SMB Community Podcast

I caught up with Jason Samples from PacketTrap at the ConnectWise IT Nation conference in Orlando.

My first question was "What are you doing here?" PacketTrap has both a PSA and an RMM tool. Their RMM tool is an "agent/agent-less hybrid" that integrates fully with other PSA systems – including ConnectWise. So they are having good luck talking to their clients and prospects on the vendor floor.

Jason Samples from PacketTrap

PacketTrap offers trials for their tools. Jason recommends that you start with the RMM side. Once you're comfortable with that, then they invite you to look at the PSA. They have a number of online training videos and we're planning to do a webinar together in the next month.

Download the Interview with Jason Samples from PacketTrap here.

You can find out more about PacketTrap at www.packettrap.com.

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For more information on IT Nation, visit TheITNation.com.

For more information on ConnectWise, visit ConnectWise.com.

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Final Report from SMB Nation Fall 2012.

Our final interview from SMB Nation's Fall conference is with Tom Poole, Founder and CEO of Cloud Nation. Cloud Nation is an SMB Nation family brand.

Cloud Nation has created a three-pronged program for helping MSPs make it to the cloud. Their goal is to provide a system so that SMB Consultants can jump into cloud offerings very quickly — confident that they're selling top-notch, reliable services. The program is good for both existing MSPs without a cloud offering and folks who are knew to the business altogether.

Tom Poole Cloud Nation

Components include:

– Sales and marketing support

– Education and certification

– Platform (actual cloud offerings)

Download the Interview with Tom Poole here.

The timetable for the release of Cloud Nation is:

– November 1st – You can sign up at http://cloudnation.co

– December 1st – Educational component goes live

– January 1, 2013 – The entire operation goes live

Past Podcasts

We recorded two other podcasts with Tom. The first was part of the Cloud Services Roundtable in October of last year.

Download the one-hour Interview with Tom Poole from Cloud Services Roundtable.

The other podcast was a quick interview earlier this year from MVP Nation. (See the full report at http://www.smbcommunitypodcast.com/2012/07/smb-community-podcasts-from-mvp-nation-part-2/).

Download the Interview with Tom Poole from MVP Nation.

Personally, I am very interested to see the specific offerings from Cloud Nation. Can't wait to see it live!

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Report from SMB Nation Fall 2012.

Mike Bayless

Near the end of this year's SMB Nation, I caught up with Mike Bayless from America's Tech Support in Sacramento. Mike says that networking with other MSP partners is the biggest benefit to attending.

"The majority of what happens here for me is either at the exhibitor booths, or the vendor booths, or in the hallways and at parties."

Mike is very clear that the conversation has already moved past the "death of SBS" issue. Partners were talking about strategies for the future.

Download the Interview with Mike Bayless here.

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Report from SMB Nation Fall 2012.

I was wandering past the Datto booth at SMB Nation and stopped to chat with Shannon Kohn, the Director of Marketing and Channel Relations. She invited me to watch them blow things up. We recorded a brief podcast.

Download the Interview with Shannon Kohn here.

Find out more about Datto at www.dattobackup.com.

After that, they did in fact destroy a machine. Here's Shannon's report:

The Datto team had a strong showing at the "Back to the Future" themed SMB Nation Fall event. As a Gold Sponsor, Datto was given a breakout session on Saturday that many attendees showed up for. The breakout, titled 'Datto's LIVE Disaster Demo', was an interactive hardware destruction session that showcased their flagship business continuity solution, SIRIS. The Datto team put SIRIS to the test, performing both an instant local virtualization and an instant off-site virtualization in Datto's cloud, right before the attendees eyes.

To make it clear that this was not just an act, Datto let audience members participate in the destruction of the computer hardware and the SIRIS device. Datto concluded the presentation by speaking to the importance of business continuity for SMBs and the benefits of implementing solutions that save companies from experiencing costly downtime.

Datto Disaster Demo 2

Datto Disaster Demo 1

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Report from SMB Nation Fall 2012.

I had a good chat with Regina Ciardiello, Editor of SMB Nation magazine while I was in Las Vegas. Regina wrote the Daily Gazette "newsletter" for the event.

In addition to the plug for next year's SMB Nation conference, Regina gave us some information about SMB Nation staff member Jeremiah Ilges. Jeremiah suffers from aplastic anemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. Jeremiah is scheduled for his bone marrow transplant in a couple of weeks. A "10/10" match donor has been found.

Jeremiah's family could use some financial assistance. So the folks at SMB Nation are encouraging everyone to contribute what they can at www.adoptourfamily.com.

Download the Interview with Regina Ciardiello now.

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Interview with Jon Sastre

One of the best interviews I had at SMB Nation was with Jon Sastre, one of the IAMCP leaders at the state, national, and international levels. Jon is also a very successful managed service provider, value added reseller, and system integrator.

Jon's company is Conquest Technology Services of Southern Florida. They are the Microsoft Partner of the Year for Lync.

Download the interview Jon Sastre now.

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One of the reasons I love working with my brother Manuel is that he is AMAZING at defining and implementing successful processes. Earlier this year he started a new coaching program geared specifically toward Managed Service Providers.

Manuel was the President of my MSP (KPEnterprises) for three years. After that he took a position as the outsourced Chief Operating Officer for an MSP in Florida. He turned their operation around and brought them four quarters in a row of profitability – something they had not had before.

Manuel has a great resource site at www.conceptualageconsulting.net. Check it out and review the programs he has available.

Just FYI: My coaching program is full and I have a waiting list. Trust me. You will miss NOTHING if you engage with Manuel. He is the best team leader I have ever seen. He is also amazing at defining and implementing processes. After all – he had primary responsibility for the 270 page checklist in the Network Migration Workbook!

Our mastery of ConnectWise, Autotask, Kaseya, and Contiuum (formerly Zenith) is due to Manuel's leadership.

Download the Interview with Manuel Palachuk here.

You can also find him at:

www.facebook.com/manuelpalachuk

www.linkedin.com/in/manuelpalachuk

If your company could use some personalized coaching to get to the next level, please contact Manuel today!

P.S., NO: I'm not just saying that because he's my brother. I have five brothers. Each has skills. Some I promote, some I don't. Manuel really is "the man" when it comes to getting your business pointed in the right direction.

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Rob Patterson talked to me at SMB Nation about his very successful IT Pro group in New York City – the New York Small Business Server Group. He revealed to us the secrets of holding a meeting, plus the Pre-meeting meeting and the Post-meeting meeting.

There's no B.S. here: Rob is one of the great user group leaders out there. His success is possible because he has a large group of people who jump in and make things happen. The group has many unique features, including Michael Klein's special presentation on news, trends, links, and more. He is a true resource who "does the reading so you don't have to."

The New York group has a very strong community. Over 300 members with up to 100 at a meeting (200 when Microsoft has a big event).

If you're interested in contacting Rob, go to nysbs.net

http://nysbs.net/

You can also sign up for their Yahoo Group from that site.

Download the Interview with Rob Patterson Here.

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One of the fun things at this year's SMB Nation event was the whole "Back to the Future" theme. In addition to the lovely Claudia Wells (see previous podcast), StorageCraft and Intel paid to bring the Time Machine to the conference hall.

Since he was there all weekend, I grabbed the opportunity to talk to the current owner, Mark Shields.

Download the interview with Mark Shields now.

You can find Mark online at:

www.TimeMachineRental.com

or on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/deloreanrental

His web site has a photo gallery as well as a video gallery. Mark is an application Architect for a large corporation in Minneapolis, so this is a part-time gig for him. Not a bad side job. As Mark mentions in his interview, a portion of his rental fee goes to the The Michael J. Fox Foundation to fight Parkinson's Disease.

https://www.michaeljfox.org/

Over on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/karlpalachuk), I posted some close-up pictures of the car. Mark says there are about ten replicas in the US.

One very interesting note in this interview: Mark is working on how to un-SEO your Internet footprint. Mark has done some other projects in the past, including other replica cars. After he's figured out how to convert existing SEO to his current projects, he's hoping to write a book.

I hope he stays in touch.

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I caught up with Jeff Middleton at SMB Nation over the weekend. We covered several topics, including:

– Update on the SBS Migration / IT Pro Experts conference (the annual conference that is held from time to time)

– SMB Community Roadshow, sponsored by Microsoft and HP

– The future (and past) of Small Business Server

– The new IT Pro Experts brand: www.itproexperts.com

– SBS Migrations going forward

– Microsoft's participation in the SMB space

Jeff is a Microsoft MVP and a long-standing leader in the small business and SBS community. In addition to helping people with the technical side of what they do, he is very active (and successful) at bringing vendors into our space to participate at a level that can help small IT consultants to make money.

Download the Interview with Jeff Middleton here.

You can review the SBS Migration catalog at www.sbsmigration.com.

You can explore IT Pro Experts at www.itproexperts.com.

And Jeff says you can always email him at "Jeff@ almost any domain I control."

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