He’s Back
The erstwhile leader of All Covered who helped create the MSP model in the late 1990s is off the bench and taking over as the new CEO of Rockville, Md.-based MSP Dataprise.
His new role comes as MSPs are facing security threats from nation-state actors looking to ransom their networks to siphon cash, as well as economic pressure from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and their own customers going bust.
“The best opportunity is to start with your own client,” he told CRN. “Better serve them. Provide more value. And then both parties will win. I think there’s going to be a flight to quality. We’re seeing many customers rethink their own internal IT department.”
Lewis came to Dataprise as a board member in January and took over as CEO at the end of July. He is known for building national MSP All Covered from 14 employees to the largest SMB-focused MSP in the country. That was later sold to Konica Minolta. He founded, and also later sold, Teneros, where he created continuity apps to end email downtime. Lewis also worked with Paul Dippell both at All Covered and as a consultant at Dippell’s Service Leadership Inc.
He answered five questions about the state of the MSP market and his own goals for running a business again.
