When Manny Rivelo took the helm at ConnectWise just over a year ago, he described the company as entering its next phase. He now calls it ConnectWise 3.0.
“There was ConnectWise under [founder Arnie Bellini], mostly a PSA type of business,” Rivelo told ChannelPro in an interview during ConnectWise’s IT Nation Connect Global 2025 conference. “Then under Jason [Magee], there was another ConnectWise, which acquired some companies. What we’re doing now in ConnectWise 3.0 is really putting in the structure to scale and grow inside.”
Much of that growth began with new leadership. In the last year, Rivelo assembled a C-level team with “about 300 years of experience.”
“There’s a little bit of a culture evolution that’s going on,” he shared.
Manny Rivelo
Next, Rivelo said the leadership team centered the company’s transformation on four cultural pillars:
- MSP Obsession: Keeping partner success at the core of every decision.
- High Velocity with Low Chaos: Innovating quickly without sacrificing quality.
- Shared Growth: Aligning ConnectWise’s success with that of its partners.
- High Collaboration: Driving collective accountability across teams.
“When we run a play, we all run the play,” he said. “But just because we’re collaborative doesn’t mean I don’t own the issue. I have to hand it off and make sure you follow through.”
Building Alignment Through Change
Rivelo’s vision has carried through to the rest of the ConnectWise executive team. Chief Technology and Product Officer David Raissipour told ChannelPro that the leadership changes have brought new alignment across departments.
There’s an open, accountable tone, both internally and with partners. “Most of our C-suite is new,” he noted. “When you have that much change, everyone takes a moment to look around and say, what’s really working well? What’s not working so great?”
That meant rethinking nearly every operational layer of the business, including:
- Product roadmaps to better align development priorities with partner needs.
- Engineering processes and documentation to strengthen quality and accountability.
- Cross-team communication to ensure consistent execution companywide.
The changes were challenging but necessary, he noted. “Disruption is good. It means you’re taking risks, you’re learning and making new mistakes, not the same old ones.”
David Raissipour
From ‘Apology Tour’ to ‘We Got Our Swagger Back’
ConnectWise also has had to rebuild partner trust, Raissipour admitted. After years of rapid growth and product expansion, partners had grown frustrated with delayed timelines, inconsistent communication, and shifting expectations.
“When we went around and spoke to partners, we jokingly called it our apology tour,” Raissipour recalled. “I’m here to tell you I’m really sorry for not setting expectations properly, or not communicating progress the way it should have been communicated, or not owning a mistake when we should have owned the mistake. But here’s what we’ve done to change it.”
That approach — owning missteps, making changes, and setting clear expectations — has already paid off. Recent Asio platform updates showcase that progress with deeper integrations and more streamlined partner tools.
“I think we got our swagger back,” Raissipour said with a grin. “For a company to get others to believe in you, first you have to believe in yourself. And if you want to believe in yourself, you better have some proof.”
Partner-centric Transformation
Chief Customer Officer Mari-Frances Bentvelzen said ConnectWise’s renewed focus on transparency and accountability runs through every customer interaction. “Our partners cannot be successful if you have executives working in a silo,” she said. “My job is to package and give data back to our product team so that our innovation is speaking specifically to what our partners want.”
Mari-Frances Bentvelzen
Seven months into her role, Bentvelzen reorganized her organization to better support MSPs. Key changes included:
- New leadership roles in services, customer success, and support to streamline operations and enhance responsiveness.
- A dedicated migrations team created to help partners move smoothly between ConnectWise products. The migrations team, she noted, “was actually spun up from conversations I had with partners.”
Bentvelzen said those changes were driven by partner feedback. In the past, some MSPs said they needed clearer guidance or best practices to get up and running faster. “We’ve created a white-glove service that helps them every step of the way,” she said.
Her teams also overhauled onboarding to shorten time to value. “We actually went from, on average, a three-month implementation down to two weeks,” she said. “Now it’s about getting them to value faster, and then continuing to build from there.”
The ConnectWise 3.0 Mindset
Bentvelzen called this phase “a transformational point in our history.” With most of the executive leadership joining within a year, she said, the company now has an opportunity to evolve while staying true to its roots.
Rivelo agreed, describing how ConnectWise is shifting from “people to AI” while staying focused on outcomes that help MSPs grow.
“AI is not here to replace humans,” he emphasized. “It will take some of the mundane, repeatable work away so they can work on higher-level, more valuable activities.”
Manny Rivelo’s AI prediction at IT Nation Connect Global 2025 in Orlando, FL.
Rivelo added that he sees AI as a major equalizer for smaller partners. “In the future there’ll be a five-person MSP shop that acts as big as a 500-person shop,” Rivelo said. “It’s a blue ocean of opportunity.”
Building a Culture of Accountability and Belief
For Raissipour, the cultural shift has made ConnectWise a more cohesive, energized organization. “When you have alignment between sales and marketing and customer success and support and engineering and product management — and your CEO and CFO are there to support you rather than beat you over the head with a budget — it’s really nice.”
Bentvelzen echoed that sentiment, crediting Rivelo for putting the partner at the center of everything the company does. That focus keeps ConnectWise grounded. “Regardless of how big we get or how we evolve, it’s our responsibility to help make sure that MSPs are successful — and I take that role very seriously.”
The new ConnectWise culture starts at the top with transparency, accountability, and collaboration. It’s designed to benefit every MSP partner who depends on the company to build, scale, and thrive in the next era of managed services.
Anjali Fluker is senior channel editor for The ChannelPro Network, where she covers news, trends, and best practices for the MSP community. She specializes in telling the stories that matter to IT providers serving the SMB market. When she’s not reporting on the latest in managed services, she’s connecting with channel pros at industry events across the country.
Images: iStock, ConnectWise, Anjali Fluker/ChannelPro
