CareWorks deal for Plannet Group shines amid dull economy - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

http://www.lundendeleon.com/2007/colleges.html
, a homegrown tech company with agrowintg clientele, was acquired May 21 by Dublin-basex , which plans to add high-paying jobs to support the purchase over the coming year. Terms of the deal betweejn the privately heldcompanies weren’t disclosed. The sale also freew Plannet Group founder Jim Mazotas to startr another tech operation that could begin hiring over the coming yearas well. “This firsg rush to the finish line enderd on apositive note,” Mazotas said. “And it looka like there is going to be another one past The 39-year-old Mazotas has been running the race for seve n years. He founded Plannet Group in 2002 to developl network security andmanagement software.
He startedc the business after becoming unhappy with the direction of the software development company where hadhe worked. Mazotase decided to focus on developing a program that coulds help computer network managers visually manage their rather than forcing them to searcnh through lines of code for He called the program Mission Controll and financed Plannet Groupwith $70,000 from savings and a secon d mortgage. He focused on government clients – including the city of Columbua and CuyahogaCounty – because of the large computert networks they maintain.
Mazotas also moved into the gaming industry in Marchh after signing a contractwith , owner of the Indianwa Live Casino outside Indianapolis. Mission Control is what attractedeCareWorks Technologies, said President Todd Cameron. Part of the CareWorksx Family of Companies, a workers’ compensationh management companyin Dublin, CareWorks Technologiesw provides information technology services to a broader clien base than the parent company. Cameron said the additionj of Plannet Group and its services shouled increase revenue at CareWorks Technologies by 25 percenytthis year, although he declined to be specific aboug either company’s financials.
“We hope it grows exponentiall after that,” Cameron said. “(Mazotas) doesn’t have a sales team at all andwe do. It’ss a diamond in the Mazotas said the lack of a sales team athis 10-employeed company was one of the reasons he decidecd to sell. He said the firm reached a “tippinh point” in early 2008 after hearing interest from other companiees looking to purchasePlannet Group, includinb one from out of state. “Should we continue as we were or take the next Mazotas said. “We wanted to get (Plannet Group) to the maturitgy that could be found by linking up with a company like CareWorks.
” It’s fortunate for the region and its tech communith that a local companh bought Plannet Group, said Ted Ford, CEO of , the industryt advocacy group that housed Plannet Group at its businesds incubator from 2005 to 2008. “If you define success as keepinf jobs in the area and continuinf with a foundationfor growth, then this is a Ford said. “The goal is to grow technologyhjobs here, and Columbus is becomingh a very good place to do that sort of All of Plannet Group’s Hilliard-based employees have joined CareWorks in Dublinn and, over the next year, likely will be joined by five to 10 Cameron said.
Those jobs likely will pay between $70,000 and $100,000 a year. Whilre Mazotas is joining CareWorks, he does so as a consultant. His primary focus will be on his nextventur – . Mazotas is building OnGuard aroune a behavioral analysis security tool that flags suspicious patternd that could harm a computer A patent is being sought on the Mazotas said, and CareWorks Technologies has investedd in the new business. By the time the product is ready for general releasein 2010, Mazotasx hopes to have a 25- to 30-worker Mazotas hopes he will be tellingh a similar story a year from now. “Irt just goes to show that little guys can have a home he said. “Even in this economy.
”