Smb Community Podcast By Karl W. Palachuk

Earlier this year I spoke at the Retail IT VAR of the Future Conference, sponsored by Business Solutions Magazine. In this interview, I talk to Jim Roddy, President of BSM, about the upcoming conferences called Channel Transitions. The conferences will be: Chicago – Sept. 24th and Orlando – Nov. 5th You can find out more at www.channeltransitions.com or www.BSMInfo.com. Jim Roddy The conferences will focus on transitioning to recurring revenue models. Traditionally, Business Solutions subscribers (about 40,000) have included a large number of businesses with vertical markets in POS (point of sale) and barcode technology. Jim mentions an interview with Greg Dixon from ScanSource called Managed Services Tsunami. You can read that article here: http://www.bsminfo.com/doc/a-managed-services-tsunami-in-pos-bar-coding-is-coming-don-t-say-you-weren-t-warned-0001. Note: You can get into these conference free of charge with the checkout code PODCAST01.   Additional Contact info: Web – www.BSMinfo.com Blog – blog.BS

Sell My MSP! What a great idea! I love the new project from Managed Service rock stars Amy Babinchak and Rayanne Buchianico for a number of reasons. Their new project is called Sell My MSP and the web site is www.SellMyMSP.com. It’s a new clearinghouse for people looking to buy or sell an I.T. business. Sell My MSP The first reason I love this project is that it’s very educational. You can request an evaluation of your business right away.  But you can also get some forms and worksheets to “prep” your business for sale. Those will give you some checklists that are educational to go through. Second, Amy and Rayanne are totally focused on the reality of selling a business. Some people have unrealistic expectations about the value of their client list, the role of debt in the process, and the timeline needed to complete a sale. Amy talks about the “strategy” of letting a business winnow down until there are just a few clients left. Rayanne mentioned the need to put debt outside the sales process. Both of them

While I was down under at the MAXfocus partner conference in Melbourne, Australia, I talked to a couple of the sponsors in the back of the room. Mark Winter Mark Winter from Rapid Fire Tools was promoting their Network Detective product. Rapid Fire Tools (www.rapidfiretools.com) already has a presence in Australia. Mark was here to meet partners as well as sign up some new partners. In this interview we discuss HIPAA equivalent issues in Australia as well as the global PCI standards. Mark also had some good conversations with distributors in Australia. So things are looking great for them! Contact info: Sales@rapidfiretools.com Web – www.rapidfiretools.com Phone – +1 678-323-1300     Jerry Koutavas I’m always happy to run into Jerry Koutavas – even when I’m not expecting it. Jerry and the ASCII Group were in Melbourne to support MAX as well as test the waters with regard to expansion of ASCII into Australia. Of course I used the opportunity to probe about specific programs they might be offering. I’ve

While I was in Australia for the MAXfocus Partner Conference, I was quite impressed with their plans to data mine their own tools. Dave Sobel I caught up with Dave Sobel, Director of Partner Community for LogicNow (MAXfocus). Dave’s team is responsible for the MAX partner conferences and they did a great job with this one. I asked Dave about the whole “Big Data” initiative at MAX. He was very excited about the possibilities. As he says in the interview, MAX has billions of data points to analyze, not just from how their tools are used, but for end-user computer systems as well. Dave gives some hints about the big announcements coming from MAX at the U.S. Conference next month. He also brags up his team in Australia.     Dana Bullister   Next I talked to Dana Bullister, a Data Scientist for LogicNow. Of course I thought they had one. She assures me that they have a whole team of Data Scientists (isn’t that a cool title?). Dana talked about how the data are gathered and used. She makes the point that the

Todd Billiar Yesterday I talked with a couple of pros about the hiring environment for small IT shops. The good news: According to Todd Billiar from VAR Staffing, there’s about a 1-2% unemployment rate for I.T. Consultants. The bad news: Everyone wants more money – even if they’re not qualified. This podcast includes interviews with Todd as well as Josh Peterson, one of the great coaches in the IT community. Todd recently published an article in ChannelPro SMB magazine. That got me thinking about the best interviewing approaches today. I discovered that he’s got all kinds of great information about the trends in our industry today. Here we talk about some of those trends, including the rising cost of technicians as well as the types in highest demand. Todd’s Billiar Contact Info: www.varstaffing.com email tbilliar@varstaffing.com Phone 972-847-0566     Next up I talked to Josh Peterson about the recruiting/hiring process. Josh is a firm believer that you should also be talking to people about working for

Dave Seibert joins me for a look at tapping into Community Knowledge. Dave Seibert This conversation flows from a presentation I saw Dave give in Anaheim last year at the SMB Techfest (www.smbtechfest.com). In fact, I liked the presentation so much that I asked Dave to create a new version for the SMB Online Conference. There are people “talk” community and there are people who “do” community. Dave does community ALL THE TIME! He was just named as one of ChannelPro SMB’s top 20/20 visionaries. And that’s the tip of the iceberg after his recognition as a Microsoft MVP, SMB 150 honoree, MSP 250, VP of the So Cal IAMCP chapter, a major player in the SMBTN, and so much more. WHY does Dave participate in all those things and more? Because he totally understands the value of participating in the community. In this podcast Dave talks about how he garners knowledge on new topics and challenges as an IT professional by engaging in conversations at various SMB channel events. Then he gives some notes from his upcomi

I had a great catch-up chat with Harry Brelsford from SMB Nation. He’s busy with a couple of things going on at once. I know: Shocker! First up, SMB Nation is putting on the first “Behind the Curtains” training on Windows 10, in association with Microsoft. This is a vendor-free event. It is also sold out – but Harry has a waiting list. So be sure to register because that will guarantee you’re on the list to get information about the next big Windows 10 event. Details at the Events Page at SMB Nation.   The much bigger event is SMB Nation / Office365 Nation’s Get Connected event. Details are at http://getconnected.o365nation.com/ – including the agenda and speaker lists. Get Connected happens August 4-5 and focuses on Office 365, Windows 10, and Azure. As their web site says: “Bringing together Office 365 and Win10 experts, thought leaders, and a wide range of IT Professionals, THE Get Connected event provides you the opportunity to gain the knowledge, skills and tools you need to support your organization.

Last week we had a report from Robin Robins’ Big Seminar – www.robinsbigseminar.com. This is the second report on that event – featuring an interview with Robin herself on why this event is different from other events in the community. In this podcast, I interview four folks: Nadia Karatsoreos from MAXfocus, Stephen Swavley from Documentation Toolkit, Rob Rae from Datto, and Robin Robins from Technology Marketing Toolkit. The first three are vendors. As you know, I love vendors because the pay the bills at these events. They literally make it possible for us to have channel-related events.   Nadia Karatsoreos – MAXfocus Nadia Karatsoreos – http://conferences.maxfocus.com – www.maxfocus.com – http://youtube.com/maxfocus   Stephen Swavley – Documentation Toolkit Stephen Swavley – www.doctoolkit.com   Rob Rae and Robin Robins Rob Rae from Datto with Robin www.Datto.com – Rob@datto.com   Special Musical note . . . Music for this episode courtesy of Holland Marie . . . www.hollandmarie.com Holland Marie Us

We had a great time in Nashville for Robin Robins’ Big Seminar – www.robinsbigseminar.com. I love this event because it’s crowded with great partners who are totally dedicated to working ON their business (see my Small Biz Thoughts Blog post on this). In this podcast, I interview four folks: Jan Spring from eFolder, Jeff Dryall from Plan27, Nathan Brebner from Sandler Partners, and Bab Farkas from Computerama in Freeport, NY. The first three are vendors. One of the reasons I like to interview vendors is that they are in business to make money for us. Those who do a good job making money for us become partners for life. The vendors also help to make possible the events we attend!   Jan Spring efolder Jan Spring – jspring@efolder.com – www.efolder.com   Jeff Dryall and Karl Palachuk Jeff Dryall – www.plan27.ca   Nathan Brebner Nathan Brebner – www.sandlerpartners.com   Bob is an I.T. Provider from Freeport, NY. I wanted to interview him because he has such a unique vertical. If you’ve ever thought about

This is the first report of two I’m doing on the Channel Partners Conference in Vegas last week. The primary reason I attended is that many, many, people at the Channel Pro SMB event in Baltimore kept asking me if I was going. I went a little early and connected with some folks. Then I stayed a little late and caught up with some others. I always recommend that strategy, as opposed to rushing in and rushing out. A lot of the “good stuff” at any conference takes place around the edges. Zynstra and CloudMSP team (and Karl) I was lucky enough to connect up with the whole Zynstra Hybrid Cloud team. They were in town for an HP Global Partner conference. Here we are at the MGM. Pictured here are Daniel Langton (CloudMSP), me, James Tuff (Zynstra), Andrew Morlidge (Zynstra), Nick East (Zynstra), Rhett Ryder (Zynstra), and Jeff Ponts (CloudMSP). Learn more at www.zynstra.com or www.mycloudmsp.com. – – – – – I interviewed several people. On this podcast, you’ll hear interviews with the following folks:   – Dave McG

I am fundamentally lazy. Or busy. Or both. As a result, I sometimes captures interviews while I’m out and about and then don’t post them up right away. I’m going to be doing some catch-up here. I’ve got three quick interviews for you here. They are:   Steve Noel, MSP Evangelist for Axcient Jeff Dryall, Directory of Business Development with Plan 27 and Kevin Jones, Sales Engineer, RapidFire Tools   We’ll start with Steve Noel. Steve helped out one of my clients at the end of last year and we chat about that a bit. I ran into Steve at SMB Techfest (www.smbtechfest.com) awhile back. Axcient recently released a Granular Exchange Recovery tool – and they have lots of other cool things planned for 2015. In this podcast, Steve also gives details on the “freeware” version of the Axcient product so you can learn the product – and maybe even use it in an emergency. For more info, see www.axcient.com. Listen to our Interview Here.       Next up is Kevin Jones from RapidFire Tools, discussing their flagship product

Just in case you haven’t heard of Third Tier . . . Third Tier (www.thirdtier.net) provides services for technology consultants. They provide education and assistance on a wide variety of topics. I caught up with Amy Babinchak a few days ago to find out what new and cool. It turns out there’s LOTS of great news from Third Tier. Their SMB Kitchen project is going strong – with a new program coming soon. Click Here to Listen to My Podcast with Amy One of their cool new programs is call Look, a Whale. The program is designed to help you with major problems, major projects, and taking on new Whale-Size clients. My brother Manuel is the new whale tamer at Third Tier. (I wish I had that on my resume.) Another cool program features our long-time friend Rayanne Buchianico, helping people get their finances set up properly for running an efficient technology consulting business. That program is called Tech Your Books. I’ve worked with Rayanne personally for a long time and think she provides an amazing service. Check i

Catch our Dec 16th Odd Tuesdays episode! Karl speaks with ChannelEyes‘ Jay McBain about their mobile app platform for connecting Vendors and channel partners. Rayanne Buchianico also joins the show in our Oddballs segment. Rayanne talks about her MSP course –  the Financial Processes That Make All the Difference. The course is geared for MSPs and covers such topics as: separation of accounting and financial duties, entities and tax considerations, cash flow forecasting, and more over a five-week online teaching structure. You can find the Dec 16th’s Odd Tuesdays episode here. *~* And don’t forget to listen for the show coupon that will give you discounts on the 2015 MSP Courses Lineup over at Great Little Seminar!    

Check out Nov 4th’s Odd Tuesdays episode where Karl talks with Results Software‘s Mike Honig about their expanded CRM system. And our Oddballs segment in this episode features Small Business MVP Amy Babinchak discussing the importance of MSPs building and developing vendor relationships. You can find the Nov 4th’s episode here.

I just got back from the big ChannelPro SMB Forum in Philadelphia. For more information on next year’s events, visit http://events.channelpronetwork.com/. At the event, I talked to a number of vendors. Here is present some quick shout-outs from Datto, Buffalo Tech, Excel Micro, Lenovo, and StorageCraft.   Most importantly, I had a chance to hang out with Dave Seibert and sit on a cloud panel with him. Dave is the mastermind behind the big SMB TechFest that happens about four times a year in Anaheim, CA. Here I talk to Dave about the next event – November 21-22, 2014. For more info, visit www.smbtechfest.com.    

I had a good visit with Rob T. Rae from Datto at the GFI Max 2014 conference this week. Later in the day, Datto was awarded both Best in Show and Best Exhibitor Interaction awards. Datto is a backup and disaster recovery company with about 400 employees worldwide. They’re big in Canada, Europe, as well as the U.S.   One big point for Rob was that they’re focusing on a lot more than continuity. How does the MSP make money without talking disasters? Most restores are from people – not natural disasters. So they talk about robust and speedy recovery from human mistakes. Datto is strictly a hybrid solution – both onsite and in the cloud. The local device is as important as the cloud. The local is a quick, easy way to restore. The cloud provides additional continuity security when there is a local disaster. How is cloud storage affected by the U.S. Patriot Act, as well as laws in other countries? More importantly, can you get documentation of the chain of custody for your data? For more info, visit Dattobackup.co

In the July 1st episode of Odd Tuesdays, Karl talks to Phil Elder and Susan Bradley from the SMBKitchen Project. The pair talk about the managed services educational programs they are involved in and offer the chance for a lucky Odd Tuesdays’ listener to win a year-long membership to the SMBKitchen ASP Project. The episode also features Third Tier’s Amy Babinchak in the show’s reoccurring Oddballs  segment. Amy talks about when to hire and how to train administrative and tech staff for your managed services business. The episode also updates listeners on Karl’s recently announced Roadshow Down Undertour, covers some Tech News, and gives a highlight of upcoming technology events around the country. You can find the July 1st Odd Tuesdays episode here.  

April 15th’s episode of Odd Tuesdays, Ted Hulsy, VP of Marketing at eFolder joins Karl to talk about sync and security for MSPs and VARs. Rayanne Buchianico, from ABC Solutions also features in the episode in our Oddballs segment. Rayanne continues her QuickBooks tips series with today’s tips surrounding the variety of preferences you can take advantage of in making QuickBooks much more user friendly with daily entries, particularly for managed service providers. You can find the April 1 Odd Tuesdays episode here.

3D Printing – An Interview with Alan Ware   Sacramento has a great organization called Hacker Lab – part hacker space, part maker space, and part co-working space. I joined last year and plan to cover a number of subjects related to the things they do there. This includes programming, Arduino, robotics, 3D printing, and more. This is an interview with Alan M. Ware, B.S.M.E. Alan is a 3D design and manufacturing engineer. He teaches the 3D Printing class at Hacker Lab. I took the class and then asked him for a quick interview. Recorded February 2014   I also recorded some videos. One is already posted. The other one needs some production. The first video is here: http://youtu.be/ncLrcYIbOeA Hacker Lab is open to everyone. It’s a great place to learn and to prototype your ideas. Find out more at http://www.hackerlab.org. Hacker Lab is located at 1715 I Street, Sacramento, CA. Alan also mentioned “The Design Spot” at the Arcade public library – 2443 Marconi Ave., Sacramento, CA. They have computers with PhotoS

Odd Tuesdays was launched this week by Host Karl Palachuk and Producer Monica Caraway. The Podcast is geared for I.T. Consultants and features what’s new in tech management and best practices for running an I.T. business. The Podcast airs on the first and third Tuesdays of each month and features a variety of Vendor & MSP consultant interviews and advice segments. In the first episode, SMB Nation’s Harry Brelsford joins the show to discuss all that 2014 has in store for the SMB Nation community. He also mentions their Emerging Technology Tour, of which Karl is participating in. Lars Andersson, from Cloud Nine, joins the show as well to talk about how instrumental SMB Nation has been to his business. Karl also updates the audience on the many live presentations he will be giving around the country this year. More information can be found at whereintheworldiskarl.com.