ConnectWise To Launch National Services Network

Company president Arnie Bellini announced the services network initiative at the first ConnectWise Partner Summit. The event, held this week in Tampa, attracted 350 IT outsourcing organizations nationwide.

"The services network is nothing more than association of ConnectWise partners who want to do business with each other and already do," Bellini said. "We are simply facilitating their efforts and enabling them to deliver services excellence." He said he expects the network to be up and running in three months and that ConnectWise won&'t take a financial piece of any services transaction.

ConnectWise is launching the services network in response to repeated requests from partners, who have expressed a desire to team up on services with like-minded organizations that exercise the same services best practices, according to Bellini.

"We are a partner-driven company," he said. "We are hearing loud and clear that they would like a services network that is tied together by a common IT infrastructure. It's all about partnership. These partners want to work together closely to help each other extend their geographic footprint. We have to do this to defend our turf from Dell, CDW and all the other big boys who want to stomp onto our turf."

The services network plan comes as ConnectWise releases its managed services platform, which integrates with managed service offerings from Kaseya, N-Able and Level Platforms. The ConnectWise platform is designed to arm partners with tools to help them become virtual IT departments for their customers. Bellini said ConnectWise also has crafted new features for its ConnectWise PSA professional-services software that will help drive partnerships for the national services network.

ConnectWise partners applauded the company&'s plan for a national services network and said they already have gleaned best practices and services revenue gains since implementing the ConnectWise platform.

Walter Ely, president of COO of System Care, a Westlake, Ohio-based solution provider, said he has been frustrated with other services networks and noted that the ConnectWise network will allow organizations like his to take on larger projects and compete with the likes of EDS and IBM Global Services. What's more, the ConnectWise network is targeted at higher-value services engagements, he added.

"The people [at the ConnectWise Partner Summit] really care about the level of service they provide. That is why this [services network&' will be different,” Ely said. “Now I will be partnering with someone who has the same objectives and goals that I do. That is the key."

Services excellence is imperative if you are partnering, according to Ely. "When I hand you my business card, my integrity is on the line from a service standpoint. If you have one bad service request engagement, you are out--even if you have had 10 good service request engagements."

Similarly, Ed Van Buskirk, president of We Are IT, a Kansas City, Mo.-based solution provider, said ConnectWise&'s national services network will bolster the integrity and best practices of the professional services business. "This is a step to bring us together to have a standard of excellence and a standard of integrity within our industry," he said. "So we can stand together and say we are at a level with the attorneys who have passed the bar or with CPAs. This is sorely needed in our industry."

ConnectWise&'s services network offering comes at a time when several national distributors are set to launch new services networks.

At its TechSelect conference next week, Tech Data plans to unveil the TechSelect TechSource professional services network, designed to take on rival Ingram Micro&'s 12-year-old services network. The MOCA division of Arrow Electronics also plans to launch a services network that would enable solution providers to leverage their colleagues&' technical benches for enterprise deployments. MOCA is recruiting partners for a pilot before rolling out the network.

"We are not competing with any other services network," Bellini said. "We are connecting our partners to carry out a common goal of delivering service excellence throughout the entire country."