ConnectWise at Google I/O Conference: What’s Brewing?
ConnectWise continues to host user group meetings in multiple cities. But CEO Arnie Bellini has an additional event on his calendar this week: The Google I/O conference, which kicks off today (May 19) in San Francisco. Why is ConnectWise — the professional services automation (PSA) software provider for VARs and MSPs — spending time at Google I/O? Here are some clues.
The Google I/O conference is expected to attracted more than 5,000 developers, many of whom are researching or showcasing applications that support Google Android, Google Chrome, Google APIs and Google Apps. The event is designed to help attendees “Talk shop with engineers building the next generation of web, mobile, and enterprise applications.”
Now, let’s shift gears to ConnectWise. CEO Arnie Bellini has made multiple trips to Google over the past year or so. And during the ConnectWise Partner Summit in November 2009, Bellini described how the company wanted channel-friendly cloud solutions to emerge. As part of that strategy, ConnectWise is working on various Google-oriented integrations. “Specifically, calendaring integration,” says Jeannine Edwards, director of the ConnectWise Community. “We’re also previewing our Droid mobile app while we’re [at Google I/O].”
No doubt, Google Android has gained critical mass — having recently overtaken Apple’s iPhone as the second most popular smart phone platform. Also, roughly 22 percent of top MSPs are embracing Google Apps for potential reseller opportunities, according to our MSPmentor 100 research results for 2010 (research conducted in Q4 2009).
Meanwhile, there’s another trend to note: ConnectWise continues to show up at industry conferences that aren’t necessarily designed for MSPs. In addition to this week’s Google I/O event, ConnectWise is expected to surface at the Juniper Americas Partner Conference (May 24-26, Phoenix). It’s all part of a ConnectWise effort to push far beyond MSPs and reach additional long tail niches within the IT channel.
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