![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Rolex-10-Year-Winners.jpg\")
Nestled along the shores of Lake Michigan, some 30 miles north of the Windy City, sits Lake Forest, Illinois, home to Impact Networking. When he launched the company from the confines of his basement in 1999, founder Frank Cucco didn\u2019t have a Jordan or Pippen among his staff of four people. But he had audacious goals, vowing to one day reach the $30 million plateau\u2014quite the tall order in such a competitive market. Cucco didn\u2019t reach $30 million, however; he blew right past it and struck the $100 million mark by 2017. With the help of his fellow founders, which included longtime president Dan Meyer, Cucco was able to carve out a name for himself and embarked on a quest to become one of the nation\u2019s preeminent managed IT providers. Mission accomplished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In early 2025, the company announced that Cucco, who was CEO, and Meyer were moving upstairs to start Impact\u2019s board of directors. In their shoes stepped Mike Lepper as CEO and Anthony Cucco as COO. As Impact now sits at approximately $200 million in revenue, the road to becoming a billion-dollar company falls to the new leadership regime. Lepper is no neophyte, having joined the dealership as a sales rep in 2010 before scaling to executive vice president and partner prior to last year\u2019s elevation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The young guns have plenty of growth tools at their disposal. Impact carries the Kyocera, Ricoh and Konica Minolta lines. Among its offerings, managed marketing has sparked the company with 18% growth, followed by managed IT and cybersecurity at 14%. The dealer has made major inroads with artificial intelligence (AI) and early results indicate Impact is poised to enjoy significant revenue infusion in working with verticals including manufacturing, construction, accounting, law firms and healthcare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Separation Strategy<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest changes in Lepper\u2019s leadership tenure was separating the print division from the dealer\u2019s managed services in 2025. Some employees lived in both worlds, but many of the managed services folks didn\u2019t know the print business. So as individuals \u201cworked in their swim lanes,\u201d as Lepper termed it, new hires were brought in for both divisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The foundational shift provided its share of challenges. But like any good coach, Lepper was able to make some halftime adjustments, so to speak. On the strength of a fertile pipeline, December marked the best sales month in company history. Sales continued to soar through the first half of 2026, and the improvements were drastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDosing change appropriately has been one of the biggest takeaways,\u201d Lepper said. \u201cThe best change on paper still causes disruption among your employees. I think we were trying to move too fast, and we missed a few things, but it all provided valuable learning experiences. Change is about getting the right people in the right seat on the bus and allowing them to move things forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a dealer that thrives off making technology work, Impact has maintained a leading position in the realm of AI, both internally and client-facing. In-house, it\u2019s used for the print and managed services divisions. From automating meter reads and recording data to aggregating managed IT tickets, Impact has been able to eliminate thousands of hours from its own staff\u2019s plate while ensuring clients need not trouble themselves with data handling. Sales leverages AI for scripting, more polished communication strategies and as a research tool. Standard departments including AP\/AR and purchasing also benefit from the ability to automate and remove time-consuming elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Selling AI is a compelling opportunity. Lepper notes Impact was able to hammer out a significant six-figure accord with a major insurance client. In tandem with managed IT and cybersecurity, the opportunity is there for Impact to make major inroads from a sales perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOutsourcing IT is big, and cyber still has a sexy sizzle to it, but AI is what everyone\u2019s talking about,\u201d Lepper said. \u201cIt\u2019s the next greatest thing out there. What we need to do is thread those three services together in a conversation. It might be tough to sell all three solutions at once, but people get excited at the mention of AI. Most people don\u2019t realize AI is built into IT and cybersecurity solutions. We\u2019ll spend the rest of 2026 focusing on our go-to-market plan and positioning ourselves to get these larger opportunities, because they\u2019re everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI Potential<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Considering that Impact\u2019s managed services business billowed to the $100 million revenue mark in 10 short years, AI will play a pivotal role moving forward by optimizing the service department. The aforementioned ticket aggregation, voice agent support and ticket routing will ease growth pain via labor reduction. Providing world-class customer experience, Lepper notes, is the company\u2019s North Star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Managed IT, cybersecurity and AI all have their caveats surrounding data protection and, particularly in the case of AI, the need to develop corporate policy on acceptable usage. This is especially true as a growing percentage of American workers are actively leveraging AI for personal use, not merely using applications that incorporate AI into the technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lepper believes the company has been judicious in its pace of adoption; if anything, the dealer could\u2019ve been more aggressive with it in 2025. But considering the degree of change via the separation of hardware and solutions and the challenges he alluded to, plus bolstering the customer experience, reorganizing service delivery, adding a new professional services automation tool for the IT department and implementing a new ERP system, it\u2019s difficult to fathom Impact being more aggressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom a training perspective, our people are getting a better understanding of how to take this product to market and how we can push things faster,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the same time, we need to continue to deliver on customer expectations. These solutions aren\u2019t a set-it-and-forget it proposition; they\u2019re ongoing services and [the situation] calls for a more consultative sale.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the signature events Impact hosts each year is its Cybersecurity Summit, a series of educational presentations held several times a year in various regions across the country. The upcoming meeting is slated for Sept. 16 at its Indianapolis offices, on the heels of its June headquarters event. These gatherings allow the dealer to flex its subject matter expertise and further demonstrate its commitment to remaining a preeminent service provider. Lepper notes the show has migrated to being geared more toward C-suite executives, which calls for a decidedly different conversation than an in-the-trenches cybersecurity manager. However, the June presentation appealed to both: a morning tutorial with corner execs followed by an afternoon product workshop. While education is foremost, Lepper said the dealership was able to close a few deals as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n League Leader<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As an acknowledged leader in the managed IT realm (its SMEs pen a quarterly column, \u201cImpact of IT,\u201d for this publication), Impact is tasked with remaining ahead of the curve, regardless of whether the topic is AI, cybersecurity or\u2014more recently\u2014quantum computing. It\u2019s a matter of constantly delivering on the world-class service proposition and proffering the optimal solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFirst and foremost, we\u2019ve got to be educators and leaders in this industry,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve always tried to be on the cutting edge of everything that\u2019s going on from a technology perspective, making sure our stack is the best of all breeds and that we can support it appropriately. We can get some good data points and deliver a world-class customer experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although this month\u2019s State of the Industry report is on diversification, it\u2019s hard to imagine Impact evaluating any other possible product or service offerings when it already possesses such a robust catalog. But one of the more fascinating hidden gems is its virtual production studio services. It\u2019s heavily used internally to help connect Impact\u2019s 24 offices across seven states, whether it\u2019s for Lepper or Anthony Cucco to craft State-of-the-Union-type addresses or for developing sales and marketing go-to-market strategies. It also helps support Impact\u2019s growing managed marketing department while enabling clients to execute professional-grade productions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While unlikely at this point, Lepper would never rule out any offering that dovetails with the company\u2019s technical and service proficiencies, from cybersecurity to AI and marketing. \u201cI think we\u2019ve got a pretty full plate as of now,\u201d he offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Impact\u2019s been active in the M&A space over the years, although growth by acquisition hasn\u2019t been a priority. Prior to the agreement Lepper made earlier this year with Alltura Solutions to join the fold and rebrand as ImpactWest, one of the dealer\u2019s most recent pickups was the 2021 addition of Quality Assured Office Machines, which became Impact Northeast Wisconsin. Alltura, founded by former Pacific Office Automation executive Eric Pitassi, is working as an independent company while using Impact Networking\u2019s infrastructure to support MIT, cybersecurity and AI customers like a channel relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ll probably explore more of these partnership-type opportunities that will get us more feet on the street to sell our products or services we can actually support because we have the infrastructure built,\u201d Lepper said. \u201cWe\u2019ll look at the financials on a business, but we haven\u2019t really seen anything that\u2019s caught our eye or made sense (to acquire).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The big three offerings\u2014managed IT, cybersecurity and AI\u2014will certainly provide some of the more optimal opportunities. Managed IT is an oversaturated market\u2014a definite red ocean scenario according to Lepper\u2014but Impact\u2019s foothold and ability to maintain top-notch service will help fend off the sharks. Cybersecurity skews more blue ocean, he added, while most companies still have an immature AI posture. Being able to learn from the AI practices it\u2019s implemented internally will help bring a compelling talk track to prospects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Focusing on blocking and tackling while employing a customer-first mantra will be the order for Impact as it pushes forward. Adding new logos to the portfolio is always a given, but considering the vast product and service catalog at the sales reps\u2019 disposal, cross- selling\u2014an area of deficiency for many dealers\u2014could yield significant growth. And Lepper impresses upon his account execs to be mindful of keeping existing clients happy and engaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next-Gen Development<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Keeping existing team members equally happy and engaged plays no small role in the organization. For years, the Impact Leadership Institute has been pivotal in developing current and future leaders, managers and rank-and-file workers. In the last 18 months, however, the dealer has leaned on third-party instruction that goes beyond company learning. One of its biggest partners is Northwestern University\u2019s Kellogg School of Management. Lepper points out that many of the school\u2019s professors ran multi-billion-dollar organizations, and that level of hands-on knowledge complements Impact\u2019s internal classroom and field training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, Impact leverages the Apex Learning Management System platform to help team members chart their goals, track their performance and access various learning materials. Users can also earn certifications through the system. The home-grown talent is vital, as having a world-class technology component isn\u2019t possible without having the proper personnel to convey the company\u2019s value proposition effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve made a lot of changes, and we\u2019ve shook up the staff quite a bit,\u201d Lepper said. \u201cFor a business our size, you need to keep bringing in the next generation, those people who are going to level up the company. We\u2019ll be continuing to improve upon it as we grow.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" To live in the shadows of Chicago is to know the city\u2019s rich history of legendary sports coaches and managers. Phil Jackson led the NBA Bulls to six titles. Mike Ditka guided the Bears to a Super Bowl title in 1985 and became a cultural icon. Even before Iron Mike, George Halas was an NFL legend in the coaching ranks\u2014the NFC championship trophy is named in his honor. Joe Maddon famously ended the Cubbies\u2019 108-year drought with a World Series win in 2016. Replacing these (or any) leadership immortals, as one might guess, can be a daunting task. Oftentimes, the standards they set are impossibly high, and the expectations for their successors are rarely met. Fair or not, the shadows these larger-than-life personas cast are impossible to escape. Nestled along the shores of Lake Michigan, some 30 miles north of the Windy City, sits Lake Forest, Illinois, home to Impact Networking. When he launched the company from the confines of his basement in 1999, founder Frank Cucco didn\u2019t have a Jordan or Pippen among his staff of four people. But he had audacious goals, vowing to one day reach the $30 million plateau\u2014quite the tall order in such a competitive market. Cucco didn\u2019t reach $30 million, however; he blew right past it and struck the $100 million mark by 2017. With the help of his fellow founders, which included longtime president Dan Meyer, Cucco was able to carve out a name for himself and embarked on a quest to become one of the nation\u2019s preeminent managed IT providers. Mission accomplished. In early 2025, the company announced that Cucco, who was CEO, and Meyer were moving upstairs to start Impact\u2019s board of directors. In their shoes stepped Mike Lepper as CEO and Anthony Cucco as COO. As Impact now sits at approximately $200 million in revenue, the road to becoming a billion-dollar company falls to the new leadership regime. Lepper is no neophyte, having joined the dealership as a sales rep in 2010 before scaling to executive vice president and partner prior to last year\u2019s elevation. The young guns have plenty of growth tools at their disposal. Impact carries the Kyocera, Ricoh and Konica Minolta lines. Among its offerings, managed marketing has sparked the company with 18% growth, followed by managed IT and cybersecurity at 14%. The dealer has made major inroads with artificial intelligence (AI) and early results indicate Impact is poised to enjoy significant revenue infusion in working with verticals including manufacturing, construction, accounting, law firms and healthcare. Separation Strategy One of the biggest changes in Lepper\u2019s leadership tenure was separating the print division from the dealer\u2019s managed services in 2025. Some employees lived in both worlds, but many of the managed services folks didn\u2019t know the print business. So as individuals \u201cworked in their swim lanes,\u201d as Lepper termed it, new hires were brought in for both divisions. The foundational shift provided its share of challenges. But like any good coach, Lepper was able to make some halftime adjustments, so to speak. On the strength of a fertile pipeline, December marked the best sales month in company history. Sales continued to soar through the first half of 2026, and the improvements were drastic. \u201cDosing change appropriately has been one of the biggest takeaways,\u201d Lepper said. \u201cThe best change on paper still causes disruption among your employees. I think we were trying to move too fast, and we missed a few things, but it all provided valuable learning experiences. Change is about getting the right people in the right seat on the bus and allowing them to move things forward.\u201d As a dealer that thrives off making technology work, Impact has maintained a leading position in the realm of AI, both internally and client-facing. In-house, it\u2019s used for the print and managed services divisions. From automating meter reads and recording data to aggregating managed IT tickets, Impact has been able to eliminate thousands of hours from its own staff\u2019s plate while ensuring clients need not trouble themselves with data handling. Sales leverages AI for scripting, more polished communication strategies and as a research tool. Standard departments including AP\/AR and purchasing also benefit from the ability to automate and remove time-consuming elements. Selling AI is a compelling opportunity. Lepper notes Impact was able to hammer out a significant six-figure accord with a major insurance client. In tandem with managed IT and cybersecurity, the opportunity is there for Impact to make major inroads from a sales perspective. \u201cOutsourcing IT is big, and cyber still has a sexy sizzle to it, but AI is what everyone\u2019s talking about,\u201d Lepper said. \u201cIt\u2019s the next greatest thing out there. What we need to do is thread those three services together in a conversation. It might be tough to sell all three solutions at once, but people get excited at the mention of AI. Most people don\u2019t realize AI is built into IT and cybersecurity solutions. We\u2019ll spend the rest of 2026 focusing on our go-to-market plan and positioning ourselves to get these larger opportunities, because they\u2019re everywhere.\u201d AI Potential Considering that Impact\u2019s managed services business billowed to the $100 million revenue mark in 10 short years, AI will play a pivotal role moving forward by optimizing the service department. The aforementioned ticket aggregation, voice agent support and ticket routing will ease growth pain via labor reduction. Providing world-class customer experience, Lepper notes, is the company\u2019s North Star. Managed IT, cybersecurity and AI all have their caveats surrounding data protection and, particularly in the case of AI, the need to develop corporate policy on acceptable usage. This is especially true as a growing percentage of American workers are actively leveraging AI for personal use, not merely using applications that incorporate AI into the technology. Lepper believes the company has been judicious in its pace of adoption; if anything, the dealer could\u2019ve been more aggressive with it in 2025. But considering the degree of change via the separation of hardware and solutions and the challenges he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1643],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70257"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70257"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70267,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70257\/revisions\/70267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Executive-Cybersecurity-Summit.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Q2-Impact-Live.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Managing-Leading-wImpact.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Mexico-ACS.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Grilling-2025.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Impact-Fuel-Room.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Kellogg-Management-Train-Prog.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Battle-of-Bands1.jpg\")