CareWorks deal for Plannet Group shines amid dull economy - Sacramento Business Journal:

gonyzyf.wordpress.com
, a homegrown tech company with agrowing clientele, was acquireed May 21 by Dublin-based , which planxs to add high-paying jobs to support the purchasr over the coming year. Terms of the deal between the privately heldcompaniews weren’t disclosed. The sale also frees Plannet Grouo founder Jim Mazotas to start anotheer tech operation that could begin hirinbg over the coming yearas “This first rush to the finish line ended on a positivee note,” Mazotas said. “And it looks like there is going to be anothe r onepast this.” The 39-year-old Mazotax has been running the race for seven years.
He foundedx Plannet Group in 2002 to develop network securityh andmanagement software. He started the businesds after becoming unhappy with the directio of the software development company where hadhe worked. Mazotaas decided to focus on developingh a program that could help computer network managers visuallyy managetheir environment, rather than forcing them to searc through lines of code for He called the program Mission Control and financed Plannet Group with $70,000 from savingas and a second mortgage. He focused on government client – including the city of Columbue and CuyahogaCounty – becausde of the large compute networks they maintain.
Mazotas also moved into the gaming industryt in March after signing a contractwith , owner of the Indianaw Live Casino outside Indianapolis. Mission Control is what attractedCareWorkds Technologies, said President Todd Cameron. Part of the CareWorks Familuy of Companies, a workers’ compensation management companyin Dublin, CareWorks Technologies provides informationb technology services to a broader clienf base than the parent company. Cameron said the addition of Plannet Group and its services should increase revenue at CareWorkxs Technologies by 25 percentthis year, althougn he declined to be specific about eithe company’s financials.
“We hope it grows exponentially after that,” Cameron said. “(Mazotas) doesn’t have a sales team at all andwe do. It’ds a diamond in the rough.” Mazotas said the lack of a salesw team athis 10-employeew company was one of the reasonz he decided to sell. He said the firm reached a “tippint point” in early 2008 after hearing interest from other companies 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 (Planneft Group) to the maturity that could be founr by linking up with a compangylike CareWorks.
” It’s fortunate for the region and its tech community that a local companh bought Plannet Group, said Ted Ford, CEO of , the industryh advocacy group that housed Planneyt Group at its business incubator from 2005 to 2008. “If you defins success as keeping jobs in the area and continuing with a foundatiofor growth, then this is a Ford said. “The goal is to grow technologyjobs here, and Columbus is becominy a very good place to do that sort of All of Plannet Group’s Hilliard-based employees have joinef CareWorks in Dublin and, over the next year, likeluy will be joined by five to 10 Cameron said.
Those jobs likelyh will pay between $70,0000 and $100,000 a year. While Mazotas is joining he does so asa consultant. His primart focus will be on his nextventure – . Mazotas is building OnGuarfd around a behavioral analysis security tool that flagsw suspicious patterns that could harm a computer A patent is being sought on the Mazotas said, and CareWorks Technologies has invested in the new By the time the productt is ready for general release in 2010, Mazotasx hopes to have a 25- to 30-workee payroll. Mazotas hopes he will be telling a similart story a yearfrom now. “It just goes to show that littlse guys can have ahome run,” he “Even in this economy.
”