ConnectWise Capital’s first investment is looking to expand the reach for what some have called “the missing link” in managed services.
The investment arm of the Tampa, FL-based professional service automation vendor (and solution provider) announced its first partnership, making an undisclosed investment in Bakersfield, CA-based CharTec, itself a solution provider that is taking its Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS) model to a broader audience in the channel.
CharTec currently has 170 partners, mostly in the United States, with a trio of Canadian VARs signed up for its service, a number that CharTec CEO Alex Rogers said will grow as a result of the ConnectWise investment. Rogers said that handling logistics, shipping and cross-border data issues have been the biggest problems in expanding beyond the company’s home country, but that the investment will help
Rogers said CharTec has been doing managed services and HaaS since 2002, but just started looking to export its experience and work with solution providers more recently, starting in the fourth quarter of 2008.
“We show them how to price it out, how to standardize their hardware offerings, make it easier on the help desk and combat Dell and other big vendors and managed service providers,” Rogers said. “We help them stand out from everyone else in the herd.
Monique Rogers said that the group has found a sweet spot in smaller partners of 10 people or less, between $500,000 and $3 million (U.S.) per year in revenues.
“Those are the partners who are challenged with the capital to do HaaS, and they’ve got multiple hats to wear in their business,” she said. “Working with CharTec allows them to include the hardware, the services, and takes all that administrative work off their plate.”
