Anthony Manzella III is a serial entrepreneur and a bit of tech geek, which explains the success of his business Zella Technologies – a comprehensive managed IT service that delivers an impressive mix of services essential to modern businesses, including cyber-security (something that’s become more and more important in recent times).
Anthony Manzella III was able to take some time from his busy schedule to answer a few questions for us about his business, and the IT industry as a whole.
Hi Anthony, what’s your background and the story behind the creation of Zella Technologies?
I have had a thing for computers for as long as I can remember. I have home videos of me at the age of 7 taking apart my first computer. As years went on, I started to learn more about networking, software, and security. At the age of 14 I built my first server and put it in a COLO datacenter so that I could run different sites for family and friends. When I was 18, I started working for a local company where I was the lead Network Engineer. After working for others for 2 years I decided I wanted to open my own company. In 2010 Zella Technologies was born with a business plan to offer Managed IT Services to customers.
What kinds of services do your deliver?
Zella Technologies offers Managed IT Services, Cloud Services, Cyber Security, VOIP Phone Services and Nationwide On-Site/Break Fix Services.
I also personally offer a CIO for Hire service where I only accept 5 companies per year. With this service, I arm companies with the strategic coaching and innovative tools they need to guarantee a thriving business. Through an unconventional, tried-and-true method called ‘The AM3 Process’, I maximize business growth instead of hindering it like most mainstream options available to businesspeople today. By bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and business, I passionately believe that sustainable entrepreneurial success is inevitable.
What industries are your services best-suited to help with in terms of optimizing their IT productivity?
The beauty of our service offerings is that it is not limited to any industry. All industries need technology and phones, so we can assist all. There are certain industries that are behind in technology that really benefit the most with our services, but I will not single out any specific one.
With recent fears about data theft and cyber-attacks, have your cybersecurity solutions become more popular?
Yes, more and more businesses are starting to realize cybercrime does not care if you are a one-man operation or a fortune 500 company. Cybercrime is not what you see in the movies and it is not someone sitting behind a keyboard trying to “hack” into your company. Nowadays, anyone can purchase malicious attacks like ransomware as a service and just start sending out emails until someone falls for it. It’s important for companies to have a full cyber security solution.
How can your customers benefit from PII-Protect?
One thing I always tell people is that it does not matter what type of security you run on your network, most of the time a breach occurs due to an employee/user. Therefore, it is very important we train their employees/users on how to identify threats and how to prevent them. Every week we send out micro training emails about a new threat and how to identify it. We also send out phishing emails to trick users so that we can identify and give additional training to that user. We even go as far as scanning the dark web to identify user emails and passwords that may have been compromised.
What do you think the future of IT is and are there any plans to enhance/expand the services you provide to meet these emerging needs?
I strongly believe more and more companies will move to a work from home business model. With this model companies will move everything to the cloud including the user desktop, phone, and data. The COVID-19 pandemic shed some light on the importance and flexibility the cloud really provides. Customers that were already in Zella’s Cloud and had Zella’s Cloud Phones were able to just tell their employees to stay home and business continued as normal. The businesses that did not have cloud services are now reaching out asking “How can we move to the cloud?”. Due to the fact that Zella Technologies has been providing Cloud Services for years, we have the footprint and resources needed to continue growing our Cloud capacity.
Leave a comment!