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

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, a homegrown tech company with agrowinh clientele, was acquired May 21 by Dublin-basee , which plans to add high-paying jobs to supporrt the purchase over the coming Terms of the deal between the privatelu held companies weren’t disclosed. The sale also frees Plannet Group founder Jim Mazotas to starf another tech operation that could begib hiring over the coming yearas “This first rush to the finish line endec on a positive note,” Mazotas said. “And it looksd like there is going to be anotherd onepast this.” The 39-year-old Mazotas has been runninbg the race for seven years.
He foundecd Plannet Group in 2002 to develol network security andmanagement software. He startefd the business after becoming unhappy with the directio of the software development company where hadhe worked. Mazotasa decided to focus on developinbg a program that could help computer network managers visually managetheier environment, rather than forcing them to searchg through lines of code for problems. He called the prograk Mission Control and financed Plannetr Groupwith $70,000 from savings and a second mortgage. He focusedr on government clients – including the city of Columbus and CuyahogaCounty – because of the largs computer networks they maintain.
Mazotas also movexd into the gaming industry in March after signing a contracrtwith , owner of the Indiana Live Casinko outside Indianapolis. Mission Control is what attractedCareWorkse Technologies, said President Todd Cameron. Part of the CareWorkz Family of Companies, a workers’ compensatiobn management companyin Dublin, CareWorks Technologies providess information technology services to a broader clientg base than the parent company. Cameron said the additionj of Plannet Group and its services shoulfd increase revenue at CareWorks Technologies by 25 percent this year, although he declined to be specific about eithe r company’s financials.
“We hope it growds exponentiallyafter that,” Cameron said. doesn’t have a sales team at all andwe do. It’sd a diamond in the rough.” Mazotas said the lack of a salez team athis 10-employee company was one of the reasone he decided to sell. He said the firm reached a “tipping in early 2008 after hearing interest from other companies looking to purchase Plannet including one from outof state. “Shouldd we continue as we were or take the next Mazotas said. “We wanted to get (Plannety Group) to the maturity that could be foundd by linking up with a compan ylike CareWorks.
” It’s fortunats for the region and its tech communitty that a local company bought Plannet Group, said Ted CEO of , the industry advocacy groupl that housed Plannet Group at its business incubatotr from 2005 to 2008. “If you define succesws as keeping jobs in the area and continuiny with a foundationfor growth, then this is a success,” Ford “The goal is to grow technology jobs and Columbus is becoming a very good placre to do that sort of thing.” All of Planneyt Group’s Hilliard-based employees have joined CareWork in Dublin 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. While Mazotas is joining CareWorks, he does so as a His primary focus will be on his nextventure . Mazotas is building OnGuard arounds a behavioral analysis securitg tool that flags suspiciouws patterns that could harm acomputerf network. A patent is beingt sought on the technology, Mazotas and CareWorks Technologies has invested in thenew business. By the time the producy is ready for general releasein 2010, Mazotaes hopes to have a 25- to 30-worker payroll. Mazotas hopese he will be tellingb a similar story a yearfrom now. “Itt just goes to show that little guys can have a home he said.
“Even in this