Recent News & Press Coverage

ASCII CEO Alan Weinberger was invited to speak at the Berkman Center for Internet &Society at Harvard University.  Alan’s goal was to educate the public on the real value of the Solution Provider.  As a true advocate for this Group, Alan relayed the importance of the role of the “Trusted IT Advisor” and how the formation of The ASCII Group played a crucial role in the industry.

Click here to watch his presentation, “The North American Information Technology Marketplace: Three Decades of IT Channel Evolution and the Continued Importance of Small IT Companies”.  http://bit.ly/1SPRcLp

The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent MSPs, VARs and solution providers, is pleased to announce the appointment of Shannon Mayer as Vice President of Channel Development.  In this role, Shannon is responsible for developing key alliances while creating new channel strategies for our vendor partner program.

Shannon is well-known in the channel, and prior to joining The ASCII Group, she was Senior Marketing Programs Manager at Continuum Managed Services.  She has also served as Channel Engagement Manager at LogMeIn and Director of Marketing and Channel Relations at Datto.

“We are delighted to have Shannon join our team, and her experience and commitment within the channel will bring great benefits to both our members and partners,” said Jerry Koutavas, President, The ASCII Group.

“ASCII has a long history of providing programs and services that help the IT solution provider community grow and improve their businesses,” said Mayer.  “They do incredible work for our industry and I am excited and honored to become a member of their amazing team and look forward to continuing to help the channel community thrive.”

The ASCII Group has experienced significant growth in 2016 including additional staff and an expansion of the IT SMB Success Summit Series into Canada.

For additional information about The ASCII Group visit www.ascii.com. Follow The ASCII Group on Twitter @asciigroup.

About The ASCII Group, Inc:

The ASCII Group is a vibrant reseller community of independent MSPs, VARs, and other solution providers.  Formed in 1984,ASCII has more than 70 programs that provide turnkey cost-cutting strategies, innovative business building programs, and extensive peer interaction. ASCII members enjoy benefits such as marketing support; educational information; group purchasing power; increased leverage in the marketplace; and multiple networking opportunities. These programs enable ASCII members to increase revenue, lower operating costs, and grow service opportunities.

Bethesda, Maryland– March 30, 2016 — The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent MSPs, VARs and solution providers, is pleased to announce plans for expansion of its IT SMB Success Summit Series to Canada.  Making their debut in 2000, the Success Summits have become the premier event for IT solution providers due to the model that The ASCII Group has successfully built their events around: Education; collaboration; networking; and engagement. A Toronto Success Summit will take place on Thursday, September 22,2016.

The ASCII Group has served North American IT providers since 1984, but this is the first time that the Event Series has been brought north of the border. Serving eight different markets across the US, Summit attendees have been privy to hearing insight from fellow community members who are successfully growing their IT businesses. The Toronto event will include Canadian speakers and applicable content.

“The inclusion of a Toronto show in our Summit Series is an important step as we continue to foster and grow our membership across Canada,” said Alan Weinberger, CEO, The ASCII Group.

“By expanding our Series, we are in a better position to address the needs of the Canadian market and our members, both directly and in collaboration with our Channel Partners,” added Donna Bogers, President of ASCII Canada.

The upcoming one day Toronto Summit will include education, innovative industry presentations, a cutting-edge vendor solutions pavilion, and an exclusive ASCII member meeting. The Summit Series is designed for qualified industry IT professionals and Managed Service Providers, and is targeted towards those who are looking to increase revenue and enhance their current business model. ASCII members receive free admission to the event.

For more information on the Toronto IT SMB Success Summit, including a complete agenda and registration, please visit www.asciievents.com.

About The ASCII Group, Inc:

The ASCII Group is a vibrant reseller community of independent MSPs, VARs, and other solution providers.  Formed in 1984, ASCII has more than 70 programs that provide turnkey cost-cutting strategies, innovative business building programs, and extensive peer interaction.  ASCII members enjoy benefits such as marketing support; educational information; group purchasing power; increased leverage in the marketplace; and multiple networking opportunities. These programs enable ASCII members to increase revenue, lower operating costs, and grow service opportunities. 

Learn more at www.ascii.com or by calling 800-394-2724.

Press Contact

Alysia Vetter

Director of Marketing& Communications

Tel: 800-394-2724 x 131

Email: alysia@ascii.com

Web:  https://www.ascii.com/

ASCII is pleased to announce Cloudberry Labs is supporting the ASCII Community with unique incentives in offering their service to ASCII Community at large. Cloudberry Labs provides a backup and disaster recovery solution designed for Managed Service Providers. CloudBerry allows flexibility to work with a variety of cloud storage services including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Google Drive, Openstack and a number of others while providing full rebranding capabilities for the MSP.  

Recognized by CRN as one of The 20 Coolest Cloud Storage Vendors of 2016, CloudBerry is poised to help IT Providers better manage cloud based storage services and the ASCII Community will be a part of that.

“As the comfort level of cloud based solutions increases in the market, our partner community needs to have the tools and relationships in place to act accordingly. This relationship provides another means for ASCII members to improve client satisfaction, and ultimately, retention,” stated Jerry Koutavas, President of The ASCII Group.

Bethesda, Maryland – February 24, 2016 — The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent MSPs, VARs and solution providers, is pleased to announce the ‘Best of Show’ award winners from its 2016 IT SMB Success Summit in Austin, Texas.  The awards are voted on by the attending solution providers, and honor the industry sponsors in multiple Best of Show categories.  

“The ASCII Group continues to showcase best of breed technology for the SMB marketplace,” said Jerry Koutavas, President of The ASCII Group.  “With a commitment to quality products and sustained support for the channel, these companies enable our members to build revenue while supporting the needs of their clients.”

Pre-Day Summit

Best Education: ConnectWise

Best Technical Demo: Sophos

Best IT Workshop:  ConnectWise

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Main Day Summit

Best Rapid Pitch:  Vertiscale

Best Keynote Presentation:  Datto

Best Creativity & Innovation: IT Glue

Best Partner Incentives: Cytracom

Best Market Opportunity: StorageCraft

Best Security Solution: Bitdefender

Best Security Solution Top Contender: Passportal

Best Productivity Solution: IT Glue

Best Productivity Solution Top Contender: ConnectWise

Best Storage Solution: Data Deposit Box

Best Cloud Solution Top Contender: ConnectWise

Best Storage Solution: Data Deposit Box

Best Cloud Solution Top Contender: Mailprotector

Best Revenue Generator: Cytracom

Best Revenue Generator Top Contender: ConnectWise

Best Channel Program: Cytracom

Best Channel Program Top Contender: Datto

Top Distribution: Pax8

Best Partner Involvement: Datto, QuoteWerks & StorageCraft

Best of Show: IT Glue

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For 32 years, The ASCII Group has leveraged the power of community to benefit its members.  The Austin Success Summit was the first stop on an eight city conference tour drawing solution providers, leading technology vendors and industry experts.  Online registration is open for the seven remaining 2016 ASCII IT SMB Success Summits at www.asciievents.com. 

About The ASCII Group, Inc:

The ASCII Group is a vibrant reseller community of independent MSPs, VARs, and other solution providers.  Formed in 1984, ASCII has more than 70 programs that provide turnkey cost-cutting strategies, innovative business building programs, and extensive peer interaction.  ASCII members enjoy benefits such as marketing support; educational information; group purchasing power; increased leverage in the marketplace; and multiple networking opportunities. These programs enable ASCII members to increase revenue, lower operating costs, and grow service opportunities. 

ASCII is pleased to announce a partnership with KnowledgeWave, providing a b2b solution for end-user software training. KnowledgeWave offers an online training platform with blended learning opportunities including videos, webinars, and online classes. KnowledgeWave focuses on popular business software such as Microsoft Office, Google apps and the Adobe suite.

“Especially with the move to the cloud, software is updated often and we see end users all the time who need more software training,” said Eric Sokolowski, CEO of KnowledgeWave.

With a SaaS training model, your clients can provide always-on training options to their employees. And with the ASCII member discount, you can bring online training to the table as part of your services mix at a price that can’t be beat.

“Our partner community is always looking for differentiators. This relationship provides another tool in the toolkit to improve client satisfaction, and ultimately, retention,” stated Jerry Koutavas, President of The ASCII Group.

Are you a managed service provider or IT firm that’s ever struggled using ConnectWise or another PSA? Ever have business issues with billing, accounts receivables, or reconciling transactions in QuickBooks? 

Want to hear from an authority, on how your MSP can solve these perpetual problems? 

Join us as we talk about these things and more, with the ASCII group, and the team from ConnectBooster. Our presenter will be Rebecca Simons, the newly minted Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Strategic Growth for ConnectBooster. Do not miss out!

Join us Thursday, Feb 18 at 2 PM EST

Register here.

Focused Partnerships and Education on Helping Managed Service Providers Grow

With hundreds of events delivered over the years and thousands of connections made between Managed Service Providers and key industry leaders, the ASCII Success Summits 2016 are taking success to the next level. In eight different markets across the US, attendees will hear directly from fellow IT community members that are successfully driving managed services revenue in security and key vertical markets.

The Success Summits made their debut in 2000, and have become the premier event for IT solution providers because of the model that The ASCII Group has successfully built their events around. Attendees have the opportunity to learn, hear innovative industry presentations, tour a cutting-edge vendor solutions pavilion, attend an exclusive member meeting, and most importantly network with their peers.

A major highlight for the 2016 series is a rotating group of special guest speakers.  First, ASCII has secured Steely Dan founder and former Doobie Brother Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, who is a prominent speaker at security conferences around the world and will speak at several Success Summits. Jeff’s life story is beyond interesting, remember when Elvis asked Nixon if he could be in the DEA? A rock musician with high-level security clearance – ridiculous. Unless, of course, you are able to outthink our nation’s enemies, with steely resolve. Only one such musician has the confidence and talent to step onto this world stage – Jeff Baxter. A consultant to the Department of Defense with a high-level security clearance in the Pentagon, he now advises top military and civilian groups on biological warfare, next-generation technology and unconventional strategies. Baxter’s unconventional process to problem solving can apply to business in a variety of ways, and attendees will learn how to outthink their competition and what it truly means to think outside of the box in business.

Next, if you asked Ken Feinberg what his biggest challenge was in life, he would be quick to respond. Ken was tasked with the burden of determining restitution for the 9/11 victims. According to Ken, “What is an individual life worth? Do our lives have equal value? Struggling with these questions led me to my belief.  After September 11, I confronted the challenge of placing a value on human life by calculating different amounts of compensation for each and every victim. The law required that I give more money to the stockbroker, the bond trader and the banker than to the waiter, the policeman, the fireman and the soldier at the Pentagon. This is what happens every day in courtrooms throughout our nation. Our system of justice has always been based upon this idea — that compensation for death should be directly related to the financial circumstances of each victim. But now I found the law in conflict with my growing belief in the equality of all life.”  Hear his story on making the hardest business decisions on a national scale. 

“The Success Summits are a productive way for our members and the IT community to spark business together,” said Jerry Koutavas, President, The ASCII Group. “We continue to innovate and help inspire interaction amongst the 1,600 attendees while providing unmatched content and best practices they can apply in their businesses.” 

The Summit Series is designed for qualified industry IT professionals and Managed Service Providers, and is targeted towards those who are looking to increase revenue and enhance their current business model.  ASCII members receive free admission to the event. 

ASCII Success Summit Cities 2016:

Austin, Texas: Wednesday, February 17 & Thursday, February 18, 2016, Embassy Suites San Marco

Anaheim, California: Wednesday, March 16 & Thursday, March 17, 2016, Hyatt Regency Orange County

Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Wednesday, April 27 & Thursday, April 28 2016, Crowne Plaza Milwaukee Airport

Baltimore, Maryland: Wednesday, May 25 & Thursday, May 26, 2016, BWI Airport Marriott

Miami, Florida: Wednesday, June 22 & Thursday, June 23, 2016, Eden Roc Resort Miami Beach

East Brunswick, New Jersey Wednesday, August 17 & Thursday, August 18, 2016, Hilton East Brunswick

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, Sept. 28 & Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016, Hyatt Regency Columbus

Newport, Rhode Island: Thursday October 13 & Friday October 14, 2016, Hyatt Regency Newport

For more information on the ASCII IT SMB Success Summits 2016, please visit www.asciievents.com. 

IT Glue to showcase best practices on IT documentation at ASCII Success Summits in 2016

VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA, NOVEMEBER 19, 2015 –– IT Glue today announced it has finalized an agreement to sponsor all eight ASCII Success Summit events across the U.S. in 2016.

“We are delighted to be a part of ASCII Group’s community this year”, said Chris Day, CEO of IT Glue. “We’re looking forward to delivering inspiring content to our partners and prospects in the ASCII Group in 2016.”

The ASCII Success Summit tour kicks off in February in Austin, followed by seven additional events in Anaheim, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Miami, New York, Columbus and Newport. As a Platinum Sponsor, IT Glue will be presenting at all events either in an educational or panel format. IT Glue will also provide ASCII members with access to exclusive pricing as part of the sponsorship.

“We are thrilled to welcome IT Glue to our vibrant and growing community of MSPs/VARs” said Jerry Koutavas, President of ASCII Group. “We know how important documentation and process are to our members. It’s exciting to introduce a well-received and mature documentation platform to our group.”

ABOUT IT GLUE

At IT Glue™, we believe that great IT documentation creates trust between stakeholders, customers, partners and employees. We are profoundly changing the way people manage and interact with the information that drives success for their organizations. Our integrated platform consolidates all documentation into a single, blazing-fast, web-based tool. The result is typically a staggering 10{e768f282f5dcb751f531b7aee79cc64220f3ea6df4963eeedc0b0620053d18bc} reduction in labor costs, and an increase in service quality. We are now proudly trusted by over 1,000 MSPs globally.

To learn more about the ASCII Success Summits, visit our event site at www.asciievents.com