Celebrating 50 Years of Success by Prioritizing People First
June 9th, 2025 by admin
Award-Winning MTSP Attributes Longevity, Innovation, and Growth to Relationships Above All Else
CONCORD, CA ‐ ATS, a leading managed technology services provider (MTSP) is proud to celebrate its 50th Company Anniversary, marking five decades of innovation, adaptability, and unwavering commitment to people. From its humble beginnings providing telecommunications-related services to becoming a trusted technology advisor offering a full-suite of cybersecurity, cloud services, network management, infrastructure and cabling, business phones, unified communications and advisory services for growing enterprises, ATS credits its success to one key focus: relationships first, everything else second.
In recent years, small to midsized businesses (SMBs) have been coming to MTSPs in droves. With every business searching for new ways to enhance their operational efficiency, foster collaboration amongst teams, protect client data from cyberthreats, or scale profitably, at the end of the day, SMBs need a partner who’s willing to take ownership of their IT strategy. Founded on the core belief that longterm partnerships outlast any one technology trend, ATS Communications has evolved alongside the ever-shifting tech landscape—from hardware-based phone systems in the ‘80s and ‘90s to cloud communications and advanced IT solutions in today’s modern workplace. Through it all, the company’s North Star has remained the same: put people first and the rest will take care of itself.
“We’ve seen so many vendors come and go over the years. We’ve seen the industry change as quickly as the tools businesses rely on shift. With AI, this is only happening faster, but what’s stayed the same is our belief that if you take care of people — your team and your clients — the success will follow,” said Sanford Gladding, President of ATS. ATS has had three separate owners over its existence. The current ownership consisting of Sanford Gladding, President, Tom Klosterman, COO and Maggie Tristan, CFO, have an average tenure of 27 years with the company. Each began their careers as young professionals at ATS and grew into their roles by listening, collaborating, and growing each of their respective teams by building individual’s expertise and earning their trust, along with heeding mentorship from former owner John Zeller.
“We’ve never been big on micromanagement or quotas,” they added. “We share a clear and focused vision and mission and provide the tools and resources for each team member to do their job, then get out of our employees’ way. They’re the ones solving problems and engaging clients every day — and we trust them to lead,” added Gladding. That trust has paid off.
ATS has constantly been a leader in the markets they serve and have been regularly recognized by strategic partners for their overall success dating back to the early 1990s. Their recognition and success continue today. This year, ATS Communications took home two prestigious awards at the Technology Assurance Group (TAG) Convention which is an national convention comprised of some of the leading minds in managed technology services, as it is an international organization of independently owned MTSPs collectively representing over $1B in products/services. At the event they won:
- Tech Innovator of the Year (by Monjour) – Recognizing ATS for leading-edge technical solutions and internal process innovation.
- Outstanding Financial Achievement (by TAG) – Celebrating ATS’s significant growth in recurring revenue, demonstrating its financial strength, relationship structured pricing model and long-term viability.
These accolades reflect a core company philosophy: financial performance and technical innovation are byproducts of the same thing, understanding your client’s business and setting them up for success.
“We were offering a fractional CTO approach before it was mainstream,” commented Tom Klosterman, COO of ATS. “We’ve always believed our role is to help business leaders make informed, strategic decisions—at every stage of their growth. Instead of selling various endpoint solutions, we want to know about your vision over the next 2-5 years for where you’re taking the company and then we can customize your tech stack to give you every possible advantage over your competitors.”
ATS’s approach to client service is consultative and rooted in education. Instead of pushing technology for technology’s sake, they focus on how it will boost efficiency, streamline operations, or create a real competitive advantage. One such example is AI, as virtually every business is looking for ways to harness AI’s power. Klosterman added, “Our expertise is in advising other organizations on how to scale using technology. Obviously, AI has completely changed the game, but clients want to know if and how AI can improve their business so we talk at a level that impacts their daily business and not at the level read in the headlines; that’s where we can add tremendous value.”
But perhaps what truly sets ATS apart is their internal culture—a team-first environment grounded in humility, open collaboration, respect and dignity. Employees are regularly encouraged to share their ideas on how to solve problems and their feedback shapes everything from service delivery to internal systems. “Ownership success is a function of our employees’ daily input,” commented Maggie Tristan, CFO of ATS. “We’ve been so fortunate to attract such skillful, committed and exemplary talent to our team and that’s the core reason why our clients keep sticking with us. They know that our strategic technology plans, aren’t just lip service. Our team lays out the path and our clients make decisions along the way, to ensure they’re growing and thriving. It’s just the way we operate.”
As ATS Communications celebrates 50 years in business, the milestone is less about age and more about impact. With a steady focus on human relationships, long-term thinking, and servant leadership, ATS has proven that the companies that listen hardest and care most will always have a competitive edge, regardless of new trends.
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