Recent News & Press Coverage

Bethesda, Maryland – March 23, 2022 – The ASCII Group, a large membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, MSSPs and Solution Providers, is pleased to announce ASCII Spark, a new peer group offering for MSPs to collaborate with fellow members.

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ASCII Spark is designed for members to come together to discuss business issues and corrective strategies in a non-competitive environment. Participants will be in a peer group made up of 10 fellow members that are geographically separated, and each group is led by a hand-selected ASCII member team leader.  

“Our objective in constructing ASCII Spark was to provide an additional means for members to work together at a deeper level while enhancing their operational overview,” said Jerry Koutavas, President, The ASCII Group. “Members have the opportunity to join forces to share best business practices with the intention of building a better IT practice.”

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Included in ASCII membership, ASCII Spark is designed to enhance the community model of knowledge sharing and information exchange. With regularly scheduled, coach-led sessions, these meetings are meant to connect owners and like-minded peers to address topics that MSPs are facing in 2022 such as pricing structures, employee compensation and more.

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Since 1984, The ASCII Group has provided programs, services, and resources for MSPs to better run their IT businesses. By providing ASCII Spark at no additional cost, the goal is to enrich the professional and personal development of ASCII members.

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“We look forward to having deeper dive conversations with members around the latest business practices in our industry,” said Trevor DiGirolamo, Director of Strategic Projects at The ASCII Group. “By working together in a collaborative environment, ASCII members will have a leg up over their competition because of these discussions!”

To learn more about becoming a member of The ASCII Group, please visit www.ascii.com.

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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.

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Press Contact

Alysia Vetter

Vice President of Marketing

Tel: 800-394-2724

Email: alysia@ascii.com

Web:  www.ascii.com

Bethesda, Maryland – January 4, 2022 – The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, MSSPs and Solution Providers, is pleased to announce its distinguished lineup of speakers for its 2022 event series, which will elevate attendee experience with enhanced professional development presentations for IT business owners and professionals.

The ASCII MSP Success Summits will be held in person with an enhanced agenda focused on education, whereby providing attendees the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in various aspects of business building and MSP best practices and techniques. Sessions will feature MSP-led content from ASCII members and industry thought leaders.Keynote Speaker – Paul Nadeau, “How to Get to ‘Yes’; Tips and Techniques for Getting the Sale”As a world-leading hostage negotiator and criminal interrogator, Paul Nadeau’s daily challenge was to get suspects to admit to heinous crimes, free hostages, and surrender to the police. For sales professionals, the challenge is to get clients to sign on the dotted line. Although the stakes aren’t the same, you can use Paul’s unique approach to understand human behavior and win in sales. Closing is not an art — it’s a science. It takes establishing trust and rapport, asking direct questions, reading voice and body language, adapting to cues, and handling objections. Paul’s talk is a roadmap to get you there.

Additional MSP peer education and industry speakers include:

"Where MSPs Fail Horribly at Selling Cybersecurity and How to Correct It", Scott Bliss, President, Maximum Performance Management"

Live Legal Review:

Where MSPs are at Risk When It Comes to their MSA Agreements", Bradley Gross, Esq, Law Office of Bradley Gross, P.A"

Key Takeaways:

How One MSP Hit $1M as a Solo IT Entrepreneur", Stanley Louissaint, Principal, Fluid Designs

"How MSPs Can Leverage Local Media to Sell for You & Build Your Celebrity Status", Paul Nebb, CEO, Titan Technologies

"How to Garner Larger Clients Without Managing Endpoints", Mark Weiner, President, BizCom Global

“The vision for our MSP Success Summits has always been to bring forth to our MSP community straightforward content that can be easily applied to their IT businesses,” said Jerry Koutavas, President, The ASCII Group. “Our featured lineup of expert speakers, educational content and a cutting-edge technology showcase pavilion will provide all ASCII event attendees with actionable business knowledge.”ASCII events are the foremost in the channel, and bring together over 1,500 MSPs, innovative technology vendors and top industry thought leaders. Designed for MSPs looking to increase revenue, enhance current business models and network with peers, ASCII events take place over a two-day format.

ASCII MSP Success Summits 2022• Houston, TX

February 16 & 17• Kansas City, MO

March 23 & 24• Chicago, IL

April 20 & 21• Boston, MA

May 24 & 25• Long Beach, CA

June 15 & 16• Toronto, Canada

July 27 & 28• Miami, FL

August 23 & 24• NY / NJ area

September 28 & 29• Dallas, TX

October 6 & 7

For more information or to register for any of the events, visit www.asciievents.com.

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.

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Press Contact

Alysia Vetter

Vice President of Marketing

Tel: 800-394-2724

Email: alysia@ascii.com

Web:  www.ascii.com

Bethesda, Maryland – December 13, 2021 -- The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, MSSPs and Solution Providers, is pleased to announce the winners of its annual ASCII Cup, with awards given to the ASCII Cup winner and Top 10 Vendors of 2021. This year, the Cup and awards were presented at the ASCII Success Summit on December 9 in Anaheim, California.

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The awards are presented each fall to technology companies that have demonstrated channel goodwill and are dedicated to helping ASCII members grow their IT businesses. The winners are voted upon by ASCII members at regional events.

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At each ASCII Success Summit attendees vote for the vendors in 12 different categories: Best Overall Presentation; Best Partner Incentives; Best Education; Best Keynote Presentation; Most Innovative Solution; Best Market Opportunity; Best Partner Involvement; Best Rapid Pitch; Best Channel Program; Best Revenue Generator; Best Partner Support; Best in Show.

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The winners at each event are selected based on the total number of votes by the MSPs and solution providers in attendance; at the end of the year, the winner of The ASCII Cup is determined by tabulating the results of all submitted ballots.

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The ASCII Group is pleased to honor the award recipients of this year's ASCII Cup:

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The 2021 ASCII Cup Vendor of the Year – Solutions Granted

First Runner-Up – Pax8

3rd Place – ThreatLocker

4th Place – Nerdio

5th Place – Datto

6th Place – Mailprotector

7th Place – Huntress

8th Place – Acronis

9th Place – Zomentum

10th Place – CaaB

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“On behalf of The ASCII Group and its community, we would like to extend congratulations to Solutions Granted on winning the 2021 ASCII Cup. We also wish to recognize the Top 10 Vendors, and all of the companies that participated at our Success Summits this year. We are appreciative of the value that all of our sponsors bring to ASCII membership, and we commend their commitment to deliver state-of-the-art channel-focused solutions,” said Jessie Devine, Director of Channel Development at The ASCII Group.

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

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For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.

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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.

Bethesda, Maryland – December 9, 2021 – The ASCII Group is pleased to announce a new collaboration to provide its Managed Service Provider members in the United States with direct access to hundreds of millions of items on Amazon Business, such as IT hardware and associated business products.

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The ASCII Group is a large membership-based community of independent MSPs, MSSPs and Solution Providers. The collaboration was officially announced at ASCII’s IT Success Summit in California. ASCII members can leverage Amazon Business as a comprehensive destination to access a wide range of products across categories that cater to their various needs, while potentially receiving additional cost benefits. This program will allow members to see shared business lists of frequently purchased items by ASCII’s participating MSPs.

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MSPs play a pivotal role in maintaining the infrastructure of businesses, and that role has become even more pronounced because of the pandemic and the necessity for secure remote working capabilities. With this growing reality of cyberattacks, MSPs have become key to the overall health of businesses in the United States. The access to Amazon Business will help equip them in that part of their mission because it gives them immediate access to essential computer equipment and key business items. With Amazon’s operational efficiencies, quick access to such items is indispensable for ASCII’s IT business owners.

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“We are thrilled to begin this crucial relationship with Amazon Business,” said Alan Weinberger, Chairman & CEO, The ASCII Group. “This collaboration is a pivotal moment within our community and the IT Channel, whereby ASCII’s vision comes full circle in terms of enabling our membership network to increase their profitability, business success, and to better serve their clients.”

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“We’re excited to be working with The ASCII Group,” said Matt Roemer, senior manager at Amazon Business. “With recent supply chain challenges and the evolution of virtual work, making online procurement easier for customers of all sizes and industries is among our top priorities, and one we share with ASCII.”

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The ASCII Amazon Business Network initiative is live on ASCII’s member portal and is available in the US only.

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To learn more about becoming a member of The ASCII Group and taking part in this program, please visit www.ascii.com/onboard/.

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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.

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Press Contact

Alysia Vetter

Vice President of Marketing

Tel: 800-394-2724

Email: alysia@ascii.com

Web:  www.ascii.com

A new book released by ASCII’s CEO explains the necessity of the MSP and how they are pivotal in the ongoing fight on cyber security

Bethesda, Maryland – April 14, 2021 – The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, VARs and Solution Providers, is pleased to announce that its Chairman and CEO, Alan D. Weinberger, has published a book illuminating to the general public how important a Managed Service Provider is in maintaining the health of our economy and our infrastructure itself, in the new cyber security era.

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Weinberger’s book, “The Doctor’s In: Treating America’s Greatest Cyber Security Threat” explores the ever-changing online world and how businesses can safeguard and equip themselves with the best protection - in the form of a Managed Service Provider. In an easy-to-read format, the book explores how MSPs help us protect our ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ in our new digital age. The book also features forewords by noted experts in the field, Theresa Payton and Frank Abagnale.

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“Alan has done an excellent job in helping the end-user to understand the necessity of the MSP in keeping the IT components of virtually every size company operating smoothly. Like a virologist today, there is no standing on past laurels when a criminal component is looking for new ways to get through the body or current IT defenses,” said Alan Bayles, a lawyer and businessman in New York City.

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A long-standing supporter of IT professionals, Weinberger founded The ASCII Group in 1984 in Washington D.C., recognizing the important role these individuals played in the IT revolution of the 1980s.

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“Alan Weinberger brings his decades of IT channel experience to bear on the topic of how Managed Service Providers are the indispensable link in the technology chain for small businesses the world over. Alan provides a bit of historical context and then explains the critical role that MSPs play in the deployment, maintenance, and ongoing securing of IT in businesses of all sizes,” said Joshua Liberman, President, Net Sciences, Inc.

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“The Doctor’s In: Treating America’s Greatest Cyber Security Threat” is a 62-page book with a retail price of $10. The ISBN is 978-1-6366-1343-7. It was published by Dorrance Publishing Co., Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more information go to the online bookstore at bookstore.dorrancepublishing.com.  

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About The ASCII Group, Inc:

The ASCII Group is the premier community of North American MSPs, VARs and solution providers. The Group has over 1,300 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 and VARs to grow their businesses. For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.

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Press Contact

Alysia Vetter

Vice President of Marketing

Tel: 800-394-2724 x 131

Email: alysia@ascii.com

Web:  www.ascii.com

Bethesda, Maryland – January 5, 2021 – The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, MSSPs and Solution Providers, is pleased to announce the featured speakers for its 2021 Event Series. The agenda for the events showcases an enhanced focus on education, providing attendees with new approaches and best practices on how to grow their IT companies while best servicing their customer base. The sessions will feature more MSP-led education content from its presenters (including ASCII members), bringing even more value to attendees.

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Keynote Speaker – Mike Michalowicz, “Fix This Next”

Deemed the top contender for the ‘patron saint of entrepreneurs’, Mike Michalowicz, has helped thousands of businesses use his techniques to better their overall operations. Considered one of the leading business makeover specialists, Mike has authored the ‘Pumpkin Plan’, ‘Profit First’ and will be discussing how businesses can determine what to do, in what order, to ensure healthy, fast and permanent growth with his latest book ‘Fix This Next’.

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Keynote Speaker - Robbie Kellman Baxter, “The Forever Transaction”

The Forever Transaction is a ready-to-use game plan for running a successful and sustainable subscription business. A veritable blueprint for success in the new subscription-based economy, Robbie’s approach is a must-do for organizations of any size; it’s a true game-changer. From initial start-up or testing of a new model, to scaling the operation for long-term growth and sustainability, to revamping your culture so everyone works together to optimize customer lifetime value. Learn how to build lasting customer relationships that are the very foundation of business success – today, tomorrow and forever.

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Additional MSP peer education and industry speakers include:

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"Be Heard! Why Your MSP Story Matters Now", C.J. Ezell, Founder & CEO, Cross Bay Digital Marketing

"How MSPs Can Best Manage & Solve Growing Pains", Stephen Monk, CEO, Noverus Innovations

"How to Build a Winning Client Advisory Board", Vince Tinnirello, Managing Director, Anchor Network Solutions

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“Now, more than ever, the goal of ASCII events is to provide the MSP community with actionable content that can be easily implemented into their IT businesses,” said Jerry Koutavas, President, The ASCII Group. “In addition to a relatable keynote speaker, and a showcase pavilion of best-of-breed technology, attendees leave ASCII events with business intelligence they can use.”

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ASCII events are the leading conferences in the channel and bring together over 1,500 IT solution providers and MSPs, innovative technology vendors, and key industry thought leaders in a two-day format. Designed for qualified Managed Service Providers, ASCII events are targeted towards those looking to increase revenue, enhance their current business model, and network with peers.

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ASCII MSP Connect Live 2021 (Virtual Events):

• Canada                                                 February 24 & 25
• Rocky Mountain Region (USA)        March 17 & 18

ASCII Success Summits 2021 (In-Person Events):

• Bethesda, MD                                       May 19 & 20           
• Cincinnati, OH                                      June 16 & 17 
• Chicago, IL                                           July 21 & 22   
• Raleigh, NC                                          August 18 & 19    
• NY / NJ area                                         September 22 & 23  
• Orlando, FL                                          October 27 & 28
• Houston, TX                                         November 3 & 4  
• Orange County, CA                              December 8 & 9

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For more information, visit www.asciievents.com and www.mspconnectlive.com.

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About The ASCII Group, Inc:

The ASCII Group is the premier community of North American MSPs, MSSPs and solution providers. The Group has over 1,300 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 and VARs to grow their businesses.

For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.

Bethesda, Maryland – October 2, 2020 – The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, MSSPs, VARs and solution providers, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jessie Devine as Director of Channel Development. In this role, Jessie is responsible for developing key alliances while creating new channel strategies for ASCII’s vendor partner program.

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A recognized face in the channel community, Jessie previously held a customer facing role with MSPs as Community Engagement Manager with QuoteWerks.

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“Jessie is a terrific addition to the ASCII team, and she brings a blend of channel experience along with customer success to both our members and partners,” said Jerry Koutavas, President, The ASCII Group.

“ASCII continues to create and deliver services that help the IT solution provider community grow and improve their businesses,” said Devine. “I am thrilled to join the ASCII team and to continue to build on the solid foundation that they have developed over the last three decades.”

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About The ASCII Group, Inc:

The ASCII Group is the premier community of North American MSPs, MSSPs, VARs and solution providers. The Group has over 1,300 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 and VARs to grow their businesses.

For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.

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Press Contact

Alysia Vetter

Vice President of Marketing

Tel: 800-394-2724 x 131

Email: alysia@ascii.com

Web:  www.ascii.com

Bethesda, Maryland – September 14, 2020 – The ASCII Group is pleased to announce the launch of its exclusive new ASCII Telehealth Service, available to the ASCII community at no charge. The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, MSSPs, VARs and solution providers, has partnered with a national agency to provide 24/7 virtual access to local board-certified physicians.

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The collaboration will allow ASCII to provide telehealth access to its community across the country. This includes a consult with a doctor licensed in the state of where the business owner or their employees reside, by phone, secure video, or app, with wait times under 10 minutes. Physicians have the ability to write prescriptions in all 50 states. In addition, family members of employees are also covered under the no-cost program, exclusive to ASCII members.

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“The number one business request we receive from the MSP community is providing our leverage to lower the cost of health care for business owners and their staff,” said Alan Weinberger, Chairman and CEO, The ASCII Group. “We are thrilled to be able to provide this important service to the industry for the first time, and see this as a pivotal moment to enable the service sector of the IT industry to become more profitable and have employees priority needs addressed in a new way.”

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About The ASCII Group, Inc:

The ASCII Group is the premier community of North American MSPs, MSSPs, VARs and solution providers. The Group has over 1,300 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 and VARs to grow their businesses.

For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.

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Press Contact

Alysia Vetter

Vice President of Marketing

Tel: 800-394-2724 x 131

Email: alysia@ascii.com

Web:  www.ascii.com

Bethesda, Maryland – May 20, 2020 – The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, MSSPs and Solution Providers, is pleased to announce the official launch of its updated member community platform ASCII-Link. The new platform provides increased engagement and opportunities for ASCII members to directly connect.

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Since its inception in 2008, ASCII-Link has been a top exclusive benefit with ASCII members. ASCII built one of the largest IT community forums, where members communicate freely with fellow IT business owners to jointly solve technical issues, provide vendor recommendations, give input on revenue opportunities and more. Vendors are not provided access to ASCII-Link and ASCII does not moderate posts.

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With messages exceeding over 3,000 posts per month, the IT community looked beyond its traditional list-serv for a modern, best-in-class tool. Today ASCII’s platform provides users with a more enhanced experience that includes a member directory, custom profiles, sub-groups and further personalization of the community.

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“The new platform will help foster more partnerships and sharing of best practices within the ASCII MSP community. ASCII continually looks at ways to help MSPs increase their ability to work together, and this is another step in raising the bar in driving more interaction amongst our members across North America,” said Jerry Koutavas, President, The ASCII Group.

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“ASCII is continually expanding on ways to help my business form partnerships and build upon opportunities with other like-minded MSPs in the group. The new enhancements to ASCII-Link provide another way to connect and engage with other MSP members in the community,” said Stephen Monk, Noverus Innovations, and member of The ASCII Group.

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With the addition of the new system, ASCII users can share and work collaboratively on projects with others, regardless of where members are located. The group also has a community mobile app for easy access.

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About The ASCII Group, Inc:

The ASCII Group is the premier community of North American MSPs, MSSPs and solution providers. The Group has over 1,300 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 and VARs to grow their businesses. For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.

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Press Contact

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Alysia Vetter
Vice President of Marketing
Tel: 800-394-2724 x 131
Email: alysia@ascii.com
Web: www.ascii.com