Podcasts about connectwise manage

Segment One: What are you up to? Host Amy B and Karl discuss the latest in flower power. --- Segment Two: Five Minutes with a Smart Person - Allen Edwards  Allen began his I.T. career in 1994 as an entry-level tech, climbing the ladder through positions such as network technologist and then division manager in just six years. He founded his first I.T. company in 2002, and in ten short years led the enterprise through a transition from break/fix to MSP, and from custom ticketing to AutoTask before moving to ConnectWise Manage. Allen started Eureka Process with a view to benefiting their clients through immersion in their daily process and activity. Allen brings his breadth of technical and leadership knowledge to the table, along with proven leadership implementation skills to guide his clients and their teams through fostering the development of the hard and soft skills that make success inevitable. Allen is strict about Eureka's mandate, always add value first, whether that means working with C-level executives to elevate their leadership game or getting hands-on with front-line techs or the sales team. A sought-after MSP expert, he aims to offer his clients a sense of relief from the demand and complexity of running a successful MSP. Allen wants to reinvigorate teams with enthusiasm and a sense of possibility while building meaningful, growth-centered relationships that support next-level performance. With a passion for adventure, Allen fills his spare time nurturing any one of his varied interests. From scuba diving to snow skiing, acro-yoga and travel – he looks to take in all this world has to offer. https://eurekaprocess.com/about/ --- Segment Three: MSP Question of the week and Notes on the News  Q: Do we have too few ports on new laptops? Is AI really going to kill us all? Why is there a move by AI-creators to scare everyone? Is it the end of work? Resources and Links: https://nsitsp.org/join/ Kernan Mastermind LIVE Event - Denver June 29-30th LINK TO REGISTER: http://bit.ly/kernanmastermind CompTIA Free registration - August 1-3  Use code SBSmallBizThoughts23 Link: https://i.snoball.it/p/3igU/l   Sponsor Memo: SBT Tech Community This podcast is sponsored by the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community.  Check us out at https://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://smallbizthoughts.org  

Topic 1: U.S. workers have gotten way less productive.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/10/31/productivity-down-employers-worried-recession/ No one is sure why. So we get to make up reasons!  Can this be attributed to the Quiet Quitting Phenomon? Maybe. But maybe not. (Again, we get to come up with our own theories today.) Perhaps, complexity is the enemy of productivity; thus, remote working might not give our brains enough buffering time between each tasks than say walking from the meeting hall to your cubicle would. Also, as we settle into a sort of kind not really post-pandemic world, we can surmise that the line between our work lives and home lives has become less muddled. And maybe, just maybe, this means we aren't being less productive, rather we are setting healthy work to home boundaries at the expense of a project deadline...Again, just speculating.    Topic 2: Spending for Cloud Computing in 2023 is Forecast to Grow … a Lot! https://siliconangle.com/2022/10/31/gartner-spending-public-cloud-services-will-exceed-591b-2023/ In a slight surprise, and a noticeable change of tone, Gartner forecasts that spending on cloud computing – across all 6 categories they include in the segment – will rise in 2023. Just because spending is down in some categories doesn't mean it will be down in all categories. SaaS / PaaS / IaaS / DaaS / CMaaS / BPaaS. So many awkward acronyms! Topic 3: US Banks spent over $1 Billion on Ransomware in 2021 ...that they reported! https://www.techradar.com/news/us-banks-processed-over-dollar1-billion-in-ransomware-payments-last-year  Time to head into the cloud of uncertainty!  Sponsor Memo: TimeZest  Does coordinating meetings and help desk calls frustrate you and your clients?  Wouldn't it be easier if you could automate this process and it integrated with ConnectWise Manage or Autotask?    TimeZest is schedulig automation that gives you control of your schedule and removes the frustration of calendar ping pong.  As the only solution specifically designed for MSPs, it integrates with your PSA to schedule appointments right in your workflow.  And the best part? You can try it for free. Visit https://timezest.com  to try it out today.  

Topic 1:  Shredding the Myth of Anonymity in Bitcoin    Wired recently published a long, detailed story of how law enforcement agencies around the world collaborated to bring down the largest child abuse sex network in history. One key element in this take-down is the “trick” of turning bitcoin from an anonymous tool into a perfect record of evidence. This story truly is the modern equivalent of the Al Capone story. Once agents have access to a few crypto wallets, they can then use the public Bitcoin blockchain data to identify every transaction, and every buyer or seller. All of this data is unique, unalterable, and publicly accessible. A few key points:  Bitcoin has been used extensively by criminals on the promise that it's anonymous and untraceable. Bitcoin exchanges are “permanent, unchangeable, and entirely public” in nature. Once one Bitcoin transaction is connected to a specific legitimate account, an entire web of related transactions can be built. https://www.wired.com/story/tracers-in-the-dark-welcome-to-video-crypto-anonymity-myth/ Somewhat related story: Man gets life in prison for traveling to Vietnam to sexually abuse children. https://www.wistv.com/2022/05/16/man-gets-life-prison-traveling-vietnam-sexually-abuse-children-doj-says/   Topic 2: 911 Needs to Move to the Cloud. What's taking so long?   "Modern" 911 systems are actually old, outdated, and far more complex than they would be if you rebuilt the system from the ground up. But rebuilding all that infrastructure takes time and costs money. Plus, if you get it wrong, people die. https://www.protocol.com/enterprise/emergency-911-cloud-contact-center   Topic 3: CISA Addresses Self-Attestation for IT Service Security It would be impossible to have government agencies test and verify everything they are charged with regulating. But, as we saw with Boeing's 737 Max, there are real consequences for letting companies regulate themselves. The Computer Information Security Agency just released “guidance” around security services sold to government agencies. Basically, they want companies to declare (and eventually document) their compliance with security frameworks such as CMMC. Note that the National Institute for Standards and Technology released similar guidance as well, in addition to being the home of CMMC and other standards. See: https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2022/05/nists-supply-chain-security-guidance-tells-agencies-look-fedramp-first/366564/  Quote from the NIST report: “The external system service providers discussed in this publication include cloud service providers.” See: https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-161r1.pdf  https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2022/05/federal-ciso-recommendations-acquisition-council-software-procurement/367351/    Vendor Memo: Gozynta  Did you know that the average MSP spends 10 hours manually inputting accounting data each week? That time is 120 prospect calls, a month's worth of the Business of Tech, or building an entire lego death star. 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 us at gozynta.com   :-)  

Host Amy speaks with the Zack Fair on web filtering with SafeDNS. Zack is the Business Development Manager at SafeDNS and an IT enthusiast SafeDNS breathes to make the internet safer for people all over the world with solutions ranging from AI & ML-powered web filtering, cybersecurity to threat intelligence. Moreover, SafeDNS strives to create the next generation of safer and more affordable web filtering products.   Resources and links: www.safedns.com https://blog.safedns.com/   Did you know that the average MSP spends 10 hours manually inputting accounting data each week?  That time is 120 prospect calls, a month's worth of the Business of Tech, or building an entire lego death  star. 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 us at g-o-z-y-n-t-a dot com  :-)

Host Karl talks with Scott Sandland from Cyrano.ai, a company that is developing smart "AI" software that will help counselors address some tough emotional issues. Scott started out focusing on teen suicide and has built up systems from there. Scott is the former world's youngest hypnotherapist. A few companies (and decades) later he is the CEO of a company focusing on artificial empathy and strategic linguistics. As a former executive director and CEO of a mental health clinic and longtime technologist, he has experience leading purpose driven organizations. He has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, Psychology Today, Forbes, and Entrepreneur Magazine. Scott has presented his AI work at the United Nations AI for Global Good Conference and is a frequent guest lecturer at various universities. Here we dig into AI chatbots that are attempting to do good things - with empathy and strategy. We also dig into some of the current issues with AI and ethics. Scott's company builds and has patented an AI system optimized for effective communication skills, active listening, and strategic responses to help people increase motivation towards a desired outcome. Acknowledging that this is a very difficult chore and it could be very dangerous to get it wrong. Links: https://blog.cyrano.ai/  https://www.cyrano.ai/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottsandland/  ----- Sponsor Memo: Gozynta 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 https://gozynta.com  :-)  

Topic 1: China mucking around with Iran and Israel China attacks Israel and makes it look like Iran did it. Meanwhile, Iran really is attacking Israel. And now Israel is attacking Irananian fuel supplies and Iran is exposing personal dating profiles of Israelis. It looks like Israel is attacking Iranian train systems, and Iran is attacking Israeli water systems. Attacks against citizens are causing political unrest in both countries. Links: https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/08/10/1031622/chinese-hackers-false-flag-iran-israel-fireeye/  https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/18/iran-leapfrogging-our-defenses-in-cyber-war-hacking-expert-mandia-.html  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/27/world/middleeast/iran-israel-cyber-hack.html  Topic 2: Robots are not yet smart enough to take most jobs Robots are getting better, but still require lots of human interaction. They are becoming "just another tool" that humans interactively use. Link: https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-warehouse-robots-worker-shortage/  Topic 3: Amazon Private 5G Amazon private 5G is now available to deploy. They even supply the equipment for free: You just pay for usage. Will this be a disruption? Links: https://www.zdnet.com/article/aws-ceo-announces-private-5g-at-reinvent-2021/  Configure at: https://pages.awscloud.com/Private5GPreview.html  https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-awss-move-into-private-5g-networking-is-significant/  -- -- -- Sponsor Note: Gozynta Did you know that the average MSP spends 10 hours manually inputting accounting data each week? That time is 120 prospect calls, a month's worth of the Business of Tech, or building an entire lego death star. 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 us at https://Gozynta.com.  :-)  

From Karl: Everyone is a little overwhelmed with the fast-changing world of cybersecurity and what we should be doing. I wanted to give folks some clear, precise guidelines and questions about starting this process. I go into some detail on the questions and process I recommend for engaging EVERY client in this discussion. I make reference to the model cybersecurity training you can access and download from https://www.mspwebinar.com. You can view the entire 1-hour video (recorded live with a client in November 2021), and download the PowerPoint in PPTX format. Download it, remove my branding and graphics, and create your own version. Hey, it's easier to edit my stuff than to start with a blank page, right? And if you are a member of the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community, you can access example resources for data handling documents and the sample client-facing cybersecurity questionnaire. If you're not a member, sign up now at https://www.smallbizthoughts.org.  ----- Sponsor Note: Gozynta 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 https://gozynta.com  :-)  

Topic 1: Trolls Are Born, Not Made While self esteem is a factor, Internet trolls don't have low self esteem. They have a high tendency to sadism. When mixed with high self esteem, you get a troll. Who are these people and how did they become trolls. Research gives us some insights. https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-trolls-dont-just-enjoy-hurting-others-they-also-feel-good-about-themselves-145931  Topic 2: Async Business Collaboration Models One of Karl's favorite topics! Let's focus on focus. Asynchronous communication goes a long ways to making focus possible and effective. If you can find people who work asynchronously, and give them the right tools, amazing things can be done. https://www.protocol.com/workplace/async-work-goodbye-meetings  Also: https://www.geekwire.com/2021/study-microsoft-employees-shows-remote-work-puts-productivity-innovation-risk/  Topic 3: Desperate for Workers, Restaurants Turn to Robots It's about time! Lines have gotten longer and longer due to pandemic upheaval and a shrinking workforce. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/business/restaurants-robots-workers.html  -- -- -- Sponsor Note: Gozynta Did you know that the average MSP spends 10 hours manually inputting accounting data each week? That time is 120 prospect calls, a month's worth of the Business of Tech, or building an entire Lego death star. 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 us at https://Gozynta.com.  :-)  

Host Amy interviewed Ben Yarbrough, CEO at Calyptix Security Corporation about their new product launch. Ben founded in 2005 and has focused on the Small/SMB space from the start. He is an experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the computer and network security industry. Skilled in Firewalls, Managed Services, Business Development, and Entrepreneurship. Strong business development professional graduated from University of Virginia School of Law and Davidson College. Contact Info LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/ben-yarbrough-b500385  Twitter - @BenYarbrough -- -- -- Sponsor memo: Gozynta Mobius  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  :-)  

Question of the Day: What is a photo? Topic 1: When AI Breaks Bad Once again we address the question of ethics and AI. From Axios: "A new report about artificial intelligence and its effects warns AI has reached a turning point and its negative effects can no longer be ignored." Have we reached the point where we should automatically look for the negative effects first? Link: https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-future-0a5d2e2c-acd8-422b-a37c-1fc93f78a76f.html  Topic 2: Let's look at CISA . . . again. Last week we talked about the CISA advice for your customers. Here we revisit, and look at the “Low fruit” considerations that you might actually decide to adopt today. These include Backup documentation, Client data segregation, and Financial health of IT service providers. Link: https://www.cisa.gov/publication/risk-considerations-msp-customers  See also Karl's blog posts on this: - https://blog.smallbizthoughts.com/2021/09/the-government-is-telling-your-clients.html  - https://blog.smallbizthoughts.com/2021/09/three-things-you-should-do-in-response.html  Topic 3: Next Gen Crowd Sourcing? Pondering . . . is there a new name for the group behavior that's emerging on the Internet in the 2020's? For example: - TikTok investors follow members of Congress - Reddit investors manipulate the stock market - Amateur sleuths help in the search for missing persons Question: Is there a name for this kind of activity? It seems like there's something other than "crowd sourcing" here. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/20/style/gabby-petito-case-tiktok-social-media.html  Sponsor Memo: Did you know that the average MSP spends 10 hours manually inputting accounting data each week? That time is 120 prospect calls, a month's worth of the Business of Tech, or building an entire Lego death star. 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 us at www.Gozynta.com :-)  

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  -- -- -- 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  :-)  

Topic 1: Why is there derision for "alternative" solution stacks? Dave asks . . . why do people like to put down Chromebooks and Macs? Do they actually love their Windows-centric world? We have fun, and we hope we make some points worth considering in a modern world. Link: https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/chrome-os/chromebook/253503/a-tale-of-two-chromebooks  Topic 2: Forget work/life balance: Now get back to work. Last week, Mary Erdoes (chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase asset and wealth management business) laid it on the line: If you want to be successful in the world of banking, you should expect to work 12-hour days, six days a week. Period. Her argument is that you can get your desired ten thousand hours of training in a few years. She doesn't mention that you'll probably destroy your family and develop life-long habits that will literally kill you much younger than people who have more balance in their lives. Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-20/wall-street-jpmorgan-exec-says-why-bankers-need-to-work-72-hours-a-week  Related article: The boss wants you back in the office. Now. https://www.wsj.com/articles/return-to-work-the-boss-wants-you-back-in-the-office-11627079616  Related web site: https://www.relaxfocussucceed.com  Topic 3: QR Codes Finally Found a Foothold in the Pandemic. Now let's talk privacy. Restaurants adopted e-menu technology en masse during the pandemic. Scan the QR code, and browse the menu. And pay. All good. But you have just placed a data-gathering and marketing system between you and your food. Yes, we have opinions. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/26/technology/qr-codes-tracking.html  Sponsor Note: Did you know that the average MSP spends 10 hours manually inputting accounting data each week? That time is 120 prospect calls, a month's worth of the Business of Tech, or building an entire Lego death star. 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 us at Gozynta.com :-)  

Topic 1: The Impact of China on the Cybersecurity Industry & Data Protection China was on both sides of the cybersecurity story last week. On one hand, they were accused by the whole world of orchestrating the attack on Exchange servers. On the other hand, they starting cracking down on cybersecurity internally. This also has direct implications for US companies selling into China. What will be the impact of these moves on the US security market and our domestic business operations? Links: https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3141798/beijing-calls-out-amazon-bytedance-netease-violating-users-rights  https://www.protocol.com/china/china-cybersecurity-self-sufficiency  Topic 2: Another New Application for Video: TikTok Resumes TikTok had introduce a "Resume" service. Will you go there for your next hire? Could video essays be the next thing in hiring? Through July 31, job seekers can upload video resumes with the hashtag #tiktokresumes. Is this just a Gen Z thing? https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-wants-to-be-linkedin-for-gen-z-tiktok-resumes-2021-7    Topic 3: Toronto airport tests facial recognition software . . . without disclosing it For several years, the Province of Ottowa tested facial recognition in crowds at the airport. What are the disclosure rules? What's the ethics here? https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ottawa-tested-facial-recognition-on-millions-of-travellers-at-torontos/  -- -- -- Vendor Memo: Did you know that the average MSP spends 10 hours manually inputting accounting data each week? That time is 120 prospect calls, a month's worth of the Business of Tech, or building an entire lego death star. 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 us at https://www.Gozynta.com  :-)    

Topic 1: Is "Patch and Zero Trust" Even Possible? What does doing something different look like? How much do we need to rethink all this? Or, perhaps, is it possible to provide appropriate security at the small end of the market but impossible at the enterprise level? With the explosion of IOT, security may in fact be impossible. If that's true, what else can we do? Link: https://doublepulsar.com/the-hard-truth-about-ransomware-we-arent-prepared-it-s-a-battle-with-new-rules-and-it-hasn-t-a93ad3030a54    Topic 2: Status update on getting back to the Office This is still an evolving story. Workers would like to stay home more; managers would like them to be in the office more. This might be the biggest change to come out of the pandemic/recession of 2020-2021. Link: https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/16/your-boss-might-tell-you-the-office-is-more-secure-but-it-isnt/  Topic 3: Amazon "burning through" employees What does this tell us about Amazon? And since they are a massive employer, does this massive turnover affect the larger employment market? Employee churn is so high that some Amazon execs are reportedly worried about running out of people. Links: https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-warehouse-turnover-worker-shortage-2021-6  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/15/us/amazon-workers.html  -- -- -- Vendor Memo: Did you know that the average MSP spends 10 hours manually inputting accounting data each week? That time is 120 prospect calls, a month's worth of the Business of Tech, or building an entire lego death star. 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 us at Gozynta.com :-)  

Host Karl caught up with Jason Bystrak from D&H Distributing. Jason is D&H's VP of Cloud and Services Cloud and XaaS is positioned to grow as more companies have been compelled to embrace digital transformation throughout the pandemic, moving greater amounts of their infrastructures and services to the cloud. Small to mid-size businesses have shown themselves to be especially agile in light of the shift to remote and hybrid technology solutions, making this sector a notable opportunity for channel partners to profit from cloud services bundled with hardware and services. All-in-all, XaaS is becoming the new standard for technology consumption in the emerging digital economy. The XaaS consumption model employs a combination of solutions including hardware, software, cloud-based solutions, and a roster of technology services. The challenge is to deliver this range of products and services through a streamlined conduit, reducing complexity while still capitalizing on the many benefits of XaaS. MSPs and VARs can more easily monetize per-seat services across multiple customers through use of a consolidated transactional platform, one that provides an array of cloud offerings and ideally allowing the partner to incorporate services of their own. While the XaaS model can support any technology solution – including data center and network infrastructure – they are typically built around end-point devices. Software and SaaS solutions such as productivity, collaboration, unified communication and business applications are added along with infrastructure options such as enhanced security, data protection, remote access and virtual desktop. These are combined with services such as migration, integration, management and support for the term of the agreement. While some XaaS solutions are capitalized in the project-style upfront payment, most are financed in a monthly subscription model, posing additional challenges for the traditional channel model. Jason Bystrak began his tenure at the company in 2019 to oversee what is now the distributor's Cloud Solutions offering, responsible for lines of business including cloud, XaaS ("Everything as a Service"), services, security, and unified communications. He has more than 25 years of experience in channel and cloud services, and is driving the D&H vision to be the “XaaS Distributor” for VARs and MSPs serving the SMB market, executing programs and leveraging the company's next generation Cloud Marketplace platform to help channel partners deliver total solutions in a subscription model. Links https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonbystrak/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/dandhdistributing/ https://www.facebook.com/DandHDistributing https://twitter.com/dandh   Sponsor Memo: Did you know that the average MSP spends 10 hours manually inputting accounting data each week? That time is 120 prospect calls, a month's worth of the Business of Tech, or building an entire lego death star. 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 https://gozynta.com  :-)  

Topic 1: Does the obvious stupidity in the Crypto-verse help to increase or decrease the adoption of crypo currencies? A bit of crypto news this week. But on the serious side, what does this activity mean? Elon Musk makes fun of crypto currencies and the market goes wild (down). Dogecoin created as a joke. Now it's going crazy. Then two winners created a spinoff coin because “people seem to like dogs” and became millionaires. https://u.today/dogecoin-spin-off-turns-struggling-brothers-into-overnight-millionaires https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/5/18/22441831/elon-musk-bitcoin-dogecoin-crypto-prices-tesla  Topic 2: Ann Arbor to Launch Autonomous Shuttle Service October 11th But there's one already operating in Fairfax, VA. We have some questions about the experience . . . and we send Dave off to do some homework. https://www.clickondetroit.com/all-about-ann-arbor/2021/05/18/free-a2go-autonomous-shuttle-service-coming-to-ann-arbor-this-fall/  https://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2020/07/virginias-1st-self-driving-shuttle-starts-testing-on-fairfax-co-streets/  https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/transportation/autonomous-shuttle-pilot  Topic 3: Lower hash rates, and video cards that aren’t graphics cards. NVidia is finally making some moves to tackle the shortage of video cards despite the continuing chip shortage. They're designing video cards with lower hash rates, so they're not attractive to crypto-miners. And they're creating cards designed for mining with actual video output. https://seekingalpha.com/news/3697830-nvidia-lowers-hash-rate-for-new-geforce-graphics-cards-to-thwart-crypto-mining  We'll see what competitors do, and how quickly this has a visible effect on graphic card availability for plain old gamers. -- -- -- Sponsor Memo - Did you know that the average MSP spends 10 hours manually inputting accounting data each week? That time is 120 prospect calls, a month’s worth of the Business of Tech, or building an entire Lego death star. 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 us at https://gozynta.com  :-)  

Host Karl interviewed Rom Hendler, CEO of Trustifi Email Encryption Solutions. We start our discussion discussing what makes Trustifi different from other email security solutions. Trustifi provides email encryption delivered on a software-as-a-service platform. They provide both inbound and outbound email security from a single vendor. Most email security systems address inbound traffic only. But as compliance expands across geographies and industries, we could see some real problems if we don't also manage the outbound traffit. SMB MSPs and solution providers should begin to think of email encryption as a way to deliver control of email data back to the user, as opposed to simply screening threats as they arrive at the network gateway. Trustifi’s one-click solutions leverage a breakthrough email encryption strategy. Rather than have emails pass through the recipient’s gateway and reside on their server, Trustifi’s solution encrypts messages before they go through the recipient’s gateway. Sent mail messages therefore reside on Trustifi’s proprietary web-based cloud storage platform, as opposed to on the recipient’s server. This allows messages to be accessed and recalled or altered as-needed, since they’re still officially housed on the vendor’s platform. Users can swap or remove attachments or reword text even after messages have initially been read. Similarly, this configuration allows the sender to remove or add recipients to emails after-the-fact—without alerting the other recipients. When the sender has a greater ability to manipulate messages they’ve already transmitted, it gives them the opportunity to correct potentially debilitating missteps. Related Links:  https://www.trustifi.com  https://twitter.com/TRUSTIFI  https://www.linkedin.com/company/trustifi-corporation/  https://www.facebook.com/trustifi  -- -- -- Sponsor Memo: Still entering data into QuickBooks Online manually? Stop wasting that time on non-revenue-generating activity. Gozynta Mobius is the leading sync tool between ConnectWise Manage and QuickBooks Online. Trusted by over 1,000 MSPs. Not just invoices and payments, our newly revised expense report sync gives you complete traceability of charges to company credit cards, and makes employee reimbursements easy. Visit gozynta.com/mobius for demos and pricing. :-)

In this episode you will get an inside look directly from ConnectWise partners as they speak to the benefits of using ConnectWise Manage and ConnectWise Automate together.

Topic 1: ChannelPro State of the Channel survey Bruised but roaring back? We you bruised in 2020? Is this a real reflection of the real channel? Or is this a sampling issue? As always, we think research is good. You just need to be careful about what the results mean. We discuss. And we give a few thoughts on eternal optimism - pro and con. We look forward to concrete house mod kits . . . and more. Related Link: http://digital.channelprosmb.com/publication/?m=24576&i=691606&p=18 Topic 2: 3D printed home. 1,500 sq feet. $299K We're not sure how much the printer cost - but the houses are serious. The story here is from New York, so the price point of $300,000 is a serious value. We haven't covered 3D printing much, but this is just cool. Related Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/25/you-can-now-buy-a-3d-printed-home-heres-a-look-inside.html Topic 3: Paying for news in Australia . . . News agencies are finally pushing back on letting social media giants redistribute their product for free. Magazines and newspapers have mis-played the Internet opportunity for twenty-five years. Now they've decided to try to make money. Australia passed a law forcing the major social media outlets to pay for news. In response, Google said "okay" and Facebook threatened to pull out of the country. Social media have been taking advantage of content creators since day one. It may have taken twenty years longer than expected, but a realistic balance is probably on the way. The U.S. is a follower and not a leader on this front. So keep an eye on Australia. Please see previous episodes: The Splinternet continues to splinter! Related Link: https://www.wired.com/story/plaintext-australia-facebook-google/ -- -- -- Sponsor Memo: Gozynta Mobius – the easiest way for ConnectWise Manage and QuickBooks online to connect. Keep invoices, expenses, and inventory automatically updated right from Manage to QuickBooks Online, and payments right back into Manage. With simple pricing, set it and forget it auto sync, Gozynta Mobius delivers with no restrictions on the number of invoices, expenses and payments, and plays well with others like ConnectBooster. Trusted by over a thousand MSPs. now introducing a free plan, go to gozynta.com/mobius, and tell them Killing IT sent you. -- -- -- :-)  

Topic 1: Update on the update: Alphabet cancels their balloon-based internet offering Apparently, they listened to last week’s show. After many years and billions spent, Alphabet (Google) has dropped their plans to provide Internet access to remote areas via lighter-than-air balloons. Side note: We are deep inside an era where private organizations are taking on challenges - and trying new things - without direct government help. Related Link: https://www.cnet.com/news/google-parent-company-shutting-down-loon-its-internet-beaming-balloon-project/ Topic 2: Shall we adopted the word “integrator” to describe our channel partners? A view from another industry. The Commercial Integrator magazine proposes the work Integrator for their slice of the channel. We think this mostly works. Is there a similar term for the so-called managed services providers in the channel? Related Link: https://www.commercialintegrator.com/business_resources/technology-integrator/ Topic 3: Is this a good or bad use of chat bots? Microsoft has patented some technology that they now say they will not produce. Basically, they can take pretty much anyone with a substantial data record and create a "realistic" chat bot. This easily includes lots of famous people. But it might also include someone close to you who just happens to be dead. Creepy? Some people think so. What do you think? Related Links: https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-patents-a-chatbot-to-imitate-real-people-2021-1 https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/tech/microsoft-chat-bot-patent/index.html “Microsoft patented a chatbot that would let you talk to dead people. It was too disturbing for production” -- -- -- Sponsor Memo: MobiusConnect by Gozynta – the easiest way for ConnectWise Manage and QuickBooks online to connect. Keep invoices, expenses, and inventory automatically updated right from Manage to QuickBooks Online, and payments right back into Manage. With simple pricing, set it and forget it auto sync, Mobius Connect delivers with no restrictions on the number of invoices, expenses and payments, and plays well with others like ConnectBooster. Trusted by over a thousand MSPs now, and with a personalized onboarding, go to mobius-connect.com to try it out for free, and tell them the guys at Killing IT sent you. :-)  

I caught up with Richard Tubb near the end of November. In addition to a general catch-up, we recorded a podcast on Marketing Tips! We did this after an experience we shared that resulted in extra bonus marketing for Richard - because he was prepared. It got me thinking about how being ready to take advantage of opportunities goes a long ways. In this conversation, Richard shares some great ideas for IT professionals who want to krank up continuous marketing - which is a great idea! Note: One tool Richard mentioned in the interview is Text Expander: https://textexpander.com/.   I mention a blog post I did on Richard recently. You can find that here: https://blog.smallbizthoughts.com/2020/10/meet-richard-tubb-true-community.html The easiest way to connect with Richard is via his primary web site: Resources for MSPs - https://www.tubblog.co.uk/resources/ I particularly encourage you to sign up for his weekly newsletter - MSP Insights - https://www.tubblog.co.uk/nl You can check out his blog over on my blog roll, or go direct to https://www.tubblog.co.uk Richard also has a fun podcast for IT Consultants called TubbTalk - http://tubb.co/TubbTalk . . . and a YouTube (TubbTube) channel at http://tubb.co/TubbTube And last, but not least, Richard has written several books, which you can explore at https://www.tubblog.co.uk/books/ :-) Sponsor Note: Gozynta Mobius Gozynta Mobius – the easiest way for ConnectWise Manage and QuickBooks Online to connect. Keep invoices, expenses, and inventory automatically updated right from Manage to QuickBooks Online, and payments right back into Manage. With simple pricing, set it and forget it auto sync, Gozynta Mobius delivers with no restrictions on the number of invoices, expenses and payments, and plays well with others like ConnectBooster. Trusted by over a thousand MSPs. Now introducing a free plan, Go to gozynta.com/mobius, and tell them Karl sent you.  

We're approaching Episode 100. Also planning a big year-end podcast. Always stay tuned. Topic 1: Burnout in a Pandemic World … and What to Do About It Okay. It's been nine months of being shut in. This is getting old. What does that really look like? What the best way to deal with it? We explore. Related articles: https://www.axios.com/work-burnout-economic-growth-d45b9a7a-f6bb-4b69-9306-cc85e17a1813.html https://insights.dice.com/2020/12/07/employees-at-apple-google-big-tech-were-feeling-demotivated/ Topic 2: Data centers aren’t dead But they’ll never look the same again. Data center in a box becomes reality. https://www.protocol.com/manuals/new-enterprise/data-centers-hybrid-cloud Topic 3: Uber Exits the Self-Driving Car Race . . . well, mostly. Kinda. Uber sold off their self-driving department . . . to a company they have a huge stake in. So they continue to flop around trying to figure out what their business model is. https://www.wired.com/story/uber-gives-up-self-driving-dream/ -- -- -- Sponsor note: Gozynta Mobius – the easiest way for ConnectWise Manage and QuickBooks online to connect. Keep invoices, expenses, and inventory automatically updated right from Manage to QuickBooks Online, and payments right back into Manage. With simple pricing, set it and forget it auto sync, Gozynta Mobius delivers with no restrictions on the number of invoices, expenses and payments, and plays well with others like ConnectBooster. Trusted by over a thousand MSPs. now introducing a free plan, go to gozynta.com/mobius, and tell them Killing IT sent you. :-)  

I caught up with Paul Green again, from Paul Green's MSP Marketing. One of the first things Pauls says is that you can't really speed up sales most of the time because you don't have the power place your prospects in a position of "needing" your services. Your goal is to be there when they realize they have a need. But you can't create the need. In this interview, Paul talks about the power of physical marketing (e.g., postal mailings). Unlike twenty years ago, printed material demands attention today. Paul gives some great tips on using postal mailings to remain top-of-mind when clients realize they need help. Another technique he digs into is to create reactive web sites. In this context, that means to send information to people who visit your web site. This requires some setup since you have to have a way to track visitors at a serious level. This is way beyond popups. Pauls covers lots of other great tips for MSPs who are looking for new clients. He even talks about how to get non-salespeople to help build relationships with clients on your behalf. As always, a great interview. Check it out. Related sites: https://www.paulgreensmspmarketing.com/ https://www.paulgreensmspmarketing.com/resources/#webinar -- -- -- Sponsor note: Gozynta Mobius – the easiest way for ConnectWise Manage and QuickBooks Online to connect. Keep invoices, expenses, and inventory automatically updated right from Manage to QuickBooks Online, and payments right back into Manage. With simple pricing, set it and forget it auto sync, Gozynta Mobius delivers with no restrictions on the number of invoices, expenses and payments, and plays well with others like ConnectBooster. Trusted by over a thousand MSPs. Now introducing a free plan, Go to gozynta.com/mobius, and tell them Karl sent you. :-)  

In today’s uncertain world, it’s more important than ever for MSPs to track and optimize their billing to ensure they’re getting paid on time and quickly. Join April Taylor, VP of ConnectWise Manage, and Molly Lindsay, Product Marketing Manager, as they discuss the importance facing MSPs today of getting paid faster.

In this episode of ConnectWise Tech Talk, Molly Lindsay is joined by VP of ConnectWise Manage, April Taylor to talk getting paid faster. Listen in to hear insight into how you can use ConnectWise products like ConnectWise Manage, ConnectWise Sell and BrightGauge to make sure you get paid on time even in a remote landscape.

In this episode of ConnectWise Tech Talk we are lucky enough to hear from the Vice President of ConnectWise Manage and the Senior Product Manager of ConnectWise Manage dive into the details and updates that you can look forward to in the upcoming ConnectWise Manage 2020.3 release.

I met Allen Edwards all the way back in April of this year. I’ve already seem him at events in two states. We even shared a beer (or two) in Albuquerque. Allen help IT Professionals create great processes. Allen Edwards began his I.T. career in 1994. He founded his first I.T. company in 2002, and in ten short years led his firm through a transition from break/fix to MSP, from custom ticketing to AutoTask before moving to ConnectWise Manage, and a final sale of the business. A sought-after MSP and Process expert, Allen helps Business Leaders and their teams while building meaningful, growth-centered relationships that support next level performance. Link: https://EurekaProcess.com Enjoy the video interview: Download Audio:

Podcast main page: www.mspvoice.com/ Show-notes: www.cloudberrylab.com/blog/msp-voice-episode-21/ Guest: Joe Pannone LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/joepannone/ Twitter: @JoePannone Company: Forza Technology Solutions Joe started Forza soon after college and over the past 20+ years he’s grown it into a successful MSP business. As Joe and his partners developed their business they also found work on the application development side of things. As they were growing, they used this expertise to develop dashboards for both Connectwise Manage and Kaseya. They now offer these dashboards for free to any MSP. Joe also discusses how they’ve succeeded and some great tips and trick for attracting new customers.

Creating a company that can be successfully taken global while simultaneously creating a community of raving fans and clients and anticipating where the market needs will be is not an every day occurrence. Yet my guest on this episode has done this all while staying connected to his roots. We did not have a chance to talk about he time he swam the English Channel but we did talk about how he first got the idea for the business, how he and his brother made their mom's home address seem more like a business to the outside world rather than a bedroom on the second floor and how he has successfully merged numerous companies.  A previous guest on the show, Daniel Burrus, told us about how we can become "Anticipatory Organizations." Arnie Bellini and ConnectWise could be the poster child for the model. Arnie shares how he got the ideas to merge with different businesses versus create the products they had created on his own. He also shares the one thing ConnectWise was not created to be about and the one thing it strives to do above all. Arnie Bellini is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tampa-based ConnectWise, Inc., a B2B technology company that creates and supports business software solutions. In 2017, the company earned $200 million in revenue and has a valuation of $1.2 billion.  Arnie serves as the chief visionary behind the company's long-standing success in the information technology industry. Over 35 years ago, Arnie astutely recognized the impact that microcomputers would have and created a managed services provider company. In 1998, Arnie took the company's best practices and transformed them into an integrated, workflow-driven business management solution to help technology services companies run more efficiently. The result was the creation of ConnectWise Manage™, the ConnectWise business operating system. Arnie's passion to continually drive operational efficiencies and deliver excellent customer service makes ConnectWise one of the most admired companies in the technology services market. ConnectWise solutions automate the full lifecycle of IT services delivery, from sales and service to project tracking and back-office functions. These solutions are used by more than 21,000 technology services companies across the globe. Arnie is a Certified Public Accountant and earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Florida and an MBA from the University of South Florida. In 2014, Arnie won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year™ award for Florida in the Technology category. He was honored for growing ConnectWise into a highly innovative, best-in-class software company, and recognized for inspiring the growth of the Tampa Bay technology sector.

The 2018 RSA Conference was a feast for anyone interested in security, and Rich just couldn’t resist gorging on news, views, and insights from the industry’s leading vendors. Listen in as he and Matt discuss the significance of the week’s top product announcements and threat updates, and then hear about the very latest trends in zero days and cryptomining directly from two top experts at WatchGuard. Your hosts also have thoughts for you on the launch of the ConnectWise Unite cloud management solution, Open Mesh’s first router, maximizing profitability in managed print servies, and the reasons why SSDs based on the PCIe standard are so much faster these days than SATA drives. Tasty stuff, and it’s all you can eat! Subscribe to ChannelPro Weekly!    Look for us in your favorite podcast app. If you don't see us (yet) then you can subscribe via RSS in almost any podcast app using this link: http://www.channelpronetwork.com/rss/cpw Show Information: Episode #: 074Title: The Security BuffetDuration: 1:41:07File size: 46.4MBRegulars: Rich Freeman - Executive Editor, Matt Whitlock - Technology Editor Topics and Related Links Mentioned: Cisco Adds Integration with ConnectWise Manage  ConnectWise Launches Unite, Its New Cloud Management Portal  Untangle Launches Public Cloud Edition of NG Firewall  Trend Micro Uses AI to Block Business Email Compromise Scams  Open Mesh Ships First Router, New Access Point and Switch  Profitability Pro Tips for Print  Vendor to Watch: Addigy Inc.  Matt's Museum Pick: Nintendo 64 Matt's tech pick: XPG GAMMIX S11 PCIe Rich's ICYMI preview and peek ahead at the news week to come  

Wim Kerkhoff and I talk lean for devops and IT managed services. Wim built a Kanban system for Connectwise Manage