CareWorks deal for Plannet Group shines amid dull economy - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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, a homegrown tech compant with agrowing clientele, was acquired May 21 by Dublin-basef , which plans to add high-paying jobs to support the purchase over the coming year. Terms of the deal betweenb the privately heldcompanie weren’t disclosed. The sale also freese Plannet Group founder Jim Mazotasw to start another tech operationn that could begin hirinyg over the coming yearas “This first rush to the finisn line ended on a positive Mazotas said. “And it looks like ther is going to be another onepast this.” The 39-year-olf Mazotas has been runningv the race for seven years. He founded Planner Group in 2002 to develop network security andmanagemeng software.
He started the business after becomingf unhappy with the direction of the softwarwe development company where hadhe worked. Mazotas decideed to focus on developing a program that could help computefr network managers visually manage their rather than forcing them to search through linese of codefor problems. He calledf the program Mission Control and financecd Plannet Groupwith $70,000 from savings and a second He focused on government clients – includingf the city of Columbus and Cuyahogsa County – because of the large computer networks they maintain.
Mazotas also moved into the gaming industry in March after signing a contractwith , ownefr of the Indiana Live Casino outsided Indianapolis. Mission Control is what attractedCareWorks Technologies, said President Todd Part of the CareWorks Family of Companies, a compensation management company in Dublin, CareWorks Technologie provides information technology servicee to a broader client base than the parent company. Cameronm said the addition of Plannety Group and its services should increasee revenue at CareWorks Technologies by 25 percenrtthis year, although he declinexd to be specific about either company’ds financials.
“We hope it growx exponentiallyafter that,” Cameron said. doesn’t have a sales team at all andwe do. It’s a diamonfd in the rough.” Mazotas said the lack of a salezs team athis 10-employee companyh was one of the reasons he decided to He said the firm reached a “tipping point” in early 2008 after hearinyg interest from other companies looking to purchased Plannet Group, including one from out of state. “Shoulfd we continue as we were or take the next Mazotas said. “We wanted to get (Plannety Group) to the maturity that could be founxd by linking up with a companylike CareWorks.
” It’sd fortunate for the region and its tech communityh that a local company boughgt Plannet Group, said Ted Ford, CEO of , the industr y advocacy group that housed Planne Group at its businesss incubator from 2005 to 2008. “Irf you define success as keeping jobs in the area and continuinb with a foundationfor growth, then this is a Ford said. “The goal is to grow technologtyjobs here, and Columbus is becomingg a very good place to do that sort of All of Plannet Group’s Hilliard-based employees have joinedr CareWorks in Dublin and, over the next likely will be joined by five to 10 hires, Cameronh said.
Those jobs likely will pay between $70,000 and $100,000 a While Mazotas is joining CareWorks, he does so as a His primary focus will be on his nextventure . Mazotas is building OnGuard around a behavioralp analysis security tool that flage suspicious patterns that could harm a computer A patent is being sought on the Mazotas said, and CareWorks Technologies has investedx in the new business. By the time the product is ready for general releaswin 2010, Mazotas hopes to have a 25- to 30-worker payroll. Mazotas hopes he will be telling a similar storyt a yearfrom now. “Ig just goes to show that little guys can have a home he said. “Even in this economy.
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