Recent News & Press Coverage

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

The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent MSPs, VARs and Solution Providers, is pleased to announce the winners for its annual ASCII Cup, where awards are given for the ASCII Cup winner, Top Contenders and Esteemed Noble Partners.  The awards are presented each fall to technology companies that have showcased channel goodwill and a commitment to helping ASCII members grow their businesses more efficiently.  Winners are voted upon by ASCII members at regional events, and the Cup and awards were presented at the ASCII Success Summit on October 22, in Orange County, California.

The humble beginnings of the ASCII Cup are unknown; some say it was discovered after packing up the last box of the final Comdex show, while others think it was discovered in the secret tunnels under a certain campus in Redmond.  Some even believe it has been handed down by the Knights Templar.  Regardless of its origins, the ASCII Cup has power.  As the legend goes, for those who are bestowed to guard it, they will prosper from its keeping.  For those who drink from it, they will flourish from its power. 

ASCII Success Summit attendees vote for the vendors in 11 different categories: Best Software Solution; Best Hardware Solution; Best New Product; Best Cloud Solution; Best Revenue Generator; Best Channel Incentive; Best Channel Program; Best Partner Commitment; Best Customer Support; Best Distribution Sales Support; and Best in Show. The winners at each show are selected based on the votes by the solution providers; at the end of the year the winner of the ASCII Cup is determined from the results of all the shows.  The 2015 winners of The ASCII Cup, Top Contenders and Esteemed Noble Partners were announced at a private industry gathering at the Floe Lounge in the Irvine Marriott.

The ASCII Group is pleased to honor the recipients of this year’s ASCII Cup, for they exemplify the principles on which the Cup was established.

The 2015 ASCII Cup Vendor of the Year is StorageCraft.

Knighted as the Top Four Contenders for The ASCII Cup are Datto, eFolder, LogicNow, and Lenovo.

Knighted as The Distributor of the Year was ASI for getting the most votes throughout the year in this category.

Recognized as Esteemed Noble Partners are BlackStratus, HP, APC by Schneider Electric, Vertical Axion, and QuoteWerks.

“The ASCII Group and its community wholeheartedly congratulate StorageCraft as this year’s ASCII Cup recipient.  We would also like to recognize the Top Contenders, Esteemed Noble Partners, and all of the companies featured at our Success Summits, for remaining committed to delivering value and significance to the channel,” said Jerry Koutavas, President, The ASCII Group, Inc.

Photos and video of the celebration will be made available on The ASCII Group and The ASCII Cup Facebook pages.

Get an insider’s view on where Cyber-security is heading, and how it will impact your role in delivering security services in the future.  Guest speaker Jana Monroe, ex-FBI Assistant Director, Cyber-Division, has been gaining accolades and recognition including the Security 500 Organization 2012 award as “One of Five Most Influential Chief Security Officers (CSO) in the United States”.  She’s also been included in Information Security magazine’s list of Top 10 cyber-security leaders in the United States. For full details on the MSP/VAR Greater Washington DC area event visit, www.asciievents.com

The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent MSPs, VARs and solution providers, is pleased to announce a new service aimed at helping members navigate the complexities surrounding sales tax and how it pertains to IT services.  Designed to assist VARs, MSPs and other solution providers, the service will offer answers on when they should be charging sales tax related to their service offerings in all 50 states. 

The ASCII Group identified a need within its community because of numerous sales tax questions that were continually being raised on member discussion boards.  With no simple answers being found, ASCII formed a committee of members to organize and categorize a comprehensive list of sales tax questions asked by fellow members that covered a broad range of sales scenarios related to managed and cloud related services.

A first of its kind in the industry, this support service will answer those sales tax questions for ASCII members in every state by giving answers from a renowned authority on corporate sales tax.  This recognized leader in the space has served many Fortune 100 companies and has answered thousands of questions related to sales tax.

In addition, ASCII will automatically get updates that it will immediately push out to the membership whenever a state changes or re-interprets a sales tax law.  This will ensure that members always have the most up-to-date answers on sales tax issues for every state they are doing business in.

“Interpretation of tax code is not easy.  The complexities of what we offer today in IT services have often outpaced how the code is written,” said Chip Evans, President, Computerware, Vienna, VA, ASCII Group Member since 1988.  “By having ASCII provide us with an ongoing resource to help us understand and verify how sales tax is applied correctly is huge; it allows us to continue to go beyond state lines and progress into more cloud and hybrid offerings.”

“As our members continue to expand their services locally and nationally, having a resource to mitigate their risk of improperly applying sales tax is simply one less thing our community of IT providers have to worry about,” said Jerry Koutavas, President, The ASCII Group. 

Full transcript here.

Great experience for ASCII members to take part in a neutral third party panel about the ASCII Community. Jim Roddy, President of Business Solutions Magazine, moderated the panel and provided a full transcript of the session. From the transcript: Please take the next 9 minutes to review this transcript from The ASCII Group’s member panel at Business Solutions’ Channel Transitions VAR/MSP Executive Conference on June 4 in Newark. What you learn here will lead you to new solutions providers to partner with and inside information to run your business more efficiently…

full transcript here...

http://www.bsminfo.com/doc/secrets-of-ascii-group-members-revealed-at-channel-transitions-newark-0001

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Check out the pre-day coverage from Business Solutions Magazine on our Chicago Summit by guest speaker Jim Roddy.  

 bit.ly/1AAEpDP

ASCII CEO Alan Weinberger reflections on a sports coach he emulates (combining his love of sports with business), in an article for Business Solutions Magazine.   bit.ly/1PWPZL2

Read the latest articles written by ASCII members for top industry publications.

Business Solutions Magazine

How To Overcome The Disconnect Between Compliance and IT Security by Mike Semel, President, Semel Consulting, and member of The ASCII Group since 2012.

8 Top Traits To Look For In An Employee by Andrew Harrover, CEO, Matrix Computer Consulting and member of The ASCII Group since 2012.

The Biggest Threat to the Channel? Manufacturers That Sell to End Users by Stanley Louissaint, President, Fluid Designs Inc. and member of The ASCII Group since 2014.

5 Reasons Business Owners Have Increased Confidence in the Cloud And Cloud Storage by Derek Achterfeldt, President, Corporate Data Solutions and member of The ASCII Group since 2014.

The Best Approach to Defend Your SMB Clients Against Malware by Eric Penney, Owner, RGP Computers and member of The ASCII Group (Canada) since 2013.