Logically CEO: ‘We’re Growing Like Crazy’

‘If partners haven’t taken advantage of learning about how they can help their customers do cyber, that just bothers me. I really want to be the evangelist in the marketplace about how important it is to be bringing cybersecurity through to everyone and that there’s a way to do it.’ says Michelle Accardi, CEO of Logically.

With a new partner program, a series of acquisitions and a heightened focus on security, Portland, Maine-based MSP and MSSP Logically is full steam ahead in the channel.

“We’re growing like crazy,” Logically CEO Michelle Accardi told CRN.

With about 480 employees , a new partner program and another company acquired, Logically has much to be excited about.

In June, Logically acquired Cornerstone IT, a Mentor, Ohio-based MSP, the 11th acquisition since 2019, to harness the company’s expertise in a variety of areas such as data backup and recovery, anti-virus malware and spyware protection, firewall protection and design, cloud services and network infrastructure security.

The new partner program works with agents and technology advisors to deliver managed cybersecurity solutions with a focus on marketing, sales and technical efforts for their clients. One such partnership is TCG, Telecom Consulting Group, which Logically has “really taken off as their MSP and cybersecurity partner to work with their agents.”

“Logically’s partner program is groundbreaking for TCG’s agents. Not only do they pay some of the best commissions for cybersecurity and IT services to TCG agents, but they genuinely help partners with white-glove sales and service,” said Dan Pirigyi, partner at Telecom Consulting Group. “Working side-by-side with the partner Logically consults with the customer and engages them with IT, vulnerability, and security assessments. If the customer buys monthly recurring services through these assessments, they will even credit some of the cost towards the recurring to help incentivize them to move forward. Their breadth of capability is impressive.”

Logically is named in CRN’s MSP Elite 150 in 2022.

CRN spoke with Accardi about the partner program, where the MSP is seeing the most growth and what her partners are most looking for.

What was the idea behind the partner program?

We really understood that there has not been one, security-focused MSP provider, globally or nationally, that has come out with a real focus on the channel. We wanted to be the first to say how important it is for the agent community to be out selling and providing more than what they've done previously. We wanted to help them broaden their horizons, so we literally co-sell right along with the agent. They can make some of the highest commissions by working with us in a formula that is familiar to how they’ve traditionally worked, but with a higher averaged price. Ultimately, they make more money selling MSP and cybersecurity services, plus cybersecurity has so many tailwinds pushing it forward because of the threat environment that we're in today.

When we spoke back in November, you had said that you want to grow your national footprint. Have you seen success in that?

Absolutely. We’re in 12 markets today and growing. We have customers as small as two employees to 400,000 employees. Our ability to scale to meet the needs of the customer are definitely high above what others in the industry are providing.

Where has Logically seen the most growth in terms of revenue this year?

Cybersecurity and outsourced remote IT support are the two areas that obviously companies are needing. They need both the strategy side of IT, so we're seeing an expansion of vCIO (virtual chief information officer) services where they need help coming in and setting their strategy from an IT perspective. There are so many different cybersecurity threats that are out there whether it’s endpoint monitoring or SIM or XDR, all those pieces are what [customers] are looking for. Logically has been providing for that with our own solutions and with partnerships. The other piece of our partner program is our tech alliances. We have really strong relationships with the likes of Extreme Networks, SonicWall, Fortinet and Microsoft. Those partnerships really help us to provide the best services to our customers.

What challenges are you currently facing in your business?

I would say supply chain issues today really concern me. I also think it's opportunity to look at new technologies and new ways to solve old problems. The other thing that keeps me up at night is thinking about customers and partners who have not yet taken cybersecurity seriously. The reality is it is a huge threat and companies that aren’t involved in this space, either with protecting their own assets or protecting their customers assets, are really doing a detriment to their business and to themselves. What keeps me up is thinking about how do I better articulate the importance of good cybersecurity hygiene. It actually cannot just be a cost of doing business but actually can be a benefit. It can be a differentiator for you because if you're secure and your competitors are not, you’re a huge differentiator in my mind. I want to do business with those people that I know who are going to be keeping me safe. If partners haven’t taken advantage of learning about how they can help their customers do cyber, that just bothers me. I really want to be the evangelist in the marketplace about how important it is to be bringing cybersecurity through to everyone and that there's a way to do it. Even if you don’t have the technical resources internally as a customer or as a partner there are partnerships to be had and made with companies like Logically.

You mentioned supply chain shortages, but are you still facing talent shortages right now?

I wouldn’t say there's no talent shortages but the reality is we’ve been able to fill. We've been very lucky in that we’ve leveraged our great internal network and partner network to help us source great candidates. We have an awesome recruiting team internally but we use our network to help us source. We have roles across a variety of functions and areas so we're not stuck just recruiting in one geography. We’re a remote workforce. We really practice what we preach in terms of enabling folks to be able to work from home.

What is the biggest challenge your customers are facing right now? What are they telling you?

I think our customers are facing the same challenges. They’re worried about the supply chain, they’re worried about people. It's why, frankly, they’re reaching out to MSPs to help them because how do they get the very best talent who knows cybersecurity, who knows network and infrastructure management. They can't. It’s impossible because you need such a wide breadth of skill set. That’s why a company like Logically that has hundreds of employees with certifications across a wide variety of technologies and has a wide variety of partnerships is the best to help fill those those talent gaps. We have those people on board. Getting an MSP that has deep knowledge in cybersecurity is an advantage to them.

What do you want to see more of from your vendors?

Transparency. We know that products can have challenges, we know that timeframes can be tough so I just want open, honest conversations around availability and around pricing. We're all aware of the inflation that we’re seeing so when they hit you with pricing changes that you’re not expecting, you don't want to be unfair to your customers. Everyone has to wind up raising prices if the vendors raise prices so [I’d like to see] more lead time and understanding more, so that we all can be more communicative to our customers. Ultimately, I just want to be treated the way my customers want to be treated. There’s no shame in being a for-profit business, but from our vendors we want to understand what's coming.

What are you focusing on for the next six months? What can we expect from Logically?

You can expect us to continue growing our channel business and coming out with additional partnerships and programs. You can expect us to be very vocal about cybersecurity and all the aspects that go around cyber and the importance of doing IT assessments and security assessments on your business. And you'll continue to see mergers and acquisitions. We’re going to continue to acquire companies as well and really do all we can to continue the growth path that we've been on.