The ASCII Edge MSP event series hit Georgia this week, hosting managed service and IT solution providers at the Westin Buckhead Atlanta hotel on March 22-23. It’s the second stop on The ASCII Group’s 2023 two-day, multicity conference tour. ASCII Edge is an evolution of the company’s flagship conferences, formerly called ASCII Success Summits, and includes more than 20 strategy sessions covering operations, technical, leadership, marketing, and sales topics.
Jessie Devine, vice president of channel development for ASCII, welcomed attendees on day one, which included sessions on security, organizational maturity, marketing, cloud, hiring and retention, sales, and more. The day also featured two peer sessions: Ken Wong, a security expert and founder and CEO of DragonTek International, provided insights on today’s cybersecurity standards from a hacker’s perspective and key areas MSPs need to focus on to better protect their operations; and Brian Johnson, CEO of AVC Technology, covered the fundamental building blocks MSPs need to achieve repeatable growth year over year.
Day two opened with an early bird session on the dark web, followed by a formal welcome from Jerry Koutavas, ASCII Group president.
Keynote speaker Brittany Hodak kicked off the day with a discussion on turning customers into lifelong partners, sharing the proprietary five-step SUPER Fan System she developed running successful campaigns and products for globally known brands.
In addition to sessions on sales, automation, security, and the state of MSPs, a panel of executives from Axcient, OpenText, and Zyxel discussed security issues.
The peer session on solving talent and hiring challenges at 25% the salaries your competitors are paying was delivered by David Stinner, founder and CEO of US itek.
Wrapping up the day was keynoter Blake Lemoine, an ex-Google engineer who saw first-hand the cutting edge of artificial intelligence and where it will lead. Lemoine separated fact from fiction about AI, highlighting advances and how they will disrupt industries, and examining how MSPs can leverage these technologies to grow their businesses.
In addition, attendees voted to award the following:
- Best Keynote Day 1 – Solutions Granted
- Best Keynote Day 2 – Quickpass
- Best Market Opportunity Day 1 – Galactic Advisors
- Best Market Opportunity Day 2 – Security Studio
- Best Education Day 1 – Huntress
- Best Education Day 2 – ThreatLocker
- Best Presentation Day 1 – Solutions Granted
- Best Presentation Day 2 – FlexPoint
- Best Partner Incentives – Pax8
- Best Partner Support – Lifecycle Insights
- Best Revenue Generator – Galactic Advisors
- Best Channel Program – Galactic Advisors
- Most Innovative Solution – Pia
- Best Newcomer – AlertOps
- Best Featured Educational Session – Ken Wong
- Best in Show – Solutions Granted
- Best Partner Involvement – Pax8, Zorus, Zyxel
The ASCII Group is a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, MSSPs, and solution providers. Next up on the ASCII Edge tour is Dallas on April 19-20. For more info go here.
