Case Study

Atera

Establishing new, competitive differentiation.

Program
Industry
Technology
Stage
Growth

When did IT stop being about possibility—and start being about printers?

When did IT stop being about possibility—and start being about printers?

Over the past decade, IT teams quietly powered the digital transformation of every sector. But that success came with a cost. More tools meant more tickets. More software meant more slowdowns. IT professionals—the same ones who once built computers after school just for fun—found themselves buried in a queue of reactive busywork.

“Why won’t this app install?”
“Can you reset my login?”
“I can’t connect to the server…”

This wasn’t what they signed up for. And it’s not the role they should be stuck in.

Atera, a fast-growing SaaS platform helping IT teams manage and fix systems remotely, saw a better future. One where IT could stop putting out fires—and start lighting the way forward.

In a space where most IT tools were locked in a features race, Atera wanted to break out by building something bigger: a new kind of platform powered by AI.

Rather than just fix what’s broken, Atera would help IT teams anticipate problems before they surfaced. Automate what bogged them down. And free them to do the kind of strategic, systems-thinking work that drew them to tech in the first place.

They asked COLLINS to help articulate that future—and build a brand to lead it.

We started by listening. Not just to execs, but to the people in the trenches. What we heard was clear: a deep well of untapped ambition. IT people didn’t choose this career to reset passwords. They chose it to solve hard problems. To tinker. To build. To push technology forward.

With that insight, we partnered with Atera to redefine the company from the inside out.

We clarified its positioning as a category leader, not just a tool provider. We sharpened its narrative to reflect the pride, potential, and purpose of modern IT professionals. And we built a new brand system to signal clarity, momentum, and a new era of leadership.

What emerged was a brand no longer defined by its features—but by its future. A brand built for the builders behind the scenes.

Atera became the flagbearer for a new age of AI-powered IT—where the people who keep businesses running can finally get back to moving them forward.

COLLINS
L.A. CorrallGeorge LavenderAntonia LazarMadeleine CarrucanTed GuerreroSpencer GervasoniJan Estrada-Osmycki
Atera
Gil PekelanNoa MesserYoav MachlinTomer Inbar

Augments

Augments are add-on components or properties that enhance a design system’s performance. They introduce new capabilities, expand functionality and improve how the system works across contexts.

Augments

Augments are add-on components or properties that enhance a design system’s performance. They introduce new capabilities, expand functionality and improve how the system works across contexts.

Verbal System

A component augment that synchronizes language, tone and storytelling across all applications. By blending copywriting and UX principles, it ensures the brand voice is consistent, powerful and resonant across touch points.

Custom Icon System

Structured like code, our custom icons act as visual syntax—modular, grid-based and node-connected—signaling logic, flow and function across a system built for interoperability and scalable interaction.

Custom Typeface

Atera's custom typeface blends brutalist geometry with modular engineering. Its cut angles and monospaced cues echo circuit design—structured, functional and built for clarity in complex digital environments.

Impact

2x

Growth in Customer Base

Atera grew from 5,000 to 12,000+ customers, surpassing growth benchmarks and expanding its footprint.

Elevated Brand Narrative

Shifted from a feature-driven SaaS brand to a mission-led platform brand, increasing relevance with CIOs and enterprise buyers.

Increased Go-to-Market Clarity

Clarified Atera’s value to both technical and non-technical buyers, helping marketing and sales align around a singular message.

Escaped the Feature Arms Race

Moved Atera out of the crowded MSP tool category and into a differentiated white space defined by intelligence, not checklists.