ChannelPro 5 Minute Roundup

Erick and Rich discuss Microsoft's cautious messaging during its Inspire partner conference, how to prevent your best techs from leaving for another employer, and the dubious opportunity now available in Cincinnati to smell a corpse flower in full bloom.

Articles referenced in this episode:

Incoming Channel Chief Says "There's Never Been a Better Time To Be a Microsoft Partner"

Stinky bloom approaching for Ohio zoo's corpse flower

Erick and Rich discuss N-able's new solution bundle for emerging MSPs, the awesome employee training tool you already have but don't use (hint: it's LinkedIn), and a guy who loves pizza SO much he nearly climbed into an oven to get some.

Articles referenced in this episode:

N-able Launches Solution Bundle for Growing MSPs

Police: Man cut loose after crawling down pizza oven vent(link is external)

Happy (belated) 4th! Erick and Rich mark the occasion by discussing why N-able bought a cloud management vendor, why now's a good time to focus on the bottom line as well as revenue, and why there's something fishy about a 95-0 soccer score.

Articles referenced in this episode:

N-able Buys Cloud Management Vendor Spinpanel

Sierra Leone FA probes 'impractical' scorelines of 95-0 and 91-1

Erick and Rich discuss HPE's new as-a-service partner program, the many ways to motivate client and employee behavior, and the world's first, and we hope only, zero-star hotel.

Articles referenced in this episode:

HPE Unveils New Partner Program for As-a-Service Solution Providers

Swiss 'zero star hotel' offers sleepless nights to ponder world's crises(link is external)

Join Erick and Rich as they discuss the potentially game-changing RMM system Kaseya has coming, how to handle a sales prospect who says "we've got a guy," and just how big the biggest freshwater fish ever caught turns out to be.

Articles referenced in this episode:

Kaseya Rolls Out AI-Powered Recommendation Engine and Previews Next RMM Release at Connect IT Conference

Mekong villagers land heaviest ever freshwater fish

Erick and Rich discuss Cisco's big MSP recruiting drive, why you should have an offboarding process for clients that's as good as your onboarding process, and whether or not being removed from a vat of chocolate you're swimming in is really being "rescued".

Articles referenced in this episode:

Cisco's MSP Investments Are Big and Getting Bigger

Two rescued from chocolate vat at Mars Inc candy factory

Erick and Rich discuss the growing trend of alliances between IT management vendors and cyber insurance companies, how soon is too soon to fire a problem employee, and whether or not naming your baby after Ikea products is a good idea.

Articles referenced in this episode:

New Tools from ConnectWise Aim to Simplify Cyber Insurance Application Process

Augmentt Offers Cyber Insurance Discounts to Cloud Management Partners

Ikea Norway offers help with baby names after COVID-19 boom

Are cloud vendors who sell direct a threat to channel pros? Ingram Micro doesn't think so, and neither do Erick and Rich, who also discuss the possibility that M&A valuations for MSPs have peaked and that Elvis-themed Las Vegas wedding chapels are doomed.

Articles referenced in this episode:

Ingram Micro Confident It Can Beat Its Largest Competitor—Cloud Vendors Who Sell Direct

Company to Las Vegas chapels: No more Elvis-themed weddings

Rich is on vacation, but he and Erick still have a pre-recorded episode for you about strategies for getting peak value from vendor relationships and a strange but true story about their recent travels.

Side by side once more, Erick and Rich discuss Ingram Micro's new "digital twin," how and why to get MDF, and a brilliant invention from Johns Hopkins University that prevents burritos from unrolling.

Articles referenced in this episode:

Ingram Micro Launches "Digital Experience" Partner Platform

Johns Hopkins students invent edible 'Tastee Tape' to keep burritos together