Simplicity and Ease of Use Take Center Stage at IT Nation

“Brain friendly.”

That’s the message PSA-vendor ConnectWise is touting at the IT Nation 2015 conference underway this week in Orlando.

On Thursday, CEO Arnie Bellini delivered his vision of where the managed services industry is headed. In particular, Bellini talked about the key tech trends impacting businesses today, including cloud computing, mobility, the Internet of Things (IoT) and security.

Some highlights:

• Only seven percent of Microsoft’s installed base of Office users have moved up to the cloud, leaving 93 percent of customers waiting for help from MSPs
• Half of the adult world today is using smart phones; 80 percent will within five years
• By that time, more than 25 billion “things” will be connected to the Internet—everything from yoga mats to smart watches

“Cloud is not going away, and we have to get in the middle of that,” he said. “If you combine all the data and security, which becomes a real big issue, there is a lot of opportunity [for the channel].”

Specifically, Bellini added that when customers move to the cloud they need more administration than people realize. And that’s where ConnectWise comes in. It is developing a centralized cloud console that will help MSPs broker cloud services to their customers in a cost-effective and profitable manner.

As for the bulk of his presentation, Bellini devoted it to the company’s efforts to improve usability and functionality. For example, the company showed some new capabilities that it jokingly said were “brain friendly.” For example, it showed a streamlined trouble ticket interface. In addition, the company also showed some “moveable pods” that display important customer information in a new way. There were plenty of user interface improvements including keyboards shortcuts, such as one for creating new customer contacts. The 2016.1 version of the ConnectWise platform will also feature user-defined fields, global search and more.

While outwardly modest to the uninitiated, partners afterwards said the enhancements add up to significant time savings. In addition to the improved user interface, the company showed new functionality. This includes better support for marketing, email and web campaigns. And there will be plenty of new options for customizing interfaces and automated billing.

In a roundtable session with the media afterward, Bellini said, “Our big thing is ‘brain friendly.’ It is unique. Our interface is designed so that every user gets it their way. This alleviates something I like to call ‘cognitive distress.’”

He described that as a condition that results from using software that is nonintuitive and overly demanding. The work that his company has done to alleviate cognitive distress creates a competitive differentiation for ConnectWise, he said.