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!