"I got to live that pain."

Shaun Webber spent 25 years in MSPs.

Built a cloud managed service business. Exited it.

Then went and built the thing he'd spent two decades wishing existed.

New Pitch IT episode on The Vendor Blender ☕🎸

Here's what stuck with me:

The playbook. Right now, running critical cloud infrastructure means very expensive, very experienced humans — cloud ops, DevOps, architects — armed with their own tools and their own scripts. Some of it proactive. Most of it reactive. Sound familiar?

Bottom-up, not top-down. Shaun's clear this isn't application performance monitoring. It's not watching the app and working backwards. It's asking whether you're consuming the infrastructure properly in the first place.

The autonomy ladder. Today: here's what happened, here's why, here's the playbook.

Next: here are the actions. Eventually: it just does it — if you decide you trust it. That last bit's the interesting one, isn't it?

And the honest one. He's not selling AI as magic. He's selling it as margin. Because the question every MSP owner should be asking is what clients will still pay for in three years' time.

He also splits MSPs into three types — traditional, native, and sprinter. Have a listen and work out which one you are. 👀

Me: tea. Shaun: coffee, and refreshingly honest about the machine it comes out of.

We have a spin-off series under the Vendor Blender Podcast series.

In this exciting episode, we dive deeper into what the Pitch IT program is all about.

We get to know a bit more about the VP of IT Nation Communities - Sean Lardo.

We will be interviewing the 2026 cohort of Pitch IT 2026.

We also cover off a bit about sports and tune in to also find out which track Sean adds to our Vendor Blender Spotify playlist.

PitchIT is ConnectWise's accelerator for MSP-space startups — a 16-week business transformation programme covering everything from sales and marketing to product security, fundraising and pitch-building.

The top three finalists pitch live to thousands of MSPs at IT Nation Connect Global, competing for $100,000 in prize money (a prize, not an investment — no strings attached).

But as past cohorts attest, the bigger payoff is the exposure: marketplace presence, co-marketing, and a credibility boost that drives real traffic, leads and demo requests.

Recent themes — AI-enabled operations, automation-first workflows, security-driven delivery — show exactly where the channel is heading.

These will be short 15-minute episodes where we get to know a bit about the person and the product/services they have created.

All around our magic mix of getting to know the people behind the tooling.

I can't wait, we have some exciting soundbites to bring your way,

Run Rob Run! 🔥

I’m thrilled to announce that the real-life Forrest Gump himself, Rob Pope, is joining me on the Business Insights Podcast!

This guy doesn’t just run ultra distances… he redefines them.

Here are just a few of the questions I threw his way:

How many miles can you squeeze out of a pair of trainers?
What’s the biggest challenge he’s had to overcome?
How on earth do you prepare for something this extreme?

And trust me — that’s just scratching the surface. This episode is packed with incredible stories, insights, and a dose of pure inspiration.

I first met Rob in person at the YorCyberSec conference in Leeds last year, and after hearing his journey, I knew instantly: he has to be on the podcast.

As always, he also adds his music pick to the Spotify Playlist Wall of Fame 🎶 — and it’s a good one.

Landing on your favourite podcast platform very soon. Stay tuned!

In this episode of Business Insights, Paul Croker interviews Aaron Fletcher, the commercial manager of the MSP show and a former member of the band The Bees.

They discuss Aaron's journey in the music industry, his experiences with The Bees, including their influences, songwriting process, and the challenges of recording and touring.

Aaron shares insights on networking within the music industry, the significance of their Mercury Prize nomination, and his current project—a documentary about The Bees.

The conversation highlights the importance of authenticity, creativity, and community in both music and business.

Tune in and listen to pick up on which music track Aaron adds to the infamous Spotify playlist.

In this episode of The Business Insights Podcast, Paul catches up with Carrie Green of Can IT Con and also sits on the elected board as a director at GTIA.

Paul and Carrie discuss a mixture of topics, conferences, GTIA, Growth mindset, Reflecting on your "Why", Sharing who you are and being comfortable with being you.

There is a great quote from Carrie here, too

"There is room at every table; we just need to add more chairs"

This shows how we can be inclusive, pulling more people into the conversation and learning more from each other.

Carrie tells Paul something that people may not know about her, and also tells Paul what her music track is for the infamous Spotify playlist that accompanies this series - Go and check that out too.

We also want to hear from you, the listener, so please do interact on this where you can across the social media platforms, or drop Paul and Carrie a message on LinkedIn

Takeaways

• Great things don't happen from comfort zones.
• We need to push ourselves out of our comfort zones.
• No one wants you to fail; they want you to succeed.
• Learning is a two-way street; we all have something to share.
• Diverse backgrounds in technology enrich discussions.
• Collaboration leads to better outcomes in IT.
• Everyone has a unique perspective to offer.
• Sharing viewpoints can lead to new insights.
• Working together is essential in the tech industry.
• Embracing different routes in technology fosters innovation.

Hey, we are back!

In this episode of Vendor Blender, Paul Croker sits down with James Griffin, CEO of CyberSentriq, to explore the evolving landscape of the Managed Service Provider (MSP) market.

Discover how the merger of Redstor and TitanHQ into CyberSentriq aims to address the convergence of backup and cybersecurity, a critical challenge for MSPs today.

James shares insights on navigating vendor consolidation, maintaining service quality, and the importance of cultural alignment in mergers.

Tune in to learn about the opportunities for MSPs to enhance their service offerings and the strategic moves CyberSentriq is making to become a leading player in the industry.

Also, hear which music track James adds to the Spotify playlist and why he added it.

Join in the conversation, does something resonate, maybe you have a question.

Comment on social media, or reach out to us on LinkedIn, search for our names, we'd love to hear from you.

So, let's dive in and hear what James has to say.

In this instalment, Paul Croker sits down with the CISO who has to look after cybersecurity for a Saas platform..

Paul was able to grab some time with rockstar CISO Patrick Beggs at the recent IT Nation Community event, which took place in London.

We talked a bit about the tech a bit, and went back in time to hear some of the cool things that Patrick has been involved with and where it's brought him today.

We talked about the human elements at play here; we talked about frameworks GDPR, NIST, for example.

Yes, AI is featured too, along with some cool insights into the person that is Patrick. We hear about the exciting developments with his family, which covers American Football, Rugby and WWE! - You gotta listen to see how we got to these topics!

Also tuned in to see what track Patrick added to our Spotify playlist for Business Insights.

The American Nightmare or The American Dream - #WWE 

Get in touch and let us know what you think of this. Who will Paul chat with next?

It's not every day you get to talk with the EVP of a multinational organisation and get the chance to ask them questions that differ from the normal ones asked.

Paul Croker was fortunate to get some time with Peter Kujawa of IT Nation and Connectwise.

We talked on the following topics

• Event Overview of IT Nation
• Peter’s Role at IT Nation & ConnectWise
• Community Events and MSPs
• Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing
• Senior Leadership’s Involvement
• Company Culture
• Event Changes and Future Plans for IT Nation
• Personal Touch – Music Recommendation

You definitely want to hear what Peter had to say with Paul and listen out for his music track he added to the Spotify Playlist that accompanies the Business Insight Podcast series.

In this episode of the Vendor Blender podcast, Paul Croker speaks with Dan Boddington from RedStor about the importance of backing up Entra ID, Microsoft's cloud version of Active Directory. They discuss the emerging risks associated with cloud infrastructure, the complexities of setting up and restoring backups, and real-world use cases that highlight the necessity of this backup solution. The conversation emphasizes the critical role of Entra ID in organizational security and the need for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to consider this backup as part of their offerings.

• "What is Entra ID Backup and why do we need it?"
• "It's a new emerging risk in a business."
• "It's a hidden piece of infrastructure."

Nigel Moore, founder of the tech tribe, shares his journey in the tech space and the lessons he learned along the way.

He discusses the challenges faced by MSPs, such as pricing and packaging plans, and how he wrote a book to help others avoid the mistakes he made.

Nigel emphasizes the importance of self-belief and surrounding oneself with the right people, whether it's through peer groups or finding the right business coach.

He also highlights the unique and supportive nature of the MSP industry. In this conversation, Nigel and Paul discuss the importance of personal growth and mindset in the MSP industry.

They explore the challenges of breaking out of their comfort zones and making changes in their business and personal lives. Nigel shares his journey of overcoming limiting beliefs and the power of incremental changes.

They also discuss the value of providing quality services and the importance of balancing work and personal life. Nigel highlights the impact of volunteering and helping others as a way to find balance and fulfilment.

The conversation concludes with a discussion about the upcoming ScaleCon event in Vegas (which took place back in 2024)

Also, listen and find out which music track Nigel adds to our Spotify Playlist which accompanies the Business Insights Podcast see a link in the comments below.