Concluding its 2017 IT SMB Success Summit tour, the ASCII Group hosted IT solution providers and vendors in Washington, D.C., on October 25 and 26, and also announced the winners of the annual ASCII Cup, plus the Top 10 Vendors and Top Distributor.
The awards are presented each fall to technology companies that have showcased channel goodwill and a commitment to helping ASCII members grow their businesses. Winners are voted upon by ASCII members at regional events, and the Cup and other awards are presented on the last day of the Success Summit tour.
The ASCII Group events bring together over 150 IT solution providers and dozens of vendors in a two-day format that includes extensive networking, education, and training.
The pre-day event on Wednesday, October 25, started with a networking lunch and badge pickup, followed by presentations on security as a service, cybersecurity, marketing, advantages of a unified business management platform, transitioning from MSP to MSSP, and more.
The day concluded with an ASCII member meeting and welcome reception.
On the second day of the summit, Jerry Koutavas, president of The ASCII Group, kicked off the event with a presentation on the ASCII roadmap.
Keynote speakers included Frank DeBenedetto, president and chief technology advisor of Two River Technology Group, who presented “Closing MSP Deals Through Emotional Based Selling”; and George Sierchio, vice president, Cogent Growth Partners LLC, and an entrepreneurial veteran, who spoke about “What You Need, What They Want – Understanding What Metrics Matter Most When Buying or Selling an IT Practice.”
The featured keynote speaker with Q&A was Frank Abagnale, one of the world’s most respected authorities on forgery, embezzlement, and secure documents, and author of the best-selling book Catch Me If You Can. Abagnale was also the subject of a film of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. Abagnale has now been associated with the FBI for over four decades.†
In addition, attendees heard vendor presentations on topics including: †the modern MSP, distribution in the cloud age, building a sales and marketing machine, revolutioning data storage, rapid pitches, taking MSPs from good to great, and more.
The day ended with a closing award ceremony and giveaways.
The award winners for the D.C. event are as follows:
- Best Education – Solutions Granted
- Best Technical Demo – Autotask
- Best IT Workshop – Solutions Granted
- Best Rapid Pitch – CentreStack
- Best Keynote Presentation – Mailprotector
- Best Partner Incentives – Pax8
- Best Market Opportunity – Comodo
- Best Productivity Solution – IT Glue
- Best Revenue Generator – Greenlink Networks
- Best Channel Programs – Datto
- Best Partner Involvement – Pax8, Datto, Duo Security
- Top Distributor – Pax8
- Best of Show – Datto
The ASCII Cup award winners are as follows:
- The 2017 ASCII Cup Vendor of the Year†- Datto
- Top Vendor #2 – Pax8
- Top Vendor #3 – Cytracom
- Top Vendor #4 – IT Glue
- Top Vendor #5 – RapidFire Tools
- Top Vendor #6 – Vertical Axion
- Top Vendor #7 – Carvir
- Top Vendor #8 – Mailprotector
- Top Vendor #9 – ChannelOnline
- Top Vendor #10 – Solutions Granted
- Distributor of the Year†- Pax8
“The ASCII Group and its community would like to congratulate Datto on winning the 2017 ASCII Cup.† We would also like to recognize the Top 10 Vendors and the Distributor of the Year, and thank all of the companies that were featured at our Success Summits this year, for remaining committed to the channel and delivering value to our members,” said Koutavas in a statement.
The ASCII Group IT community is made up of a supporting network of 2,000+ MSP/VARs worldwide. ASCII provides a portfolio of IT business-building services that range from turnkey marketing campaigns to a highly utilized peer-to-peer business referral and lead network.
The 2018 IT SMB Success Summit Series kicks off February 21-22 in Orange County, Calif.
In addition to best-practice addresses from ASCII members and thought leaders, the special guest for 2018 is Theresa Payton, former White House CIO and star of the CBS TV Series Hunted. Theresa was the first female to serve as White House chief information officer, and named No. 4 on IFSEC Global’s list of the world’s Top 50 cybersecurity influencers in 2017.
Photo by Joshua D. Liberman
