ConnectWise’s Jason Magee On Competition, Leadership And The Asio Platform

‘The future intent is multifaceted. It’s what I think we’ve already showed and told the world. It’s the underlying, centralized infrastructure [and] architecture starting with workflow automation, data layer…all of that fun stuff that allows for higher performance and scale of our tech stack,’ says Jason Magee, CEO of ConnectWise, on the Asio platform.

Whether it be sizing up the competition, investing in the Asio platform or being a proven leader in the industry, ConnectWise CEO Jason Magee said his focus is on helping MSPs grow.

“I think we’re all doing well, and I think that’s a testament to the industry,” Magee told CRN. “The industry is doing well, and I think that’s something really cool about where we all work and play and what we’re doing for SMBs globally.”

He said the Tampa, Fla-based, MSP-focused IT management software maker is always making investments into its Asio platform, its different partner programs and its partners.

“I’m looking to continue the journey and do a lot of good and bring the IT Nation and industry forward,” he said.

And that can be through organic or inorganic growth.

Magee told CRN that while it’s in a “time horizon” to be acquired, the possibility of an IPO is also on the table.

“We’ve been doing a lot over the years to get in a good place operationally,” he said. “And when I am asked or tapped on the shoulder to go do something, if they say IPO then that’s what I’ll go do.”

In a recent interview with CRN, he also responded to competitors sizing up ConnectWise, specifically rival vendor Kaseya/Datto.

Check out CRN’s interview with Magee on competition, leadership, his reputation in the channel and what’s to come for the Asio platform.

Over the summer at DattoCon Europe, Kaseya CEO Fred Voccola spoke about outpacing the competition. One publication reported that he cited N-able and ConnectWise reporting growth rates less than that of Kaseya. N-able’s Q1 2023 financials showed a growth rate of 12 to 13 percent year-over-year. While ConnectWise is a private company, Voccola said he believes your growth rate to be in a similar region to that of N-able’s, “well under 14, 13 percent”. What’s your response to that?

I’m not going get into the back and forth and I’m not going share exact numbers. What I will say is last year our business accelerated and it continues to do well. It’s definitely north of the numbers he’s thrown out there. If you look at just from our partner standpoint, we’re on track to bring on upwards of 2,000 new partners onto our platform. Asio and ConnectWise RMM is seeing a big influx of partners onto that platform that are new to ConnectWise, and that’s awesome. We’re going to onboard about 1,000 new partners into our ConnectWise partner program.

A year and a half ago, we launched the program that was primarily cyber specific, then we rolled out other components mainly around our co-managed backup and BCDR stuff that we have. Our growth and everything we do is tied to our partners and their growth. We do an economic survey we kicked off at IT Nation Connect last year. Out of all the respondents, 50 percent of are saying that they’re going to grow over 20 percent this year. And then 70 percent of them say that they’re going to be growing well over double digits. Again, our growth and success is tied to the partners and that’s why we invest so heavily into our partner program, the IT Nation community, our training and our education. Everything we do is tied back to the Asio platform, which is going to help our partners grow. One of our metrics in the company that we measure is how our partner community is growing at the aggregate level. I am holding our organization accountable to see that number grow as well. So we don’t look at just our growth, we look at our partners growth to make sure that we’re invested in that.

For the third year in a row, you were named on CRN’s Top 100 Executives list. How do you define yourself as a leader?

Passionate. I’m passionate about the industry and what we do, our vision, our mission and really just rallying everyone behind that. It’s been three years in row landing on that list and I think a lot of that is what drives me to be innovative and to be noticed from that standpoint. I think it also drives me. As a CEO, I’m probably out there engaging with partners more than everyone in all walks of media: in-person, online, virtual…whatever. I’m passionate and love what we do, so I use all of that to rally my company.

You were named in the innovators category on the list. In terms of innovation, what investments are you making with the Asio platform?

The Asio platform itself is a rather large investment. By large investment I mean double digit millions, not closer to 10 but not quite 100. That platform is going to be representative of the industry and I really feel that it’s going to be the platform that’s going to help drive MSPs to a higher level of automation, productivity and profitability. We’ve been making those investments for the last three-plus years. That’s a big area of where we have invested time around innovation and then everything that comes on top of that, like ConnectWise RMM and where we’re going with that platform. You’ll start to hear a lot of the fruits of that labor and the innovation coming out at IT Nation Connect [in November].

That's a perfect segue to my next question is. What is the future intent of the Asio platform?

The future intent is multifaceted. It’s what I think we’ve already showed and told the world. It’s the underlying, centralized infrastructure [and] architecture starting with workflow automation, data layer…all of that fun stuff that allows for higher performance and scale of our tech stack. I’ve been pretty clear when I’m chatting with partners about Asio in terms of the original investment thesis, which was all about increased level of automation for the MSPs. When we have our entire set of products and platforms on top of that, it’s going to really help the MSPs achieve that next level of automation, AI, machine learning and things like that. What you’ve heard from us up to this point was the underlying architecture that we built and put in place. ConnectWise RMM was the first platform that we put on top of that centralized platform called ASIO. At the same time, we launched components of things like BMS (business management essentials package) and PSA from a micro services standpoint. Then we rolled out vulnerability management. So you’re starting to see where it’s all coming together. But it’s with the expectation that AI and machine learning, that next level automation, will be what you’ll really start to hear from us at the end of this year and all next year.

How would you describe ConnectWise’s reputation in the channel?

That’s a good question. I don’t know why I’m stumped on that. It’s different than how I would describe my leadership style. The feedback that I get is ConnectWise is not perfect but we’re approachable. Our intent is to do right by our partners and the industry therefore people want to continue to embrace ConnectWise and work with us.

How do you compare your reputation to others in the space?

I don’t want to get into that. I’m going to go ‘no comment’ on that one. Here’s what I would say. Regardless of who the competitor is, we’ve got the other two big ones and a handful of smaller ones, and I know most of those CEOs and leaders. They’re all smart business people and each one of us take our own approach and have our own style, whether it’s from a leadership standpoint or a company standpoint. I think we’re all doing well, and I think that’s a testament to the industry. The industry is doing well, and I think that’s something really cool about where we all work and play and what we’re doing for SMBs globally.