Month: September 2018
Brad Stoller: 3 Sales insights from the world of chess
From the outside, the mind of a grandmaster chess champion can seem superhuman. Playing against a seasoned chess player can feel like playing against a mind-reader. Your opponent across the table has an answer for every move you make, and...
MSPs need to promote more creative approaches to funding IT projects
With overall IT spending in many cases expected to be flat in 2019 managed service providers (MSPs) will need to find more creative ways to free up funding within IT budgets that all too often are not allocated in an...
Fileless attacks are lurking threats
You’ve installed all the latest antivirus programs and firewalls for your SMB clients, and their networks are safe and sound. When things are working well, a calm status quo makes everyone happy. Unfortunately, a placid surface doesn’t necessarily mean there’s...
Two-factor authentication can solve the worst password problems
Small to medium-sized businesses often struggle with identity management because they lack the resources of big companies to implement enterprise solutions, but something as simple as two-factor authentication can help keep your company secure. Two-factor authentication simply means that after...
Tech Time Warp: The history of WYSIWYG
This week marks the 70th birthday of Charles Simonyi, the Hungarian-born software executive behind Microsoft Office and Excel. Born on September 10, 1948, Simonyi is also responsible for an innovation the modern computer user might take for granted: WYSIWYG word...
IT spending forecast for 2019 predicts stronger headwinds for MSPs
According to a survey of 780 IT decision makers in North America and Europe conducted by Spiceworks, a provider of IT management tools, IT headwinds appear to be growing stronger. The survey data suggests that MSPs may need to focus...
BYOD: The good and the bad
“As long as a smartphone is allowed into an organization, there is no way of controlling how an employee uses the technology.” – Dr. Matthew Warren Smarter MSP recently looked at some of the security concerns inherent with BYOD (Bring...
Block-time billing as a stepping stone to managed services
In my previous two articles, I’ve shared my thoughts on why should you move to the managed services model and also written on how to understand which of your existing clients will move to managed services. But for many IT...
Biggest cybersecurity challenge MSPs face today is pride and prejudice
A recent survey of 250 senior IT leaders suggests that when it comes to cybersecurity, organizations are reluctant to completely outsource the management of their security operations centers (SOCs). The State of SOAR Report 2018 survey was conducted by Virtual...
Ask an MSP Expert: Navigating the bid process for government clients
Q: My MSP has never gone after government business, I have wanted to, but I keep getting scared away by the whole bidding process. How complicated is it? An excellent MSP opportunity may be hiding in plain sight. Many MSPs...
