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ConnectWise Canadian partners bullish on the future

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ConnectWise Canuckwisers meetingOver 60 ConnectWise partners from coast to coast in Canada came together last week in Mississauga, Ont. for the first ConnectWise User Group meeting  of the year.

Canadian ConnectWise partners (officially dubbed “Canuckwisers”) are hyped and remain optimistic on the opportunities for growth within their managed services businesses in 2011. However, according to information shared with partners, satisfaction with ConnectWise appears to be slightly dipping (within a 10th of percentage point) in some key areas around support, forums and community.  With all their reported flaws, 91 per cent of ConnectWise users if they had to do it all over again would choose ConnectWise as their official business platform.

The big news this time around is the ConnectWise 2011.1 which is currently being deployed across the ConnectWise partner community. ConnectWise fully expects that all partners will have 2011.1 by the end of the first week in February.  This includes their cloud-based partners which make up 41 per cent of the install-base will have the latest version.

ConnectWise 2011.1 includes content sensitive help and new drop down tab menus amongst a wealth of product enhancements. The company’s mobile software will also receive enhancements, including the ability to search for contact information, globalization of dates and times and additional information on error reporting.  ConnectWise currently supports Android and iPhones but BlackBerry users remain stuck in the never-ending holding pattern with the software  on RIM smartphones.  Windows 7 support is on the road map according to ConnectWise consultant Michelle Ibraham.

With the new version, ConnectWise will support Google Calendars. Google continues to make inroads into the IT community.  ConnectWise will support synchronization within ConnectWise to Google Calendars.  However, a poll of the Canadian user group showed not members in attendance currently using Google products.

ConnectWise and their partners are very positive about growth and the opportunities that exist in the market today.