SMB Community Podcast: Business Advice for Small MSP Owners

Topic 1: Is 2022 the Year to Embrace the Grind?

Is this your year to take on big challenges, set the cruise control, or something else? This topic was inspired by our friend TC Doyle at Channelnomics.

“Not every year or period is destined to be a transformative one. For every 1945, 1989, or 2001, there are plenty of 1913s, 1953s, and 2005s.”

https://channelnomics.com/2022/01/embrace-the-grind-thats-2022/

Topic 2: Mark Cuban Takes on Walmart. 

Is he disrupting anything? What about basic strategy?

“The ultra-straightforward business plan of undercutting middle men and offering a proven product for a better price than anyone else seems almost quaint today, but Cuban knows what he’s doing — in a generic way, at least. “

https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/24/mark-cuban-cost-plus-pharmacy-lower-prices-reduce-stress/

Topic 3: Activision bought by Microsoft.

This is much more than a gamer play. Does this give us a peek into the future of edge computing and next-level technologies that coordinate operations across the internet?

We have some opinions. 

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Sponsor Note: Egnyte

Are you still using on-prem file servers and VPNs to share files with remote workers? Egnyte is a business class cloud sharing solution that works more like your on-prem server than other solutions.  With a security first approach to file sharing and collaboration, Egnyte offers multiple options for sharing files and collecting files from outside sources.   And do it all addressing data governance and compliance.  Want to learn more?  Check out Egnyte.com/mspradio, and when you do, tell them the guys at Killing IT sent you.

:-)

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This is the first in a series of interviews we'll be doing with Field Effect in 2022. Host Karl talked to Toby Nangle, Global Channel and Partnerships Lead for Field Effect.

We start out by agreeing that it's going to be another tough year on the cybersecurity front.

Toby has worked extensively in the Education Technology, Cloud, IT Infrastructure and IT Security sectors. His expertise lies in developing cohesive channel strategies, identifying and developing the shortest path to revenue for new technologies, and implementing the necessary internal and external structures to support channel partnerships.

Field Effect works to bring simplicity to a complex process of delivering top-notch cybersecurity. Their primary product is Covalence, which bring great security monitoring from a wholistic approach. Rather than deploy a variety of "DR" (detection/response) tools, Covalence monitors all traffic on both your on-site and cloud networks with one portal.

Alerts are managed through a central system and delivered to MSPs. Of course it also connects to your PSA and other tools.

If you're interested in offering a successful managed security practice, the Field Effect partner program is a great place to start. We dig into a good deal of the technology as well as deployment and monitoring for the MSP. Their service is sold on a per-user basis in order to make sure people don't exclude devices due to price. Their ideal market is between 25 and 2,500 users. (Not strictly enforced.)

Related links:

Field Effect Website https://fieldeffect.com

Follow Field Effect on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/field-effect-software/

Follow Field Effect on Twitter https://www.linkedin.com/company/field-effect-software/

Sponsor Note: BVOIP BVOIP — the Cloud communications offering designed specifically for IT providers, bvoip offers a complete Unified Communications suite which can also be tightly integrated via Microsoft Teams. Bvoip delivers the modern workforce cutting edge features including Contact Center, integration to your business apps, and real time visibility into your remote workers.

You control the price, with a unique hybrid model that avoids the complex dial tone taxation or compliance bullseye. Don't get stuck in a vendor relationship that works against you! Bvoip is channel only company that's here to support you. Find out more by visiting https://bvoip.com/mspradio :-)

About the SMB Community Podcast: Weekly business advice for small MSP owners from Amy Babinchak and James Kernan of the Small Biz Thoughts community — MSP sales, MSP pricing and agreements, hiring and leading an MSP team, MSP operations, selling your MSP, and AI for small MSPs. Produced by MSP Radio. More for MSP owners at smallbizthoughts.com.

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Recorded as "Killing IT Live" - and then we picked out these three topics.

Sponsor Memo: Cisco

Did you know Cisco helps Managed Services Providers directly? Know about the Cisco Partner Program? Focused on helping partners combine managed services expertise and service creation with innovative Cisco technology and proven go-to-market resources, there’s a program option for you. With provider pricing, MDF, and marketing resources coupled with Cisco’s leading technologies including Meraki, Duo, and Umbrella, learn more with the link right in the show notes. 

https://lnkd.in/gsydMya 

Topic 1: Prognostication request - Is shared workspace going to be the largest source of New Jargon in 2022?

Do you know what "Benching" or "Desking" are? You could probably guess what shared desking is.

We look at the possibilities of future workspace. There is clearly more than one answer.

Related Links:

https://www.askcody.com/blog/the-ultimate-modern-workplace-office-jargon-cheat-sheet 

https://www.bos.com/inspired/11-modern-workspace-terms-you-should-know/ 

Topic 2: Don't Gloat About Your Competitors' Troubles

Wherein we examine the difference between your marketing blog and your technology/security blog. You can be really great from the security viewpoint, but we discuss whether that discussion should leak over to the marketing side of the house.

Corporate marketing is not the place to talk about your competitors' security issues.

Link:

https://www.datto.com/blog/datto-information-security-team-notice-atera-advisory-for-msps 

Topic 3: Karl loses a one dollar bet on driverless cars

And other “cutting edge” technologies have also not fared as well. How much is just hype and how much is just slower than we projected?

:-)

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Host Karl caught up with Vince Gerasolo of DaVinci Network Solutions of Toronto, Canada. In April of 2020, Vince started an experiment with a four-day work week for his business. Now it's been almost a year , so we checked in to see how things are doing.

On top of everything else involved in managing and growing an IT business, Vince was working remote, increasing his staff size, and dealing the the pandemic. And in all of that, the four-day work week seems to be working.

I dug into the details and Vince was very forthcoming with information and advice about how to get started with your own four-day work week. As you can imagine, there are lots of things to consider.

You can contact Vince on LinkedIn or via DaVinci.

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincegerasolo
• https://dvnt.ca/

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Sponsor Note:

Are you still using on-prem file servers and VPNs to share files with remote workers? Egnyte is a business class cloud sharing solution that works more like your on-prem server than other solutions.

With a security first approach to file sharing and collaboration, Egnyte offers multiple options for sharing files and collecting files from outside sources. And do it all addressing data governance and compliance.

Want to learn more? Check out https://www.Egnyte.com/mspradio, and when you do, tell them we sent you.

:-)

About the SMB Community Podcast: Weekly business advice for small MSP owners from Amy Babinchak and James Kernan of the Small Biz Thoughts community — MSP sales, MSP pricing and agreements, hiring and leading an MSP team, MSP operations, selling your MSP, and AI for small MSPs. Produced by MSP Radio. More for MSP owners at smallbizthoughts.com.

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

Announcement: Do not miss Killing IT Live! next Wednesday. Register at https://www.killingitlive.com. 

Topic 1: Sonos Patent Infringement

Sonos has a major win against Google in their patent infringement. We this to launch into a discussion of patents (use and abuse) in the technology industries.

Link: https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/6/22871121/sonos-google-patent-itc-ruling-decision-import-ban 

Topic 2: McDonalds sees massive recycling and carbon neutrality

Is this the future of building? The future of franchising? Look for this to affect other industries as well.

Link: https://www.zdnet.com/article/mcdonalds-quietly-revealed-its-stunning-future-and-customers-will-actually-like-it/#ftag=RSSbaffb68 

Topic 3: CA DMV ‘revisiting’ its approach to regulating Tesla’s public self-driving test

For years, Tesla has tested autonomous vehicle technology on public roads without reporting the results to the California Department of Motor Vehicles. All other car makers are required to report this data.

And then . . . viral videos of horrible Tesla accidents have put pressure on the DMV to stop this special treatment. Among other things, this reminds us of Boeing validating its own safety tests on the 737 Max.

Link: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-01-11/dmv-message-to-legislatures-ontesla-full-self-driving-safety-its-not-our-job 

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Sponsor Memo: IT Service Provider University

After eight years of training IT consultants, Small Biz Thoughts is now launching IT Service Provider University, providing training and certifications for all kinds of technology consultants. Certification pathways include Technician, Service Manager, Sales and Marketing, Manager/Owner, and Front Office. More information at https://www.itspu.com 

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:-)

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Host Karl caught up sales trainer and coach Gil Cargill to talk about the importance of business-focused communication during sales calls.

You hear it all the time: Don't talk about what you sell; talk about the client's needs. But how do you actually do that? How do you guide the conversation away from the price and still get the sale? Gil gives us some tips - and Karl back to get some juicy details.

Too many technicians think clients care about technology. They don't. They care about how you can improve their profit, improve their productivity, or help with cashflow.

Gil gives some great tips on how to get the conversation started, and to get the prospect to buy in to a productivity audit. His approach is very conversational and is totally focused on the client rather than the technology.

Contact Gil for his free starter evaluation:

Web Site: http://www.gilcargill.com

Phone: 310-447-4102

:-)

Sponsor Memo: Linode

Linode – a top Infrastructure as a Service provider, as voted by G2 and Trust Radius, has resources specifically for delivering digital experiences in the cloud with better ease and affordability while not being locked into long-term agreements and commitments.

Their guide, "The Golden Ratio of Price to Performance in Cloud Computing" details how alternative cloud providers and open source tools can lower costs and ease moving to multicloud envoirments.

This resource and more at https://linode.com/mspradio.

:-)

About the SMB Community Podcast: Weekly business advice for small MSP owners from Amy Babinchak and James Kernan of the Small Biz Thoughts community — MSP sales, MSP pricing and agreements, hiring and leading an MSP team, MSP operations, selling your MSP, and AI for small MSPs. Produced by MSP Radio. More for MSP owners at smallbizthoughts.com.

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

Reminder:

Killing IT Live is January 19th Register now http://killingitlive.com/ 

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Topic 1: A Dose Of Reality: Big Promises vs. Small Results in Emerging Tech

Money makes innovation possible. But there seems to be a disconnect between big, big investments and successful innovations. We look at the failure of big market growth through actual, tangible products. How do we reconcile this divide?

https://www.fastcompany.com/90708339/were-living-in-an-age-of-big-tech-promises-and-small-results 

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Topic 2: Revisiting Remote Work Predictions for 2022

Any favorite remote work predictions? We have long-term trends that have been overwhelmed by the pandemic changes. Will remote go back to what it was? Probably not, but how much change will be permanent. We look at recent trends and then . . . well, we speculate.

https://www.vox.com/22839563/remote-work-climate-change-house-prices-cities 

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Topic 3: Chip shortage might be bringing us a new generation in automotive technology.

Qualcomm announced that they've made a a deal for Volvo and Polestar to use Qualcomm's "Snapdragon Cockpit" chips along with an operating system from Google. These chips will be in those cars later this year.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/qualcomm-inks-car-chip-deals-with-volvo-honda-renault-2022-01-04/ 

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Sponsor Memo:

Think you know PC Matic? Think again.

PC Matic is working with MSPs to deliver true zero trust/default deny endpoint security. Allowing only trusted applications and blocking all the rest. A light weight, simple to deploy & easy to manage approach to application allow-listing.

Layering a default deny approach provides MSPs of all sizes the ability to again focus on prevention, and PC Matic delivers this without impacting performance or efficiency. Find out more about by visiting https://pcmatic.com/MSP 

Be sure to ask about PC Matic's exclusive lead sharing program for MSPs backed by a prime time national TV campaign.

:-)

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Host Karl interviews Christopher Barber, a Maryland MSP.

Chris' MSP is called Cheaper than a Geek. Chris refers to himself as the Chief Nerd at Cheaper Than A Geek. They are an MSP that's about to celebrate 22 years in business just outside of DC and Baltimore that specializes in the smaller SMB space.

Chris currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Society of IT Service Providers.

Chris and Karl discuss the economy, focusing on service delivery during a pandemic, and the economic challenges and opportunities in these strange time. We also discuss Chris's goals for the NSITSP and why he is involved in this important organization.

More About Chris and Cheaper Than A Geek:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherjbarber/

https://www.cheaperthanageek.com/

More info on NSITSP

Visit https://nsitsp.org

The NSITSP is a professional association representing SMB – small and medium business – IT consultants. They focus on education, professionalism, and promoting the interests of IT professionals everywhere.

:-)

About the SMB Community Podcast: Weekly business advice for small MSP owners from Amy Babinchak and James Kernan of the Small Biz Thoughts community — MSP sales, MSP pricing and agreements, hiring and leading an MSP team, MSP operations, selling your MSP, and AI for small MSPs. Produced by MSP Radio. More for MSP owners at smallbizthoughts.com.

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

Note: Don't miss Killing IT Live - January 19th at 9am Pacific - Register now at https://killingitlive.com 

Topic 1: The “Cyberdemic” will continue, according to Experian.

Record breaking number on cyber breaches. Many elements conspire against us. What can you do?

Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2021-12-06/the-cyberdemic-will-continue-according-to-the-2022-experian-data-breach-industry-forecast 

Topic 2: OpenSource and the internet. Solid code, to a point.

Should we have a way to hold someone responsible? Is a "Software Bill of Materials" a good idea or bad idea?

Links: https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/12/17/1042692/log4j-internet-open-source-hacking/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sbom-good-intentions-bad-analogies-uglyoutcomes-alex-gantman/ 

Topic 3: Winning by being human?

When cyber criminals are doubling down on AI and expensive programming, perhaps we need to take a lower-tech approach to defeating them. Here are some options.

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/magnus-carlsen-ian-nepomniachtchi-world-chess-championship-computer-analysis-11639003641

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Sponsor Note: Calyptix

Cyber security for small business is overwhelming. Unprecedented threats, escalating rhetoric and limited resources. So lean on your community. The Calyptix Community Shield automatically unites small businesses and raise the costs and challenges for cybercriminals by harnessing threat intelligence from our community. If they attack any one of us, everyone gets the benefit with Community Shield.

An example? A log4J blocklist for scanners and exploits, rolled out specifically for outbound events - All for no added cost. By working together, we will prevail. Learn more at https://calyptix.com and tell them we sent you.

:-)

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I love talking with Dave Seibert for lots of reasons: One is his optimism. Before we hit the record button, he just kept going on and on about all the great opportunities he sees in 2022. So I hit record and made him slow down a bit.

Dave is a longtime community builder, managed service provider, influencer, Microsoft MVP, and organizer of the SMB Techfest. We sat down for a year-end review and look into the new year.

We start with an update on SMB Techfest and their plans for the new year. Q1 (January) and Q3 (July) will be virtual events and Q2 (April) and Q4 (October) will be live, in-person events. As Dave points out, he does his event four times per year because our industry changes all the time.

And that's a good transition to our actual show contents.

Our industry is typified by "change." Well, the pandemic has sped that up considerably. Dave helps us reflect on what we learned in 2021 and what he sees ahead in 2022.

More than half the show is spent on opportunities in 2022!

Links:

SMB TechFest – quarterly technology conference

- www.smbTechFest.com

Complementary registration to join a SMB TechFest conference

- www.smbTechFest.com/Go/Worldwide

ProTier Peer Groups – Building Dream Teams to Accelerate Business Growth

- www.ProTierPeerGroups.com

DaveSeibert.com – Dave's site for many activities and resources

- www.DaveSeibert.com

and of course . . .

- www.LinkedIn.com/in/DaveSeibert99

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Sponsor Note: Dropsuite

Dropsuite provides backup, archiving, and recovery solutions delivered at scale to power your business defense of cloud services. Award winning, safe, secure, and scalable – as well as trusted by top channel partners like Pax8 and Sherweb, Dropsuite protects Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and email from the full range of threats – accidental deletion to full-on cyberattacks.

All with an understanding of what MSPs need to be successful and compliant. Interested? Learn more right at https://dropsuite.com.

:-)

About the SMB Community Podcast: Weekly business advice for small MSP owners from Amy Babinchak and James Kernan of the Small Biz Thoughts community — MSP sales, MSP pricing and agreements, hiring and leading an MSP team, MSP operations, selling your MSP, and AI for small MSPs. Produced by MSP Radio. More for MSP owners at smallbizthoughts.com.

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