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

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, a homegrown tech companyg with a growing was acquired May 21by Dublin-based , which planw to add high-paying jobs to support the purchasee over the coming year. Terms of the deal between the privately heldcompanies weren’t The sale also frees Plannet Group founder Jim Mazotas to start another tech operationh that could begin hiring over the cominh year as well. “This first rush to the finish line ende on apositive note,” Mazotas said. “And it looks like there is going to be anothef onepast this.” The 39-year-old Mazotas has been running the race for seven years. He founded Plannet Groupo in 2002 to develop network securityg andmanagement software.
He started the business after becomint unhappy with the direction of the software developmentg company where hadhe worked. Mazotas decided to focus on developing a program that could help computer network manageres visually managetheir environment, rather than forcingb them to search througgh lines of code for problems. He called the prograk Mission Control and financeed Plannet Groupwith $70,000 from savingx and a second mortgage. He focuses on government clients – including the city of Columbus and CuyahogwaCounty – because of the largee computer networks they maintain.
Mazotads also moved into the gaminy industry in March after signing a contractwith , owner of the Indianwa Live Casino outside Indianapolis. Missio n Control is what attracted CareWorks said PresidentTodd Cameron. Part of the CareWorkd Family of Companies, a workers’ compensation managemen companyin Dublin, CareWorks Technologies providez information technology services to a broadere client base than the pareny company. Cameron said the addition of Plannet Group and its services should increase revenue at CareWorks Technologies by 25 percent this although he declined to be specififc abouteither company’s “We hope it grows exponentially after that,” Camerobn said.
“(Mazotas) doesn’t have a saleas team at all andwe do. It’a a diamond in the rough.” Mazotas said the lack of a sale s team athis 10-employee companty was one of the reasons he decidedx to sell. He said the firm reache d a “tipping point” in early 2008 afteer hearing interest from other companies looking to purchase Plannet including one from outof state. “Should we continue as we were or take the next Mazotas said. “We wanted to get (Planneyt Group) to the maturity that could be founc by linking up with a companylike CareWorks.
” It’ fortunate for the region and its tech community that a localk company bought Plannet Group, said Ted Ford, CEO of , the industruy advocacy group that housed Plannet Groul at its business incubator from 2005 to 2008. “If you defins success as keeping jobs in the area and continuing with a foundationfor growth, then this is a Ford said. “The goal is to grow technolog jobs here, and Columbus is becoming a very good placee to do that sortof thing.” All of Planne Group’s Hilliard-based employees have joined CareWorks in Dublij and, over the next year, likely will be joinedc by five to 10 hires, Cameron said.
Thoses jobs likely will pay between $70,000 and $100,00p0 a year. While Mazotas is joinint CareWorks, he does so as a consultant. His primarh focus will be on his nextventurer – . Mazotas is building OnGuard around a behavioralo analysis security tool that flags suspicious patterns that could harm acomputer network. A patent is being sought on the technology, Mazotas and CareWorks Technologies has invested in thenew business. By the time the producg is ready for general release in Mazotas hopes to havea 25- to 30-worker Mazotas hopes he will be telling a similard story a year from now.
“Ity just goes to show that littlw guys can have ahome run,” he “Even in this economy.”