Autotask Live: CVO Godgart Takes The Stage

By Gennifer Biggs, security, storage, and managed services editor

The first full day of Autotask Community Live kicked off with a two-barreled presentation by CEO Mark Cattini and Chief Visionary Officer Bob Godgart, the founder and former CEO of the company. After welcoming remarks from SVP Jay McBain, Godgart took to the stage to first jokingly renounce the CVO title, and then talk about what is impacting the channel today.

Godgart started by talking about the roots of company, founded 10 years ago. Today, Autotask has grown to support 200 staff around the world, and sells through and supports more than a million SMB customers. Godgart didn't waste any time before talking about what is next for both the channel and Autotask, tapping on seven trends in IT – the pervasiveness of mobility (and the ongoing Autotask mobile version), the growing role of business social media (including data snapshots such as QR codes, used throughout the CommLive event), the role of services intelligence (and the new Autotask live reporting tool), the impact of convergence on managed services, (such as audio/visual), and community.

Oh, and let's not forget cloud. Godgart's message on the trend was simple: cloud is a product, one of many. Brand it with your own name, productize it, and then support and service it.

Next: Mark Cattini on the evolving strategy of Autotask

Click to listen to more from Autotask founder Bob Godgart.