Two thangs to kick off PC Matic’s MSP Coming Out Party 2.0 at the recent GTIA ChannelCon event in San Diego! You could say the heart grows fonder in an absence. Or your absence at MSP event is more conspicuous than your presence. Both statements are not un-true as PC Matic took a half step back to reboot is MSP Channel Partner strategy in order to leap frog two steps ahead.
BusinessSpeak
PC Matic is best known for its engaging TV ads (see lionks to some ads in Resources below) and outreach on the business-2-consumer (B2C) side. That was the anchor that has allowed it to organically grow to $20-milion in sales over it’s 26 year life. On the partner-side, it has just under 400 channel partners who punch above their weight.
However, founder Rob Cheng (who was early Gateway), has brought in outside executive talent in Shaler Houser as its new CEO. This is a common strategy for founders to engage in after X-years of building the company. Cheng was shifted over to product innovation and development. Houser is eight months in role and now has his sea legs. His job is to scale the MSP channel side after some internal adjustments. I’ve tracked PC Matic for a decade++ and two things stand out. It near shores all of its activity and it doesn’t have brand damage. It’s built customer loyalty that is earned, not bought.
GeekSpeak
On the geek side, I’ve been a paying customer for many years of PC Matic’s core anti-virus solution and just recently added its VPN product. It’s a cost effective approach with both solutions under $100 annually for five licenses. Haven’t had any drama on the anti-virus side and the VPN solution has allowed me to get my snitz together so I have robust and speedy VPN connectivity. I have not used its delist solution yet. Two new product releases are coming out in 2026 but you’ll just have to listen to the podcast to get the scoop!
With its technology innovation, I’d offer PC Matic is quickly becoming a platform company and one to watch.
Resources
Here are fun links to past PC Matic TTV ads on the B2C side.
PC Matic ads