Recent News & Press Coverage

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.

Read the ChannelPro coverage of our Columbus, Ohio Summit on March 25-26 here:  bit.ly/1NBsczi

The ASCII Group is a vibrant community of independent MSPs, VARs & Solution Providers formed in 1984.  We offer programs and services to help you grow your IT business.  Let us help you refocus your efforts back on revenue generating activities.

Learn more about what our community can do for your business in this short explainer video: http://bit.ly/1vyKX39