Automation and improved service the focus for ConnectWise

ConnectWise has been using its Nation Connect event to unveil a number of enhancements to its product line to make life easier for the service providers it works with.

The firm has been keen to make sure service providers are in a position to react to changes that have swept away some of the established industry expectations.

Chief among them is the ability to provide managed services across a wider infrastructure, as the old perimeters are eroded with the emergence of higher levels of hybrid working.

“While IT service providers [TSPs] used to know where the computing edge they managed started and stopped, today our partners are encountering a rapidly changing, boundaryless, and increasingly competitive environment to support their customers,” said Jason Magee, ConnectWise CEO.

“TSPs can’t control that pace of change, but they can manage the chaos of the infinite edge with the right partners, the right solutions, and organisational preparedness.”

One of the main themes of Nation Connect was the need for continued evolution around the “infinite edge”, with partners being advised to look towards more automation, leaning more on data, delivering exceptional customer service and delivering cyber security as the means to ensure they are well placed.

“Looking ahead, TSPs will need to be both solution providers and futurists,” said Amy Lucia, chief marketing officer at ConnectWise. “Those who lead the way will architect their business to operate as agile, resilient and forward-looking systems.”

The event was also the backdrop for an announcement of a fresh partnership with Arrow Electronics’ enterprise computing business, which marks a change in its relationship with distribution.

The distie will be able to provide partners with searching and quoting, procurement, subscription management and client billing via a single interface. Arrow has built-in integrations with ConnectWise PSA and CPQ to source available products, while passing all procurement and billing details into PSA.

“This is the first time ConnectWise has teamed up with a distributor beyond standard integrations,” said Mark Taylor, president of Arrow’s enterprise computing solutions business in North America.

“We are pleased to share a collective focus with them that drives business innovation and creates enhanced solutions that help our combined channel partners continually optimise their business operations and reduce redundancies.”

Magee said the company had never partnered with anyone at this level before and it would speed up and simplify options for partners.

Nation Connect was also an opportunity for the vendor to reveal a number of enhancements to its Asio platform, which was launched last year.

Greater automation and more streamlined management were some of the main improvements as the firm looked to increase the speed that partners could expect from its systems.

Magee added: “In order to future-proof the TSP channel as they navigate the infinite edge of computing, ConnectWise is moving towards more rapid innovation with the Asio platform as our centralised data layer that can scale with predictive and consultative AI [artificial intelligence].”