SMB Community Podcast: Business Advice for Small MSP Owners

Topic 1: CISA Guidelines for MSP Clients

Like it or not, the US Government has defined Managed Services, and published guidelines for your clients and prospects to evaluate you! We expect a lot of heat - and maybe some light - to come out of this document.

Related Links: - https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/current-activity/2021/09/03/cisa-insights-risk-considerations-managed-service-provider 

- https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/cisa-insights_risk-considerations-for-msp-customers_508.pdf 

Topic 2: Forcing options to Apple Pay and Google Pay

In the continuing saga of Apple (and others) forcing app developers to use their pay systems, the government of South Korea has decided that Apple and Google cannot force game makers and others to use only their payment gateways. This is, of course, the beginning of other nations jumping into fray.

We comment - including how this might affect potential lawsuits in the US.

Link: - https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/31/south-korea-first-country-to-curb-google-apples-in-app-billing-policies.html 

Topic 3: Tesla building their own chip to train self-driving vehicles

What? Tesla joins the chip-making industry - because they can't buy the chips they need! Is this a sign of impending disruption for Intel, AMD, and others? Tesla has a unique demand, given the specific requirements of their autonomous vehicle strategy. And if they can't buy chips elsewhere, they're going to make their own - for now.

Link: https://link.wired.com/view/5e3f0a597e553f71453d575deurb4.7s9/5a9cf463 

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Sponsor Note:

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 allowlisting.

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 talked to Abe Stein, Co-founder and General Manager at Matter365.

Matter365 is a practice management solution for law firms, accounting firms, and SMBs of all kinds. It is built on top of Microsoft 365. As an experienced entrepreneur and sales leader, Abe has led Go-To-Market and business development for early stage and growth stage cloud software businesses across North America and Europe.

Matter365 is the only practice management solution that is fully integrated with Microsoft 365. Matter365 enables legal, accounting, and business advisory professionals of all kinds to run their entire firm through a single pane of glass. By creating dedicated, matter-specific spaces in all of a firm's Microsoft applications, Matter365 equips MSPs and VARs with an integrated solution to delight their professional services clients.

Links Web - www.matter365.com LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/matter365 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/matter365 Twitter - https://twitter.com/matter365 YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAgZMCkY37krjulvZ_NwcfA/featured

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Sponsor Memo:

Did you know that the average MSP spends 10 hours manually inputting accounting data each week?

That time is 120 prospect calls, building an entire lego death star, or most of the content put out by Karl Palachuk in a week. Gozynta Mobius can make your life easier through accounting automation. Automatic sync of invoices, expenses and inventory from ConnectWise Manage into QuickBooks Online in just a single click of a button.

With onboarding, direct support, and regular feature releases, Gozynta is a family owned company dedicated to making software suck a little less each day. Visit them at www.gozynta.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.

Topic 1: Gartner's Latest Hype Cycle - Emerging Technology

How can you use Gartner's research in your business? Does it matter if truly useful changes are at least two years out?

Gartner Hype cycle graphic: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/gartner-identifies-3-themes-to-watch-for-in-emerging-technologies/ 

Topic 2: AI for Changing Accents

Is this cool? What are the best uses for it? And, as always, we dig into the ethical use of AI.

There are clearly some benefits for folks with hearing issues or rare spoken dialects. As always, good-vs-bad depends on what people do with the application.

https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/31/sanas-aims-to-convert-one-accent-to-another-in-real-time-for-smoother-customer-service-calls/ 

Topic 3: Impact of Remote Collaboration on Business Travel

This topic will continue for quite a while. Here's the latest from Bloomberg.

Remote communications and collaboration tools have been so successfully developed and deployed in the past 18 months that 84% of CEOs indicate they plan to spend significantly less on business travel going forward.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-08-31/will-business-travel-come-back-data-show-air-hotel-travel-forever-changed 

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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 https://Egnyte.com/msp, and when you do, tell them we sent you.

:-)

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Host Karl interviews Jim Goldman from Trava Security, Inc.

Jim wrote the book on cyber security, literally!

He is a nationally published author and frequently requested speaker and subject matter expert on relevant technical topics such as cybersecurity.

He was a university faculty scholar at Purdue University, started a cybersecurity research lab serving the FBI, and built the company's first Security GRC organization at Salesforce. He is currently the co-founder and CEO at Trava.

Jim is also a member of the invitation-only Forbes Technology Council where he is a respected voice on the Expert Panels and a regular thought-leadership content contributor.

Links:

Website - www.travasecurity.com

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jigoldman/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/travasecurity

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/

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Sponsor note:

The FIRST EVER Cisco Provider Elevate 2 day Virtual event is September 14 and 15 to start the journey with Thought Leaders from around the world. With 55 Speakers, 22 Educational and Interactive Sessions, Networking Happy Hours, and a Self Assessment To Help You Grow. And best of all, it's free. Register Free: https://www.canapii.com/events/cisco-provider-elevate

:-)

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.

Topic 1: Change the storage to change ransomware?

Can you create storage that cannot be changed? Is ransomware-free data storage possible . . . and right around the corner?

Related Link: https://www.protocol.com/newsletters/protocol-enterprise/cloud-storage-ransomware-zero-trust 

Topic 2: Shadow IT: Is it Real? Not real?

Are you the shadow IT? Does it really just mean outsourced IT? And that leads us to ask, is the conversation about shadow IT really just a conversation for really large companies?

Related Link: https://www.protocol.com/newsletters/protocol-enterprise/saas-shadow-it-cio 

Topic 3: A New Chip Cluster Will Make Massive AI Models Possible

Cerebras says its technology can run a neural network with 120 trillion connections—a hundred times what's achievable today.

Related Link: https://www.wired.com/story/cerebras-chip-cluster-neural-networks-ai/ 

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Sponsor Memo: SBT Technology Community

This podcast is sponsored by the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community. Check us out at Small Biz Thoughts.org. Forms, templates, and checklists are just the start. Our Community includes ALL of the best-selling books on managed services in all available formats, plus free training, members-only programs, and the best business training available to managed service providers anywhere.

Plus, we have weekly live members-only Zoom calls. The average member saves more than 200% of their membership cost each year. We are totally dedicated to YOUR success. Just because you're in business for yourself doesn't mean you have to go it alone. Join us today at www.SmallBizThoughts.org. 

:-)

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IT/MSP Business Growth Coaching Services

Host Karl interviews Ian Luckett from Innovate to Success.

Ian Luckett is a multi-talented IT & MSP business growth expert with over 20 years' experience as a mentor, coach and business strategist.

Over the years of working at various blue-chip companies holding a variety of senior positions, no one fits the profile better than Ian to help you build a profitable IT & MSP business by increasing your sales, productivity and profits.

He uses his MSP Profitbuilder system to help techie business owners to increase their sales, profits and productivity.

Ian's major expertise is in developing great Business Leaders. All too often we forget the skill of Leadership and this is a common thread throughout all of his work in the channel.

Contact Links:

Web - https://www.innovatetosuccess.com

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianluckett/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ianluckettofficial

IT Experts Podcast - https://innovatetosuccess.com/podcast/

IT Experts Community - https://innovatetosuccess.com/ite-community-lp/

:-)

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.

Topic 1: Apple Privacy Revisited

We talked about this last week. Well, so did everyone else.

Apple introduced a new technology to screen for child pornography . . . and a spirited debate has ensued. Last week the Killing IT guys weighed in on the topic and now we want to revisit the ongoing debate and address some of the concerns about the “slippery slope” and the “permission” to access data on personal devices. Including some new twists on CSAM Screening Technology.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/11/technology/personaltech/iphone-update-sex-abuse.html 

Topic 2: Evolution in Supply Chain Management

Toyota is famous for revolutionizing supply chain management, particularly with "Just-in-Time" inventory. Now, fifty years down the road, we're finding that J-I-T had a lot of problems in the middle of the pandemic. Now, Toyota is responding again with a newer, more flexible approach to inventory. We look at supply chain issues generally, with a context of cars, chips, and toilet paper.

https://fortune.com/2021/08/02/toyota-cars-chip-shortage-semiconductors/ 

Topic 3: CRN Reports on Industry Trends

. . . But they're headlines don't align with their data. We were puzzled at the need to put extra energy into cheer-leading as compared to reporting the hard truth. We discuss.

https://www.crn.com/slide-shows/channel-programs/the-7-biggest-sales-and-market-trends-in-the-it-channel-today/8 

Sponsor Memo: Acronis

Threats to client data constantly evolve, so your strategies must evolve too …but knowing where to get good guidance isn’t always easy. Well, nowhere will you hear more helpful insights from leading cyber protection experts than at the Acronis #CyberFitSummit. I’m going again –this year in-person, in Miami – and you should join me. Experts like Erick Simpson; Larry Walsh; and Acronis’ Amy Luby will show you how to boost profits, reduce risk, and improve your team’s productivity, as well as the latest cybersecurity strategies, technologies, and processes. In person and online. Learn more about the Acronis #CyberFit Summit World Tour at https://Acronis.events 

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Host Karl caught up with Paco Lebron from the MSP Unplugged podcast to talk about their upcoming LIVE event in Chicago - TechCon Unplugged.

Juicy details at https://techconunplugged.com/.

Paco Lebron is the CEO and Founder of ProdigyTeks Inc. an MSP located in the West Loop of Chicago. Paco also co-hosts MSP Unplugged, a live, weekly podcast for aspiring IT business owners and vendors in the MSP space. In addition, is the co-founder of TechCon Unplugged, a dedicated multi-day conference for IT business owners.

This will be an in-person event September 17-19th in Chicago/Rosemont, IL.

Learn from amazing panels to help maintain and improve your business. Meet vendors to find products and services that can save you time and money. Rub elbows with your peers in the community. Along with a great Micrsoft365 Boot camp held by Cyber Matt Lee.

Links and notes:

Web site - https://techconunplugged.com/

Social - https://www.facebook.com/mspunplugged

Podcast - https://mspunplugged.com

Sponsor Note: Acronis

Threats to client data constantly evolve, so your strategies must evolve too. But knowing where to get good guidance isn't always easy.

Well, nowhere will you hear more helpful insights from leading cyber protection experts than at the Acronis #CyberFitSummit.

Experts like Dave Sobel, Erick Simpson, Larry Walsh, and Acronis' Amy Luby will show you how to boost profits, reduce risk, and improve your team's productivity, as well as the latest cybersecurity strategies, technologies, and processes.

In person and online, Learn more about the Acronis #CyberFit Summit World Tour at https://Acronis.events

:-)

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.

Topic 1: Drones.. May not be coming.

We've been ushering drones for years. But where are they? Why in the age of the drone advancing so slowly? Amazon is slowing things down a bit.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/amazon-drone-delivery-prime-air 

Topic 2: What should the penalty be for data misuse?

Data misuse is a growing topic. In addition to the recent Supreme Court case, we're seeing companies make pre-emptive moves to make sure employees are not accessing data they have access to. This is a potentially huge issue for IT service providers. After all, we touch lots of client data, and our employees need to keep their eyes to themselves.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5gk73/google-fired-dozens-for-data-misuse 

Topic 3: Apple to Scan the iCloud for Evidence of Child Sexual Abuse

No one’s going to argue with the goals here. But what’s next? Once the system is put in place to scan the contents of iCloud, will Apple resist looking for other illegal activity? Will the IRS pressure them to look for activity that indicated tax evasion? If nothing else, it’s a chink in the armor of “privacy by default.”

https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/05/apple-icloud-photos-scanning/ 

Sponsor Memo: PC Matic

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.

:-)

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

Host Karl Palachuk talks about how he got started in the SMB consulting business, and a few early decisions that made all the difference.

Feedback welcome.

You can find the 68-point checklist at https://store.smallbizthoughts.com (it's free).

:-)

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.