Patrick Layton will always fondly recall the most memorable day of his 25-plus year technology career. After all, it’s not often that one receives a raucous ovation from more than 700 people, not to mention the promotion of a lifetime.
Layton, the vice president of managed IT services at Impact Networking, was sitting in the audience of The Grand Ballroom at Chicago’s Navy Pier during the all-company meeting in March of 2023. The day’s final presenter, Impact CEO Frank Cucco, launched into a presentation about the qualities it takes to be considered for partnership in the firm.
What happened next left Layton flabbergasted. Cucco named him as the newest partner of Impact. In an instant, the crowd erupted into applause. Layton had no idea it was coming.
“My teammates were jumping up and down in excitement,” said Layton, a 2023 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. “That was just surreal. I was in shock and elated. It was a great form of validation that the long hours and hard work were worth it. The impact this had on me was to go harder, put in more work, and drive others to greatness. My goal now is to help as many members of the company get to partner status.”
Layton is a renowned expert in managed IT services, and his credibility is known well past the walls of Impact Networking. He was the architect of the company’s managed security service provider (MSSP) launch (DOT Security) and even designed the facility that houses it. From the moment he came aboard at Impact in 2014, Layton made his presence felt, formalizing the company’s managed IT department and full-service MSP program, backed by 350 IT professionals across its network.
It requires a special timber of character to scale the heights achieved by Layton, and his unmatched passion for technology, managed services and enabling clients to secure the utmost in network and security protocols is a 24/7 pursuit that he doesn’t take for granted. Blessed with a tireless work ethic instilled by his parents, a ravenous love for technology and an unending quest to ensure Impact’s products meet its uber-high expectations only scratches the surface of his persona.
“Those that know me will tell you I am very direct and I get shit done,” he declared. “I am decisive and will make hard decisions when they need to be made. I do my research but I do not fall victim to paralysis by analysis. I think all of this boils down to the passion I have for IT, Impact and my team. When you are truly passionate about something you pour your heart into and it and the results follow.”
Stars Align
Cucco encountered Layton when the latter was a consultant for a small MSP. Impact had sold a large applications deal to one of Layton’s main clients, which required him to work closely with the dealer’s team to complete the implementation. Impact actually made a play to acquire Layton’s employer, and when that didn’t materialize, Cucco courted Layton to take over its break-fix, reactive IT support program.
Layton called joining Impact the best decision he’s ever made. “To be honest I didn’t really consider the fact that Impact was an imaging company to be an issue,” he said. “What I learned was that copier companies know how to sell and most MSPs have no idea how to sell. Having a professional sales team that was well-run and managed was the biggest differentiator in the initial success we had with our new MSP program.”
There remains a special bond between Layton and Cucco. Layton credits the CEO with having the vision to transition Impact from an imaging company to a world-class MSP. Cucco provided Layton with all the resources necessary to make the vision a reality.
“He taught me about sales, business and how to lead,” Layton noted. “Frank is a busy man, yet he found the time on an almost daily basis to understand my plans, provide guidance and direction and, most importantly, allowed me to try and fail. He made sure I learned from those failures, but gave me the space I needed to build and develop our program. One of the most important lessons I learned from Frank was to run at problems and to trust my instinct, as most of the time it will be the correct action.”
Having the opportunity to pay it forward and enable team members to achieve personal pinnacles is perhaps the most rewarding aspect of Layton’s endeavors. “Every year we give out top performer awards and I get to stand on stage in front of the entire company and brag about the awesome work my guys/girls are doing,” he noted. “I take great pride in having such a positive effect on people’s lives. Obviously, the actual success of our program, recognition and being known in the industry is really cool and special, but nothing beats seeing others gain success as a result of the things I do, my team does and Impact does.”
No Limits
The 2022 campaign set the bar high for Impact. The dealer toppled its MSP sales quota for the year, and it launched DOT Security and unveiled a state-of-the-art security operations center in Lake Forest, Illinois. Layton feels the investment his company makes into the ideas it has to grow the business is “second to none.”
Armed with MSP and MSSP budgets that were almost doubled for 2023, Impact’s aim is to exceed those budgets, grow the business and furnish more opportunities for employees. Layton is confident that DOT Security’s Full Security Management program is a tech unicorn among the thousands of new cybersecurity companies that have sprouted up, most of which only offer generic SOC services.
“Our approach is to help businesses manage risk,” Layton noted. “The program does include defense in depth tools and SOC services, but those services align with the bigger picture goal of helping companies manage true business risk. Aligning clients to the CIS control groups and taking security awareness to the next level are just a few pieces of the program that make it different. The next big goal will be to take what we have built at DOT and bring it to the channel.
“We plan to work with other MSP’s to bring the DOT Security program to their clients. We know they have many choices in partners in this space but we believe our approach will lead to success in this uncharted territory for us.”
Layton knows that managed IT services and technology in general will never be a finished product. It’s necessary to be pliable and willing to rewrite the book on how Impact can deliver a higher quality of service to its clients. New ideas are a step in the right direction.
“Consistent investment into staying current with new technologies and investing the time and resources to become experts in emerging areas that are critical to business success [is vital],” he said. “Scale is hard. The more and the faster you grow, the more difficult it becomes to provide services at the same quality levels. One of the keys for us will be more investment in business and technology education for our team members. A focused intentional approach to training and development is mandatory for scale.”
When he’s not brushing up on the latest technologies, Layton enjoys spending time with his 9-year-old daughter, Maddie. They installed a swimming pool in their back yard last winter and it was put to good use this past summer. Maddie is a member of a gymnastics competition team, with three-hour practices four days per week. They both enjoy vacationing in Clearwater Beach at least once a year with Layton’s sisters, Katie and Roxanne.
Tech Passion
It’s not surprising that technology is also Layton’s biggest hobby. Whether it’s reading about trends, mergers/acquisitions or PE investments in the space, he loves reading up on the changes that have transpired in the sector over the past few years, which are numerous. He also spends a lot of time outside of work with Impact team members, which have become a second family.
“Most weeks, I will have a dinner or stay after work just to hang and talk with the team,” Layton said. “When you work as closely with a group of people over nine years, it’s inevitable to become true friends with many of them. I consider myself lucky to have that opportunity and have a tremendous amount of respect for the culture Frank and Dan built at Impact that fosters these kinds of relationships.”
Truth be known, when your work is a passion, it ceases to be a job. “I know way too many people that go to work every day because they have to. I am truly lucky to get to go to work every day and love what I do,” he added.
