Roughly 3,000 technology solutions providers and vendors attended ConnectWise IT Nation 2016 this week in Orlando, Fla. Whether you attended or missed the conference, here are the top 10 things you missed, overlooked or can focus on post-event.
1. Before the Conference: We offered up these five observations and predictions ahead of the conference. Yes, most of them played out as we had expected.
2. Branding Changes Explained: Also before the conference, we confirmed that ConnectWise was set to rebrand its core PSA (professional services automation), RMM (remote monitoring and management) and quoting software. Here's the logic.
3. IBM Watson Surfaces at IT Nation: Finally, big data makes big noise at IT Nation. Sort of. This chatter involved CrushBank promoting an IT help desk built atop Watson.
4. Money In the Halls: Private equity firms and angel investors quietly navigated the conference, looking for potential investments and perhaps even full-blown buyouts...
5. Live Blog -- Wednesday: A recap of our meetings with ConnectWise President David Bellini and MSPs like Aldridge, Arterian and more.
6. Live Blog -- Thursday: ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini describes the four biggest breakthrough opportunities for attendees.
7. What is ConnectWise 4.0?: Look at ConnectWise's multi-decade history and you'll notice four clear chapters at the company. And Chapter 4.0 -- rise of the "democraship" -- is just getting started. But will it be nimble and innovative? Here's our perspective.
8. ConnectWise Launches NOC Partnership: This wasn't official announced but we tracked down and confirmed the details. Indeed, ConnectWise inked a NOC (network operations center) and help desk partnership with IT By Design... Here are the potential implications and rivalries.
9. Datto Achieves Milestone: The data protection specialist achieved another business milestone ahead of launching a major security push.
10. More Updates: We're heading home, but we've got extensive notes from multiple meetings. Stay tuned for more updates the week of Nov. 14.
Thanks to those who took the time to brief us on their business strategies this week.
