Long-time industry leaders Manny Villa and Len DiCostanzo received Lifetime Achievement awards this week at the 2026 MSP Summit’s MSP 501 Gala.
The MSP Summit awarded VIA Technology founder and president Villa with its 2026 MSP 501 Lifetime Achievement honor. MSP Toolkit CEO DiCostanzo received an honorary MSP 501 Lifetime Achievement award for contributors who are not current MSPs.
Manny Villa: Fearless Re-inventor
Villa started San Antonio-based VIA Tech in 1995 as an IBM, HP and Sun Microsystems reseller helping automotive industry customers buy Unix-based workstations and servers for CAD applications. It eventually moved into providing networking services and today serves as in-house IT departments, retaining many of the early customers from its reseller days. Villa has emphasized investing in his team and giving back to his community during his long career at VIA. The MSP has received awards from the San Antonio Business Journal, the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Magazine, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and others.
The Lifetime Achievement award winners are not notified beforehand, so they don’t come to the Gala with prepared speeches. They are introduced by others – in Villa’s case, his sons Tommy and Mike.
“What started as a pure-play VAR reseller company has grown into a company driven by its core values,” Mike Villa said of his father and VIA Tech. “He reinvented the business again and again, embracing new technologies, new opportunities and new challenges. He’s been fearless about chasing the next opportunity, if it meant better serving his customers.”
Manny Villa thanked the full room of MSPs and his presenters.
“There is no script here, so let me say thank you to all of you,” he said. “Tonight is a special occasion for all of us. Tonight we are blessed to be here. Tonight is a gift for all of us.”
Len DiCostanzo: 'Leader, Mentor, Adviser'
DiCostanzo has been a mainstay of the global IT channel for decades. He works closely with leading and emerging channel vendors, as well as MSPs and business technology solution providers who want to accelerate growth and better serve clients. He has helped thousands of partners build managed services practices with a focus on service catalog development, pricing and bundling and go-to-market strategy development and execution.
DiCostanzo's deep industry experience includes leadership roles at Accordo, Datto (Autotask), Kaseya and a leading MSP he founded. He also started a technology consulting firm that delivered custom applications, ERP and other business technology solutions to SMBs and enterprise customers.
DiCostanzo was introduced by fellow MSP 501 board members Jason Rincker of New Charter and Sam Ruggeri, a 2024 MSP 501 Lifetime Achievement winner.
Rincker said DiCostanzo “has spent decades helping build businesses, create partnerships, develop people, and strengthen this technology channel. He has been a leader, a mentor, an adviser, a connector, and someone who has consistently given his time and experience back to this community. And for many of us, he's a great friend. Also once an MSP, he has helped bring innovative technologies to this market space.”
DiCostanzo, who ran a three-hour AI Workshop at the MSP Summit, was uncharacteristically brief when caught by surprise by the award.
“I know they say I speak a lot, but I'm actually a pretty funny guy,” he said. “But I really appreciate this. I was wondering where Sam was, where Jason was [when they left his table]. I'm so happy.”
Vinod Paul, president of managed services at Align and a 2025 MSP 501 Lifetime Achievement winner, summed up what the Lifetime Achievement award truly means.
“A life providing services means answering the call at 2 am,” he said. “It means reinventing your business every few years as technology shifts under your feet. It means earning trust, one client, one employee, and one inch at a time, and then keeping that trust for decades. This award doesn't celebrate a single year. It celebrates staying power. It celebrates people who didn't just ride the waves of change in the industry. They helped create them.”