Live Blog: ConnectWise IT Nation 2017 -

The IT Nation 2017 conference, hosted by ConnectWise, kicked off Wednesday in Orlando, Florida. More than 3,500 attendees are on hand -- the bulk of which are technology solutions providers and MSPs.

Related: New ConnectWise Unite management dashboard extends from Cisco to Amazon Web Services supportRelated; ConnectWise Capital Preps $10M to $25M Investment Fund for ISVs

Stay tuned to this live blog for the latest news, analysis, rumors and chatter from the conference. Here are the updates so far...

ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini's Keynote

Live Blog From Bellini's Keynote: Starting Now. Bellini is diving into the key components of an ecosystem -- customers, solutions, services... but something's missing. It involves teams and team building within technology solutions providers (TSPs).

It also involves TSPs focusing on key portions of the technology canvas:

Bellini walked attendees through each of those 14 or so solutions that they can offer to customers. Among the key anecdotes:

Telephony is dead: partners should dive into collaboration. Without mentioning Cisco Systems by name, he's surely referring to potential synergies between ConnectWise, Cisco Spark and more.

Business Continuity: ConnectWise is selling six or so solutions, and Bellini specifically highlighted Infrascale as a key partner. Datto is in the ecosystem, by the way, but not resold by ConnectWise. Bellini didn't say that directly, but mentioned it indirectly by pinpointing the six solutions offered...

How to Dominate Market Segments: Bellini told TSPs they need to land, install, embed, manage, renew and expand their market segments. Simply landing a deal is like behaving like a box pusher. The further you go down the strategy, the more money you will make, he asserted.

Managed Services Market Segments: The market has evolved beyond MSPs. Every single technology in the canvas above requires its own managed service -- managed networks, managed security, manage etc.

Example TSP: Bellini pointed to Liberty Technology CEO Ben Johnson as a leader who has set up teams to focus on customer needs -- and the capabilities they can deliver. Johnson also was on hand last week at Cisco Partner Summit 2017 to explain the value of a new Cisco-ConnectWise partnership. In terms of the various managed services teams that Johnson has formed, they include managed security, collaboration and more. PS: I think Bellini mentioned that Liberty has about $7 million to $10 million in annual revenues. But I missed the specific stat. We'll double check it later with Johnson.

Delight Customers: You need to delight customers during each step of the customer journey. There are six touch points: Awareness, evaluation, purchase, delivery, service & billing, Bellini said.

Cisco Partnership: The ConnectWise-Cisco partnership, announced next week, involved meetings that began in April, Bellini said. Cisco's Nirav Sheth, VP Global Partner Organization, Solutions, Architectures & Engineering, shared the stage to describe the company's ongoing commitment to partners. When Cisco decided to go all in with this partner community -- essentially MSPs in the SMB sector -- "we chose to partner up with the market leader -- ConnectWise," Sheth said.Private Q&A with Media: Bellini and Sheth kicked off a private Q&A with media at 10:30. Here's a recap.New ConnectWise Products & Services: The big news involves ConnectWise Unite for AWS and more.

Investment Fund: ConnectWise Capital is back and preparing a fund that will range from $10 million to $25 million for ISV investments.

Jump to page two for a recap of developments from Wednesday (November 8) to Friday (November 10)

Wednesday, November 8

1. Overall ConnectWise Strategy:You'll find the clues here. We'll also be meeting with key ConnectWise CXOs & product leaders throughout the next few days to give you more perspectives on the company's direction.

2. New Leadership:New Webroot CEO Mike Potts will likely surface at the show with VP Charlie Tomeo -- the person widely credited with building out Webroot's successful MSP partner program.

3. Managed Security Services: Watch for multiple security companies to announce integrations with ConnectWise Manage (PSA) and/or ConnectWise Automate (RMM). Among the integrations surfacing at the show: AlienVault and Arctic Wolf Networks, respectively. ConnectWise has quietly been building out a more formalized MSSP partner and integration strategy since last year's IT Nation.

4. Deja Vu:eFolder CEO Matt Nachtrab & Chief Revenue Officer Adam Slutskin will be in the house. It's a homecoming of sorts, considering both executives are ConnectWise veterans. Nachtrab and Slutskin are busy managing the eFolder-Axcient merger. We'll ask for an update...

5. Cisco Systems Partnership, Part 2: During last week's Cisco Partner Summit 2017, the main stage keynote mentioned only two strategic partners -- Google Cloud Platform and ConnectWise. It was a big moment for MSPs and the SMB sector. The 'new' Cisco-ConnectWise partnership has been under development since at least April 2017. It has involved several high-level meetings between the companies, along with software development to launch ConnectWise Unite with Cisco -- a single dashboard that allows MSPs to manage Cisco's various services.

6. ConnectWise Unite: Speaking of ConnectWise Unite, keep a very close eye on that brand...

7. Rise of MSSPs: Several MSSPs will be on hand for the conference. Names to know include Compuquip Cybersecurity -- which is led by the brothers who gave you BrightGauge. Oh, and don't forget Infogressive, a Top 100 MSSP for 2017 that recently hired Amy Luby to drive more MSP engagements.

8. Datto's Final IT Nation Encore?: Is this the last time Datto attends IT Nation? Could be. The data protection & networking company will merge with ConnectWise rival Autotask later this quarter. Just to make things extra interesting, DattoCon18 and ConnectWise Automation Nation (for RMM customers) are set for the same week in 2018. In the meantime, Datto continues to improve its ConnectWise integrations. And the two companies have vowed to continue working together, even as they eventually compete in the PSA and RMM software markets. We expect to catch up with Datto VP Rob Rae during this week's event. Stay tuned for a recap later in this blog...

9. New Integrations: Numerous companies have announced new ConnectWise integrations, and many will demonstrate them during the conference. MSPs should double-check to see whether the integrations work with ConnectWise Manage (PSA), ConnectWise Automate (RMM) or both. The new integrations include:

AppRiver, a cloud-based cybersecurity and productivity services provider, announced a new integration with ConnectWise to help partners build, manage and grow their business. Related: AppRiver podcast about Office 365 monetization strategies.
Auvik Networks and IT Glue are integrating with one another on the networking monitoring/documentation front.
Barracuda MSP, which offers security, backup and business continuity solutions for MSPs.
Pax8, the cloud-centric value added distributor, has a new integration.

10. MSP Standard Operating Procedures:BitTitan will demonstrate several new automated Runbooks in MSPComplete. The MSPComplete Library is a centralized collection of SOPs (standard operations procedures) and IT documentation that enable service providers to launch services to cut costs, save time, and deliver more consistent, streamlined experiences for their customers, the company asserts. Also this week, watch for MSPComplete to intro new ways to easily migrate on-premises Exchange enterprises to a hybrid model, the company says.11. MSP Billing:Online billing portal specialist Datagate Innovation has launched a cloud service to enable flexible telecommunication and utility billing for MSPs that use ConnectWise, Datagate said.

Thursday, November 9

1. Arnie Bellini's Keynote: ConnectWise's CEO takes the stage at 8:00 a.m. ET. We moved live analysis to the top (page one) of this blog entry.

2. Stay tuned for more updates: We've got several meetings set for Thursday.

Friday, November 10

1. Coming Soon: Author Patrick Lencioni's keynote: No doubt, the team building theme will grab an even brighter spotlight during this session.

2. BOOM! Ask Them Anything: Join ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini, HTG Peer Groups CEO Arlin Sorensen, Service Leadership CEO Paul Dippell and TruMethods CEO Gary Pica for the ultimate leadership panel -- moderated by ChannelE2E. We kick off Friday, 12:45 p.n. in Bayhill 17-18. We'll cover the state of the market, IT service provider profitability, MSP evolution, 2018 strategies and anything else you'd like to cover.

3. Stay tuned for more updates: We've got several meetings set for Friday.

4. Bonus, Bonus:Final all IT Nation 2017 coverage here on ChannelE2E and here on MSSP Alert.