Pandemic cybersecurity in South Africa
The coronavirus has brought economic devastation to all parts of the world. As a journalist based in the United States, I understandably tend to focus on the United States. But it’s easy to become so focused on one’s home country that...
Organizations are betting on IT like never before
Historically, anytime there has been a sharp economic downturn, investments in IT have tended to suffer. Fortunately, the economic downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be something altogether different. Recent financial results, from Intel and Microsoft especially,...
Ask an MSP Expert: Should I monitor my employees?
Q: Due to the pandemic, my MSP’s employees are now working remotely. I don’t like the idea of “spying” on my employees, but I also miss being able to pop my head in someone’s office to chat and check on work....
Tech Time Warp: Almost the end of the road for Adobe Flash
Network administrators may have Dec. 31, 2020, marked on their calendars as a day of celebration. In just over five months, Adobe Flash—once a major breakthrough in online video, eventually a security hassle—reaches its end of life. Adobe will remove...
Sales & Marketing
Social media – an MSP’s friend or foe?
For MSPs, the power of social media cannot be underestimated. This is a double-edged sword: although social media can be a strong positive force, it is also an easy way to lose the hard-won trust of your customers in a...
Your MSP isn’t all about price
As someone who spends a lot of time talking and writing about how managed services providers (MSPs) need to make their messaging all about the raw value they’re able to offer their prospects, I hear a lot of people say...
Three tips for prospecting for your MSP post-pandemic
Before COVID-19, managed services prospecting was challenging for MSP business owners. Selling in a displacement market (a market in which, real or perceived, your potential buyer already has a solution, and you’d like to replace it, or “displace” their current...
Security
MSPs must watch out for TrickBot
The history of malware is littered with viruses that were created solely to obtain banking information. One of the best known in recent years has been TrickBot, and lately, it has re-emerged with increased intensity. Since at least 2016, TrickBot...
Tech Time Warp: Zotob worm wreaks havoc on the news
One way to make headlines is to go after the journalists themselves. On August 16, 2005, computers at CNN, ABC, The New York Times and The Associated Press were infected by the Zotob worm, along with machines at Caterpillar, and...
Seamless cybersecurity and two emerging threats
For most MSPs, the pandemic of 2020 has been a rush of implementing new policies and procedures while at the same time trying to keep customer cybersecurity fortifications intact. Wisconsin-based SWICKTech is an example of an organization that acted early to...
Better Business
Unified communications: pointers for a permanent remote workforce
As COVID-19 stay-at-home orders are gradually lifted and states begin to return to some semblance of everyday life, we shouldn’t assume an automatic return to the office. Businesses across the globe have learned during the pandemic that their workforce is...
How can my MSP demonstrate its value in the current climate?
Businesses of all kinds have been faced with new challenges due to the unique circumstances that 2020 has presented so far. Luckily, most MSPs have positioned themselves well – demonstrating the value of and the average SMB customer’s need for...
Meeting strategic IT goals while staying in budget
Ambition in driving customer facing innovation is often dimmed when organizations are faced with the pragmatic reality that their IT budget is consumed by required security projects, “keep the lights on” operations, and desperately needed technology upgrades. Innovation is often...
Tech Insight
Tech Time Warp: AppleLink sends first emails from space
Here’s a bit of trivia for your next cocktail party or Zoom happy hour: The first email sent from outer space was delivered via a long-forgotten Apple venture that could rightfully be called the precursor to the Genius Bar or...
Second half of 2020 looks cloudier for MSPs
Now that managed service providers (MSPs) have weathered the initial economic storm brought on by the downturn in the global economy caused by COVID-19, many MSP leaders are wondering what’s next. There’s no doubt in the first half of the...
Tech improvements for your MSP during the pandemic
The pandemic has revealed that MSPs and IT organizations are more essential than ever. It’s hard to imagine what it would have been like, trying to move an entire workforce to a remote environment without the help of MSPs and...