IT Unplugged

Most businesses build a website, hand over the login, and never think about it again. That's exactly when things start going wrong. 

In this episode, Brandon sits down with Wyatt, co-founder and full stack developer at WiscWebs, to talk about what actually goes into building a secure, custom website and why the "set it and forget it" approach is one of the riskiest things a business can do online. 

Wyatt brings 15 years of development experience and a straightforward take on where most websites fall short, from visual editor themes that look identical to every competitor's site, to vulnerabilities sitting unpatched for months because nobody's checking. 

They cover why website security matters even if nobody visits your site, what happens when an e-commerce store gets hacked and has no backup, and why your emails might be landing in spam because DNS records your web developer never set up. 

In this episode: 

• Why custom code beats a purchased theme every time
• What website backups actually protect you from
• How hackers find small websites and what they do with them
• DNS, SPF, and DMARC explained in plain English
• A monthly, quarterly, and yearly maintenance checklist for your website
• Where AI actually helps in web development and where it falls flat

If you have a website and haven't thought about security since it launched, this one is for you.

🎙️ IT Unplugged is brought to you by M2 Technology - IT that's approachable.

Listen to IT Unplugged: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Wherever you get your podcasts

📞 920-362-6869 | m2.technology/get-in-touch

Most companies managing their supply chain are living in six different platforms and can't get a clear picture of what's actually happening with their freight.If your logistics stack requires six additional software licenses just to function, you're not alone - and there's a better way.

In this episode of IT Unplugged, Brandon sits down with Tyler Shanle, Director of Solutions at M2 Logistics, to talk about what's broken in the TMS industry and how Encompass - M2 Logistics' total supply chain management solution - is being built to fix it.

Tyler brings 15 years of logistics and supply chain experience across global enterprises and small-to-mid-market shippers. He breaks down why most TMS platforms force customers to conform to their standards, why small and mid-sized businesses deserve enterprise-grade tools without enterprise price tags, and what questions every shipper should be asking before signing a TMS contract.
In this episode:

• What makes Encompass different from every other TMS on the market
• Why most TMS providers are only selling you the core - and hiding the real cost of add-ons
• How M2 Logistics' 3PL experience gives them insight no pure software company has
• What M2 Waypoint is and why seamless ERP and e-commerce integration changes everything
• The one question every shipper should ask a TMS vendor before buying
• How real-time visibility actually works in practice
• How clean data and API integration are setting the foundation for AI in logistics

If you're managing freight on spreadsheets, drowning in disconnected platforms, or just wondering if there is a better way, this episode is for you. 

🎙️ IT Unplugged is brought to you by M2 Technology - IT that's approachable.

Listen to IT Unplugged: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Wherever you get your podcasts

YouTube Link Below!

https://youtu.be/3TbBE8q1474 

📞 920-362-6869 | m2.technology/get-in-touch

Most business owners know they need a website, but a lot don't know where to start or how to optimize their website. 

In this episode of IT Unplugged, Brandon sits down with CJ, co-founder of WiscWebs and M2 Technology's marketing partner, to break down what actually drives SEO results for small and mid-sized businesses, how AI is changing content creation, and what separates a website that generates leads from one that just sits there.

CJ has spent his career at the intersection of sales and marketing, and he's built websites across every business model - lead generation, e-commerce, SaaS, and validation sites. He explains why most businesses are asking the wrong questions about their website, how Google really decides who ranks, and why using AI to write your marketing content without a human editor is a fast track to looking unprofessional.

In this episode:

• The four types of websites and why the difference matters for your business
•  What SEO actually is and what elements actually matter
•  How to create blog content that ranks versus content that just exists
•  Where AI helps in marketing and where it will get you in trouble
•  How to tell if your website is actually doing it's job
•  Why the question is "are you using AI effectively?" rather than, "are you using AI?"

Whether your running a Wix site you built years back or getting serious about generating leads online, this episode will change how you think about your web presence. 

🎙️ IT Unplugged is brought to you by M2 Technology - IT that's approachable.

Listen to IT Unplugged: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Wherever you get your podcasts

https://youtu.be/M1KVTleVfjs 

📞 920-362-6869 | m2.technology/get-in-touch

Everybody has access to the same market data. The same tools. The same rate indexes. So what actually separates the companies winning in logistics right now? 

In this episode IT Unplugged, Brandon sits down with Alyssa, Director of Market Intelligence at M2 Logistics, to talk about what it really takes to turn data into decisions. Alyssa's background spans across finance, commodities trading, and logistics analytics. She brings a refreshingly honest take on where most organizations are leaving value on the table.

Also getting into how M2 Logistics is using automation to respond faster and price smarter, why the talent conversation is more important than the technology conversation. While also touching on what happens when you finally close the gap between the people building your reports and the people who need to act on them.

In this episode:

• How automation removed bias from their pricing process
• Getting an RFP process from hours down to 20 minutes
• What to ask your logistics partner about technology
• AI agents
• Autonomous trucking 

If you've ever wondered whether your team is getting real value out of the tools you've invested in, this one is for you.

🎙️ IT Unplugged is brought to you by M2 Technology - IT that's approachable.

Listen to IT Unplugged: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Wherever you get your podcasts

YouTube Link Below!

https://youtu.be/jBEoU1GYjI4 

📞 920-362-6869 | m2.technology/get-in-touch

Most businesses still have boxes of paper documents in unlocked rooms, manual processes eating up hours each week, and employees doing repetitive tasks that technology could handle in seconds.

In this episode, Brandon sits down with Scott from James Imaging to break down what digital transformation actually looks like on the ground - not the buzzword version, but the real one. They cover how businesses can identify where their workflows are breaking down, why the push for "going paperless" often stalls before it starts, and how workflow automation applies to businesses of every size - including yours.

Scott brings 34 years of experience helping companies move from paper-heavy, manual processes to smarter, more efficient systems. He shares real examples from the field, including a compliance issue hiding in an unlocked room and a 64-year-old skeptic who became a true believer after just two months.

In this episode:

• What "going paperless" actually looks like in practice
• What workflow automation actually means for a small or mid-sized business
• ow to identify process bottlenecks before they become bigger problems
• Why document management isn't just for large companies
• How to handle employee resistance to change
• The "land and expand" approach to getting wins without overwhelming your team

Whether you're running a 5-person office or a 500-person operation, this one will make you look at your daily processes differently.

🎙️ IT Unplugged is brought to you by M2 Technology - IT that's approachable.

Listen to IT Unplugged:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Wherever you get your podcasts

https://youtu.be/aEMfEo-YZvk

📞 920-362-6869 | m2.technology/get-in-touch

Rebecca, Vice President of Talent Development at New North, joins Brandon to talk about what it actually takes to grow a regional economy — and why workforce development, entrepreneurship, and technology all have to work together to make it happen.

New North covers 18 counties across Northeast Wisconsin with a team of six. They're running industry alliances, launching leadership academies, recruiting transitioning military veterans to the region, and figuring out how to prepare a workforce for jobs that don't fully exist yet.

This one is grounded in the real challenges facing Wisconsin businesses — the IT worker shortage, the demographic cliff, and why telling kids about career opportunities only works if the adults in the room actually understand them first.

Topics covered:

• What New North is and how regional economic development actually works
• The New Digital Alliance and New Construction Alliance — and why businesses collaborate instead of compete
• The construction leadership academy: moving skilled tradespeople into leadership roles
• The digital mentorship network keeping talent in Northeast Wisconsin
• The IT worker shortage — and why you can't solve a talent problem without engaging the talent
• Youth apprenticeships, externships, and why teacher externships might be the most underrated tool out there
• New North Hires Heroes — 98 veterans relocated, nearly 350 individuals brought to the region
• How New North is approaching AI when the landscape changes faster than any training program can keep up

Connect with New North: New North — https://www.thenewnorth.com

Listen to IT Unplugged: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Wherever you get your podcasts

Questions about IT or cybersecurity for your business? https://www.m2.technology/get-in-touch or call 920-362-6869

David Zey has spent his career at the intersection of IT leadership, application development, and startup consulting. Today he's an Engineer in Residence at TitletownTech — the Green Bay Packers and Microsoft-backed innovation hub — where he's been running manufacturers and growing businesses through the Microsoft AI Co-innovation Lab in Milwaukee.

In this episode, Brandon and David get into the real-world AI use cases that are actually moving the needle for manufacturers — not "I made an email" ChatGPT stuff, but quoting automation, compliance acceleration, and capturing institutional knowledge before it walks out the door. They also dig into when you should hire inside versus bring in outside help, what Wisconsin's data center buildout means for the region's future, and why the rate of change is becoming a competitive advantage on its own.

This one goes deeper than most — from startup risk profiles to whether AI is making creative thought more disposable. Worth the full listen.

Topics covered:
• How David's consulting background across enterprise, SMB, and startups shaped Zeytech
• Why startups are "any other business compressed" — and what that means for technology decisions
• TitletownTech, the Microsoft AI Co-innovation Lab in Milwaukee, and what the 4-day prototype sprint actually looks like
• Real AI use cases in manufacturing: quoting automation, compliance routing, and knowledge capture
• The workforce knowledge problem — and how AI can act as an institutional memory system
• Build internal AI capability vs. bring in outside help: what David actually recommends
• Over 250 AI use cases reviewed in a year — what patterns keep showing up
• Fractional expertise, long-term partnerships, and why Zeytech's model is harder to market but more fulfilling
• Wisconsin as an emerging tech hub — data centers, corporate ecosystems, and what's coming
• The philosophical side: is AI making creative thought disposable?

Connect with David Zey:
Zeytech — https://www.zeytech.com
TitletownTech — https://titletowntech.com

Listen to IT Unplugged:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Wherever you get your podcasts

Questions about IT or cybersecurity for your business?
https://www.m2.technology/get-in-touch or call 920-362-6869

If you've ever gotten off the phone with your IT provider and thought "that was useless," this episode is going to feel very familiar.

In Episode 53, Brandon and Mike from M2 Technology break down the most common reasons businesses end up unhappy with their managed IT providers - and why the same issues keep coming up over and over.

They cover what changes when VC money enters the MSP space, how support ticket triage systems create friction that discourages people from even calling, the scope-of-work games that lead to surprise invoices, and why hardware markups erode trust faster than almost anything else.

The conversation is honest and pretty direct - because Brandon and Mike are having it with real businesses every week, and the frustration they're hearing is real.

If any of this sounds like your current situation, it might be time to find out what a different kind of IT relationship looks like.

Reach out to M2 Technology at www.m2.technology

Ben Kvalo built a gaming career most people dream about: working on Borderlands 2, NBA 2K, and major franchises at 2K and Blizzard. Then he left Netflix to start Midwest Games in Wisconsin.

This episode isn't your typical gaming interview. We get into the business mechanics of publishing games, why video games might actually extend your life, and what it really takes to leave corporate security behind. Ben breaks down the analytical side of risk-taking, why even failed founders come out ahead, and how he's building a publishing company that supports indie developers across the Midwest.

If you've ever had an idea you're too nervous to pursue, Ben's approach to testing concepts and building systems will give you a framework to think differently about that leap.

New games from Midwest Games include Tomb Water, The Legend of Baboo, and Floor is Wet from Wisconsin's Pyramid Lake Games.

Want to discuss your business technology strategy? Reach out to M2 Technology at m2.technology or call 920-362-6869.

Wisconsin businesses face an unprecedented challenge: the labor force is shrinking while demand grows. In this episode of IT Unplugged, Brandon sits down with Laura Strickland, Partner Success Manager at Carex Consulting Group, to uncover the shocking reality behind Northeast Wisconsin's labor market. (Check out September's LMI Report: https://www.carexconsulting.com/resources/labor-market-insights-september-2025/

What You'll Learn:

Why Wisconsin job openings dropped from 268,000 to 137,000 (and what this really means)
The 6 million worker shortage coming by 2032 - traced back to 1970s birth rates
How to build vs buy vs rent talent in today's competitive IT market
Essential upskilling strategies that boost retention and cut hiring costs
Why IT unemployment sits at 2.9% while national average exceeds 4%
The truth about software development job postings vs AI/cybersecurity demand

Key Topics Covered:

Labor market index insights and what a 60.9 score means for businesses
Northeast Wisconsin's innovation boom and talent retention strategies
Building local talent through CSAs, technical colleges, and apprenticeships
Hiring adaptable employees over perfect skill matches
ROI of employee upskilling vs external hiring costs
Transparent hiring practices that improve candidate-company matching

Laura breaks down Carex's labor market insights report, revealing why traditional hiring approaches no longer work in today's talent-scarce environment. Learn practical strategies for workforce planning, from identifying upskilling needs to creating competitive advantages through employee development.
Whether you're struggling to fill IT positions, planning workforce strategy, or wondering how AI fits into the labor shortage equation, this episode provides data-driven insights and actionable solutions for Wisconsin business owners.
Special focus on IT professionals: Discover why certain tech roles are abundant while others face scarcity, and how smart companies are adapting their hiring criteria to find hidden talent in unexpected places.
Subscribe for weekly insights on business technology, workforce strategy, and the future of work in Northeast Wisconsin.