The 2019 ASCII SMB IT Success Summit gathered MSPs, IT solution providers, and other industry experts in the New York-New Jersey metro area this week, for the eighth of nine business-building events planned for this year.
Jerry Koutavas, president of The ASCII Group, opened the event on Wednesday, September 25, with a presentation on “Understanding What High Growth MSPs are Doing to Close Business.”
Sessions during the first day covered topics including the dark web, marketing, cybersecurity, Azure solutions, and more. In the peer business session, Leo Bletnitsky, president of LBA Networking, talked about the do’s and don’ts of mergers and acquisitions. The day concluded with a member meeting followed by a networking reception in the evening.
On Thursday, Rayanne Buchianico, owner of ABC Solutions, an accounting, tax, and business systems consulting firm in Clearwater, Fla., kicked off the day with a presentation on “Key Financial Red Flags Most MSPs Miss.”
Angel Rojas, CEO of DataCorps Technology Solutions, talked with the audience about the home services market, including HVAC, plumbing, and electrical.
Also throughout the day, sessions covered topics such as cybersecurity, managed security services, managed networking, SD-WAN, telephony, and email security.
Keynote speaker and author Adam Steltzner, recognized as one of NASA’s leading—and most unique—innovators, talked about “The Right Kind of Crazy: A True Story of Teamwork, Leadership and High Stakes Innovation.”
The event ended with voting and a closing awards ceremony. The winners were:
Day 1:
- Best Education – ID Agent
- Best Partner Incentives – Solutions Granted
- Best Overall Presentation – Auvik
Day 2:
- Best Rapid Pitch – MSP360
- Best Keynote – Pax8
- Most Innovative Solution – Comodo Cybersecurity
- Best Market Opportunity – ConnectMeVoice
- Best Partner Support – Datto
- Best Channel Program – Pax8
- Best Revenue Generator – Datto
- Top Distributor – Pax8
- Best Partner Involvement: Datto, ID Agent, and Pax8
- Best of Show: Datto
The final ASCII SMB IT Success Summit for the year will be held in Boston on October 24 and 25.
In 2020, the IT Success Summits will take place in the following locations:
- Long Beach, Calif. – February 26-27
- Houston – March 25-26
- Washington, D.C. – April 22-23
- Chicago – May 27-28
- Cincinnati – June 24-25
- Toronto – July 29-30
- Atlantic City, N.J. – August 26-27
- Boston – September 24-25
- Orlando, Fla. – October 21-22
Image: Courtesy The ASCII Group