company, focused exclusively on the VARStreet product suite.”

VARStreet is a powerful, SaaS-based suite of integrated e-commerce automation tools that combines real-time distributor pricing with advanced quoting and an optional electronic storefront. The service is designed to provide a complete, stable and scalable way for technology solutions providers to simplify and streamline how they source, quote, procure, sell and deliver IT products and services.
Shiv Agarwal, Vice President of VARStreet said “we are committed to providing best service and support to our customers and will continue to invest and enhance the platform’s capability going forward to meet our customer requirements.”

About VARStreet Incorporated
VARStreet, Inc., is fueled by more than $20 million in capital investment, and the VARStreet platform is widely regarded as the most powerful and comprehensive suite of hosted e-commerce automation tools for VARs, MSPs and other IT solutions providers on the market. VARStreet is currently used by hundreds of the largest VARs in North America. The VARStreet advanced quoting and e-commerce platform includes a powerful cloud- based “Back Office” module, optional "e-Storefront", and can be integrated with numerous CRM, ERP, accounting and business systems. For more information please visit www.varstreet.com.

About Autotask Corporation
Autotask Corporation provides the world's leading hosted IT business management software to streamline and optimize business processes for technology solution providers. The software integrates a broad range of critical business systems, including customer relationship management (CRM), service desk, tech scheduling, project management, billing and reporting, and provides real-time service delivery intelligence to help users understand the factors that drive their business and their profitability.

Autotask is accessible from virtually any computing or mobile device connected to the Internet and features a world-class API that seamlessly integrates with the other systems and tools that providers rely on to run their businesses.

For more information about Autotask Corporation and products, please visit www.autotask.com or call 518-720-3500 Ext. 1.

Autotask® is a registered trademark of Autotask Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

Separate Yourself From Your Competition by Recruiting the Best Talent

In today’s market, it is imperative to stand out from your competition. Nothing impacts how your clients view you more than your engineers' ability to properly design and implement your technology solution offerings. In other words, the talent that makes up your team separates you from your competition.

On Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 1 PM US ET, join Mark Bier and Todd Billiar of VAR Staffing and Rich Akullian of Autotask as they share key insights on how to quickly identify and recruit the talent that makes an impact.

Actionable take-aways from this webinar will include:
  • How to save time by reviewing only high-caliber, pre-screened candidates who can make an immediate impact on your business
  • The negative impact of a "bad" hire
  • How staffing levels contribute to your ability to remain nimble in a competitive environment
Register now!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Learn to Hire The Best and Avoid The Rest

Sponsored by Autotask

You are systematic with technology, accounting, and possibly sales. Why not with your employees? The starting point is to adopt a proven, 10-step hiring system to improve the way you find, qualify, hire, and onboard superstar employees. The Success With People HIRE THE BEST AVOID THE REST system is your solution. Here is what you will learn in this interactive webinar on Tuesday, December 20 at 1 PM US ET:
  1. Systematic Power: Why a complete system is more effective than your current method of hiring.
  2. Team Member Strategic Plans: How to create “job descriptions on steroids” that convince great candidates to work for you.
  3. Recruiting: Five ways to find top performers that are not considering your company today.
  4. Interviewing: 15 Tips to fully interview people so you don’t hire Dr. Jekyll and get Mr. Hyde.
  5. Talent Assessments: How to really understand someone’s natural behaviors and motivational values on the job.
  6. Background Checks: Six facts you must know before hiring anyone and why.
  7. Reference Checks: Seven questions that get people to open up when checking references.
  8. Extend The Offer: Eight ways to extend an offer that convinces top performers to join your team.
  9. First Day: More than 10 ways to make your new employee’s first day on the job more productive, profitable, and personal fulfilling.
  10. Never Stop Selling: What you can do to systematically keep new hires fully engaged as time passes.
One idea that helps you hire just one employee is worth $10,000 or more. This hiring system is probably worth millions if you hire dozens of people over the next ten years because this event is a 10-step proven hiring system with dozens of ideas. For many of you this is the most important webinar you will attend this year.

Register now!

CompTIA Cloud Foundations Workshop & Certification: Module 5 - Operations Management

At Autotask Community Live, CompTIA debuted its Cloud Foundations Workshop and Certification Program. It was so well received that we've teamed up with CompTIA to bring you the modules in a convenient webinar format.

Take advantage of the substantial business opportunities in delivering cloud solutions to customers! On Tuesday, December 13 at 1 PM US ET, Dan Shapero will lead this fifth and final module of the Cloud Foundations Workshop, and help you recognize many of the operational elements of your business that need to be modified as you build a cloud business.

Len DiCostanzo of Autotask Corporation will also be on hand to share how IT business management software can be the central platform for managing your evolution to the cloud and delivering a whole new range of services more profitably.

Learn to develop insights into these operations management components:
  • Deal economics
  • Cash/revenue flow
  • Creating effective sales compensation plans
  • Establishing operating metrics & evaluators
Register now!

The New Rules of Selling Technology Services

In the old days…
  • Repeat business and referrals were enough to drive technology firm growth.
  • There were very few service providers who did exactly what you do.
  • LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, webinars, blogs… didn’t even exist.
  • Providing great service and results led to more business and new business.
  • ‘Sales’ was a dirty word. You didn’t need to do much selling to win clients.
  • Practices were packed with business. (Think back before 2007.)
Then…
  • Practices were scrambling to survive.
  • Clients were going out of business or cutting back.
  • Price pressure was rampant. (This is in the “new” old days. Think March 2009.)
The economy ups and downs and ups, changes in buyer behavior, the web, social media, sales enablement tools, and increased competition have transformed how and why clients buy.

Today… you must transform the way you sell to keep up and to help buyers buy from you.

On Thursday, December 8 at 1 PM US ET, join Kutenda CEO Mike Cooch - previous Founder and CEO of one of the fastest growing MSPs in the industry - live as he reveals the new rules of selling technology services and explains how you must transform the way you sell so you can help buyers buy from you.

Also presenting on the webinar will be Autotask's Rich Akullian who will share how IT business management software can provide you with true service intelligence, better equipping you for sales.

Don’t miss your opportunity to learn:
  • Why what consultative selling methodologies teach you won’t work today
  • How to match your selling process to clients buying process (a key ingredient for selling success)
  • The 4 places to look for qualified leads
  • How to embrace your selling role (even if you never thought you would)
Register now!

A Day in the Life of a Successful MSP

Ever wonder what the top managed services providers are doing that you're not? Here's your chance to find out!

On Tuesday, December 6 at 1 PM US ET, you're invited to join this webinar and hear from leading MSP, Dan Tomaszewski, President of Michigan-based Computer House Calls. Dan will explain how he combines the power of Kaseya and Autotask to deliver world-class services while continually increasing his monthly recurring revenue stream.

During this insightful session, you’ll learn:
  • How Dan and the team at Computer House Calls transitioned their business model from Break-Fix to Managed Services
  • Critical steps to immediately implement in your business that are proven to save the most time and effort for MSPs
  • The most important services to offer your clients, along with the most efficient and profitable way to deliver them
Instead of listening to a bunch of marketing fluff, you'll hear from this true MSP discuss the best tools, features and technical functions his company uses to deliver efficient, profitable IT services to clients.

Autotask's Rich Akullian and Kaseya's Gerald Beaulieu will be on hand to provide brief introductions to their respective solutions and answer questions.

Register now!

Monday, November 14, 2011

How to Succeed with Managed Services: Part 8 - Delivering Managed Services

Autotask Academy and MSP University wrap up an 8-part webinar series with this capstone training session!

Part 8 - Delivering Managed Services

On Thursday, December 15 at 1 PM ET, Autotask's Len DiCostanzo and MSPU's Erick Simpson will focus on methods to provide the best service delivery experience for your clients, end-users, and your technical staff. Effective, efficient service delivery processes and procedures will increase client satisfaction and build continued loyalty among your clients.

In this webinar, you'll learn:
  • An overview of incident management
  • Communications and customer service tips to identify needs while keeping clients at ease and cooperative
  • How to set the proper expectations and what not to say
  • What to do when things go wrong, and when to escalate to the Service Manager
Register now!

To view the recorded sessions from the rest of the series, click here!

Autotask Announces Integration with FreshBooks’ Online Billing and Invoicing Software

Seamless Integration Allows End-to-End IT Business Management in the Cloud
 
Autotask Corporation today announced an integration between its SaaS-based IT business management solution and FreshBooks’ SaaS-based online billing and invoicing software. The integration, developed by Chicago-based itDuzzit™, allows Autotask users to significantly streamline the invoicing process by exporting billing items and information directly into FreshBooks and invoicing their products and services online. The FreshBooks integration also allows users to accept online payment by credit card, e-checks, bank transfer or PayPal®, further shortening the billing cycle.
 
The integration was developed using the Autotask and FreshBooks application programming interfaces (APIs) and will allow users to:
  • Seamlessly export Autotask invoices to FreshBooks
  • Automatically update Autotask account information in FreshBooks
  • Automatically create Autotask billing items in FreshBooks
  • Automatically update FreshBooks invoice numbers in Autotask
  • Invoice customers and accept payment online
  • Create payment notifications and reminders
  • Synchronize an unlimited number of Autotask-to-FreshBooks customers and transactions
“It is mission-critical that our clients are able to choose the tools and systems they use to work with their customers and to run their businesses. That is why we continue to develop our world-class API and why we are committed to making sure Autotask is an open platform for our users,” said Len DiCostanzo, Autotask senior vice-president of community and business development. “This project is a direct result of requests from our joint users and we are very excited to have the FreshBooks integration available for Autotask clients around the world.”

"Successful IT service companies manage their businesses with Autotask,” said Sunir Shah, Chief Handshaker and Head of the Platform at FreshBooks. “Billing with FreshBooks allows those Autotask users to streamline their invoicing processes while making the money they deserve from their valuable time and expertise.”

“Businesses shouldn’t have to spend hours each month manually synchronizing data across multiple cloud applications,” said Steve Mendoza, co-founder of itDuzzit. “The Autotask FreshBooks integration demonstrates how itDuzzit can automate the integration process and help companies save time, save money, and get the most out of their cloud applications.”

Autotask users interested in the Autotask-to-FreshBooks integration can find more information and sign up for a 7-day free trial by visiting http://www.itduzzit.com/home/solutions/autotask-freshbooks-integration/

Monday, November 7, 2011

Pricing For Profits: A Guide for MSPs and IT Service Providers

Nothing's trickier than coming up with the right pricing for IT services. Price yourself too high, and your prospects and customers will balk...price your services too low, and you'll leave money on the table - or worse, lose money.

If you're looking for actionable advice to increase profits on the services you already sell, then don't miss your chance to register for this next webinar coming up on Thursday, November 17 at 11 AM US ET.

During this information-packed session, Autotask SVP Len DiCostanzo will share his best tips based on his own success as a profitable MSP, and his work with hundreds of service providers around the world.

Len will be joined by Stefanie Hammond of N-able Technologies and Nick Pontacoloni of TechTarget who will share how their respective solutions can add to your revenue and profitability.

Register now to boost your confidence in crafting, selling and delivering profitable services. Walk away from this webinar knowing:
  • How to determine costs and profits for:
    • Managed services
    • Cloud services
    • Professional services
    • Break/fix services
    • Time and material services
  • Five key factors to consider when pricing your services
  • How to build inclusive Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for profit
  • How to use automation to scale service delivery and profitability

Get Into the Cloud Without Leaving the Ground

There is little doubt your prospects and customers are asking about the cloud. Do you have the knowledge and tools in place to remain their trusted advisor?

On Wednesday, November 16 at 1 PM US ET, please join Christopher Graham, Strategic Marketing Manager for Intel Hybrid Cloud Organization, and Rich Akullian, Online Marketing Producer for Autotask, as they share details about the partnership to help you grow opportunities and revenue.

Christopher will introduce the Intel AppUp(SM) Small Business Service, built on the Intel® Hybrid Cloud Platform. Register now to learn more about the subscription-based model for providing locally hosted server software on a pay-as-you-go basis. Small businesses get the benefits of services in the cloud, with the responsiveness and consistency of local applications, plus the peace of mind of having their data on site.

You can expect these key takeaways:
  • The impact of cloud growth on small business
  • An overview of Intel Hybrid Cloud Partners
  • How to incorporate these services into your business model
  • The potential revenue opportunities for MSPs
  • First steps to get started - including promotions and materials to help you sell
Register now!

Monday, October 31, 2011

CompTIA Cloud Foundations Workshop & Certification: Module 4 - Services Delivery

At Autotask Community Live, CompTIA debuted its Cloud Foundations Workshop and Certification Program. It was so well received that we've teamed up with CompTIA to bring you the modules in a convenient webinar format.

Take advantage of the substantial business opportunities in delivering cloud solutions to customers!

On Tuesday, November 8 at 1:00 PM US ET, Dan Shapero will lead this fourth module of the Cloud Foundations Workshop, and help you understand how to align your service offerings, needs and price points when operating in a cloud environment.

Steve Noel of Autotask Corporation will also be on hand to share how IT business management software can be the central platform for managing your evolution to the cloud and delivering a whole new range of services more profitably.

Learn to develop insights into staffing, pricing and organizational considerations including:
  • Service team structure
  • The services lifecycle
  • On-going services opportunities
  • Developing operating services/implementation processes
  • Nurturing long-term client relationships
Attendees must be present for the duration of this webinar to receive educational credit for this module. After completing all modules of workshop, attendees will receive a certificate of completion. Watch your inbox for opportunities to attend future modules.

Register now!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

How to Succeed with Managed Services: Part 7 - Onboarding Managed Services Clients

Autotask Academy and MSP University have teamed up to create an 8-part webinar series to help you build and improve your Managed Services practice and your success!

Each month, Autotask's Len DiCostanzo and Steve Noel and MSPU's Erick Simpson will cover a topic central to developing your Managed Services practice and adding recurring revenue to your bottom line.

Part 7 - Onboarding Managed Services Clients

This training session on Thursday, November 10 at 1 PM ET will focus on developing and implementing an effective, efficient onboarding process for new Managed Services clients.

By the end of this webinar, you'll know:
  • The importance of a proper onboarding process to meet client and end-user expectations and facilitate future service
  • How to avoid eroding client and end-user confidence and satisfaction and minimize service delivery difficulty by identifying onboarding process design flaws
Register now!

AT2Sage: The New Autotask to Sage Accounts Integration

Smart IT Support, based in Gateshead, was challenged by the manual work of managing hundreds of invoices each month - and keeping its Sage invoicing system and Autotask ticketing system in sync.

To solve the problem, the company developed a software program to integrate the two tools. With early successes saving time and money, Smart IT Support is making its AT2Sage integration available to other Autotask users to download charges from Autotask and create them in Sage Accounts automatically.

On Thursday, 3 November, please join Tony Wilson of Smart IT Support and Steve Noel of Autotask Corporation as they walk through the integration and show off the benefits of Autotask and Sage working together.

See these advantages in action:
  • Easy to Setup: A seamless integration with no complicated setups - simply enter your Sage and Autotask credentials and go.
  • Easy to Use: Because the integration works via the Autotask API, there is no need to mess around with XML files and matching fields. Just click, choose your date range, and send to Sage.
  • Professional Looking Invoices: Customise what appears on the invoice so they look the way you want them to.
  • Enter Information Once: You only need to create new contacts, update customer details, and create products and services in Autotask. AT2Sage ensures all new and updated information is transferred to Sage Accounts automatically.
Register now!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Efficiently Manage Online Backup & Recovery Services

Are you frustrated with using multiple tools to track and bill the backup and disaster recovery services (BDR) you provide?

Are you wasting time manually creating tickets and escalating backup-related issues after receiving notification emails?

If so, this is a webinar you won't want to miss!

To efficiently run their businesses, MSPs and VARs rely heavily on a central IT business management platform - one that easily integrates with tools like BDR services. Now, Autotask and Intronis have teamed up with a deep integration linking the IT business management software and cloud provider of backup and disaster services.

Please join us Thursday, October 20 at 11 AM US ET, when Matt Kowalski and Ted Roller of Intronis and Len DiCostanzo of Autotask will walk you through the core functionality and benefits of the integration, including:
  • Quick and easy setup
  • Effortlessly monitor BDR solutions via Autotask Service Desk tickets automatically generated by Intronis notifications
  • Automatically adjust billing in Autotask per flexible contracts, service bundles, etc.
  • Generate reports and client invoices
This is a great opportunity to learn how to optimize key backup processes so you can manage and deliver a broader range of services - increasing your value to your end customers!

Register now!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Gain Confidence & Profitability While Delivering Data Protection Services

Data Protection is the fastest growing service among MSPs because they realize the strategic importance of being the chosen provider to protect their clients' data.

To deliver Data Protection and other services to their clients reliably, efficiently and profitably - and access actionable data for fact-based decision making - the smartest MSPs use IT business management software as the central command center.

In this one-hour webinar on Tuseday, October 18 at 2 PM US ET, please join Nick Blozan, Vembu VP of Business Development, and Steve Noel, Autotask Technical Product Manager, as they share insights into using the combined set of technologies to accelerate your growth and generate high margins in your managed services business.

In this session you'll learn:
  • How to aggregate monitoring alerts and service tickets - critical when responding to data recovery situations
  • Escalate tickets with proper notifications using workflow automation
  • Create flexible service offerings to support complete protection for customer environments, including:
    • bare metal restore
    • disaster recovery to cloud
    • virtualized environments
Register now!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Autotask Chairman Godgart Ends Tenure to Pursue New Venture

EAST GREENBUSH, NY - September 29, 2011
 
Autotask Corporation, the world’s leading provider of hosted IT business management software, today announced that Bob Godgart will end his tenure as chairman of the board effective October 1, 2011, to pursue a new venture. Godgart, who founded the software company with Dick Frederick in 2001 and led it through 10 years of consecutive growth, stepped back from day to day operations earlier this year.

A pioneer in the development of cloud-based applications and software-as-a-service (SaaS), Autotask software is currently used by more than 40,000 IT service providers in 54 countries to run their businesses more efficiently and more profitably. The company employs approximately 200 people in the United States, United Kingdom, China and India, and recently announced plans to expand global operations and translate its software into 6 languages including German, Spanish, French, Italian, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese.

“I want to thank Bob for his entrepreneurial passion and dedication to Autotask and its Community,” said George McNamee, Autotask board member. “We wish Bob all good luck in his new enterprise.”

Godgart, an award-winning serial entrepreneur with more than 20 years’ experience, successfully launched and led three software companies, and was a senior partner of Exponential Business Development Company, a seed-stage venture capital firm. Godgart continues to serve as chairman of the board of directors of the Computing Technology Industry Association, Inc. (CompTIA), the leading non-profit trade association advancing the global interests of IT professionals and companies.

“I'm proud of what Autotask has accomplished and want to thank all of our customers and partners who believed in us. Next, I see an exciting opportunity with our international expansion,” Godgart said. “But I'm an entrepreneur at heart and want to take this opportunity to solve another real problem in our industry from the ground up. I wish Autotask every success as they continue to grow.”

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

How to Succeed with Managed Services: Part 6 - Selling Managed Services

Autotask Academy and MSP University have teamed up to create an 8-part webinar series to help you build and improve your Managed Services practice and your success!

Each month, Autotask's Len DiCostanzo and Steve Noel and MSPU's Erick Simpson will cover a topic central to developing your Managed Services practice and adding recurring revenue to your bottom line.

Part 6 - Selling Managed Services

This training session on Thursday, October 27 at 1 PM ET will walk you through each step of your first Managed Services sales appointment (and your second, and your third...). Then, Erick Simpson will teach you to conduct a Client Needs Analysis that reveals you as the expert and provides you with key talking points and strategic answers to the most common objections.

By the end of this webinar, you'll know:
  • The ins and outs of the Managed Services sales process
  • Strategic details of a Managed Services Proposal, Cost Savings Analysis, and Managed Services Agreement
  • A Managed Services sales technique so unique, to nearly forces your client to sign your Managed Services Agreement and empowers you to close the deal!
Register now!

Three Proven Tactics for MSP Success: Network Audits, Warranty Management & Compelling Reports

To build and grow a successful managed services practice, there's no doubt you need a remote monitoring and management tool (RMM). But besides just monitoring your clients' devices and alerting you of an issue, what else can an RMM offer? Join this one-hour webinar to find out!

On Thursday, October 6 at 11 AM US ET, Jeff Dryall, Level Platforms Manager of Product Sales Support and Steve Noel, Autotask Technical Product Manager will explain how the two companies' open platforms work together.

In this session you'll learn:
  • How MSPs are leveraging automated network audits and warranty management capabilities to build their businesses
  • How these tactics integrate seamlessly with Autotask's IT business management software to manage it all in one place
  • How the Channel is using RMM tools to capture new Cloud opportunities for MSPs
Special Offer!

Level Platforms is extending an introductory offer to all new partners who attend this webinar. Tune in on October 6 at 11 AM ET to learn more!

Register now!

Case Study: MSP Builds Profitability and Client Satisfaction by Tying Data Protection to Business Management

To solidify your client relationships and build your reputation as their most trusted technology resource, you need to consistently deliver a comprehensive range of services that support the clients' business objectives.

A leading concern of small and medium business clients is the protection of their data and how it can be quickly recovered if an unfortunate situation arises. As part of your catalog offerings, consider providing data backup, business continuity, and disaster recovery services - in a single solution that's easy to manage for you and builds the ROI for your profitability.

Please join us on Wednesday, September 29 at 1 PM US ET when Andy Harper, CIO of Gaeltek, LLC - a successful IT service provider practice located in Washington, DC - will show you how he maximizes the integration between Axcient and Autotask to "enhance what I deliver to my customers and give me a richer management experience."

Andy will be joined by Chris Sterbenc of Axcient, winner of the Best in Show award at Autotask Community Live, and Steve Noel of Autotask, who will be on hand to provide details of how their respective platforms work hand-in-hand to streamline the management of clients' data protection services alongside other components of their entire systems.

In this webinar, learn how Andy and Gaeltek:
  • Proactively maintain sharp control over backup status changes with automated ticket notifications and workflows
  • Gain valuable insight via Axcient data combined with Autotask's robust reporting system
  • Improve profitability and reduce support costs by saving time and money associated with managing multiple providers and platforms
Register now!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Autotask Business Management Platform Fully Integrated With Servoyant

Customers Take Advantage of Consolidated Workflow via Live Lookups
 
EAST GREENBUSH, NY - September 22, 2011 - Autotask Corporation, the world’s leading provider of hosted IT business management software, today announced that it is now fully integrated with Servoyant software from Servoyant, LLC, a leading SaaS provider of IT Management software solutions which offer simplified monitoring, management, proactive automation and analytics to help users prevent problems and keep client systems running smoothly. The integration streamlines and automates asset gathering, service ticketing management, account administration, system troubleshooting and makes it easier for managed services providers (MSPs) to keep clients’ network systems running smoothly.
 
“We are excited to have created such a powerful integration with Servoyant’s intuitive IT monitoring and management services,” said Kevin Donovan, Autotask Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Services. “We’re committed to ensuring that Autotask supports integrations with the broadest array of industry-leading tools so that our users can select and implement the solutions that best meet their clients’ needs.”

In addition to simplifying and automating workflow, the Autotask Servoyant integration is bi-directional. Asset information retrieved via Servoyant’s automated discovery is fully synchronized with Autotask configuration Items, including user defined field mappings. Service tickets are automatically created in Autotask from alerts generated from Servoyant’s flexible resolution profiles, or can be created manually, directly from Servoyant. Ticket status information from Autotask flows directly into Servoyant to ensure consistent and reliable workflow between alerts and tickets, and ticket data is instantly available in Servoyant’s reporting suite – including incident response and resolution time – to ensure superior user-monitoring practices and real-time analysis.

“Integration with leading providers of complementary products like Autotask is key to our strategy at Servoyant,” said Enrique Krajmalnik, Co-Founder and CEO of Servoyant. “The implementation is simple to use yet feature-rich. It provides users of the two platforms a consolidated workflow that results in business process efficiencies and better customer service.”

“We continue to look for the best technologies to help our franchisees run their business and support their customer’s Managed Services,” said Chip Reaves, CEO of Computer Troubleshooters USA, Inc. “The integration of Autotask and Servoyant is a great example of how we’re able to offer best practices. We can now provide Computer Troubleshooters a streamlined way to resolve customer issues before they become problematic, while maintaining the proper documentation of incident to ticket to resolution so we can continue to prove our value to the customers.”

About Servoyant
Servoyant provides easy-to-deploy, intuitive, cost-effective cloud-based tools for efficient monitoring and management of heterogeneous technology infrastructures and devices. In 1998, the team behind Servoyant began providing remote monitoring and management services to enterprises. As the business grew and higher demand for MSP services increased, the scope of Servoyant grew into a full monitoring, management, automation, and reporting platform. After successfully introducing Servoyant to other service providers, the team decided to commercially launch Servoyant in 2010.

About Autotask Corporation
Autotask Corporation provides the world's leading hosted IT business management software to streamline and optimize business processes for technology solution providers. The software integrates a broad range of critical business systems, including customer relationship management (CRM), service desk, tech scheduling, project management, billing and reporting, and provides real-time service delivery intelligence to help users understand the factors that drive their business and their profitability.

Autotask is accessible from virtually any computing or mobile device connected to the Internet and features a world-class API that seamlessly integrates with the other systems and tools that providers rely on to run their businesses.

For more information about Autotask Corporation and products, please visit http://www.autotask.com or call 518-720-3500 Ext. 1

Autotask® and VARStreet® are registered trademarks of Autotask Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Autotask Corporation Announces Major Global Expansion

Strong Rise in International Demand Drives Full Localization & Translation in Six Languages
 
EAST GREENBUSH, NY - September 20, 2011 - In response to rapidly increasing market demand, Autotask Corporation, the world’s leading provider of hosted IT business management software, today announced that it is significantly expanding global operations and translating its software into six languages; German, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese. The move follows recent announcements that the company has opened international sales and support offices in the UK and signed a distribution agreement to serve customers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
 
Autotask software is currently used by thousands of IT service providers, value-added resellers (VARs) and managed services providers (MSPs) in 54 countries. More than 25% of Autotask’s customers are located outside of the United States and Canada; a figure that continues to increase. The company anticipates fully-localized and translated versions of its software will be available in German and Mandarin Chinese by early 2012, with the remaining translated versions available by the end of Q1, 2012.

“Autotask already has a significant operation around the world and year-to-date sales outside North America have just reached triple-digit growth over this time last year,” said Mark Cattini, Autotask President and CEO. “Making a serious commitment to meet the demands of our global customers and prospects is a natural step in the growth of our business and a natural part of the evolution of any mature software-as-a-service [SaaS] company.”

“Our customers, IT services providers, work with more than one million businesses and tens of millions of end points around the globe to keep their technology infrastructure working optimally,” said Kevin Donovan, Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Service at Autotask. “As more and more of those SMB and enterprise businesses replace legacy software systems with outsourced cloud-based, SaaS solutions, the demand for an open IT business management platform like Autotask has grown steadily. We saw the trend in North America first, but it is increasing rapidly around the world.”

“The rapid growth we are experiencing now benefits all our users because it allows us to continue to invest heavily in our core product development and support, increasing the value and improving the overall experience for our customers,” Cattini added.

Autotask Corporation currently employs more than 200 full-time staff in East Greenbush, NY, USA, London, England, Beijing, China and Pune, India and operates datacenters in the United States and the United Kingdom.

About Autotask Corporation
Autotask Corporation provides the world's leading hosted IT business management software to streamline and optimize business processes for technology solution providers. The software integrates a broad range of critical business systems, including customer relationship management (CRM), service desk, tech scheduling, project management, billing and reporting, and provides real-time service delivery intelligence to help users understand the factors that drive their business and their profitability.

Autotask is accessible from virtually any computing or mobile device connected to the Internet and features a world-class API that seamlessly integrates with the other systems and tools that providers rely on to run their businesses.

For more information about Autotask Corporation and products, please visit http://www.autotask.com or call 518-720-3500 Ext. 1

Autotask® and VARStreet® are registered trademarks of Autotask Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

IT Industry Veteran Len DiCostanzo Named To Lead Autotask Community

Appointment Announced as 15-City Autotask Community On-Tour Kicks Off in Cincinnati
 
EAST GREENBUSH, NY - September 13, 2011 - Autotask Corporation, the world’s leading provider of hosted IT business management software, today announced that Senior Vice President of Business Development, Len DiCostanzo will assume leadership of the Autotask Community – an active user community which includes tens of thousands of Autotask partners, vendors and IT industry leaders. DiCostanzo, a widely recognized IT business pioneer and mentor, is a CRN Magazine Channel Chief and named to both the MSP Mentor 250 and SMB Nation’s SMB 150. The announcement was timed to coincide with the start of the company’s Community On Tour events, a 15-city series of one-day IT business-building and training seminars which begins today in Cincinnati, OH, and continues through December 8, 2011 in Dallas, TX.
 
“Len is a genuine leader in the IT channel with a vast array of real-world experience, and we are delighted to have him play a lead role in our user community,” said Mark Cattini, Autotask President and CEO. “Len’s deep commitment to the success of Autotask users and to the channel is well known and he is a tremendous asset to our company and to the Autotask Community.”

DiCostanzo joined Autotask as Senior Vice President in 2008, and has more than 25 years experience as a business technology solution provider, trainer and mentor, and one of the first providers in the industry to develop and transition to a service-delivery business model based on recurring revenue. For more than a decade, DiCostanzo developed and delivered curricula, training materials and other content to transfer his extensive industry business knowledge to solution providers and vendors in the IT channel, and has delivered seminars and workshops to thousands of service providers around the globe.

“I’m really very happy about leading the Autotask Community, but community isn’t about just one person,” DiCostanzo said. “To me, it’s all about our users and their success. There are dozens of Autotask employees and executives directly engaged with our customers through the Community every day, not to mention the thousands of Autotask users who post questions and answers to each other, share best practices and generally help each other grow their businesses.”

“The Autotask Community is a large part of the overall IT ecosystem, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to connect all of our partners – our customers and our vendors – to get better alignment between our customers’ business needs and the way all of our products work together,” DiCostanzo said.

More than 80% of Autotask users actively participate in the company’s Online Community – a forums-based module built inside of Autotask’s software and directly accessible from within the product itself. The Online Community features dozens of product- and business-oriented user forums, industry blogs, special interest groups, online help resources and allows Autotask users to weigh in on product features and functionality and to shape the company’s product roadmap.

“I am very excited to learn that Len DiCostanzo will be leading the Autotask Community effort,” said Vince Tinnirello, Autotask user and CEO of Anchor Network Solutions, Inc., of Colorado. [www.anchornetworksolutions.com] “Len is already very involved with customers and other members of the Community, so I believe it is a natural fit. If there’s anyone who knows how to establish personal relationships and listen to customer needs, it’s Len. I look forward to the initiatives he’ll bring forward and the involvement of other Autotask executives as well.”

Craig Tribuno, Vice President of Maine-based, Systems Engineering [www.syseng.com] added, “Len is clearly one of the foremost authorities on how to build a more profitable and more sustainable IT business in the channel. Both Len and Autotask fundamentally understand the opportunities that cloud-based services offer to service providers and I’m glad to have him bring that experience to the Autotask Community.”

Autotask’s Community On Tour event begins September 13, 2011 in Cincinnati, OH, and continue through December 8. The tour features events in 15 cities in the United States and Canada. Events are free to attend for value-added resellers (VARs), managed services providers (MSPs) and other IT solutions providers. For a complete agenda, cities, dates and registration information, please visit www.autotask.com/ontour.

About Autotask Corporation
Autotask Corporation provides the world's leading hosted IT business management software to streamline and optimize business processes for technology solution providers. The software integrates a broad range of critical business systems, including customer relationship management (CRM), service desk, tech scheduling, project management, billing and reporting, and provides real-time service delivery intelligence to help users understand the factors that drive their business and their profitability.

Autotask is accessible from virtually any computing or mobile device connected to the Internet and features a world-class API that seamlessly integrates with the other systems and tools that providers rely on to run their businesses.

For more information about Autotask Corporation and products, please visit http://www.autotask.com or call 518-720-3500 Ext. 1

Autotask® and VARStreet® are registered trademarks of Autotask Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Autotask to Launch First German-Language IT Business Management Platform

Signs Distribution Agreement with ACMEO Cloud Distribution GmbH to Meet Strong Demand

EAST GREENBUSH, NY - September 12, 2011 - In response to strong local market demand, Autotask Corporation, the world’s leading provider of hosted IT business management software, today announced that it will launch the first, fully-translated version of its software in German later this year. The company also announced that it has entered a distribution agreement with acmeo cloud-distribution GmbH & Co. KG, a leading distributor of software-as-a-service (SaaS), cloud-based solutions for IT service providers, to sell, service and support Autotask software in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
 
“Germany is the fourth largest economy in the world and one of the strongest markets for technology products and services in Europe. We are delighted to be able to localize Autotask to better serve our existing customers here and to partner with acmeo to grow and support the IT channel in Germany,” said Mark Cattini, Autotask president and CEO.

Autotask, which has active users in 53 countries around the world, cited a Forrester Research, Inc., report projecting Germany as the largest market in Europe for IT consulting services at an estimated €16B in 2011, and the second largest for IT outsourcing services valued at an additional €12B.1
Autotask software is specifically designed to automate and optimize business processes for IT service providers by integrating critical business systems in a single, cloud-based application and providing real-time reporting and service delivery intelligence. Users typically experience significant, measurable improvements in resource utilization, profitability and ROI within the first month after implementation.

“We are very happy that we have discovered Autotask. It is the perfect solution for optimising and expanding our business,” said Maximilian Pfister, General Manager of niteflite networxx, GmbH, in Feldafing, Germany. “It helped us a lot, keeping track of the time spent solving customers issues. In just one month we raised the amount of billable time by more than 20%. Autotask also brings more transparency for our clients because they can see in real-time what is happening with their service requests.”

acmeo cloud-distribution specializes in helping IT solutions providers create and deploy cloud-based managed services to support their end clients’ businesses, including remote monitoring and management of servers and desktops, online backup and disaster recovery, antivirus protection, email programs and other services. Unlike traditional services which are billed as delivered on an hourly basis, or by project type or size, managed services are typically billed at a flat monthly rate. This provides a predictable, recurring revenue stream for service providers, and a lower overall cost for end clients and their businesses.

“Autotask is a perfect complement to acmeo’s current product offerings because it provides a central business management platform for our customers and integrates easily with the cloud-based systems and tools they use to service their clients,” said Henning Meyer, managing director and CEO of acmeo. “Registrations for our first educational webinar in Germany with Autotask attracted more than 100 IT service providers, and there is a tremendous need for a German language version of Autotask available with local support.”

In Hanover for acmeo’s Autotask user meeting, Mark Banfield, Autotask Managing Director – International, said, “Working with acmeo to ramp up and support their operations has been very rewarding. Everyone in the acmeo organization is committed to ensuring our customers success, and the success of the IT channel in Germany, and we confident that our relationship will help them do just that.”

Those interested in learning more about acmeo and Autotask will find a list of upcoming webinars and seminars here: http://www.acmeo.eu/veranstaltungen.html

  1. Forrester Research, Inc.; European Information and Communications Technology Market 2011-2012; June 8, 2011
About acmeo cloud-distribution GmbH & Co. KG
acmeo cloud distribution GmbH & Co. KG is a 2007 started cloud-distribution team who specialises in enabling IT resellers to sell cloud-solutions and optimize their VAR business. We are the biggest GFI MAX distributor in Germany and the only distributor for Autotask in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We have profound knowledge in the introduction of service contracts and managed services offerings for IT resellers. We sell cloud based solutions for IT-Monitoring & -Management, Anti-Spam, Online-Backup, Anti-Virus, CRM, URL-Filtering and VoIP.

For more information visit http://www.acmeo.eu

About Autotask Corporation
Autotask Corporation provides the world's leading hosted IT business management software to streamline and optimize business processes for technology solution providers. The software integrates a broad range of critical business systems, including customer relationship management (CRM), service desk, tech scheduling, project management, billing and reporting, and provides real-time service delivery intelligence to help users understand the factors that drive their business and their profitability.

Autotask is accessible from virtually any computing or mobile device connected to the Internet and features a world-class API that seamlessly integrates with the other systems and tools that providers rely on to run their businesses.

For more information about Autotask Corporation and products, please visit http://www.autotask.com or call 518-720-3500 Ext. 1

Autotask® and VARStreet® are registered trademarks of Autotask Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Autotask Corporation Establishes UK Operations

London-based Operations to Service Increased Demand in UK and Europe

EAST GREENBUSH, NY - September 8, 2011 - Autotask Corporation, the world’s leading provider of hosted IT business management software, today announced the opening of its first European office in London, England. The UK office will act as the central point for Autotask’s European operations and meet strongly increasing demand for its products and services from IT service providers, value added resellers (VARs) and managed services providers (MSPs) across Europe.
 
The UK office is led by Mark Banfield, Autotask Managing Director – International, and staffed with engineering, support, implementation and sales personnel. Banfield has more than 10 years in the software industry, having started his career with MapInfo Corporation and holding a variety of management roles at Innopath Software, SmartTrust and Autodesk. Banfield, who has built and developed successful European and international businesses previously, spent several months planning and developing Autotask’s international operation to ensure the correct resources are in place to support the many thousands of Autotask users in UK, Europe and around the globe.

“The response to Autotask having a full-service team on the ground in the UK has been extremely positive,” said Banfield. “Not only does it allow us to better support current customers, it allows us to respond to market enquiries, engage interested prospects and have them up and much running more quickly.”

“Establishing Mark and his team in London is proving tremendously valuable for our customers and is a tremendous asset to our business,” said Mark Cattini, Autotask President and CEO. “More than 25% of Autotask users are located outside of North America, and that number continues to increase rapidly. Ensuring we have the proper resources in place to support the IT channel community in Europe is a logical step in the evolution of our business.”

Autotask software automates and optimizes the business processes of information technology solution providers. It integrates a broad range of critical business systems, including customer relationship management (CRM), service desk, tech scheduling, project management, billing and reporting, and provides real-time service delivery intelligence to help users understand the factors that affect their business and their profitability. Earlier this year, Autotask located its first datacenter outside of the US in London to better support its growing user base in the UK and Europe.

“We’ve been using Autotask since 2008,” said Lee Evans, Managing Director of Vital Network Solutions, a Harrogate, North Yorkshire-based IT consultancy and solutions provider. “Autotask locating offices in London signifies a deep commitment to the channel in UK and Europe, and it’s great to have local support who understands how business is done in the UK.”

Cattini and Banfield spoke from Synaxon UK’s [www.synaxon.co.uk] member conference this week in Crewe, Cheshire, England, where Cattini delivered the keynote address. In August, Autotask Corporation and Synaxon UK announced a strategic partnership to help IT service providers and resellers streamline and automate their businesses and drive higher levels of profitability.

“The whole ethos of Synaxon is about helping resellers to do business better, and the great value of Autotask is that it is designed to be open and adaptable to the way our members do business,” said Derek Jones, Managing Director of Synaxon UK. “We look forward to working with Mark and his team, and to helping resellers gain a higher level of efficiency, predictability and profitability from their businesses using Autotask.”

Autotask’s UK offices are located in London at The Brewery, 18 Petersham Rd, Richmond TW10 6UW, telephone +44 208 439 8450.

About Autotask Corporation
Autotask Corporation provides the world's leading hosted IT business management software to streamline and optimize business processes for technology solution providers. The software integrates a broad range of critical business systems, including customer relationship management (CRM), service desk, tech scheduling, project management, billing and reporting, and provides real-time service delivery intelligence to help users understand the factors that drive their business and their profitability.

Autotask is accessible from virtually any computing or mobile device connected to the Internet and features a world-class API that seamlessly integrates with the other systems and tools that providers rely on to run their businesses.

For more information about Autotask Corporation and products, please visit http://www.autotask.com or call 518-720-3500 Ext. 1

Autotask® and VARStreet® are registered trademarks of Autotask Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Build Up Your Revenue and Profitability, Not Your Resources and Infrastructure

The most successful technology providers employ a variety of solutions to meet and exceed their clients' needs - and to grow their revenues.

Among the available solutions, how do you create an IT business - one that's efficient, predictable and profitable - while protecting it from competitors and covering each piece of the client technology pie?
It's easier than you think!

Plugging a Managed Print offering into your IT business management software creates a unique and powerful platform you can use to become a total managed services provider for your clients!

Please join us Tuesday, September 27 at 2 PM US ET, when Gennifer Biggs, Editor at Business Solutions Magazine, moderates a panel including: Tim Brien of Oki Data Americas, Inc., Len DiCostanzo of Autotask, and James Laszko of Mythos Technology.

James will reveal how Oki Data's Total Managed Print™ was the turn-key solution he needed to expand his capabilities to include managing his clients' print fleets - all without having to add any internal infrastructure or staff!

Plus, since the managed print data flows directly into his Autotask system, James can access detailed reporting and analysis on the significant impact on his bottom line.

Don't miss this opportunity to listen in as this panel of experts explains the ins, outs, and real-world results of integrating managed print with a robust business management software platform.

Register now!

Live Demo: Autotask's New Integration with CentraStage RMM

To play successfully in the Managed Services arena, two things are essential: a world-class remote monitoring and management solution (RMM) and an open IT business management platform to automate and streamline everything.

Fresh from the presses, Autotask is proud to announce its newest integration with UK-based CentraStage!

Since 2006, CentraStage has offered MSPs full visibility and control of the devices they manage. And now, the information generated from CentraStage is instantly accessible in Autotask and available for detailed reporting and analysis via Autotask's robust reporting engine.

Please join us on Thursday, September 8 at 2 PM ET when CentraStage Co-Founder and CTO Ian van Reenen and Autotask Manager of Strategic Alliances Rhonda Hain unveil the details and benefits of the integration and walk you through a live demonstration of the products working hand-in-hand.

By the end of this webinar, you'll walk away knowing:
  • How to improve your services workflow
  • How to centrally monitor and manage services for your full client roster
  • How to reduce cost and increase profitability
Register now!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Major Autotask Release Extends the Power of its Open Platform

Delivers expanded accessibility, workflow automation and service intelligence
 
EAST GREENBUSH - August 30, 2011 - Autotask Corporation, the world’s leading provider of hosted IT business management software, today announced the latest features and functionality that will be available to users around the world later this week. The release includes significant enhancements to Autotask’s multi-browser platform, workflow automation engine, client portal usability, service-level agreements, reporting tools, quote and expenses API, and a new Daily Alerts feature to help optimize service delivery and improve customer retention.
 
Multi-Browser Support

The August release expands Autotask’s support of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari browsers for its Home, CRM, Service Desk, Projects, Contracts, Timesheets and Directory modules, ensuring users can access Autotask from virtually any device connected to the Internet.
“As we announced at Autotask Community Live in May, multi-browser support is key to our strategy of creating a robust IT business management platform that is open to the way our customers want to do business,” said Mark Cattini, Autotask CEO. “Open on the front end to the computers, mobile devices and browsers they use to access Autotask. Open on the backend to give users greater choice in integrating the tools, services and partners they use to deliver products and services to their clients.”

Workflow Automation

The workflow engine, which is central to Autotask and allows users to automate and optimize critical business processes, has been extended to the service desk and sales opportunities modules and includes even more granular triggers based on time and/or note type entries, more refined service level agreement targets, a broader range of conditional operators, and offers more flexible action, update and notification options.

Expanded API

Autotask’s application programming interface (API), which currently supports integrations with dozens of leading remote monitoring and management (RMM), backup and disaster recovery (BDR), email protection, CRM and other business applications, has been extended to enable deeper workflow integrations with a broader variety of quoting software and accounting packages.
“Improved automation, easier integrations and greater flexibility are exactly the things our customers and prospects ask for, and exactly what they need to be successful in a competitive technology marketplace,” said Kevin Donovan, senior vice president of global sales and services at Autotask. “This new release significantly increases our users’ ability to shape their businesses in a way that makes sense for their market, for their customers and for their bottom line.”

New! Daily Alerts

Autotask Daily Alerts is an entirely new feature that provides automated oversight of a user’s business and offers a level of service delivery intelligence that was previously unavailable. The Daily Alerts function proactively mines users’ system data and checks the status of a wide variety of business conditions – from pending contract expirations, to device discovery, to inactive resources and client accounts and more. When a suboptimal condition is detected, Daily Alerts automatically notifies users of potential problems and provides links and other information to help quickly resolve open issues.

Client Portal & Taskfire®

Both the Client Access Portal, which facilitates clear and easy two-way communication between IT service providers and their clients, and the Taskfire co-managed service desk for clients with significant internal IT resources, have been upgraded with advanced filtering and expanded ticket search capabilities, an improved user interface and significant improvements in speed and performance.

“The scope of this release is significant, and reflects our capacity and commitment to invest in the success of our users,” said Patrick Burns, Autotask’s Director of Product Management. “It strikes a strong balance between new product innovations and improving our existing platform, and builds a stronger product experience for everyone.”

The new features will be instantly available to users in North America on Tuesday, August 30 and in the rest of the world on Thursday, September 1. No updates or downloads are required. Customers who would like more information about these and other new features may access the August 2011 Product Release Notes and register for complimentary new-features webinars by logging into www.autotask.net. Non-customers are encouraged to call +1 518 720 3500 Ext. 1 or visit www.autotask.com/contact_us/request_demo.htm to request an online demonstration at their convenience.

About Autotask Corporation
Autotask Corporation provides the world's leading hosted IT business management software to streamline and optimize business processes for technology solution providers. The software integrates a broad range of critical business systems, including customer relationship management (CRM), service desk, tech scheduling, project management, billing and reporting, and provides real-time service delivery intelligence to help users understand the factors that drive their business and their profitability.

Autotask is accessible from virtually any computing or mobile device connected to the Internet and features a world-class API that seamlessly integrates with the other systems and tools that providers rely on to run their businesses.
For more information about Autotask Corporation and products, please visit http://www.autotask.com or call 518-720-3500 Ext. 1

Autotask® and VARStreet® are registered trademarks of Autotask Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

Monday, August 29, 2011

CompTIA Cloud Foundations Workshop & Certification: Module 2 - Marketing

Take advantage of the substantial business opportunities in delivering cloud solutions to customers!
 
Dave Sobel of Evolve Technologies will lead this second module of the Cloud Foundations Workshop, and broaden your understanding of the implications of cloud computing on your marketing strategy.
 
Len DiCostanzo of Autotask Corporation will also be on hand to share how IT business management software can be the central platform for managing your evolution to the cloud and delivering a whole new range of services more profitably.
 
Learn how to align your marketing goals, tactics and investments to be consistent with a new cloud services sakes model, plus:
  • Various marketing messages and approaches to cloud solutions
  • How to target new buyers and market to your installed base
  • Review marketing tactics and assess your business with a marketing readiness checklist
 
Attendees must be present for the duration of this webinar to receive educational credit for this module. After completing all modules of workshop, attendees will receive a certificate of completion.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

The Killer Sales Offer for IT Services: A Proven Way to Win New Business

What makes an offer so good and compelling that your prospect can’t say no to a meeting? And what kind of offer can you deliver that will have your new prospects and customers chomping at the bit to sign up for new services?

Please join us for an important marketing webinar just for IT service providers on Thursday, August 18 at 1 PM ET. During the webinar, you'll learnhow marketing offers work in general, and how to best leverage Network Assessments to get in the door and win new business.

Rich Akullian of Autotask will be joined by Autotask MVP Win Pham of PerformanceIT, who will share a new and exciting network assessment tool he developed that is fast and inexpensive for you, but impressive and super persuasive to your prospects and customers. Join us live for this event and find out:
  • Why your marketing offer is so important and how offers work
  • Whether or not to charge for an assessment
  • The New Network Assessment Tool – your secret new business weapon
  • How to turn your network assessment report into a sales presentation
  • Turning your Network Assessment from a lead gen tool into profitable service
By the end of this session, you will walk away with a scalable, repeatable and affordable process for marketing your IT, Managed Services or consulting practice and get a special offer reserved just for attending!

Register now!

Build Your Business Management Capabilities: Add PacketTrap 6.0 to Your Toolset

At CompTIA Breakaway, Autotask won the coveted 'Best Software' award - notably for providing an open and robust business management platform that integrates with the tools you use to deliver and manage your products and services - including remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools.
Autotask is proud to announce a powerful new integration - with Quest Software's PacketTrap MSP 6.0!

Please join us Wednesday, August 24 at 2 PM US ET, when Mike Byrne of Quest Software and Steve Noel of Autotask reveal the features and benefits of this 360-degree monitoring and management program. Alexander Petras of MyManagedTech will walk through how he uses the two solutions together to drive his MSP business.
In this webinar, you'll learn:
  • Why managed services are critical to building your business
  • How PacketTrap 6.0 can help you maximize your managed services practice
  • How Autotask helps you automate, streamline, and optimize every aspect of your solutions processes
  • How one successful MSP is using both tools to drive his business forward
Register now!

9 Essential Skills Every MSP Needs to Close More Deals

Why do some VARs and MSPs outsell the industry average many times over? What do they do that lets them enjoy greater business stability, bigger profits, and better lifestyles than their competitors?
 
On Tuesday, August 30 at 1 PM US ET, join Kutenda CEO Mike Cooch and Autotask Technical Product Manager Steve Noel and learn what only a small number of highly successful businesses understand:
  • The #1 lesson about sales that all IT solution providers must learn
  • The 3 skills that top salespeople always focus on and mediocre salespeople rarely do
  • Why the Natural Born Seller is a myth, and what you can do if you think "I'm just not a salesperson"
  • The 4 techniques to use when clients pressure you to lower your fees
  • The keys to developing a predictable flow of clients
  • How to know when the time is right to close the deal and how to do it right
  • The top 3 misconceptions preventing most VARs and MSPs from reaching the tops of their sales game
 Register now so you don't miss this webinar, packed with informative, actionable content!
 
Plus, get a free report on how buyers evaluate and decide on managed services providers when you register for this webinar!
 
Mike secured access to the groundbreaking report How Clients Buy from sales performance improvement company RAIN Group. Register for the webinar and Mike will send you an abbreviated version explaining how the report data applies specifically to winning more managed services deals!

How to Succeed with Managed Services: Part 5 - Marketing Managed Services

Autotask Academy and MSP University have teamed up to create an 8-part webinar series to help you build and improve your Managed Services practice and your success!

Each month, Autotask's Len DiCostanzo and Steve Noel and MSPU's Erick Simpson will cover a topic central to developing your Managed Services practice and adding recurring revenue to your bottom line.

Part 5 - Marketing Managed Services

This training session on Thursday, September 22 at 1 PM ET will cover how to create and correctly use direct and passive marketing techniques such as case studies, white papers, newsletters, news releases, email and direct mail to successfully attract a target market.
By the end of this webinar, you'll know:
  • How search engine optimization (SEO) can increase your website's search engine rankings
  • How to save hundreds of dollars from your marketing budget by using a tremendously cost-effective method to print, address, post, and mail postcards and direct-mail pieces for a campaign of any size
Register now!

BYOD and BYOA – The Consumerization of Business IT is Happening. Now.

By: Jay McBain, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Community
If you haven’t been following the debate on BYOD – Bring Your Own Device – you soon will. The debate was inspired by the proliferation of $300 Netbooks 4 years ago and Managed Service Providers were successful, for the most part, in keeping these consumer devices off the corporate network due to lack of security, manageability as well as raw horsepower. 

Fast forward 4 years and the IT world is changing significantly. Connectivity is moving towards ubiquity, the cloud business model is real and the Tablet was released in 2009 that forever changed the hardware landscape.  

The Tablet market is growing at a dizzying pace. Gartner is calling for 294 Million units worldwide within 4 years, while Forrester is expecting 82 Million of them in the US alone by 2015. Apple commands almost 90% share, but over 125 other Tablets have come to market by mid-2011. 

Some of the early limitations of Tablets, like Netbooks before them, included lack of security, manageability and compatibility. Newer devices have improved and now offer PKI authentication certificates, biometrics and remote wipe capabilities making them acceptable to several IT departments. One lesser known limitation that still exists is if the device is subject to a legal hold – the company is in a legal dispute of some kind - the end user will lose the device for an extended time. 

Smaller companies, for the most part, do not have these policies and were the first to adopt BYOD. The proliferation into industries such as healthcare has taken less than a year to happen. 

The story isn’t just about managing secondary and tertiary devices from the consumer market. Industry experts as well as futurists are calling for more devices, perhaps dozens per individual . 

What is BYOA? 
The consumerization of IT isn’t just about hardware – we are at the beginning of another interesting trend: BYOA – Bring Your Own App. Some have predicted that the explosion of over 1 Million apps may spell the end of the traditional desktop internet. While that is likely premature, apps could provide some real advantages in the business world including cutting down on training time, allowing employees to feel more invested, and replacing costly software licensing with cheaper apps.

However, there are several issues with BYOA including:

- Compliance and regulations in several industries blocking adoption

- Security of the data on public clouds and intermixed with consumer data

- Portability of the output

- Information fragmentation

We are already seeing examples of the where corporate communication has been fragmented into public clouds including personal email, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and a growing number of other social media tools. As other app categories get more popular, such as human resources, expense reporting and CRM, the Channel will be challenged with supporting this rapidly growing ecosystem. 

Managed Service Providers will be crucial in managing this complexity of dozens of devices and perhaps hundreds of apps per person. New services and practices will evolve that focus on vendor management, security, compliance, data organization and protection in this increasingly fragmented world. New revenue models will also evolve including micropayments by device and app – in many cases pennies per month.

To be effective in managing this potential chaos and, more importantly, profiting from it, Managed Service Providers will need to have built a solid business foundation with predictable and repeatable business workflows. The adoption of a PSA (Professional Service Automation) and RMM (Remote Monitoring and Management) toolset that can manage this ecosystem will be crucial in being successful.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Autotask Takes the Show on the Road – 15-city “Community On Tour” Launches this September!

By: Jay McBain, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Community

One of the most common requests by the 700 attendees at Autotask Community Live! 2011 was to be able to engage Autotask more than once a year. Several people commented that they wished their entire staff was in Miami to learn more about the solution and interact with peers in the industry.

The feedback received in our post-event survey says it all:

  • 97% plan to return to Autotask Community Live! 2012
  • 92% will action a new feature in Autotask
  • 85% willing to be a reference in the new Referral program (earning up to $1000 uncapped!)
  • 90% interested in local User Groups

In the past, Autotask has embarked on several local events including sales road shows, product “jam sessions”, user groups and regional boot camps. We are now consolidating all four into a 15-city tour that includes business building keynotes, vendor integrations, customer best practices, product updates and roadmaps, user groups, as well as boot camps in four cities across the US.

The 15 cities on stage 1 of the tour are:

  • Cincinnati – Sept 13
  • *Indianapolis – Sept 20
  • Minneapolis – Sept 22
  • *NY/NJ – Oct 4
  • Tampa – Oct 6
  • Toronto – Oct 12
  • Washington, DC – Oct 13
  • Atlanta – Oct 18
  • Boston – Oct 20
  • Seattle – Nov 8
  • San Francisco – Nov 10
  • *LA/Orange County – Nov 15
  • Phoenix – Nov 17
  • Denver – Dec 6
  • *Dallas – Dec 8

*Boot Camp locations (day before above dates)

We are looking to engage local Autotask users as well as those in the market for IT Business software (PSA – Professional Services Automation) in these regions. The agenda will be action packed and will be focused on sharing best practices from local Autotask MVPs, technical specialists, as well as User Group leaders.
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Register now!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

How to Succeed with Managed Services: Part 4 - Managed Services Agreements


Autotask Academy and MSP University have teamed up to create an 8-part webinar series to help you build and improve your Managed Services practice and your success!



Each month, Autotask's Len DiCostanzo and Steve Noel and MSPU's Erick Simpson will cover a topic central to developing your Managed Services practice and adding recurring revenue to your bottom line.

Part 4 - Managed Services Agreements

This training session on Thursday, August 11 at 1 PM ET will cover the creation of a Managed Services Agreement, including specifics on what to include and what to exclude, the term of the Agreement, and developing a prioritization-response-resolution process for effective Service Level Agreement (SLA) management.

In this webinar, you'll learn valuable information tailored to protect you and your clients, including:
  • How to increase the value of your MSP organization through properly crafted Managed Service Agreements
  • The importance of having a legal team review all the documents and agreements governing your Managed Services practice
Register now!

CompTIA Cloud Foundations Workshop & Certification - Module 1 - Executive Overview

At Autotask Community Live, CompTIA debuted its Cloud Foundations Workshop and Certification Program. It was so well received that we've teamed up with CompTIA to bring you the first of the five modules in a convenient, two-part webinar format.

Take advantage of the substantial business opportunities in delivering cloud solutions to customers!

Dave Sobel of Evolve Technologies will lead the first module of the Cloud Foundations Workshop, with a summary of the program and how you can use it to transform your business by leveraging cloud technologies.

Len DiCostanzo of Autotask Corporation will also be on hand to share how IT business management software can be the central platform for managing your evolution to the cloud and delivering a whole new range of services more profitably.

You will walk away with high-level findings including:
  • Market opportunities
  • Glossary of terms
  • Why customers want the cloud
  • Key aspects to transforming a traditional solution provider business
  • Potential business challenges and how to overcome them
At the end of Part 2 on August 10, all attendees will receive CompTIA's 10 Week Guide to Building (or Expanding) a Successful Cloud Solutions Practice.


Attendees must be present for the duration of both parts 1 and 2 to receive the educational credit for this module. After completing all modules of workshop, attendees will receive a certificate of completion. Watch your inbox for opportunities to attend future modules.

NOC, NOC. Who's there? More profits and scalability!

Are you looking to drive growth in your business, but feel hesitant to invest in the necessary resources to get going? Perhaps the global economic outlook is holding you back from taking the risk to reach for success...

Instant scalability - and higher profits - don't have to require you to beef up your staffing levels so you can take on more clients. Instead, outsource your helpdesk and Network Operations Center (NOC) so you can assign your techs and resources to more strategic, more profitable activities.

You're invited to join us Wednesday, August 3 at 1 PM US ET, when Dan Goldstein of GMS Live Expert and Steve Noel of Autotask explain how an outsourced NOC uses IT business management software to support MSPs and other IT solution providers.

Learn how GMS Live Expert uses Autotask to:

  • prioritize and track service tickets
  • outsource tickets back to partners for escalation
  • report on KPIs and SLAs
  • help you squeeze additional profit from your existing customer base!
Register now!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Insider's Secret to Boosting Revenue & Profitability: Surveys & Benchmarking

Most service providers believe they’re doing a good job for their clients… until the clients stop doing business with them.

If you’ve ever been blind-sided by a long-term customer leaving you for a competitor, or had a promising new account mysteriously drift away after just one or two engagements, you can't miss this webinar on how implementing a simple survey program can help you prevent surprises and keep your business growing!

Please join us on Wednesday, July 20 at 11 AM US ET when Len DiCostanzo of Autotask Corporation will show you how to use client survey and benchmarking tools to successfully attract new business and secure your current clients for life.

In this free, one-hour webinar, you'll learn:
  • 10 indisputable benefits of using surveys
  • The real ROI of a client survey program and proven tips to design it
  • Best practices for survey question development
  • The importance of monitoring results in real time and comparing them against IT industry benchmarks
  • Key features you must look for in a survey tool to automate and optimize the process
Real-time feedback from customers is more than just ‘nice to have’. It gives you the solid business intelligence you need to grow your business, and it’s a critical component of ITIL’s continual service improvement methodology. Best of all, it doesn’t cost and arm and a leg and it isn’t hard to do – if you have the right tools.

Register now!