Information technology is the backbone of any company’s operation, from small businesses to large corporations. But the modern-day capabilities offered by technology hasn’t just appeared out of nowhere. A result of decades of innovation and forward-thinking, modern IT has empowered organizations by automating processes – which has led to setting bigger objectives, generating increased revenue, and propelling overall efficiency.
While large enterprises were the first ones to drive digital transformation initiatives, quickly adapting and evolving to stay ahead of the competition, over time, the small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have begun to understand the importance of leveraging new technologies to enable their businesses. Enter Kaseya. A leading technology company that exists to empower SMBs with powerful tailor-made IT management solutions that are efficient, cost-effective, and secure.
Kaseya CEO Fred Voccola, a seasoned IT and cyber-security leader, has witnessed firsthand how information technology transformed the world, and how it continues to expand at breakneck speeds. “Our market is evolving so rapidly that if we stand still and are not moving, we’re sinking. With high-growth and software tech companies, the successful ones are constantly pivoting – they’re making lots of decisions and are comfortable making those decisions quickly. You have to exercise that muscle.
"Kaseya is a vehicle that has changed thousands of people’s lives. People who joined as an intern now run groups of 500 people."
Increasing Efficiency and Resilience
Since its inception in 2000, Kaseya has emerged as a one-stop shop for unified IT and security management solutions for managed service providers (IT and security service providers) that serve the SMB market. Voccola states, “MSPs face very unique challenges in how they are required to deliver IT and security management to their customers. Considering that most software providers do not serve the MSP market as a primary market, MSPs have been forced to leverage technology that has not been designed for their unique and specific needs. At Kaseya, over the past seven years, we have developed a purpose-built solution for MSPs, that addresses the key challenges that they face. By addressing these challenges, we have helped Kaseya MSPs be the fastest growing, and most profitable, in the industry.
Voccola joined Kaseya in 2015 to create purpose-built, cost-effective technological solutions for MSPs, and small and medium-sized enterprises. “That was always the goal,” says Voccola, remembering the many strategy meetings he had with investors and partners before taking over Kaseya. “I joined Kaseya because they had the foundation of what was required to build a perfect solution that would solve the unique challenges of the MSPs who serve SMBs.”
While the demand for information technology and associated costs have been on a steady rise, Voccola quickly transformed Kaseya and began offering one of the most complete solutions in the market for MSPs, at a fraction of the price. Kaseya calls this platform, IT Complete. IT Complete has been credited with re-defining the technological resiliency of MSPs, allowing their technicians to reclaim an average of 25% of their time. The IT Complete solution from Kaseya covers all areas of IT and security management in one integrated platform, from enhanced cyber-security to monitoring and managing all systems and servers, whether local or remote, to handling the compliance of a business and ensuring that networks are running optimally – all at the click of a button.
Additionally, their MSP solutions are designed to empower businesses with the best and most valuable sales and marketing tools. Using proprietary management tools, Kaseya streamlines the daily tasks and processes of MSP technicians, resulting in a more efficient, scalable, and profitable business.
Breaking Boundaries
Before Kaseya, Voccola served as president and general manager of Yodle’s Brand Networks Division, providing digital and market automation solutions to small and medium-sized businesses. Before that, he was president of Nolio, Inc., a DevOps SaaS company, where he drove 100% year-over-year growth and successfully sold the business to CA Technologies. Voccola also co-founded and served as president and CEO of Trust Technology Corp., where he drove significant growth over three years before the company’s sale to FGI Global.
Prior to Trust, Voccola co-founded and served as COO of Identify Software, substantially growing the business during his five-year tenure. Identify was eventually acquired by BMC Software, where he served as vice president of worldwide sales and services.
As CEO of Kaseya, Voccola leads the company’s vision, strategy and growth for its family of brands – which include Datto, Unitrends, Spanning Cloud Apps, RapidFire Tools, IT Glue, Graphus, RocketCyber, and ID Agent – to deliver breakthrough technologies for MSPs serving small and medium-sized businesses.
Due to a focused vision and hardened passion to create a comprehensive and cost-effective suite of technological solutions for MSPs and SMBs, Voccola has been named one of the Top 50 SaaS CEOs of 2021 by The Software Report. This is his second year on the prestigious list, which recognizes industry-leading CEOs based on aspects like company performance, workplace culture, product strength, and strategic decision-making.
Voccola is also the chairman and founder of The Cooper Voccola Family Foundation, a Miami-based non-profit organization that works to support animal, veteran, and child welfare organizations and provide resources to underserved communities. In 2021 and 2022, his foundation supported a host of not-for-profit organizations such as Miami Animal Rescue, Monmouth County SPCA, Pets with Disabilities, Disabled American Veterans, Wounded Warrior Project, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and others.
A People-First Approach
Over the years, although technologies have rapidly evolved, the biggest contributor to success for the Kaseya organization has been its focus on people. Their two key pillars of success are customer-centricity and employee-centricity – this organization always puts the needs and expectations of its customers and employees before anything else.
Within the organization, Voccola ensures a friendly and healthy working environment, often going to extensive lengths to support the development of his employees. A technology enthusiast for as long as he can remember, Voccola says that he enjoys each minute he spends at the office surrounded by his colleagues. He feels appreciative to get to work with other technologists who come from all walks of life and work as one unit to create unique and empowering technologies.
“Kaseya is a vehicle that has changed thousands of people’s lives. People who joined as an intern now run groups of 500 people. We have first-time managers, people who pursued advanced degrees and who met their spouses at Kaseya. These are cool things to see, witnessing a team come together for a common goal and so many lives changed as a result.”
Kaseya’s Grow Your Own initiative is the organization’s commitment to ensuring each Kaseya employee gets the most opportunities possible. Through this program, Voccola and the management team train and develop junior employees to carry forward the baton of technological advancement. He feels proud to see young workers of his organization step up to the plate, overcome challenges and become successful.
“We are a company that believes in taking risks. Risk-taking is one of the attributes of our company that allows us to innovate so quickly, whether it is taking a risk on buying a promising startup, or investing in a cool, disruptive idea someone has inside the company that will massively impact our customers.”
“That strategy carries over to how we manage our people,” adds Voccola. “Kaseya is very willing to take risks on people, and give opportunities to those who, “on paper,” may not have the skills or experience required, but they are one of our people. We know their strengths and weaknesses, and we are willing to invest in them to help ensure they are successful. More often than not, the bets we take on our people work, and our company, employees, and customer are much better for it, he explained. It is what allows us to innovate so quickly, to purchase the best companies so quickly.”
Voccola says they take the same approach with new hires. Often, people will not get an opportunity to be hired due to their background, history, or lack thereof. At Kaseya, it’s about the person, not the paper that describes the person. This strategy of investing in people has served the company well, and given Kaseya one of the best, most innovative, customer-centric, hardest-working, and loyal employee bases in the industry.
During his free time, Voccola enjoys spending time with his parents, meeting them at least a couple of times per week for dinner. He also enjoys reading fantasy novels, particularly The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. He defines it as, “An unbelievable marriage of literature and fantasy.” In terms of business books, Voccola always goes back to a book presented to him by Yochi Slonim – co-founder of Anima Biotech, a world-renowned software and biotech entrepreneur, and a friend and mentor to Voccola. The book is titled Leadership and Self-Deception.
“I go back and re-read Leadership and Self-Deception at least once every two years. It is required reading for every senior leader at Kaseya. The lessons in that book have served me well for over 20 years, not just professionally, but personally. I encourage everyone to read it.”
The Future
Today, even the smallest MSPs around the world are working towards digitally transforming their small and mid-size customers’ businesses. SMBs represent the majority of global economic growth, and that segment is forecasted to keep growing at a faster pace. As these businesses grow, technology, specifically IT and security, becomes more and more critical to their success.
As forward-thinking companies like Kaseya continue to create transformative advancements, one thing remains certain – the information technology market is the most explosive industry of our times
