Have you ever wondered how small businesses handle their IT and networking needs? If so, you might be familiar with how managed services providers (MSPs) are the outsourced service provider that SMBs are becoming increasingly reliant on to handle any and all headaches related to their digital infrastructure.

Next question: do you know how many MSPs there are? If you guessed “a lot” – you’re right! Estimates suggest there are approximately 40 thousand MSPs in the US alone. For context, there were nearly 14 thousand McDonald’s locations in the US as of 2018, so next time you’re driving down the highway and see a McDonald’s sign for the next exit, imagine that there are 2.9 MSPs hiding there in plain sight.

Last question: do you know how those 40 thousand MSPs find, select, and support the software their small business clients rely on? Probably not.

That’s where Pax8, the newest member of the Catalyst family, comes into play (and shines).

Pax8 has made a name for itself in the little known, yet massive, IT distribution market. Legacy IT distributors grew up helping MSPs procure hardware for their SMB clients (printers, desktop computers, monitors, printers, etc.). As software became more and more commonplace (and critical), these distributors have also become the conduit through which massive software providers, like Microsoft, have chosen to outsource sales and customer support of their software licenses. However, as seen in many other industries, legacy incumbents sometimes struggle to transition their non-software centric business model towards SaaS – opening the door for new competitors who are hyper-focused on providing the best end-user experience in today’s cloud environment.

Pax8 succeeds where these legacy incumbents have failed. The company is led by a seasoned management team who saw first-hand from their prior business how the legacy IT distribution market was slow to adapt and remain focused on end-user experience.

Catalyst believes Pax8 is uniquely positioned to help MSPs ensure their SMB clients thrive in their cloud journey. The company’s cloud marketplace currently provides MSPs with 60+ choices for multiple cloud products (e.g., productivity, infrastructure, continuity, security, network), unified billing and provisioning capabilities so that MSPs can more easily provide clients only one invoice each month, and integrations with other leading MSP software tools (e.g., ConnectWise, Kaseya) to help ensure necessary data flows.

We are thrilled to be working with John Street and his team on the next stage of their growth journey. Thank you for helping us formally welcome Pax8 to the Catalyst family.