Cybersecurity best practices for back-to-school 2020
Hackers have been exploiting weaknesses in school networks as campuses reopen in varying degrees during the pandemic. Schools of all sizes, though, are finding out what a threat hackers can pose to the educational process. The superintendent of the Valparaiso...
Cloud skills gap widens as demand for expertise skyrockets
A State of Cloud Learning report published by A Cloud Guru, a provider of training services, suggests the rate at which organizations want to move application workloads to the cloud is exceeding the abilities of their internal IT teams. More...
Where do MSPs go next post-pandemic?
COVID-19 has had a massive impact around the globe. Businesses across the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors have been hit badly, while a few (such as those in the healthcare and government sectors) have for the most part come through...
Ask an MSP Expert: Should I outsource my cybersecurity?
Q: Our MSP is known for its robust and affordable cybersecurity. I’ve heard, however, that MSPs should outsource their own cybersecurity. What are your thoughts? MSPs have recently suffered a spate of cybersecurity glitches that have cast a spotlight on...
Sales & Marketing
What you should showcase on your MSP website
Previously, I wrote on SmarterMSP about keeping your prices off of your MSP website. This article serves as a continuation of this topic, this time focusing on using your website to tell a story of value over price. In this...
How to write a sales email to prepare prospects to talk
Despite a wave of technology-driven sales tactics, email still remains an effective marketing tool in terms of return on investment (ROI) for small to medium-sized MSPs. Even though any MSP can say they know How to Write a Sales Email,...
Webinar ideas for busy MSPs
Now that events are online for the foreseeable future, it is time to rethink your marketing strategy. With no BNI groups, no cocktail parties, no golf tournaments, and no events to sponsor, how are you going to keep top of...
Security
Zero-day attacks wreak havoc on notable targets
Some major brands have been rocked by zero-day attacks and vulnerability discoveries in recent weeks. A popular plug-in for WordPress is the subject of a zero-day vulnerability that may expose more than 700,000 sites to malicious exploit. The WordPress File...
Managing data sprawl
As a managed service provider (MSP), data is one of the many things we are responsible for. However, the shift to remote working, followed by partial staff returns to the office, with the possibility of workforces heading back home again...
Hackers join the back to school rush
Around the world, workers are dealing with the new reality of having their offices at home. But professionals aren’t the only ones needing to adapt to being at home for the long haul; students are too. And MSPs and IT...
Better Business
Survey yields new insights regarding reliance on MSPs
A survey of more than 1,000 IT decision makers in North America and Europe published this week by Spiceworks Ziff-Davis forecasts managed services will account on average for 16 percent of the total IT budget in 2021, a single percentage...
Focus your MSP on customer service, not software
With so many choices when it comes to MSPs or competitive offerings, it’s easy for customers to pick up and leave when their needs are not being met, and they are left wanting more from their services investments. When customers...
Ask an MSP Expert: Should my MSP have its own company vehicles?
Q: I’m an MSP owner and business is booming. In fact, I’m planning on hiring two technicians to assist me in servicing customers. Should I have them take their own cars on service calls or should I purchase company vehicles?...
Tech Insight
VMware comes of age in the cloud
It may have taken awhile, but it appears VMware has finally achieved a level of critical mass in cloud. At the online VMworld 2020 conference this week, VMware revealed more than 160,000 end customers are now running more than 15...
Q&A: An award-winning MSP partner program
Relationships are at the heart of everything an MSP business does and needs to succeed. In order to deliver the best service offering possible to customers, an MSP first needs a strong relationship with vendors and other third-party providers. So,...
Tech Time Warp: CompuServe brings online access to consumers
“Last night we … had a party for 11 people in nine different states and only had to wash one glass.” This isn’t a description of a Zoom happy hour. It’s the tagline of a 1983 magazine ad for CompuServe,...