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Patrick Burns Autotask

The video below covers:

Bigger Picture

When Autotask acquired VARStreet in March 2010, Autotask CEO Bob Godgart explained why VARs, MSPs and IT service providers needed to balancing IT services with IT product sales. Without both, Godgart asserted, you can’t become a complete IT solutions provider to your customers. Plus, you’re potentially leaving money on the table by ignoring product sales.

By automating numerous product sourcing processes, Autotask believes VARStreet can also deliver better product margins than traditional sourcing methods. And there’s also a chance that VARStreet could become Autotask’s largest business opportunity, Godgart has speculated. (Though it’s important to note: The core Autotask PSA business remains in growth mode.)

In The VAR Guy’s personal opinion, VARStreet had become a bit rusty under its previous ownership. But Autotask has delivered numerous enhancements since the acquisition. By May 2010, the enhancements allowed Autotask to double VARStreet’s user base. Marching forward, Burns mentions that integrations with QuickBooks and Salesforce.com are now in place. Autotask is also beta testing a search engine for VARStreet. And it sounds like effective quoting is a big area of focus going forward. As Burns mentioned: “Even though the product is about end-to-end product sales, it needs to be a world-class quoting tool.”

The VAR Guy’s team will be listening for more updates.

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