Former ConnectWise CEO earns applause from MSPs and rivals

I think the community he built. “I think the way he brought ConnectWise together and spearheaded this solution, I think it will be a significant part of his legacy,” says Peter Mebly, president of New Charter Technologies, one of ConnectWise’s largest MSP customers.

New ConnectWise CEO Manny Rivelo has big shoes to fill, as partners and competitors alike tell CRN that former leader Jason Magee, who recently stepped down after five years in the executive role, has elevated the MSP-focused provider to a new level.

“I think the community he built. “I think the way he put ConnectWise together was at the forefront of that, I think it’s going to be a significant part of his legacy,” said Peter Mebly, president of New Charter Technologies, one of ConnectWise’s largest MSP customers.

“Asio’s willingness to take on the project will be an important part of his legacy,” he said. “What I appreciate most about it is that I think some people have a problem with it. He’s a no-nonsense leader. He doesn’t pay much attention to things. He doesn’t try to sugarcoat things. He understands the SME experience.”

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Last week, ConnectWise announced that Magee would assume the role of executive advisor, with new CEO Rivelo taking over the role.

Magee joined ConnectWise in 2011 from CA Technologies, where he was director of channel sales. He was named CEO when company founder Arnie Bellini stepped down following its sale to a private equity firm in February 2019. As CEO, Magee tripled the company’s top-line revenues, dramatically transformed its cybersecurity business, launched a new product platform and completed a five-year stint as CEO general led the acquisition of Axcient and Skykick.

“Jason kept his word. He was very active and very socially responsive. He never shied away from tackling difficult issues,” Craig Fulton told CRN.

Fulton started with ConnectWise in 2009, shortly before Magee. Both rose through the ranks to become C in 2016. Magee was named chief operating officer in February 2016 and Fulton was named chief product officer in October of that year.

“I enjoyed his presence among ConnectWise partners: he was always late to events, volunteering his time to anyone who wanted it, responding on social media platforms, and personally hosting IT Nation events,” Fulton said. “With his passing, I feel like it’s the end of an era. He was the last executive leader from Arnie’s time in command.

N-able CEO John Pagliuca has led Burlington, Mass.-based rival ConnectWise since 2016, competing with Magee for MSP customers and the technology the companies use to help those customers.

He said Magee understood what SMEs were struggling with and had “pushed the industry forward”.

“I mean it honestly. Jason is a really good man. We wish him all the best. He is a classy actor. He has done a lot to move the industry forward,” he said. “He really really understood the ethos of MSP. What they have built at ConnectWise is remarkable from a community perspective. I called him separately and privately and said, “Hey, my hat’s off to you, man.” So good luck in that future.”

Longtime ConnectWise customer Jason Slagle runs MSP CNWR Inc. based in Toledo, Ohio, and often talks about the company’s victories and failures. He said what Magee did best was focus ConnectWise employees on helping MSPs

“Jason has done a really good job of retaining people in the organization who care. So many of the people I have contact with are great people and could very easily move on, probably for more money. But they stayed because they believe in the mission,” Slagle said.

As a result, ConnectWise has a strong cadre of account managers and MSP-facing employees committed to helping the company’s customers.

“They have a whole bunch of people down there who care a lot,” Slagle said. “It is reasonable that they care about their partners. There are support people who legitimately care about their partners.”

Magee began as ConnectWise’s global channel director in 2011, but in July 2015 he was executive vice president of strategy and acquisitions. He participated in private equity giant Thoma Bravo’s first talks with ConnectWise in late 2015.

Thoma Bravo announced it had acquired ConnectWise in February 2019, and its founder Arnie Bellini told CRN that he reviewed offerings from eight equity funds before choosing Thoma Bravo.

At the same time that ConnectWise was offering attractive offers, the cybersecurity landscape of its products and customers was turning into a minefield as ransomware operators leveraged the capabilities of RMM tools to infect thousands of endpoints through MSPs.

ScreenConnect’s product was used by cybercriminals in Texas to take over 23 cities in a ransomware attack. This only happened because the MSP was using a local version of the tool that had not been updated.

Companies like Elliot Park, Maryland-based Huntress have emerged to help MSPs advance EDR and implement best-in-class security practices across the channel. However, in the early days, many ITSM vendors, including ConnectWise, viewed all security researchers with suspicion.

“This is a company that does not admit its mistakes. Once you report them, they will start getting involved legally. I was personally involved in several of these conversations,” he told CRN. “That type of culture has all but evaporated and disappeared, and rightly so, because if he had retained it, ConnectWise would have seen mass churn.”

Under Magee, ConnectWise acquired cybersecurity company Perch in 2020. Since acquiring Perch, the company has experienced significant double-digit revenue growth of 23, 34 and 41% annually in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Hanslovan gave Magee an A-minus to a B-plus for Magee’s five years of service.

“That’s the hardest thing about it. ConnectWise is ultimately owned by private equity. Private equity wants to do good, but it also needs to make money. These two different verbs: wants versus needs. I think some of the decisions didn’t always put the community first,” Hanslovan said. “I thought Jason did a really good job of sending them out with a bang. If I had to balance this fight between these two. Overall, I truly believe that customers are happy with ConnectWise products and, as a result, they must be doing something right.”