Smb Community Podcast By Karl W. Palachuk

I talked to Bob Godgart from ChannelEyes (www.channeleyes.com) about what’s new with their cool channel partner tools. The coolest new product – Channel Candy – is an app that allows vendors to create a branded partner app for smart phones. This will allow you to track the information and updates from your vendors. There will be some common controls from one vendor to another, but vendors will be able to customize as they see fit. If you’re like me, you are a “partner” with 6-12 vendors. But, if you’re like me, you might visit each site once or twice a year. Channel Candy will allow vendors to create information channels so you can decide which information your receive. And the vendors can send you to their portal when there’s a program they really want you to see it. Bob gives a lot more detail in the audio. Download the Interview with Bob Godgart here. You can join ChannelEyes and download the apps for free. Visit www.channeleyes.com. While you’re there, you will also find a channel with my Small Biz Though

Report from SMB Nation Fall 2012. I caught up with Jessica DeVita – one of my favorite people in the IT space. Jessica is an IT consultant, technical wiz, advocate for education in the IT community, Microsoft MVP and a really great person. Her web site is www.theubergeekgirl.com. Recently, Jessica was on the cover of ChannelPro magazine and had an article in there about Women in IT. We talked to her about that and the work she’s doing to educate women (and men) on IT as field. Check out the magazine at http://www.channelprosmb.com/archive/channelpro_smb_september_2012. Recently Jessica has been on several panels recently discussion IT as a career choice and on mentoring young women. She will be speaking on November 7th at Santa Monica College for a program called Cool Careers. As a side note, I asked Jessica how she came up with the name Uber Geek Girl. Download the Interview with Jessica DeVita here. This is not my first interview with Jessica. Check out the earlier podcasts at SMB Community Podcast.

Report from SMB Nation Fall 2012. Highly Reliable Systems Provides a New Approach to Backup Hardware Many people don’t like tape backups. But most hard drive-based backups have their own problems. I talked to  Darren McBride about the “Highly Reliable” systems and what makes them different. Their story is interesting and compelling. Until this conversation, I wasn’t sure about the exact need they filled. In addition to adding a level of security to the physical handling of backups, Highly Reliable Systems is providing tape replacements from extremely reasonable to 12 TB. Listen to the interview. You’ll see why it’s worth taking a look at this technology. Download the Interview Here Check out their web site at www.high-rely.com.

The theme of this year’s SMB Nation is “Back to the Future.” Basically, it’s wrapped around all the cool new things we have . . . and understanding them in light of the fact that SBS Server end of life is upon us. So Harry Brelsford and Chris Bangs over at SMB Nation got ahold of the guy who owns the DeLorean from the movie (Mark Shields). Yes: This guy still drives this car. Then they got ahold of Claudia Wells, who played Marty’s girlfriend Jennifer in the original movie. Claudia attended the first get together on the night of the Preday events. Turns out she’s a very nice, normal business owner with a great sense of humor. She owns a high end clothing story in Studio City, CA. She’s also got some new movies in the works. I caught up with her while taking shelter from the lightning storm. She agreed to a podcast. Download the Podcast Here Claudia’s store can be found at www.armaniwells.com http://www.armaniwells.com/ – High end clothing at discount prices. In addition she has a personal page at www.claudiaw

This article was originally posted June 23, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. SMB Community Podcast: Chatting with Jeannine Edwards and Erinn Davis Fifteen minutes of information and commentary. – – – – – I caught up with Jeannine Edwards (ConnectWise) and Erinn Davis (LabTech Software) and had a great discussion about what’s new, the community, IT Nation, and what they see for the SMB Community in the year ahead.   Download the podcast here. Jeannine is the Director of Community for ConnectWise, LabTech, and Quosal. Erinn is the Community Manager at LabTech Software. Their job is to nuture the complete communication cycle between the ConnectWise / LabTech / Quosal family of products and their clients. One of the best guidelines these folks have is: “If it can be monitored and managed,  it can be put in a contract.” (And of course it can then become recurring revenue.) In the end, it’s all about predictable costs for the client and predictable revenue for the consultant. Jeannine will be one of the keynot

This article was originally posted June 16, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. Freeday Friday Report: Three Conferences in Eight Days This is a very different Freeday Friday podcast . . . and the last one we’ll produce. – – – – – My report on IT Pro Conference in New Orleans. “Trusted Identity” and what it means in the big picture. A few comments on delegation of trust and what that means to our clients. My recommendations based on the topics from this conference. I talk a bit about the kinds of white papers and “lunch and learn” seminars you might create on cloud computing, modern security concerns, BYOD, and mixed (Windows/Non-Windows) environments. Then I talk about the Autotask conference and their expansion into international markets. After that I went to TechEd North America and the “Birds of a Feather” sessions I moderated there. In addition to the community activities at TechEd, I report on a cool new laptop and a bit about Server 2012. My presentation on Relax Focus Succeed and work/life balance w

This article was originally posted June 15, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. Thomas Dawkins Introduces Microsoft Technical Communities   While attending the Microsoft TechEd North America conference last week, I literally ran into Thomas Dawkins just wandering the floor. Thomas is a senior IT Pro Audience Marketing Manager at Microsoft. He is responsible for relationships with IT Pro Groups and User Groups. In this interview Thomas gave us some hints about the community involvement for the year ahead. Microsoft Technical Communities will officially be launched next fiscal year (next month). Services include helping user groups with speakers, funding, and training. It is also clear that Microsoft is engaging groups in many other markets besides the “small and medium” market we know so well. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear a very big hint about funding for groups and product launches. For more information, see the new site at www.technicalcommunities.com (content will be up once the program is officia

This article was originally posted June 15, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. Len DiCostanzo Reports on Autotask Community Live 2012   June 2012 – Orlando, FL – A buncha people gathered in Orlando for the Autotask Community Live conference. This is, of course, a very product-specific conference. Many of the panels were run by users. The coolest thing about that is that 83% of the attendees were first-time attendees, so they were eager to find out how others are using the tool.   We had a great time learning about what’s new with Autotask and what’s planned for the year ahead. I interviewed Len DiCostanzo, Senior Vice President, Community and Business Development for Autotask. Obviously, Len was super-busy. So we were lucky to grab a few minutes. Len gave me some great information, including that 83% stat above. Over 90 sessions, more than 70 run by customers. You can tell from this interview that he is very jazzed about the entire event and enjoyed it like the rest of us. For more information on Autotask,

This article was originally posted June 15, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. Mark Moreno Gives a Mid-Market Perspective on some SMB Events   One of my favorite people in the SMB/MSP space is Mark Moreno from C & M Support Services. I think I first met Mark at the IT Pro Conference in New Orleans five years ago. But I also see him at SMB Nation and several other events. In the last ten days I ran into Mark at two separate conferences: the 2012 IT Pro Conference and Autotask Community Live.   Both Mark and I flew straight from New Orleans (the IT Pro Conference – see this blog post) to Orlando. So no time off for good behavior. Um . . . I guess that’s appropriate. Anyway, we had a great time learning about challenges and opportunities in consulting today. It’s actually pretty nice to jump in with both feet and totally immerse yourself in the business side of your business for a week or so. Mark is known as “Christ’s IT Guy.” He specializes in helping large churches with their technology needs. He often

This article was originally posted June 15, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. Six Podcast Reports from New Orleans IT Pro Conference   June 2012 – New Orleans – Jeff Middleton’s IT Pro Conference was a great success last week. Two days of panels and discussions on the theme “Trusted Identity: Faith in a Technology World” were very well received. About 150 attendees spent the time in a conversation that wound around through discussions of – Trusted Advisor roles  – Identity Theft  – Social Media Privacy Breaches  – Hosted Environments  – Government Oversight  – Unintended Electronic Disclosures  – Branding Realities in a Business or Technology without Trust  – Partnership and Service Provider Failures  – Identity Federation (Facebook, Gmail, Passport, service aggregators) – Social Media and more!   Naturally, I decided to catch up with some folks and get their impressions of the whole event. I started with Andy Goodman, a long-time community member and leader. Andy has been working for/with SBSMigration.co

This article was originally posted May 18, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. Reports from the SMB 150 Banquet 2012   May 16th – Los Angeles – SMB Nation put on a nice banquet to celebrate the 2nd Annual SMB 150 Influencers. This was a great event. To be honest, this event started for me about lunchtime as I met with a series of great people that I don’t get to see very often.   Download the SMB 150 report now On Friday I asked Harry Brelsford from SMB Nationto give us a brief report on the event. That’s included here. In fact, Harry kicks off the podcast. While I was in Los Angeles, I interviewed a few folks. So those very short interviews are here as well. Interviewees include Denis Wilson, Terry VanWinkel, and Jerry Koutavas. I do have to say that I was really impressed that people came all the way from the eastern side of the U.S. But I was more impressed with people who came from Canada, Brazil, the UK, and Australia. I’m not sure how Harry does this, but he really knows how to put on a community even

This article was originally posted May 18, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. Freeday Friday May Podcast Posted – US / UK Edition   This program was recorded and is posted here.   How to Convert 700 Clients to Managed Services Without Dropping Any The US/UK Edition of Freeday Friday featured a kickoff question of whether it’s possible to covert a traditionally break/fix business into managed services. The question came from a partner with three employees and 700 customers. That told me something about his business and his customers. I talked about what we did in the transition to managed services and gave him some advice. We also had a few questions about the hiring process, specifically about filtering candidates. I talked about our process and how well it works . . . as long as I don’t break the rules and just hire someone. Boy, can that go wrong! If you would like your question to be the start-off question, just send an email tokarlp@greatlittlebook.com. Please put Freeday Friday in the subject line. Fr

This article was originally posted May 18, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. Freeday Friday May Podcast Posted – Oceanic Edition   This program was recorded and is posted here.   Customizing Cloud Services for Medical and Other Verticals The “Down Under” edition of Freeday Friday featured a kickoff question about building a cloud package for the medical industry. In particular, how do we deal with a combination of cloud services and one or more servers that remain onsite. We actually have clients with this scenario, so I talk about what we do. We also had a question about getting started in our business today. Is it a good idea? What would I do differently? So went spent time on that. Then we covered a few misc. questions. If you would like your question to be the start-off question, just send an email tokarlp@greatlittlebook.com. Please put Freeday Friday in the subject line. Freeday Friday is a program to give you access to some coaching advice in a totally new format. See details at www.FreedayFriday.c

This article was originally posted April 20, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. Freeday Friday April Podcast Posted – US / UK Edition   This program was recorded and is posted here.   Do I Really Need to Try to Sell SBS Essentials into My Client Base? We had a good show today (45 minutes). Four people posted questions live and we had a good email question to kick us off. The kickoff question was, “Do I really need to sell SBS Essentials?” We talked about when it is and is not the right product to sell to specific clients. Caller Ken asked a follow-up question: When to sell SBS Essentials and when to sell Foundation Server since they have so many features in common. . . . And lots more! If you would like your question to be the start-off question, just send an email tokarlp@greatlittlebook.com. Please put Freeday Friday in the subject line. Freeday Friday is a new program to give you access to some coaching advice in a totally new format. See details at www.FreedayFriday.com. Basically, I am offering free c

This article was originally posted April 19, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. Freeday Friday Podcast Posted – Oceanic Edition   This program was recorded and is posted here.   How Do I sell if I’m Not a Salesman? We had a quick show today (35 minutes). Just a few questions. The kickoff question was, “How do I upsell clients when I don’t want to be the salesman?” I give a little advice and encouragement. and we answer a question from a live listener as well. If you would like your question to be the start-off question, just send an email tokarlp@greatlittlebook.com. Please put Freeday Friday in the subject line. Freeday Friday is a new program to give you access to some coaching advice in a totally new format. See details at www.FreedayFriday.com. Basically, I am offering free coaching advice to a very few people – live and free. The “price” for free advice is that other people get to listen in. The idea is that we all share some common challenges, so we might be able to learn from each other and address

This article was originally posted March 19, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. This program was recorded and is posted here.   Robin Talks About What’s Next, Cloud and BDR Promotions, Perennial Campaigns, and More I had a nice chat with Robin Robins this morning. For those of you unfamiliar with Robin, she’s the genius behind the Managed Services Blueprint, as well as marketing programs geared toward cloud integration, managed services, and BDRs. I always like catching up with Robin because she’s full of energy and ideas – but totally focused on the big picture. She just finished a roadshow with Axcient and HP, hitting five major cities. She talks about some of the discussions and lessons learned there. We also touched on Robin’s annual Bootcamp in Nashville, which is totally sold out. Finally, we talked a little about marketing strategies that will work going forward. I asked her about the effectiveness of Facebook and LinkedIn for most MSPs. She gave some nice insights about that, and also about long-te

This article was originally posted March 16, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. First Freeday Friday March Podcast Posted – US/UK Edition   This program was recorded and is posted here.   UK Partner Challenged with Time Management. US Partner Wondering About Hiring Techs. The first UK/US show went off pretty well. Lots of questions. Totally different topics from the Oceanic edition yesterday. We start out with a partner who desperately needs a PSA system. It’s actually pretty amazing how many problems are solved with the right PSA tool. Plus he got a little tough love. On hiring, we talked about Craigslist, Monster, Career Builder, temp agencies, and strategies for direct hire of part-time technicians. I am so grateful to the community for their participation here. It really is exactly what I was looking for. I get tons of email and I sometimes end up answering questions six months later. I feel bad, but I can only do so much. This allows me to answer more questions in a shorter time frame. What I was ho

This article was originally posted March 16, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. First Freeday Friday Podcast Posted – Oceanic Edition   This program was recorded and is posted here.   Well, the Aussies Kicked Off Freeday Friday with a Great Show When it’s Thursday afternoon here, it’s Friday morning over there. So at 3PM Pacific time today, I launched the Aussie/New Zealand/Oceanic edition of Freeday Friday. We got a good recording, and it is available free to Cloud Services Roundtable Members. Freeday Friday is a new program to give you access to some coaching advice in a totally new format. See details at www.FreedayFriday.com. Basically, I am offering free coaching advice to a very few people – live and free. The “price” for free advice is that other people get to listen in. The idea is that we all share some common challenges, so we might be able to learn from each other and address those challenges in similar ways. I’m not really a “coach” with a program to sell. I will sell some hours. But this one-t

This article was originally posted March 5, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. Interviews with Chris Bangs from SMB Nation and Dal Gemmell from Symantec   As MVP Nation was winding down in Redmond, I was able to grab Chris Bangs and Dal Gemmell. Chris does a variety of things at SMB Nation, and plays a big role in getting vendors on board. Dal Gemmell is a Principle Product Manager at Symantec.   1) Download the Chris Bangs interview on “What’s Up” with SMB Nation. Chris gives us great info on the re-designed SMB Nation website, the Fall Conference in Vegas, the SMB 150 awards, and a lot more.   – – – – –   2) Download the Dal Gemmell Interview on one “Vendor’s” view of MVP Nation. Dal is responsible for Endpoint Protection on desktops and servers for the small business market. He gives us some insight on why anti-virus is not enough, and how you might discuss that with you clients. He also gives some info on the integration of Backup Exec and other products with our standard SMB Tools.  

This article was originally posted March 4, 2012 on Cloud Services Roundtable. Greg Starks from HP Gives a Great Intro to iQuote   What do you need from HP? What have you always needed from HP? A “Configuration” Quoting Tool! Well, in this member podcast, Greg Starks from HP shows us the great stuff you can do with HP’s new iQuote tool. There are three ways to use the tool . . . including using their API to integrate it right into your company web site.   Member Download: Interview with Greg Starks, March 2012 Links Mentioned in, or related to this podcast: – HPiquote.net – HP’s press release was in June when the first US distributor turned on iQuote:http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2011/110628a.html?mtxs=rss-corp-news – Here is the blog announcement Greg did Feb 13 to introduce HP iQuote Universal:http://h30507.www3.hp.com/t5/Coffee-Coaching-HP-and-Microsoft/Announcing-HP-iQuote-Universal/ba-p/107019  (Note: There are now 16 countries using iQuote.) – The general info/landing page for iQuote is: ht