Recent News & Press Coverage
Stay informed with official news and updates from The ASCII Group. This section features company announcements, strategic initiatives, and industry coverage that reflect our continued commitment to the MSP community and the broader IT channel.
The ASCII Group Appoints Ted Roller as Chief Community Officer
Washington, D.C.– January 14, 2026 – The ASCII Group, North America’s original and vendor-neutral community for Managed Service Providers (MSPs), is pleased to announce the appointment of Ted Roller as Chief Community Officer, a newly created executive role focused on strengthening member engagement and expanding ASCII’s community across the United States and Canada.
In this role, Roller will lead initiatives designed to deepen member connection and engagement, working closely with MSPs to help shape the future of the ASCII community. His focus will be on ensuring ASCII continues to reflect the real-world needs of MSP business owners and remains a trusted resource for peer insight and collaboration.
Roller brings more than 25 years of experience in the IT channel, with a career spanning MSP ownership and senior channel leadership roles. Earlier in his career, he owned and operated an MSP that was recognized locally as one of the Fast 50 fastest-growing companies, providing firsthand experience with the operational and strategic realities MSPs face.
He has since held senior channel leadership positions at LogMeIn, Intronis, Mailprotector, CloudRadial, Zomentum, and FlexPoint, where he helped build partner programs, strengthen community engagement, and support growth through indirect sales models. In addition, Roller has contributed to industry education as faculty for CompTIA and has been recognized by organizations including MSPmentor, The Channel Company, and SMB Nation.
“Ted’s background as both an MSP owner and a channel executive makes him uniquely qualified to lead our community efforts,” said Jerry Koutavas, CEO of The ASCII Group. “His role will be instrumental in strengthening member engagement and expanding ASCII’s reach as we continue to support MSPs across North America.”
“ASCII has always represented something different in this industry,” said Roller. “It is a community built on trust, openness, and shared experience. I’m honored to join the team and look forward to helping shape the next chapter of member engagement and community leadership.”
About The ASCII Group, Inc.
The ASCII Group is the premier community of North American MSPs, MSSPs and Solution Providers. The Group has members located throughout the U.S. and Canada, and membership encompasses everyone from credentialed MSPs serving the SMB community to multi-location solution providers with a national and international reach. Founded in 1984, ASCII provides services to members including leveraged purchasing programs, education and training, marketing assistance, extensive peer interaction and more. ASCII works with a vibrant ecosystem of leading and major technology vendors that complement the ASCII community and support the mission of helping MSPs to grow their businesses. For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.
Press Contact
Jessica Turner
Senior Digital Engagement Manager
Tel: 800-394-2724
Email: jturner@ascii.com
Web: www.ascii.com
Passing the Channel Cup of Success, Channel Insider, August 9, 2009, by Lawrence Walsh
Channel legend (all of two year’s old) holds that those that drink from The ASCII Group ‘Cup of Success’ shall enjoy wealth and prosperity. The cup passed last week from Kaseya to Reflexion, which shared the magic with all in attendance at the ceremony. Here’s a look at the festivities.
Read More….
http://www.channelinsider.com/c/a/News/Passing-the-Channel-Cup-of-Success-533728/
Kaseya-Powered ASCII MSP Fuel Helps VARS Jump into Managed Services, Channel Insider, August 5, 2009, by Jessica Davis
While most resellers agree that managed services make sense as part of a future business plan, it’s often hard to make the leap. Now the ASCII Group is offering a way for VARs to get started with its ASCII MSP Fuel offering, based on Kaseya.
Read More….
http://www.channelinsider.com/c/a/Managed-Services/KaseyaPowered-ASCII-MSP-Fuel-Helps-VARS-Jump-Into-Managed-Services-245275/
Reflexion Named Vendor Of The Year By The ASCII Group, Business Solutions Magazine, August 4, 2009
The ASCII Group, the largest community of independent computer resellers in the world, today announced that it has bestowed the coveted ASCII Cup on Reflexion Networks as its “Vendor of the Year.” Reflexion is a provider of hosted email and web security, compliance and business continuity services for small and midsize businesses worldwide.
Read More….
http://bsminfo.com/article.mvc/Reflexion-Named-Vendor-Of-The-Year-By-The-ASC-0001
Koutavas Named Predident of ASCII Group, Channel Insider, July 30, 2009, by Lawrence Walsh
Jerry Koutavas is moving up from his role as head of business development to president of the large community of solution and service providers.
Read More….
http://www.channelinsider.com/c/a/News/Koutavas-Named-President-of-ASCII-Group-515743/
IT Industry Groups, MSP Partners and ASCII Group, Announce Membership Agreement, Business Solutions Magazine, January 26, 2009
MSP Partners, an alliance founded by Cisco, Ingram Micro, Intel, Level Platforms and Microsoft, and supported by Autotask Corporation, EMC, HP, Kaseya and Xerox, with the active participation of over 15 other leading IT vendors, and thousands of solution providers offering managed services today announced a cooperative agreement with The ASCII Group, Inc. (ASCII), North America’s oldest and most established community of independent computer integrators, solution providers and resellers. The agreement allows members of MSP Partner and ASCII to expanded access to the many benefits offered by these two major IT industry groups.
Read More….
http://bsminfo.com/article.mvc/IT-Industry-Groups-MSP-Partners-and-ASCII-Gro-0001
ASCII Group Helps Google Find Place in the Channel, Channel Insider, October 3, 2007, by Michael Vizard
Opinion: It’s encouraging to see Google at channel events, but assigning a few people to manage the channel is a long way from actually having a channel.
Read More….
http://www.channelinsider.com/c/a/News/ASCII-Group-Helps-Google-Find-Place-in-the-Channel/
Walling Data Systems Provides New Value To ASCII Members: Free Dedicated Support And Higher Margins On AVG Internet Security Solutions, Business Solutions Magazine, September 13, 2007
The ASCII Group, a membership organization of over 2,000 computer resellers based in Bethesda, M.D., recently announced they have renewed their endorsement of Grisoft’s AVG Internet Security software for distribution to its members, through a partnership with Walling DataSystems, the leading US Authorized Grisoft AVG Distributor, based in North Carolina.
Read More….
http://bsminfo.com/article.mvc/Walling-Data-Systems-Provides-New-Value-To-AS-0001
Found In Translation: Great Insights From Eastern Europe By Heather Clancy, CRN March 30, 2007
It’s hard to report on an event you didn’t actually attend, but I heard such great things about the CMP Channel Group’s inaugural XChange Eastern Europe event that I begged some phone numbers and brushed up on my international dialing skills.
Here’s what I discovered: Just like their U.S. counterparts, solution providers from Eastern Europe are eager to share….
read more...
http://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/198701430/found-in-translation-great-insights-from-eastern-europe.htm
When It Comes To Google, Distributors Lose Their Voice By Scott Campbell & Jennifer Lawinski, CRN February 23, 2007
Are distributors afraid of Google?
CRN asked five distributors for their reaction to the software company’s new Google Apps
Premier Edition offering, and only one executive chose to respond. Spokespersons from Tech Data, SED International and Synnex said their respective companies would have no comment regarding Google’s plans, while executives from Ingram Micro didn’t respond Thursday or Friday. Dan Schwab, vice president of marketing at D&H Distributing, said he hasn’t been briefed on Google Apps, but said the search giant is missing the boat if it doesn’t include a play for solution providers…
read more...
http://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/197008469/when-it-comes-to-google-distributors-lose-their-voice.htm
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