Smb Community Podcast By Karl W. Palachuk

Karl Palachuk has a major announcement . . . followed by a discussion of The Five Employee Rules You Can't Forget - No matter how difficult the job market is right now. Karl has been procuding materials for IT consultants who are tackling the challenges of hiring in as we roll the calendar over to 2023. He recently posted a recorded webinar at https://www.mspwebinar.com on Hiring and Keeping Great Employees in 2023 - https://mspwebinar.com/finding-and-keeping-great-employees/. In this podcast, Karl outlines five extremely important things you need to remember, even in a difficult job market.  Karl is one of the SMB Community Podcast hosts. He has written more than twenty books, and runs the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community as well as IT Service Provider University. Karl has built and sold two managed service businesses. He has been a professional consultant for more than three decades, and he has been an active community builder in the SMB IT market for more than fifteen year. He's also the founder of

Host Karl sits with Acronis's Righter Kunkel at the Cyberfit Summit 2022!  Righter is a seasoned leader with responsibilities for strategy, design, implementation, and execution of corporate customer success vision anchored with financial growth. Righter has over 20 years of leadership experience in the public sector/commercial education and consulting industry. Righter has a deep working knowledge of operating a global for-profit partner, employee, and customer training business to include the internal business functions of development, certification, enablement, sales, services, and operations. Sponsor Memo: Small Biz Thoughts Technology 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 manage

Host Karl sits with Acronis's Michael Callahan at Cyberfit Summit! Michael is a security marketing executive with the rare combination of branding, product and technical expertise. Proven track record in both large and startup companies developing and executing go-to-market and enablement programs that drive record revenue. He is an experienced leader who creates a collaborative environment while setting clear objectives and holding himself and the team accountable to deliver results. Specialties: corporate marketing, product marketing, field marketing, product management, web marketing, social media, corporate communications, branding, messaging and press and analyst relations   Sponsor Memo: PCMatic  PC Matic — Endpoint Security built on a zero trust/default deny foundation. Finally - a light weight, simple to deploy & easy to manage approach to application allowlisting. The perfect compliment to your current security stack. No minimums and no annual contracts. Find out more about PC Matic by visiting

Fire Clients - or Prune Your Client Garden - with Erick Simpson and Karl Palachuk Recently, our friend Erick Simpson blogged that "end of year" is a great time to fire some clients. He and Karl are pretty much in agreement on that, but look at it from different perspectives.  Erick was on the ChannelPro Network podcast and talked about this approach. So, Karl wrote a blog post about the same topic from a different perspective. In this interview, Karl interviews Erick about why you might want to get rid of some clients and how it can actually result in making more profit AND making your staff a lot happier. Background articles: - Erick's blog: https://ericksimpson.com/erick-simpsons-msp-newsletter-october-2022-its-time-to-fire-some-customers/ - ChannelPro podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MI15aTE1DU (ChannelPro Weekly podcast #245). - Karl's Blog: https://blog.smallbizthoughts.com/2022/11/fire-clients-and-give-better-service.html Erick is, of course, the author of some of the best selling books on Ma

Jost James sits down with Hartland Ross. Hartland Ross is a digital marketing strategist, founder and president of eBridge Marketing Solutions – a digital marketing agency and M&A advisory firm founded in 2001 catering to IT service firms providing opportunities for growth through acquisition and & organic marketing strategies. Hartland has been working in the sales and marketing of IT services and SaaS firms since 1999. He is well recognized and regarded in the IT services industry and to date has worked with hundreds of firms providing opportunities for business growth through M&A, marketing strategy and by providing industry advice, recommendations and introductions. Resources and Links: https://www.thehostbroker.com https://www.ebridgemarketingsolutions.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/hartlandross/ Sponsor Memo: PCMatic  PC Matic — Endpoint Security built on a zero trust/default deny foundation  Finally - a light weight,  simple to deploy & easy to manage approach to application allowlis

Host Karl sits down with Loren Williams of PCs for People. After more than 25 years working for IBM and other companies that bought, sold, and leased computer equipment, Loren Williams moved to the non-profit sector joining PCs for People in 2021. Loren focuses on building relationships with organizations that want to put their "retired" technology towards bridging the digital divide. In his spare time, Loren likes to bicycle and travel. According to the Pew Research Center, about 4 in 10 adults with lower incomes do not have a desktop or laptop computer (41%). In our modern society, reliance on technology access has never been greater, as it has become a necessity for learning, working, health care and many other daily activities. PCs for People works to fix this problem. In 2021 we distributed 53,000 computers to low-income individuals and saved 3.5 million pounds of electronics from going into landfills. Resources and Links: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/06/22/digital-divide-persists-even-as

Host Karl speaks with Patrick and Mike Clements of SherpaDesk.  As co-founder and CEO of SherpaDesk, Patrick is committed to delivering a powerful easy to use professional services automation (PSA) solution that simplifies the three core activities of MSPs and IT Service Providers; track customer requests, log billable time, and manage customer's assets. Patrick has spent over 20 years in building software technology companies. He is a member of several non-profit boards and is an active member of the entrepreneurial community in mentoring new startups. Mike's best asset is being able to relate to people by listening to what they have to say. Mike has had over 20 years of in success in sales and the customer experience profession. He has led multi-million-dollar teams at Oracle and is a member of several non-profile boards. He enjoys spending time with his three young kids and is very passionate about the outdoors. Mike enjoys pushing himself by competing in Iron Man, or trekking in the Peruvian Andes. He's

Host Karl speaks with Anne Hall. Anne Hall is the owner and founder of ITagree – The Agreement Lifeguard, providing legal agreements-as-a-service globally. Anne recognized just how much IT companies struggled with customer agreements so she decided to put her 25 years’ experience as an IT lawyer in New Zealand to use in an innovative way, establishing ITagree in 2016. ITagree provides access to the specific types of legal agreements needed by IT companies, quickly and cost-effectively, in order to help them to reduce business risk. ITagree’s agreements have been developed and refined to suit the needs of IT companies in North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and several European countries.   ITagree was founded by Anne Hall who has 25 years of experience as a specialist IT lawyer in New Zealand. Anne wanted to provide IT companies with access to IT legal agreements without delays or big legal fees. Now we have customers all around the world and the ITagree team continues to be committed to

Host Karl speaks with Donna Turgeon. In her role as head of channel, Donna will lead Infosec’s channel sales team and indirect go-to-market strategy, operations and revenue globally. Donna brings 30 years’ experience driving indirect and direct revenue, ensuring customer success, delivering global GTM programs, leading corporate Channel and Distribution strategy, recruiting and onboarding business partners, and building effective Global sales and support teams. Donna is a multiple-year CRN Channel Chief award winner. Before her role at Infosec, she built an excellent indirect and direct sales and Marketing organization as CRO of VIPRE Security Group. She has held various senior leadership roles at various companies, including KnowBe4, Tech Data, InspiredeLearning and AccentHealth. Resources and Links:  http://www.infosecinstitute.com/channel  Email: partners@infosecinstitute.com Sponsor Memo: Acronis  Are you still relying on a frustrating patchwork of legacy solutions. Modernize your cybersecurity and dat

Host Karl speaks with Dave Charest. Dave Charest is Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, the online marketing leader trusted by millions of small businesses. In his role, Dave acts as an educator and an advocate for small business leaders, marketing professionals, and nonprofits by providing them with practical marketing advice that can help them achieve their goals. He is a dynamic leader, speaker, creator, and award-winning marketer who strives to inspire small businesses by simplifying the complex world of online marketing. Resources and Links:  https://www.constantcontact.com/ Sponsor Memo: Linode Linode – a top Infrastructure as a Service provider has resources specifically for helping MSPs explore the alternative cloud. Discover this growing market: one of the best-kept secrets in building a scalable, thriving, modern Managed Service Provider business. Learn about the cloud provider landscape, improving KPIs, security, and more in Linode's free ebook, The MSP's Guide to Modern Cloud

Host Karl chats with Brian Laufer. Brian Laufer is the Vice President of QuoteWerks. With a background in IT consulting, software development, and government contracting, he works to ensure business owners and sales professionals have the tools they need to obtain their goals. Brian makes this happen through educating the community and by facilitating seamless integrations between distributors, CRMs, PSAs, QuoteWerks, QuoteValet, and others. Resources and Links: https://www.quotewerks.com/ Sponsor Memo: Cisco Did you know Cisco helps Managed Services Providers directly? Know about the Cisco Partner Program? Focused on helping partners combine managed services expertise and service creation with innovative Cisco technology and proven go-to-market resources, there’s a program option for you. With provider pricing, MDF, and marketing resources coupled with Cisco’s leading technologies inculding Meraki, Duo, and Umbrella, learn more with the link right in the show notes.     https://lnkd.in/gsydMya     

Frank Vitagliano has served as the GTDC’s chief executive officer since April 2019. His focus is on strengthening partnerships between members and vendors by addressing industry-wide issues and opportunities related to the integral role of distribution in the IT channel. In his career, Frank has consistently been recognized as a leader in the IT industry. He was inducted into the IT Hall of Fame in August 2017, in recognition of his leadership and contributions over the course of more than three decades. Additionally, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by VAR Business for his accomplishments as an industry channel chief. He is the only OEM executive inducted into Ingram Micro’s Venture Tech Network Hall of Fame. We can focus the discussion on the latest GTDC report (download here or ask and we'll send a PDF) https://gtdc.org/resource/environmental-sustainability-report/ Resources and Links:  Main GTDC page: https://gtdc.org/ ESG Report (free for anyone to download): https://gtdc.org/resource/envir

Host Karl chats with Jonathan Seelig. Jonathan Seelig is the Executive Chairman and Chief Evangelist of Ridge. He co-founded Ridge with the goal of building highly distributed cloud infrastructure, thereby enabling users to deploy cloud native applications on any infrastructure and in any location. He previously co-founded Akamai, the world's first and largest CDN. Jonathan has worked on distributed, low latency, high performance infrastructure for over 25 years. Description: With the rapidly increasing pace of digital transformation, many managed service providers (MSPs) and cloud service providers are at a crossroads: they need to decide how to best continue to support their customers as they continue to migrate to the cloud.  While the hyperscale public cloud model is an attractive proposition for some customers, there are many existing and planned use cases and business models for which local data centers and MSPs can be a better fit. These businesses’ cloud computing environments may be a blend of server

In this edition of SMBCP, Host Karl catches up with Jadon and Erin of Bitdefender on the latest of Modern Security Operations. Learn the differences between EDR, XDR, and MDR as we delve into why detection and response services are necassary for your business.  Erin has been in the technology industry for over a decade, beginning in Public and Analyst Relations before transitioning to her true passion, product marketing. As Senior Manager, Product Marketing at Bitdefender, Erin focuses on all things Managed Detection & Response (MDR) and is responsible for developing messaging, positioning, and go-to-market strategies that reflect the voice of the customer and convey the true value-props of managed cybersecurity services. Before joining Bitdefender, Erin was a product marketer at Expel, focusing on MDR, threat hunting, and partner integrations.  Jadon is a product manager who specializes in bringing new technologies to market, including a SOAR platform at Rapid7 and a Cloud Attack Surface Management Produ

Host James chats with Daniel Wang of MSPbots. Daniel Wang is a seasoned MSP owner, and CEO of MSPbots, a software platform that uses dashboards, and bots to help MSP automate the business process, and help manage, and train employees. MSPbots has the best dashboard software for MSP, easily creating MicroTraining bots to alert employees, and providing real-time Microtraining based on KPI changes, and incidents based on the data.   Resources and Links: https://mspbots.ai   Sponsor Memo: SBTTC  This podcast is sponsored by the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community. Check us out at http://www.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. W

Host Karl speaks with Robert Scott of Scott & Scott LLP. Robert Scott represents mid-market and large enterprise companies in software license transactions and disputes with major software publishers such as Adobe, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP. He has defended over 250 software audit matters initiated by software piracy trade groups such as the BSA and SIIA. He is counsel to some of the world’s largest corporations, such as Schlumberger, PepsiCo, Iron Mountain and American Express, on information technology matters including intellectual property licensing, risk management, data privacy, and outsourcing. As an attorney for 26 years, Robert Scott understands that law firms rarely get fans. Yet, that’s exactly what his firm, Scott & Scott, LLP, has in owners of managed services provider companies. In what Scott, who has spent 15 years serving MSPs, called an “exciting” time, the firm earned the enthusiasts through its cloud-based customer contracting solution.  Believing that collaboration between le

Host James speaks with Jeff Nevins and Josh Wittman of Simeon Cloud. Jeff has worked in roles ranging from architecture and implementation of complex solutions to building and leading technology organizations. His experience leading teams in software development, cloud engineering, and IT architecture, combined with his passion for automation has led Jeff to found Simeon Cloud, the leading Microsoft 365 configuration management solution. Josh has always been driven by automation and champions the notion that every minute spent doing a repetitive task is a minute not spent growing your business. Josh currently serves as co-founder and chief operating officer of Simeon Cloud. Prior to launching Simeon, Josh worked at American Express, supporting the chief marketing officer with thought leadership and analysis of the company’s sponsorships and marketing investments. Josh began his career working in the capital markets. He received his Bachelor of Science in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell Universit

Host Karl chats with Chase of JumpCloud. Chase Doelling is the Principal Strategist at cloud directory platform provider JumpCloud, where he leads the team in creating partnerships that enhance and secure digital identities. He has been working in venture-backed startups across security, integration, and DevOps for the last decade. JumpCloud offers a directory platform, specifically for SMBs and MSPs, that consolidates IT management and secures employees' access to IT resources (devices, applications, servers, networks, and more). Chase can discuss how SMBs and MSPs can leverage JumpCloud to simplify their IT environment, cut IT costs without sacrificing security, and centralize user identity so it's easy both for the admin to manage, and for the end user to navigate. The full-featured JumpCloud Directory Platform is available, for free, for any organization for up to ten users. One partner found that JumpCloud's cost saved them 80% on IT management.  Also, twice a year, JumpCloud surveys IT teams from SMBs t

In this edition of SMBCP, Host Karl sits down with Robert Sawyer and Daniel Daraban to discuss Bitdefender's GravityZone XDR (extended detection and response).  Find out what GravityZone XDR can do for your MSP business.  Robert Sawyer is the director of product marketing for cloud workload security and managed detection and response at Bitdefender. Prior to Bitdefender, he led product marketing for integration and applications at IBM as part of its newly launched automation division. He also led teams in hybrid cloud, tracing his roots back through BPM and SOA, and worked at Rackspace Technology, helping lead marketing for a newly launched managed security service offering. He’s been in the IT space for over 20 years and started his career in software development, working on industry solutions in healthcare and life sciences and media and entertainment. As a Director of Product Management at Bitdefender, Daniel Daraban manages the Bitdefender Business Solutions Group flagship product lines: EDR and XDR. Toge

Host Karl speaks with Lee Darke of Information Technology Service Providers of Canada, a non-Profit organization dedicated to the Canadian IT Services Sector. ITSPC's goal is to provide a membership-based approach to industry standardization that helps IT Service Providers align to a common standard of service delivery curated by industry peers. And like other professional bodies ITSPC felt the need for standards in service delivery and conduct. ITSPC believes that we need a "Hippocratic oath" of IT service delivery, aligned with a set of standards that professionalize the provider and empower the client. The time has come to ensure that IT services are delivered with a common goal and set of standards that clients can trust. Resources and Links:  https://join.itspc.ca https://www.linkedin.com/company/itspc https://twitter.com/itspcanada https://www.facebook.com/itspcanada   Sponsor Memo: Cisco Did you know Cisco helps Managed Services Providers directly? Know about the Cisco Partner Program? Focused on h