Vinod Paul, president of Align Managed Services, and Triton Networks CEO Robert House were honored with MSP Lifetime Achievement Awards Wednesday at the MSP Summit in Orlando, Fla.
The Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented at the annual MSP 501 Gala that caps the MSP Summit. The gala honors MSP 501 winners, and is part of the MSP 501 Special Awards program.
Dataprise, Otava, and Thrive won MSP of the Year awards, and MSP Executive of the Year awards went to Ross Artale of Spectrotel, Erik Braden of Braden Business Systems and Josh Dinneen of Blue Mantis at the gala. A full list of the winners is below.
Paul has more than two decades of experience in financial services and technology. He leads the strategic development of Align's managed services, including Align Cybersecurity, a comprehensive solution for cybersecurity risk management. Paul also plays a pivotal role in nurturing senior client relationships within the alternative asset management community. He offers guidance on industry best practices and emerging trends in managed services. Align, based in New York, ranked No. 26 on the 2025 MSP 501 list.
He previously held leadership positions at ECI and Martin Progressive, and has been a management and engineering consultant for IBM Global Services, Lucent Technologies, Tyco Submarine Systems, and Penguin Putnam Publishing.
After praising his CEO Jim Dooling, COO Chris Zadrima and his entire Align team, Paul said “this is an incredible opportunity for this industry. The future just has so much opportunity. Embrace it.”
Zadrima praised Paul as a mentor for many in the tech industry.
“Not only has he always helped his partners and clients grow their business through care and attention, but he's mentored so many colleagues and supported them in their own career journeys,” he said of Paul. “His contributions to the managed service industry have paved new paths and inspired countless others, truly transforming lives.”
House is founder and CEO of Dallas-based Triton Networks, which ranked 27th on the 2025 MSP 501. House started Triton in 2006 and has spent more than 30 years in the technology industry. In the past five years, Triton overhauled its operations to pivot from traditional IT services to converged cloud services with more flexible options around SD-WAN and 5G.
Ron Lovern, Triton’s EVP, praised his CEO for building “a dynamic customer-first technology service provider at a time when many providers took a product-centric approach” and called him “a connector in the industry, a leader, a mentor, deeply committed to surrounding himself with capable leaders and empowering them to grow. Robert's leadership style is equal part pragmatic and visionary. He’s admired for his straightforward communication style, and genuine care for his team and clients.”
House kept his speech short, and made it about the MSP Summit and its Channel Partners organizers.
“It's a great community. If you're not involved, you’ve got to get involved, because it will empower your business,” House told the Gala audience. “It’s a great organization, with phenomenal leadership. I’m ready to play golf tomorrow.”
Here’s a look at the other award winners:
MSP of the Year
Dataprise, No. 22 on the MSP 501 list, has strategically evolved its service offerings through key acquisitions in cybersecurity incident response and by implementing AI solutions such as CrushBank, demonstrating a commitment to innovation and operational excellence.
Otava, No. 36 on the MSP 501, has distinguished itself in the MSP landscape by achieving prestigious industry recognition, including Platinum Status in the Veeam Cloud and Service Provider Program, being named Veeam Cloud and Service Provider U.S. Partner of the Year and Scale Computing's 2025 Outstanding Partner Momentum Award.
No. 41 Thrive demonstrated exceptional growth and innovation in the MSP space, achieving a remarkable 13% CAGR over the last 4.5 years, completing 21 successful M&A transactions, and receiving strategic investment from Berkshire Partners and Court Square Capital Partners.
MSP Executive of the Year
Artale helped transform Spectrotel from a telecom aggregator into a technology-enabled modern managed network service provider. Spectrotel achieved double-digit year-over-year growth in managed services revenue while increasing profitability by shifting from commodity resale to high-margin service bundles. Artale’s boldest innovation was the launch of the Network Intelligence Center.
Braden Business Systems has achieved impressive growth by reinvesting more than a third of its profits into the business. Braden’s strategic vision transformed the company from a product-centric provider into a full-service, advisory-led technology partner with a service delivery model centered on strategic road mapping and vertical specialization, resulting in over 90% customer retention.
Under Dinneen's leadership, Blue Mantis has delivered a compound annual growth rate of nearly 30%, annual revenue exceeding $250 million, and customer retention of 96%. Dinneen transformed Blue Mantis from a traditional product reseller to a strategic, services-led digital solutions provider, resulting in five-year growth of more than 400% in cybersecurity and managed services and more than 100% in cloud services and Mantis headcount.
Vanguard Award
FatNinjas -- This Malaysian MSP’s innovative approach has delivered remarkable results, with franchisees doubling their monthly recurring revenue in as little as nine months.
Woman-Powered MSP of the Year
Jess Bergeron, Personified Tech – Personified Tech ranked in the Top 5 of this years’ MSP 501, jumping 92 spots from 2024
MSP 501 Newcomer of the Year Award
Strata Defense -- Here is what one customer, Ergo Bank, said of Strata Defense: “At the end of the day, Strata has given a small community bank an IT department that rivals any large corporate bank.”
Digital Innovator of the Year Award
California Telecom – California Telecom’s Netverge platform fundamentally reimagines the traditional MSP model by proactively building a real-time knowledge graph of each client's environment and using AI to detect anomalies and execute remediation autonomously.
Cybersecurity MSP of the Year -- 360 SOC.
Cloud MSP of the Year – Sourcepass.
AI MSP of the Year -- AKATI Sekurity.
See the full list of special award finalists and descriptions of the awards.