Leadership transitions can signal significant shifts in strategy, innovation, and market focus. As we moved through 2024, several high-profile channel leadership changes redefined the MSP industry landscape. From familiar faces moving into top spots in the C-suite to some newcomers to the channel, we take a look back at seven major executive shakeups, exploring how these transitions may impact MSPs and their SMB customers next year.
Channel Veteran Michael George Takes the Helm at Syncro, Replacing Emily Glass
Michael George, former CEO of RMM provider Continuum, which ConnectWise acquired in 2019, took the helm at Syncro in February following the abrupt departure of former CEO Emily Glass. George had recently been CEO at Invicti, an application security company he joined in 2021.
Prior to the ConnectWise acquisition, George had been tapped by Zenith Technology in 2011 to lead its new RMM business, Zenith RMM, which was owned by private equity firm Summit Partners. Zenith RMM then rebranded to Continuum and George went on to lead the company through a period of growth, including pioneering outsource services for MSPs.
George’s noncompete agreement with ConnectWise ended in October 2023, four years after the acquisition. He told MSP Success that the board at Syncro approached him around that time, “to see if I couldn’t help supercharge some of the innovation.” PE firm Mainsail owns Syncro; four of the senior executives there came from Summit, so they looked to George again. “The whole Q4 of ’23, I got pretty intimately involved,” George says. He formally joined the Syncro board in January, shortly before taking over for Glass.
George then brought in Dee Zepf in March as chief product officer. Zepf was part of George’s leadership team at Continuum, serving as VP of product and then VP of partner success. In June, Syncro rolled out Smart Ticket Management, its first deliverable on the company’s roadmap to incorporate AI throughout its all-in-one PSA, RMM, and remote support software solution.
In November, Syncro promoted Andy Cormier to channel chief, replacing Tim Lasonde.
According to Q3 2024 data from Canalys, Syncro holds 2.2% of the RMM/PSA market.
Scott Chasin Replaces John Street as Pax8 CEO; Nick Heddy Appointed President
Pax8 promoted CTO Scott Chasin to CEO in May, succeeding founder and CEO John Street, who stayed on as chairman of the board. And in June, on the eve of its second annual Pax8 Beyond partner conference, the distributor and cloud commerce marketplace appointed Nick Heddy, an 11-year veteran of Pax8, as president and chief commerce officer.
At Pax8 Beyond, Heddy said his vision for the distributor is focused on collaboration with their partners and innovation to better meet their needs. … “At Beyond last year, Scott Chasin, our then CTO, talked about marketplace mode, a vision of the future that puts you at the center of business with your input and insights. We listened to your challenges, felt your frustrations, and we responded with a game changer. That’s the new Pax8 Marketplace, created specifically for you, our MSPs, to dominate your industry. This is your new tool that weaponizes your data and your new arsenal in the IT battleground. And when you pair the new marketplace tools with the service offerings in academy, you can take your business galactic.”
Auvik Appoints Mark Ralls as Its First President
Also in June, Auvik, a cloud-based IT management platform, appointed Mark Ralls as the company’s president of worldwide field operations, joining a leadership team steered by CEO Doug Murray. Ralls previously served as president and COO of Invicti Security, and before that held leadership roles at SolarWinds, Social Solutions, and Vista Equity Partners.
Before his arrival, Auvik had completed three rounds of funding. In his first media interview in July, Ralls talked with MSP Success about the company’s next phase of growth.
“We’re really focused on how do we take the next step with our managed service providers and giving them a richer, broader product experience,” Ralls said. “We’ve got one of the first cloud-native network management platforms [that’s] certainly MSP focused. We’ve now added a SaaS management product to that. As MSPs think about what their business is and where their customers are going, employees are spending more and more of their time in applications. And so it becomes ever more important that MSPs are able to serve their customers better when it comes to managing those SaaS applications. …That’s where we see a lot of potential for growth. We’re trying to help our MSPs skate to where the puck is going to be. And we know that supporting SaaS applications is such a huge part of the future.”
TD SYNNEX Promotes Patrick Zammit to CEO, Reyna Thompson to President of North America
Patrick Zammit took over in September from former CEO Rich Hume, who retired. Previously TD SYNNEX’s COO, Zammit joined the distributor in 2017 after the acquisition of Tech Data, where he served as president, EMEA. The distributor also promoted Reyna Thompson to president of North America in December, replacing 41-year veteran Peter Larocque, who remains in an advisory role.
During the annual TD SYNNEX Inspire partner conference in October, Zammit said the distributor will be focusing on four areas to improve their value proposition to partners: more data-driven lead generation, creation of digital services, seamless self-service, and automated transactions. “The idea is to automate as much as possible the exchange of data between our two companies. You want to have access to your data on your mobile, on your PC, very easily. It’s a huge area of investment for us, and hopefully you will see the benefits very soon.”
And in a conversation with MSP Success at the Inspire conference, Thompson stressed that MSP partners can expect business continuity with the new leadership. “Patrick has had a long tenure with the company as I’ve had a long tenure with the company. And so from that standpoint, there’s business continuity, which is really, really important.
As for the role of distribution going forward, Thompson noted in that same interview, “There are a lot of instances in the last 40 years where the market counted distribution out. Distribution is thriving right now because I think what the market has discovered is that we’re able to adapt to change and be resilient and being able to pivot and supporting [partners], whatever the opportunity is of the day … And I think being a trusted advisor to the channel is going to be something that’s going to continue and we’re going to continue to be adaptable to the changes in the IT market.”
ConnectWise Taps Manny Rivelo to Take Over for Jason Magee as CEO
ConnectWise in September announced that Manny Rivelo, former CEO of Forcepoint, was replacing Jason Magee as CEO. The leadership change came just two weeks after the company’s acquisition of Axcient and Skykick, and a little more than a month before their big user conference, IT Nation Connect in November. Magee became CEO in 2019, succeeding CEO Arnie Bellini after he sold the company to Thoma Bravo.
Just weeks into the job, Rivelo told MSP Success, “I’m chartered with growing the business to the next stage of growth. Obviously, if an outcome comes along the way, that would be a decision that the shareholders will have to make. But that is not the intent. I’m here to continue to drive that value and potentially maybe even additional acquisitions if they make sense for us and for our partner community.“
At IT Nation, he addressed MSP partners during the keynote. Rivelo pledged to continue advancing the company’s strategic vision for the Asio Platform to drive efficiency and profitability for the MSP industry. Asio, which has a unified user interface and user experience (UX), common services, and centralized data for all ConnectWise applications with generative AI and robotic process automation (RPA), has been underway for several years. And now, said Rivelo, “I’m here to tell you that we are at that tipping point. I’m here to tell you that it is ready for prime time.”
In December, however, Kaseya surpassed ConnectWise for the first time in RMM/PSA market share, claiming the No. 1 spot, according to Q3 analysis from market research firm Canalys.
As for Magee, he has not revealed what’s next for him. However, he did tell MSP Success, “I’m too young to retire,” but would not disclose if he has a noncompete.
Keeping an Eye on the Year Ahead
Whether it’s a fresh perspective, a bold vision, or a steady hand at the helm, these C-suite executives will be shaping the future of the IT channel as well as the success of both the vendor companies they are now steering and the MSPs they’ve partnered with. As 2025 begins, look for these channel leadership changes to reflect the evolving priorities of MSPs, from innovation and efficiency to strategic growth and enhanced partner collaboration.
