LogicNow opened the fifth annual MAXfocus U.S. user conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Washington, D.C., which runs through September 11. The three-day MAX 2015 conference is focusing on growth and innovation, providing attendees with a variety of opportunities to learn and discuss how MSPs can continue to grow through new offerings and adapt to new market conditions.
LogicNow’s community of 12,000 MSPs and IT service providers are invited to join the event, which is offering business and technical sessions, 28 breakouts, networking opportunities, and social activities.†Attendees will learn more about MAX’s strategy, plus the vision for the future and the product roadmap.
Dave Sobel, director of community for MAXfocus, opened and welcomed attendees, reminding them that they are part of the largest MSP community in the world, with representation from more than 100 countries. “This room represents the most powerful force in the industry,” he said. He also stressed to attendees that “if there is a problem in your business, the answer is in this room. The partners and MAX team represent a vast knowledge base. Take advantage of it. You learning from one another is the big advantage of this community.”
Sobel said “velocity” is a theme, and the definition of that is speed plus direction. He added that with malware on the increase and mobile security a huge issue and opportunity, bundled security will be a key add-on to managed services offerings.
Dr. Alistair Forbes, general manager at LogicNow, gave the MAX keynote. He talked about the evolution of MAXfocus, and that he and the staff have “done a lot of listening” to ensure products and services were improved to make partners successful. He said partners were loud and clear about their desire for the core products to be better and faster. He also stressed that user experience is very important, and a new team monitors this to ensure all is going well.
He told attendees that security is a big focus with the company’s own products plus that of the end users of MAXfocus products. He sees managed security as a big opportunity for partners.
In addition, the company has spent a lot of effort on “functionality under the hood” of its products. Among these, Forbes cited 15 releases in 2015 of the MAX RemoteManagement product and MAX Mail integration, and more, as well as enhancements to MAX Mail and MAX Backup. He gave a nod to the 200 partners around the world in the focus group who contribute product ideas and feedback.
Forbes brought out staff data scientist Dana Bullister to announce the company’s new rollout of “LogicCards.” LogicCards provides dynamic notifications for the LogicNow platform and are the latest addition to the Max RM tool set, bringing the power of data driven intelligence to partners’ fingertips. Fueled by machine learning, near-real-time analytics, and Big Data mining, LogicCards leverages data from across millions of devices to deliver useful, personalized, and timely insights.
Bullister was followed by Ryan Morris of Morris Management Partners Inc., who gave a keynote on “Updating Your Managed Services Business to Extend Your Value & Improve Profit Performance.”
Breakout sessions in the afternoon include topics such as managed online backup, marketing, trends in managed services, and more, plus MAXfocus certification.
Day Two opens with the keynote “Why and How MSPs with Top Growth and Profit Focus on Quality and Trust Above All,” delivered by Paul Dippell, Service Leadership Inc. That will be followed by Mike Kronenberg, MAXfocus chief technology officer, who will present the MAXfocus roadmap.
In the afternoon there will be a selection of secret track round table discussions hosted by Paul Dippell and Ryan Morris, by invite only, and breakout sessions. Topics include security, QuickBooks for IT providers, pricing strategies, branding, building a sales team, and more.
Finally, Day Three opens with Lightning Talks, quick-fire, 10-minute presentations that will cover a wide range of topics by a number of different speakers. Breakout session topics include rights management, information security policy, agile service delivery, and more.
Sobel and Forbes will provide the MAX closing keynote.
