SMB Community Podcast

Frank Vitagliano has served as the GTDC's chief executive officer since April 2019. His focus is on strengthening partnerships between members and vendors by addressing industry-wide issues and opportunities related to the integral role of distribution in the IT channel.

In his career, Frank has consistently been recognized as a leader in the IT industry.

He was inducted into the IT Hall of Fame in August 2017, in recognition of his leadership and contributions over the course of more than three decades. Additionally, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by VAR Business for his accomplishments as an industry channel chief. He is the only OEM executive inducted into Ingram Micro's Venture Tech Network Hall of Fame.

We can focus the discussion on the latest GTDC report (download here or ask and we'll send a PDF) https://gtdc.org/resource/environmental-sustainability-report/

Resources and Links:

Main GTDC page:

https://gtdc.org/

ESG Report (free for anyone to download):

https://gtdc.org/resource/environmental-sustainability-report/DC

Sponsor Memo: SBTTC

This podcast is sponsored by the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community. Check us out at www.SmallBizThoughts.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 https://www.SmallBizThoughts.org

:-)

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

Host Karl chats with Jonathan Seelig.

Jonathan Seelig is the Executive Chairman and Chief Evangelist of Ridge. He co-founded Ridge with the goal of building highly distributed cloud infrastructure, thereby enabling users to deploy cloud native applications on any infrastructure and in any location. He previously co-founded Akamai, the world's first and largest CDN. Jonathan has worked on distributed, low latency, high performance infrastructure for over 25 years. Description:

With the rapidly increasing pace of digital transformation, many managed service providers (MSPs) and cloud service providers are at a crossroads: they need to decide how to best continue to support their customers as they continue to migrate to the cloud.

While the hyperscale public cloud model is an attractive proposition for some customers, there are many existing and planned use cases and business models for which local data centers and MSPs can be a better fit. These businesses' cloud computing environments may be a blend of server types: on-premises, bare-metal, co-located, and distributed across multiple continents. No single cloud architecture with preset locations can offer them a consistently optimized level of application performance and deployment flexibility. Companies need a cloud provider that can customize a cloud for evolving business needs.

Local cloud service providers and MSPs should therefore consider how they convert digital transformation into a home-field advantage. By integrating modern cloud-native services into their offering, in addition to their traditional services, they will offer a robust alternative to the large public cloud and will be in an excellent position to fulfill evolving customer needs.

Today, Joanthan discusses some of the key benefits for managed service providers with existing cloud offerings to add modern cloud-native services to their existing portfolio, including:

• Monetize existing infrastructure
• Add new revenue streams
• Win business that will otherwise default to the public clouds
• Become the go-to service providers for emerging location dependent applications
• Ensure long-term customer retention

Resources and Links: https://www.ridge.co/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/11808567/

https://www.youtube.com/c/RidgeCloud

Sponsor Memo: SBTTC

This podcast is sponsored by the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community. Check us out at https://www.SmallBizThoughts.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 https://www.SmallBizThoughts.org

:-)

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

In this edition of SMBCP, Host Karl catches up with Jadon and Erin of Bitdefender on the latest of Modern Security Operations.

Learn the differences between EDR, XDR, and MDR as we delve into why detection and response services are necassary for your business.

Erin has been in the technology industry for over a decade, beginning in Public and Analyst Relations before transitioning to her true passion, product marketing. As Senior Manager, Product Marketing at Bitdefender, Erin focuses on all things Managed Detection & Response (MDR) and is responsible for developing messaging, positioning, and go-to-market strategies that reflect the voice of the customer and convey the true value-props of managed cybersecurity services. Before joining Bitdefender, Erin was a product marketer at Expel, focusing on MDR, threat hunting, and partner integrations.

Jadon is a product manager who specializes in bringing new technologies to market, including a SOAR platform at Rapid7 and a Cloud Attack Surface Management Product at Censys. He recently created Rapid7's Active Response capability for their MDR service, ensuring expeditious remediation in the case of an incident. As a Senior Director of Product Management at Bitdefender, Jadon is the product leader of the MDR service. Jadon is a Las Vegas native whose true joys in life are chicken wings, mezcal, and watching reality TV. Bitdefender is a cybersecurity leader delivering best-in-class threat prevention, detection, and response solutions worldwide. Guardian over millions of consumer, business, and government environments, Bitdefender is one of the industry's most trusted experts for eliminating threats, protecting privacy and data, and enabling cyber resilience. With deep investments in research and development, Bitdefender Labs discovers over 400 new threats each minute and validates around 40 billion daily threat queries. The company has pioneered breakthrough innovations in antimalware, IoT security, behavioral analytics, and artificial intelligence, and its technology is licensed by more than 150 of the world's most recognized technology brands. Launched in 2001, Bitdefender has customers in 170+ countries with offices around the world.

For more information, visit https://www.bitdefender.com

Resources and Links:

https://www.bitdefender.com/content/dam/bitdefender/business/products/managed-detection-and-response/Bitdefender-GravityZone-MDR-Datasheet-en.pdf

https://www.bitdefender.com/business/enterprise-products/managed-detection-response-service.html

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 inculding Meraki, Duo, and Umbrella, learn more with the link right in the show notes. https://lnkd.in/gsydMya

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

Host James chats with Daniel Wang of MSPbots. Daniel Wang is a seasoned MSP owner, and CEO of MSPbots, a software platform that uses dashboards, and bots to help MSP automate the business process, and help manage, and train employees.

MSPbots has the best dashboard software for MSP, easily creating MicroTraining bots to alert employees, and providing real-time Microtraining based on KPI changes, and incidents based on the data.

Resources and Links:

https://mspbots.ai

Sponsor Memo: SBTTC

This podcast is sponsored by the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community. Check us out at http://www.SmallBizThoughts.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 http://www.SmallBizThoughts.org

:-)

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

Host Karl speaks with Robert Scott of Scott & Scott LLP.

Robert Scott represents mid-market and large enterprise companies in software license transactions and disputes with major software publishers such as Adobe, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP. He has defended over 250 software audit matters initiated by software piracy trade groups such as the BSA and SIIA. He is counsel to some of the world's largest corporations, such as Schlumberger, PepsiCo, Iron Mountain and American Express, on information technology matters including intellectual property licensing, risk management, data privacy, and outsourcing.

As an attorney for 26 years, Robert Scott understands that law firms rarely get fans. Yet, that's exactly what his firm, Scott & Scott, LLP, has in owners of managed services provider companies. In what Scott, who has spent 15 years serving MSPs, called an "exciting" time, the firm earned the enthusiasts through its cloud-based customer contracting solution.

Believing that collaboration between legal and technology professionals is the key to solving complex business problems, Scott & Scott, LLP helps with software disputes, intellectual property matters, corporate transactions, copyright litigation, security and privacy issues and information technology. The firm is committed to monitoring developing technologies and emerging law – as technology evolves rapidly, so do laws governing it – in order to provide efficient, highly focused representation. In its 15 years of practice, Scott & Scott has handled more 500 engagements involving software license transactions and audit disputes against Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Adobe, Autodesk, and many other companies. The firm has defended copyright infringement litigation by Microsoft, initiated wrongful termination litigation against Aptean, fought Adobe's damage calculations, and filed declaratory judgment litigation against Autodesk. Scott & Scott's client roster includes Fortune 500 companies and other leading companies of all sizes.

Resources and Links:

website: https://scottandscottllp.com/

blogs: https://scottandscottllp.com/blogs/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scottandscott

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ScottandScott

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1loqaWnAyc0__O6EuhVACw?view_as=subscriber

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scott-&-scott-llp/

---

Sponsor Memo: Acronis

Are you still relying on a frustrating patchwork of legacy solutions Modernize your cybersecurity and data protection with Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud.

It's a single solution that combines backup, anti-malware, and endpoint protection management. As an MSP, you can easily improve clients' security posture, eliminate complexity, and generate more recurring revenue.

Learn more about Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud at Acronis.com.

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

Host Karl chats with Chase of JumpCloud. Chase Doelling is the Principal Strategist at cloud directory platform provider JumpCloud, where he leads the team in creating partnerships that enhance and secure digital identities.

He has been working in venture-backed startups across security, integration, and DevOps for the last decade. JumpCloud offers a directory platform, specifically for SMBs and MSPs, that consolidates IT management and secures employees' access to IT resources (devices, applications, servers, networks, and more).

Chase can discuss how SMBs and MSPs can leverage JumpCloud to simplify their IT environment, cut IT costs without sacrificing security, and centralize user identity so it's easy both for the admin to manage, and for the end user to navigate.

The full-featured JumpCloud Directory Platform is available, for free, for any organization for up to ten users. One partner found that JumpCloud's cost saved them 80% on IT management.

Also, twice a year, JumpCloud surveys IT teams from SMBs to find out their concerns and challenges, their budgets, what trends they're seeing, and more. On June 15, 2022, JumpCloud will be releasing the newest report, and Chase could also discuss how SMBs are increasingly leaning on MSPs, their top security concerns, and how they're addressing rising threats.

Chase can share how JumpCloud can help SMBs offer enterprise-grade security without adding enterprise-level complexity - and without paying enterprise-level cost or hiring enterprise-level support teams.

Resources and Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/jumpcloud

https://twitter.com/JumpCloud

A weekly gathering for SMB IT admins to discuss challenges:

https://jumpcloud.com/the-it-hour

Case study that shows JumpCloud is 1/5 cost:

https://jumpcloud.com/resources/case-study-altitude-integrations-reduce-costs

JumpCloud sign-up - fully free for up to 10 users:

https://console.jumpcloud.com/signup

---

Sponsor Memo: Acronis

Are you still relying on a frustrating patchwork of legacy solutions? Modernize your cybersecurity and data protection with Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud. It's a singlesolution that combines backup, anti-malware, and endpoint protection management. As an MSP, you can easily improve clients' security posture, eliminate complexity, and generate more recurring revenue. Learn more about Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud at Acronis.com.

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

In this edition of SMBCP, Host Karl sits down with Robert Sawyer and Daniel Daraban to discuss Bitdefender's GravityZone XDR (extended detection and response).

Find out what GravityZone XDR can do for your MSP business.

Robert Sawyer is the director of product marketing for cloud workload security and managed detection and response at Bitdefender. Prior to Bitdefender, he led product marketing for integration and applications at IBM as part of its newly launched automation division. He also led teams in hybrid cloud, tracing his roots back through BPM and SOA, and worked at Rackspace Technology, helping lead marketing for a newly launched managed security service offering. He's been in the IT space for over 20 years and started his career in software development, working on industry solutions in healthcare and life sciences and media and entertainment.

As a Director of Product Management at Bitdefender, Daniel Daraban manages the Bitdefender Business Solutions Group flagship product lines: EDR and XDR. Together with his team, they are on a mission to solve real-world customer encountered issues. Eager to understand day-to-day workflows and how that is impacting the products he manages, Daniel enjoys interacting with customers, prospects and industry analysts to gain valuable feedback. Outside of work you will find him in his tool shed working on various DYI projects, playing around with Arduinos, or riding some of the world's craziest rollercoasters.

Resources and Links:

XDR for MSPs Datasheet: https://www.bitdefender.com/content/dam/bitdefender/business/products/msp/Bitdefender-XDR-for-MSP-Datasheet-en.pdf

XDR for MSP launch blog: https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/how-xdr-can-transform-msp-cybersecurity

Sponsor Memo: PCMatic

PC Matic — Endpoint Security built on a zero trust/default deny foundation Finally - a light weight, simple to deploy & easy to manage approach to application allowlisting. The perfect compliment to your current security stack.

No minimums and no annual contracts. Find out more about PC Matic by visiting PCMatic.com/MSP today.

:-)

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

Host Karl speaks with Lee Darke of Information Technology Service Providers of Canada, a non-Profit organization dedicated to the Canadian IT Services Sector. ITSPC's goal is to provide a membership-based approach to industry standardization that helps IT Service Providers align to a common standard of service delivery curated by industry peers.

And like other professional bodies ITSPC felt the need for standards in service delivery and conduct. ITSPC believes that we need a "Hippocratic oath" of IT service delivery, aligned with a set of standards that professionalize the provider and empower the client.

The time has come to ensure that IT services are delivered with a common goal and set of standards that clients can trust.

Resources and Links:

https://join.itspc.ca

https://www.linkedin.com/company/itspc

https://twitter.com/itspcanada

https://www.facebook.com/itspcanada

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

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

Skill gap, tools complexity, alert fatigue, and other market challenges have become increasingly difficult to navigate in the MSP space. And for those with limited resources, these obstacles will continue to inhibit successful customer service.

In this exclusive interview, Host Karl spoke with Bitdefender's Erin Meyers and Jadon Montero in response to these growing issues and how MDR Foundations look to act as its solution.

Erin has been in the technology industry for over a decade, beginning in Public and Analyst Relations before transitioning to her true passion, product marketing. As Senior Manager, Product Marketing at Bitdefender, Erin focuses on all things Managed Detection & Response (MDR) and is responsible for developing messaging, positioning, and go-to-market strategies that reflect the voice of the customer and convey the true value-props of managed cybersecurity services. Before joining Bitdefender, Erin was a product marketer at Expel, focusing on MDR, threat hunting, and partner integrations.

Jadon is a product manager who specializes in bringing new technologies to market, including a SOAR platform at Rapid7 and a Cloud Attack Surface Management Product at Censys. He recently created Rapid7's Active Response capability for their MDR service, ensuring expeditious remediation in the case of an incident. As a Senior Director of Product Management at Bitdefender, Jadon is the product leader of the MDR service. Jadon is a Las Vegas native whose true joys in life are chicken wings, mezcal, and watching reality TV.

Resources and Links:

For more information, visit https://www.bitdefender.com

MDR Foundations for MSPs Datasheet: https://www.bitdefender.com/content/dam/bitdefender/business/msp/Bitdefender-MDR-Foundations-for-MSPs-Datasheet_en.pdf

MDR Datasheet: https://www.bitdefender.com/content/dam/bitdefender/business/products/managed-detection-and-response/Bitdefender-GravityZone-MDR-Datasheet-en.pdf

Sponsor Memo: Linode

Linode – a top Infrastructure as a Service provider has resources specifically for helping MSPs explore the alternative cloud.

Discover this growing market: one of the best-kept secrets in building a scalable, thriving, modern Managed Service Provider business.

Learn about the cloud provider landscape, improving KPIs, security, and more in Linode's free ebook,

The MSP's Guide to Modern Cloud Infrastructure, available now.

This resource and more at linode.com/mspradio.

:-)

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

Host James chats with Angela Schroeder. Angela is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, coach, connector, and life-long learner.

Angela is passionate about empowering people to live courageously and developing phenomenal cultures and teams.

With over 25 years of experience in launching and growing businesses, record-breaking sales, leading highly successful teams, and developing phenomenal cultures, Angela has learned it all starts with leading yourself well.

Angela has trained thousands of business owners, teams, and individuals globally on growing your mindset, growing your business, and growing your life.

Author of the Courageous Mind

Founder Courageous Strategies & Solutions.

We empower business professionals to operate in their unique genius and delegate everything else using a virtual team so that by focusing on what matters most they can grow their businesses and their lives exponentially faster.

Resources and Links:

www.thecourageousmind.com

@angelabangsschroeder on all platforms

Sponsor Memo: Agile Blue

AgileBlue is a 24/7 SOC, XDR and SOAR providing managed breach protection including monitoring, detection, and automated response to cloud, networks, and endpoints. Helping MSPs build their cyber business while increasing gross margins, ARR and stickiness. AgileBlue's partner program engages, enables, supports, and rewards your business growth with a white-labeled security dashboard, pooled pricing, marketing collateral, and purpose-built sales content. A 24/7 extension of your team, learn more at agileblue.com

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