Business of Tech: Daily MSP News & IT Services Analysis

By MSP Radio, Dave Sobel, Managed Service Provider (MSP) Industry AnalystBusiness News Technology Tech News Management

Business of Tech: Daily MSP News & IT Services Analysis episodes

October 31, 2020 What a K Shaped Recovery Means for Tech Services Companies
Let’s talk about the recovery.

Here’s the question I was asked. “What does a K shaped recovery looks like? Our industry, and a few others, while not unaffected, have many of us prospering while our neighbors may be unemployed (though I still think jobless rates are no worse than some previous non-recessions times) or underemployed. I would be curious on your thoughts on how this plays out not only economically for us, but socially."

This episode is Dave's answer.
About Business of Tech: The daily MSP news and analysis podcast for managed service providers and IT services leaders. Host Dave Sobel covers AI for MSPs, MSP pricing and profitability, MSP M&A and private equity, vendor partner programs, MSP cybersecurity and liability, and MSP operations — and answers the question every story raises: Why do we care? Produced by MSP Radio.
💼 All Our Sponsors
MSP Radio is supported by our partners:

ABC Solutions · CometBackup · Firetail · Guardz · HaloPSA · LogMeIn · Mailprotector · Pax8 · Rythmz · ScalePad · TimeZest · Transit AI

Supporting the IT services community through insights, analysis, and transparency.

🚀 Join Business of Tech Plus
Get exclusive access to investigative reports, vendor analysis, leadership briefings, and more.
👉 https://businessof.tech/plus

🎧 Subscribe to the Business of Tech
Want the show on your favorite podcast app or prefer the written versions of each story?
📲 https://www.businessof.tech/subscribe

📰 Story Links & Sources
Looking for the links from today’s stories?
Every episode script — with full source links — is posted at:
🌐 https://www.businessof.tech

🎙 Want to Be a Guest?
Pitch your story or appear on Business of Tech: Daily MSP News & IT Services Analysis
💬 https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/businessoftech

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Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
9 min
October 31, 2020 What a K Shaped Recovery Means for Tech Services Companies
Let’s talk about the recovery.

Here’s the question I was asked. “What does a K shaped recovery looks like? Our industry, and a few others, while not unaffected, have many of us prospering while our neighbors may be unemployed (though I still think jobless rates are no worse than some previous non-recessions times) or underemployed. I would be curious on your thoughts on how this plays out not only economically for us, but socially."

This episode is Dave's answer.
9 min
October 30, 2020Fri Oct 30 2020: Politics, Distribution users outperform, and the No-Code Generation
Three things to know today

Politics or not in tech businesses

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/technology/politics-tech-start-ups-culture-war.html

Those who leveraged distribution outperform

https://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/ingram-micro-cfo-partners-who-used-financing-seeing-outstanding-growth?itc=refresh

AND

The No-Code generation is coming

https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/26/the-no-code-generation-is-arriving/
About Business of Tech: The daily MSP news and analysis podcast for managed service providers and IT services leaders. Host Dave Sobel covers AI for MSPs, MSP pricing and profitability, MSP M&A and private equity, vendor partner programs, MSP cybersecurity and liability, and MSP operations — and answers the question every story raises: Why do we care? Produced by MSP Radio.
💼 All Our Sponsors
MSP Radio is supported by our partners:

ABC Solutions · CometBackup · Firetail · Guardz · HaloPSA · LogMeIn · Mailprotector · Pax8 · Rythmz · ScalePad · TimeZest · Transit AI

Supporting the IT services community through insights, analysis, and transparency.

🚀 Join Business of Tech Plus
Get exclusive access to investigative reports, vendor analysis, leadership briefings, and more.
👉 https://businessof.tech/plus

🎧 Subscribe to the Business of Tech
Want the show on your favorite podcast app or prefer the written versions of each story?
📲 https://www.businessof.tech/subscribe

📰 Story Links & Sources
Looking for the links from today’s stories?
Every episode script — with full source links — is posted at:
🌐 https://www.businessof.tech

🎙 Want to Be a Guest?
Pitch your story or appear on Business of Tech: Daily MSP News & IT Services Analysis
💬 https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/businessoftech

🔗 Follow Business of Tech

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28908079
YouTube: https://youtube.com/mspradio
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/businessof.tech
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mspradio
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@businessoftech
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mspradionews

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
6 min
October 30, 2020Fri Oct 30 2020: Politics, Distribution users outperform, and the No-Code Generation
Three things to know today

Politics or not in tech businesses

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/technology/politics-tech-start-ups-culture-war.html

Those who leveraged distribution outperform

https://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/ingram-micro-cfo-partners-who-used-financing-seeing-outstanding-growth?itc=refresh

AND

The No-Code generation is coming

https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/26/the-no-code-generation-is-arriving/
💼 All Our Sponsors
Support the vendors who support the show:
👉 https://businessof.tech/sponsors/

🚀 Join Business of Tech Plus
Get exclusive access to investigative reports, vendor analysis, leadership briefings, and more.
👉 https://businessof.tech/plus

🎧 Subscribe to the Business of Tech
Want the show on your favorite podcast app or prefer the written versions of each story?
📲 https://www.businessof.tech/subscribe

📰 Story Links & Sources
Looking for the links from today’s stories?
Every episode script — with full source links — is posted at:
🌐 https://www.businessof.tech

🎙 Want to Be a Guest?
Pitch your story or appear on Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services Insights:
💬 https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/businessoftech

🔗 Follow Business of Tech

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28908079
YouTube: https://youtube.com/mspradio
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/businessof.tech
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mspradio
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@businessoftech
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mspradionews

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
6 min
October 29, 2020Thu Oct 29 2020: Data Privacy predictions, hospitals under siege, and Teams + Platform
Three things to know today

Forrester’s 2021 global data privacy predictions

https://www.channelpartnerinsight.com/news/4022421/predictions-privacy-2021-–-forrester

Hospitals under siege

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/hospitals-being-hit-in-coordinated-targeted-ransomware-attack-from-russian-speaking-criminals/2020/10/28/e6e48c38-196e-11eb-befb-8864259bd2d8_story.html

AND

Teams growth, and the platform play

https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/27/21537286/microsoft-teams-115-million-daily-active-users-stats

https://www.geekwire.com/2020/microsoft-teams-hits-115m-users-heres-satya-nadella-excited-platform/
About Business of Tech: The daily MSP news and analysis podcast for managed service providers and IT services leaders. Host Dave Sobel covers AI for MSPs, MSP pricing and profitability, MSP M&A and private equity, vendor partner programs, MSP cybersecurity and liability, and MSP operations — and answers the question every story raises: Why do we care? Produced by MSP Radio.
💼 All Our Sponsors
MSP Radio is supported by our partners:

ABC Solutions · CometBackup · Firetail · Guardz · HaloPSA · LogMeIn · Mailprotector · Pax8 · Rythmz · ScalePad · TimeZest · Transit AI

Supporting the IT services community through insights, analysis, and transparency.

🚀 Join Business of Tech Plus
Get exclusive access to investigative reports, vendor analysis, leadership briefings, and more.
👉 https://businessof.tech/plus

🎧 Subscribe to the Business of Tech
Want the show on your favorite podcast app or prefer the written versions of each story?
📲 https://www.businessof.tech/subscribe

📰 Story Links & Sources
Looking for the links from today’s stories?
Every episode script — with full source links — is posted at:
🌐 https://www.businessof.tech

🎙 Want to Be a Guest?
Pitch your story or appear on Business of Tech: Daily MSP News & IT Services Analysis
💬 https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/businessoftech

🔗 Follow Business of Tech

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28908079
YouTube: https://youtube.com/mspradio
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/businessof.tech
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mspradio
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@businessoftech
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mspradionews

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
6 min
October 29, 2020Thu Oct 29 2020: Data Privacy predictions, hospitals under siege, and Teams + Platform
Three things to know today

Forrester’s 2021 global data privacy predictions

https://www.channelpartnerinsight.com/news/4022421/predictions-privacy-2021-–-forrester

Hospitals under siege

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/hospitals-being-hit-in-coordinated-targeted-ransomware-attack-from-russian-speaking-criminals/2020/10/28/e6e48c38-196e-11eb-befb-8864259bd2d8_story.html

AND

Teams growth, and the platform play

https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/27/21537286/microsoft-teams-115-million-daily-active-users-stats

https://www.geekwire.com/2020/microsoft-teams-hits-115m-users-heres-satya-nadella-excited-platform/
6 min
October 28, 2020Wed Oct 28 2020: The Workforce, Amazon for Business, and Extortion ware in the wild
Three things to know today

Data on changes in the work force

https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-atwork-652d54d5-c191-4a82-8ac3-50432bc1232a.html?chunk=1&utm_term=emshare#story1

Amazon for Business… for integrators

https://www.commercialintegrator.com/blogs/amazon-introduces-pro-portal-for-integrators/

AND

Extortion ware is now in the field

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54692120
About Business of Tech: The daily MSP news and analysis podcast for managed service providers and IT services leaders. Host Dave Sobel covers AI for MSPs, MSP pricing and profitability, MSP M&A and private equity, vendor partner programs, MSP cybersecurity and liability, and MSP operations — and answers the question every story raises: Why do we care? Produced by MSP Radio.
💼 All Our Sponsors
MSP Radio is supported by our partners:

ABC Solutions · CometBackup · Firetail · Guardz · HaloPSA · LogMeIn · Mailprotector · Pax8 · Rythmz · ScalePad · TimeZest · Transit AI

Supporting the IT services community through insights, analysis, and transparency.

🚀 Join Business of Tech Plus
Get exclusive access to investigative reports, vendor analysis, leadership briefings, and more.
👉 https://businessof.tech/plus

🎧 Subscribe to the Business of Tech
Want the show on your favorite podcast app or prefer the written versions of each story?
📲 https://www.businessof.tech/subscribe

📰 Story Links & Sources
Looking for the links from today’s stories?
Every episode script — with full source links — is posted at:
🌐 https://www.businessof.tech

🎙 Want to Be a Guest?
Pitch your story or appear on Business of Tech: Daily MSP News & IT Services Analysis
💬 https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/businessoftech

🔗 Follow Business of Tech

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28908079
YouTube: https://youtube.com/mspradio
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/businessof.tech
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mspradio
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@businessoftech
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mspradionews

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
5 min
October 28, 2020Wed Oct 28 2020: The Workforce, Amazon for Business, and Extortion ware in the wild
Three things to know today

Data on changes in the work force

https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-atwork-652d54d5-c191-4a82-8ac3-50432bc1232a.html?chunk=1&utm_term=emshare#story1

Amazon for Business… for integrators

https://www.commercialintegrator.com/blogs/amazon-introduces-pro-portal-for-integrators/

AND

Extortion ware is now in the field

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54692120
💼 All Our Sponsors
Support the vendors who support the show:
👉 https://businessof.tech/sponsors/

🚀 Join Business of Tech Plus
Get exclusive access to investigative reports, vendor analysis, leadership briefings, and more.
👉 https://businessof.tech/plus

🎧 Subscribe to the Business of Tech
Want the show on your favorite podcast app or prefer the written versions of each story?
📲 https://www.businessof.tech/subscribe

📰 Story Links & Sources
Looking for the links from today’s stories?
Every episode script — with full source links — is posted at:
🌐 https://www.businessof.tech

🎙 Want to Be a Guest?
Pitch your story or appear on Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services Insights:
💬 https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/businessoftech

🔗 Follow Business of Tech

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28908079
YouTube: https://youtube.com/mspradio
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/businessof.tech
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mspradio
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@businessoftech
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mspradionews

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
5 min
October 27, 2020Tue Oct 27 2020: Right to Repair, "Learning Engineers", and Forrester 2021 cybersecurity
Three things to know today

Right to repair

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/23/climate/right-to-repair.html

Some views on education, including learning engineers

https://www.geekwire.com/2020/geekwire-summit-treat-teachers-learning-engineers-insights-future-education/

AND

Forrester on cybersecurity

https://www.channelpartnerinsight.com/news/4022284/predictions-cybersecurity-2021-forrester
About Business of Tech: The daily MSP news and analysis podcast for managed service providers and IT services leaders. Host Dave Sobel covers AI for MSPs, MSP pricing and profitability, MSP M&A and private equity, vendor partner programs, MSP cybersecurity and liability, and MSP operations — and answers the question every story raises: Why do we care? Produced by MSP Radio.
💼 All Our Sponsors
MSP Radio is supported by our partners:

ABC Solutions · CometBackup · Firetail · Guardz · HaloPSA · LogMeIn · Mailprotector · Pax8 · Rythmz · ScalePad · TimeZest · Transit AI

Supporting the IT services community through insights, analysis, and transparency.

🚀 Join Business of Tech Plus
Get exclusive access to investigative reports, vendor analysis, leadership briefings, and more.
👉 https://businessof.tech/plus

🎧 Subscribe to the Business of Tech
Want the show on your favorite podcast app or prefer the written versions of each story?
📲 https://www.businessof.tech/subscribe

📰 Story Links & Sources
Looking for the links from today’s stories?
Every episode script — with full source links — is posted at:
🌐 https://www.businessof.tech

🎙 Want to Be a Guest?
Pitch your story or appear on Business of Tech: Daily MSP News & IT Services Analysis
💬 https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/businessoftech

🔗 Follow Business of Tech

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28908079
YouTube: https://youtube.com/mspradio
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/businessof.tech
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mspradio
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@businessoftech
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mspradionews

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
6 min
October 27, 2020Tue Oct 27 2020: Right to Repair, "Learning Engineers", and Forrester 2021 cybersecurity
Three things to know today

Right to repair

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/23/climate/right-to-repair.html

Some views on education, including learning engineers

https://www.geekwire.com/2020/geekwire-summit-treat-teachers-learning-engineers-insights-future-education/

AND

Forrester on cybersecurity

https://www.channelpartnerinsight.com/news/4022284/predictions-cybersecurity-2021-forrester
💼 All Our Sponsors
Support the vendors who support the show:
👉 https://businessof.tech/sponsors/

🚀 Join Business of Tech Plus
Get exclusive access to investigative reports, vendor analysis, leadership briefings, and more.
👉 https://businessof.tech/plus

🎧 Subscribe to the Business of Tech
Want the show on your favorite podcast app or prefer the written versions of each story?
📲 https://www.businessof.tech/subscribe

📰 Story Links & Sources
Looking for the links from today’s stories?
Every episode script — with full source links — is posted at:
🌐 https://www.businessof.tech

🎙 Want to Be a Guest?
Pitch your story or appear on Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services Insights:
💬 https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/businessoftech

🔗 Follow Business of Tech

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28908079
YouTube: https://youtube.com/mspradio
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/businessof.tech
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mspradio
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@businessoftech
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mspradionews

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
6 min

About Business of Tech: Daily MSP News & IT Services Analysis

From the publisher's feed

Vendors are rewriting the rules on MSPs faster than anyone can track — pricing, partner programs, liability, and now AI. Business of Tech is the daily MSP news briefing that tells you what changed and what it means for your business.

Every weekday, channel veteran Dave Sobel picks the MSP and IT services news that actually moves your margins, contracts, and risk, and answers the one question that matters: Why do we care? No vendor cheerleading and no press-release rewrites — independent analysis for managed service providers, IT services leaders, and the vendors who sell to them.

Short daily episodes keep you current in about 15 minutes. Longer interviews go deep with MSP owners, investors, analysts, and channel executives on where the managed services market is heading.

What this MSP podcast covers:

• AI for MSPs — AI pricing and consumption billing, AI liability and governance, and AI agents in the service desk

• MSP pricing and profitability — per-user vs. usage-based pricing, margins, service agreements, and vendor rebates

• MSP M&A and private equity — acquisitions, roll-ups, valuations, and what consolidation means for independent MSPs

• MSP vendors and partner programs — Microsoft, Kaseya, ConnectWise, N-able, Pax8, and how channel programs shift risk onto providers

• MSP cybersecurity and liability — cyber insurance, compliance, regulation, and the security-stack decisions that expose a managed service provider

• MSP operations — automation, PSA and RMM, hiring, and the operational maturity that separates growing MSPs from stalled ones

Questions we answer:

• How should an MSP price AI services when vendors move to consumption billing?

• Who carries the liability when AI acts inside a client environment?

• What does private equity consolidation mean for MSP valuations?

• Which vendor partner program changes quietly cut MSP margins?

• What do insurers and regulators now expect from managed service providers?

Business of Tech is produced by MSP Radio, the independent media company for the managed services and IT channel community. Hosted by Dave Sobel, MSP industry analyst and longtime channel veteran. Written versions of every episode, with full source links, at businessof.tech.