Growth Hacking for MSPs: Accounts Receivable
Nothing hinders growth of a managed services business more than a lack of cash flow. When you operate any type of business-to-business company, it is difficult to keep your customers consistently paying on-time.
Rising tide of data privacy concerns bodes well for MSPs
Data protection is increasingly becoming a board level issue, as the average consumer becomes more cognizant of how the data that organizations collect is being used and abused. On an almost daily basis, a company or organization is being forced...
Bad actors are using AI in their cyber attacks
The alarms have been going off for some time about the growing role of AI in cyber attacks. In 2017, a survey of cybersecurity professionals found that 91 percent are concerned about AI-powered attacks against companies. More recently, an article in Fortune...
The evolution of an MSP
When I think back to the heady days of starting my first MSP some 20 years ago, my memories are full of excitement and all-encompassing panic. I’m sure many of today’s MSPs can still relate to these feelings. Like many,...
Sales & Marketing
When is it the right time to hire a lead generator?
As an MSP marketer who speaks to business owners on a regular basis, I tend to get a lot of prospects who contact me at different points along the larger journey that they’re taking. Some are just getting started, while...
How MSPs should use social media to grow their business
Are you using social media to gain a competitive advantage? If not, you should. Since 2006, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have been mainstream forms of marketing and communication. Yet, more than ten years later, I’m still observing that most IT...
Growth Hacking for MSPs: Marketing Automation
There is a glaring lack of creativity and innovation in the way MSPs market their business. This statement is not to offend those who put out a conscious effort, but more to inspire those who do not. With all the great...
Security
Latest Intel chip vulnerabilities represent a major challenge for MSPs
Remember the news about the Intel Meltdown and Spectre chip vulnerabilities that emerged last year? Remember all the panic and the patches? Well, get ready because you’re about to go through all of that again with the latest Intel chip vulnerability....
Time to appreciate the thin line of cybersecurity defense maintained by MSPs
One of the toughest, and often thankless, roles in all of IT is that of the managed security services provider (MSSP). Most MSSPs know cyberattacks tend to come in waves. Cybercriminals like to mix up their attack vectors to avoid...
Catch hackers with a honeypot in your security service
I once visited an Amish farm where green plastic 2-liter 7-Up bottles dangled from the lower branches of the fruit trees. The bottles were filled about halfway with some sort of liquid. Upon closer inspection, I could see a banana peel...
Better Business
You cannot afford to offboard employees without a cloud backup solution
Most people don’t realize that having a reliable cloud backup in place is not only an effective way of securing company data, but also allows for more efficient business processes. One example of this is in the case of off-boarding...
Ask an MSP Expert: Should my MSP pursue industrial clients?
Q: We serve primarily healthcare and finance companies, but our region has a robust manufacturing base. Are there many opportunities for MSPs in manufacturing? If so, are there any insights you can provide about taking clients in this vertical? If you...
National Hurricane Preparedness Week is upon us
Welcome to National Hurricane Preparedness Week. Declared by the National Weather Service in the United States, the goal is to encourage individuals and businesses alike to develop evacuation plans before major hurricanes hit this season. The Weather Company, an arm...
Tech Insight
Tech Time Warp: Happy Bitcoin Pizza Day!
This week, Microsoft announced Project ION, its decentralized identification (DID) verification system built on top of the bitcoin blockchain. ION (Identity Overlay Network) is the first such project by a major tech company and could revolutionize the way users log...
Windows 10 migration crisis looms ahead
IT organizations, as well as the managed service providers (MSPs) that support them, are now in a race against time, as Microsoft prepares to end free support for Windows 7. Microsoft expects to stop delivering security updates for Windows 7...
How you can put advanced development technologies in reach of your clients
Not everyone can embrace technology that is on the cutting edge. Most customers are more comfortable using tried and true tools and techniques. Yet, to move forward, every company eventually must transition to newer approaches, especially as these technologies are packaged...