SMB Community Podcast

This week's sponsor: PC Matic

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Topic 1: - What's the B2B plan for sales after the pandemic?

Here are a few different perspectives. We discuss these as well as recovery timing. After all, increased sales will start at some point: You need a plan!

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/advanced-electronics/our-insights/a-post-covid-19-commercial-recovery-strategy-for-b2b-companies

Post-COVID-19 strategy planning has begun at 43% of companies, while 38% of CIOs said their organizations continue to grapple with the effects of the pandemic, and plan to turn to recovery soon.

How CIO’s view things:
https://www.ciodive.com/news/cio-leadership-coronavirus-gartner/583282/

Topic 2: - What do the moves of government regulators mean?

AG’s at the top:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/technology/facebook-online-hate.html

Or what it will mean for smaller companies? (Registration fees!)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/MSPRegulationAndLegislation

Facebook's July 2020 Civil Rights Audit:
https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Civil-Rights-Audit-Final-Report.pdf

Topic 3: - Life after the pandemic - Changes in workers?

This is a really good practical exercise in the debate around working from home vs. in the office. Hybrid work leads to hybrid legal definitions - and no one is prepared to address those different status types in their current model.

Obviously the question in California is far from finished, but this is a really good step forward. The gig economy is a great idea, but companies have twisted the concept to abuse workers rather than create flexibility and it’s good to see some sanity introduced to the model.

https://thenextweb.com/shift/2020/08/11/judge-rules-uber-lyft-drivers-employees-far-from-the-end/

Note: While we were recording, the judge ruled against the extension we discuss.

:-)

Karl was joined by Marwan, co-founder and CEO of Veem, to talk about the one thing on every business owner's mind: where's my money?? Doing business internationally comes with a lot of opportunity, but also potentially a lot of fees. Marwan breaks it all down and also shares how his business, Veem, may be a good platform for your business.

Veem simplifies payments to vendors, international contractors, contingent workers, etc. The payor just enters the email address, the currency they want to pay in, the amount, the scheduled date, and they will be shown the exact amount that will be debited from their account in their local currency, inclusive of any fees paid and the exchange rate conversion.

Marwan Forzley is the co-founder and CEO of Veem, a global payments network helping small businesses transfer money domestically and internationally. Veem is revolutionizing global business payments with innovative technologies like blockchain to help small businesses grow at home and abroad. Forzley is also the author of "Small Business in a Big World: A Comprehensive Guide to Doing International Business", which teaches small businesses everything they need to know about taking their operations to the international level, from business culture to negotiation tactics.

-- Links:

https://www.veem.com/

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Topic 1: Micro-Management 2020

How are managers doing in the world all-remote work? In particular, how are remote managers doing? We continue the discussion of whether we'll really go back to the office when all this is over.

One element to watch: Not all managers trust employees and believe they can be effective without true hands-on management. We cover a few stats and give our impressions of the world ahead.

Links:

https://hbr.org/2020/07/remote-managers-are-having-trust-issues

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/04/remote-work-longer-days/

Topic 2: Sanctions against Chinese companies will have echoes inside the world of technology.

As Chinese companies are sanctioned for human rights violations, our supply chain is affected. On top of that, these sactions lead to other forces in the world of online collaboration and the global inter-connected Internet. Sub-topics include human rights, cyber crime, overall regulation, and having the virtual world become the "real" world.

Links:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/us-adds-11-more-chinese-companies-to-entity-list-for-uyghur-human-rights-violations/

https://apnews.com/978f1494313a545e6e7e568e5f9782bf

Topic 3: TikTok and Bifurcation of the Internet; and maybe Trifurcation, etc.

Life after the Pandemic . . . What does TikTok mean? And does it matter whether it's owned by a U.S. company, in an inter-connected global Internet? Is TikTok any worse than Google, Facebook, Amazon, and other "western" countries just because the data goes to China vs. San Jose?

:-)

Karl caught up with Scott Sanders, founder of the IT Business Owners Group to dig into the details of Scott's online Facebook community. And - to hear about their upcoming member cruise in September 2021 so there's plenty of time to join

The IT Business Owners Group (ITBOG) is a sponsor driven community that was created on social media to bring a common channel for IT business owners and the vendors of the products in which they sell and support. IT Business Owners Group, helps both members and vendors by sharing ideas to help each other grow.

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Links: https://itbog.org https://facebook.com/itbog.org https://facebook.com/groups/itbog

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Topic 1: The "Big Four" IT buisinesses grilled by Congress.

Will there be any real aftermath to these hearings, or is this all just political showmanship?

CEOs from Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google were grilled by Congress. We discuss what this might mean (or not).

Sample Link:

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/07/29/technology/tech-ceos-hearing-testimony

Topic 2: SolarWinds abdicates RMM.

SolarWinds has announced that they're just going to use the Microsoft tools to manage patch management. Is this simply "opting out" of the RMM game, or a smart move acknowledging that Microsoft does it better.

What does this mean to you as a SolarWinds user? And does it affect you if you use something else? And is there any long-term effect on the industry generally? We discuss.

Link:

https://www.channele2e.com/technology/management/solarwinds-msp-microsoft-365-intune-partnership/

Topic 3: Life after Covid: College Life Expectancy

How will colleges survive in the long term, and how is this affected by the Covid? Scott Galloway had a great blog post - with a great graphic. He looks at how colleges will emerge from this strange time.

Check out the comments as well.

https://www.profgalloway.com/uss-university/

Love the graphic
https://api.profgalloway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/US_Higher_Ed4.png

:-)

Karl connected with Paul Green about not only how to get started (or continue) your marketing strategy as an MSP, but also how to navigate the sales climate created by COVID. Grab some free resources at his website below and catch some actionable tips during the podcast.

About Paul:

Paul Green is an MSP marketing expert, based in the UK, working with 200+ MSPs all over the world. He helps MSPs improve their marketing and generate more leads with his MSP Marketing Edge program. Paul's a former journalist and radio presenter, and has been working with MSPs for 4 years now. He's also the author of Updating Servers Doesn't Grow Your Business.

Links: https://www.paulgreensmspmarketing.com/ https://www.mspmarketingedge.com/

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Topic 1: Tech VC funding down and moving sideways (not up) due to the pandemic.

Funding for new ventures is being affected by the recession and the circumstances surrounding the pandemic. The change in money makes sense, but the response to social distancing is a new factor the venture capitalists haven't dealt with before.

Related Link:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/tech-startup-funding-declines-as-pandemic-drags-on-11595494800

Topic 2: Embracing Crypto Currency

Bitcoin might not be taking over the world, but some very big financial outfits are building their own crypto currencies. We talk about what's really going on here (embracing blockchain), and more. Plus, of course, our commentary.

Favorite quote:
"Money is nothing but alphanumeric data and it would become alphanumeric data not in paper form, but in a form of arranged electrons and photons,"

Related Link:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2020/07/24/visa-mastercard-and-paypal-are-changing-their-tune-on-bitcoin-and-crypto/

Topic 3: Life after Covid: The four Internets. Maybe five.

We've talked before about the Splinternet - dividing the Internet between the U.S.-centric and China-centric models. This article proposes two more model: Euro-centric and India-Centric. Each has unique challenges, limitations, and opportunities.

. . . On top of that, consider the emerging Quantum Internet, base on U.S.-centric Quantum computing initiatives.

Related Links:
https://stratechery.com/2020/india-jio-and-the-four-internets/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-push-for-better-cybersecurity-u-s-energy-department-outlines-a-national-quantum-internet-11595527706

https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-a-white-house-summit-on-quantum-technology-experts-map-next-steps-11559339305

Your feedback is welcome!

:-)

Karl talked with Jim Roddy this week on the topic of the Retail IT Channel. Jim Roddy is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Retail Solutions Providers Association, and he does not fall short in suggestions on how to support your clients in the restaurant, retail, and similar spaces during COVID-19.

About Jim:

Jim Roddy is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA). He has been active in the channel since 1998, including 11 years as the President of Business Solutions Magazine, six years as an RSPA board member, one term as RSPA Chairman of the Board, and several years as a business coach for VARs, ISVs, and MSPs. Jim is regularly requested to speak at industry conferences and he is author of Hire Like You Just Beat Cancer.

Links:

www.GoRSPA.org https://twitter.com/Jim_Roddy https://www.linkedin.com/in/JimRoddy1/

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Another fun show! Please give us your feedback. And share it if you love it!

We start with a couple of major stories and finish with an eye on the future.

Topic 1: EU says their privacy laws are not being enforced appropriately in the U.S.

To make that point, a random group of hackers broke into a series of Twitter accounts. Question one: Are we doing enough to protect data privacy? Question two: Is it possible to get this right?

Can you, as a solution provider, actually do a decent job to protect your clients?

Links:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/top-eu-court-ruling-throws-transatlantic-digital-commerce-into-disarray-over-privacy-concerns/2020/07/16/d2c0fe06-c736-11ea-a825-8722004e4150_story.html

https://www.theverge.com/interface/2020/7/15/21325708/twitter-hack-global-security-crisis-nuclear-war-bitcoin-scam

Topic 2: “Ethical Explorer Pack” for developers.

This is a cool offspring from the "Ethical OS" project. Basically, programmers wanna program. They want to create cool programs, games, and so forth. And sometimes they accidentally produce unintended consequences related to ethics and human interaction. In the best of worlds, this might have to do with blind spots. But sometimes the bias is built into the data and the processes themselves.

Basically, this is an attempt to open developer's view of the world. At a minimum, keeping an eye on ethics is good for everyone.

Link:
https://www.wired.com/story/ethics-guide-tech-rewritten-workers/

Topic 3: Thinking about the quote from William Gibson: “The future is already here; It’s just not widely distributed.”

As we look at all the "Covid" related changes, there's lots of speculation about how much of the change will stay. We start with the question, how much of the change we’re seeing is not new at all? A great example is Zoom. Many of us have been using Zoom and similar tools for more than a decade. What's "new" to one group is not new to everyone.

Some of this is just cutting edge technology that’s just in the right place at the right time. Some is established technology that has just been waiting for an opportunity to shine. But perhaps most of it is very well established technology that has been proven in niches and is suddenly visible to a wider audience.

We touch a bit on all of our favorite topics: RMM, remote tech support, food delivery apps, AI, etc.

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That's it for this week. Please give us a like, thumbs up, or whatever other goodness you can.

Comments and questions welcome.

:-)

Karl and Mike get together to talk about some simple steps to lower your risks and preserve your lifestyle as a smart managed services provider.

Mike Semel is a noted thought leader, speaker, blogger, and best-selling author. He is the President of Semel Consulting, focused on compliance regulations; cyber security; and Business Continuity planning. Mike has also developed Semel Systems, a series of cybersecurity and compliance training and go-to-market systems for MSPs.

Links: www.mikesemel.com

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