Richard Tubb's Blog, page 27

Breaches, Brews and Banter: A Fun Roadtrip with Cybersecurity Experts Huntress

I recently joined cybersecurity experts Huntress on their ‘Breaches and Brews’ tour of the UK.

If you’re unfamiliar with Huntress, here’s what to know. They’ve built a phenomenal reputation in North America for supporting Managed Service Providers (MSPs). They provide cybersecurity threat detection and a human-backed Security Operation Centre (SOC).

Therefore, the ‘Breaches and Brews’ series of events, held across England, was an opportunity for MSPs and IT Solution Providers to learn more about the company.

At each event, Tracie Orisko, Senior Director of Sales Development & Community at Huntress, was present. This was to meet attendees and get to know the UK MSP community.

Plus, attendees got to network, share their own cyber experiences and hear about the latest threats. Oh, and every event was in a cool venue where there were craft beers, pizzas and lots of banter!

Breaches and Brews: London

The opening venue for Breaches and Brews was Crate Brewery in London. MSPs from all across London came together. And one attendee is a professional wrestler (who also works on an MSP Helpdesk).

I can assure you that no attendees were injured, but they did enjoy some top beers, snacks and cybersecurity chats!

Had a blast @CrateBrewery in #London for the first of the @HuntressLabs #BreachesandBrews UK MSP tour!

We had beer, pizza and even a Pro Wrestler in attendance! 😀

Now off to #Manchester for next leg! https://t.co/pSSPBUSDHR

Thanks, @Tracie_Orisko and Huntress for organising! pic.twitter.com/iUBOUaO5Yc

— Richard Tubb (@tubblog) October 17, 2023

Manchester Meet-up

Our next stop was in the North West of England!

The Manchester Breaches and Brews event was held at Fierce Bar. Attendees were treated to some fantastic craft beers in a very cool pub in the Northern Quarter.

We had a bumper turnout of some of the top names and most progressive MSPs in the North-West, and it was just as well we had such a large venue to accommodate everyone!

An awesome evening at the @HuntressLabs #BreachesandBrews event in #Manchester last night!

Beer, Snacks and #Cybersecurity chats! 🤓

Thanks to Liam and the team @FierceBarMAN for looking after us, and @Tracie_Orisko of Huntress for organising the evening! pic.twitter.com/3TpP8FXlwF

— Richard Tubb (@tubblog) October 18, 2023

Birmingham Breaches and Brews

The next stop on Breaches and Brews was a special one for me, as I revisited my hometown of Birmingham in the West Midlands.

Before selling the business, I ran a successful MSP in Birmingham.

Therefore, I was thrilled to invite a large number of my peers to join us at the wonderful Distillery B16 on the Birmingham canal side.

I was also delighted that Team Tubb’s Community Manager, Stephen McCormick (who is also based in Birmingham) was free to come along for Breaches, Brews and some banter!

Stephen shared with me his highlight of the event: Joe Burns of Reformed IT (one of Huntress’ early adopters in the UK market) fired up the big TV to give a demostration. We saw how quickly and easily threat actors can gain access to your systems. They do this through a simple phishing method which allows them to steal your session cookies.

Scary stuff — not least for Joe who bravely got between the attendees and their beer!

A wonderful evening @DistilleryB16 in #Birmingham for the @HuntressLabs #BreachesandBrews tour!

Fab to see many familiar faces from the West Midlands #ManagedServices community, and make some new #Cybersecurity friends too!

Thanks, @Tracie_Orisko and Huntress for organising! pic.twitter.com/YvVQmg3z8b

— Richard Tubb (@tubblog) October 19, 2023

TubbTalk Travelogue at Breaches and Brews

Our final destination for Breaches and Brews was the beautiful Brewhouse Craft Beer Pub and Kitchen in Bristol.

This event — like so many of the others — definitely had a vibe of a peer community meetup rather than a vendor roadshow. The attendees exchanged cybersecurity tips, tricks and war stories.

Plus, Tracie Orisko of Huntress and I found time to record a quick Travelogue with Stephen McCormick and Pascal Fintoni from Team Tubb.

You can listen in below!

 

During the podcast and the “Breaches and Brews” events, that was a lot of talk about the Product Lab, a monthly virtual event run by Huntress and open to all MSPs.

I’d highly recommend checking out the Huntress Product Lab.

Huntress in the UK

So, Huntress are a very well-known and respected presence in the North American MSP community.

And the “Breaches and Brews” tour was their first foray into the UK market.

But it’s not to say that Huntress don’t already have many MSP partners and staff in the UK, though!

During the tour, we learned that Huntress have just hired their first head of the UK and Europe, and I got the opportunity to interview Dray Agha, UK Operations Manager for Huntress, on How to Become the Go-To Threat Operations Expert for MSPs.

We’ve had *rave reviews* on this podcast (with some listeners calling it the best episode of the show they’ve ever heard) so I’d highly encourage you to check it out.

Conclusion

The Huntress “Breaches and Brews” UK tour was a big success. And set the standard for how these type of vendor events can help everybody in the community.

Rather than doing any hard sales pitches during the tour, Huntress were in the UK to meet the MSP community with curiosity being their main motivator.

And equally, the MSP community got to meet Huntress in an informal environment that proved to be a lot of fun.

So if you’re an MSP looking at taking the next step with your cybersecurity, then I’d suggest keeping an eye on Huntress in the next twelve months. They are definitely one to watch!

Did you attend any of the Breaches and Brews events? Leave a comment below with your feedback!

The post Breaches, Brews and Banter: A Fun Roadtrip with Cybersecurity Experts Huntress appeared first on Tubblog: The Hub for MSPs.

TubbTalk 139: Why MSPs Should Offer Continuity and the Importance of Microsoft Clause 6b

In this episode, Richard speaks to Daisy Pike, manager of Solution Consultants EMEA at PAX8 about all things continuity. Daisy has a wealth of experience in the IT industry, as well as a degree in electrical engineering. Pax8 are a groundbreaking cloud marketplace platform for MSPs.

An Interview With Daisy PikeWhy Continuity is so Important for MSPs

If we agree that having cybersecurity protection in place is protection and continuity is insurance, we can see why it’s essential. Because we don’t live in a perfect world, and things happen. Nothing is 100% secure.

And Daisy adds: “Any kind of disaster could happen and you lose your data. So you want to be assured that it can be accessed somewhere. Imagine if you got everyone in a business into the same room and took their laptops away. How will they run the business?

“If you look at it that way, not having continuity is the same thing. Because if you can’t access the data, you can’t serve your customers, make money or pay bills. As an MSP, you have to help your clients keep their businesses running.”

Why MSPs Need to be Aware of Microsoft Clause 6B

You may not be familiar with Microsoft clause 6b, but Daisy says it’s good for MSPs to understand it. “This is stated in Microsoft’s T&Cs that if there’s ever an outage or disruption of services at Microsoft, you may not be able to access your data. And if that should happen, they can’t do anything to help you.

“While they’ll do everything they can to support their users, the ultimate responsibility for data backup is on you, the client. It’s a good way to make it clear to your own clients why it’s so important. Because if the biggest companies in the world can’t guarantee continuity, then you need backup.”

What to Look for in a Continuity Platform

There’s a lot of choice for MSPs and a big part of it is around ease of use, multi-tenancy and shareability. Because if you’re using a tool day in and day out, you don’t want to spend too much time managing it. And you want a single pane of glass dashboard.

Functionality is another important element, says Daisy. That includes auto-scaling when adding users, automatic backup by 365 and managing multiple MSP clients. And if you can do a mailbox-mailbox restore or a SharePoint-SharePoint restore, you can be reassured that data can be restored somewhere.

Pax8’s Continuity Bundles

Daisy says that Pax8 know that each customer is different, so they spend time understanding their needs and finding the best solutions for them. “We listen to what they want first. So we loosely put together an M365 package. It might have backup on on-premise servers, disaster recovery, an all-in-one solution.

“So Pax8 does the discovery work for the client, to make it smoother and repeatable for them. We also advise partners not to mention the vendor to their own end customers. Because anything could happen and you may need to change down the line.

We build bundles with Microsoft and a range of partners, and these vary depending on each client’s need. But alongside that, my team offers a ‘continuity consult call’. We review your offering, your backup solution and each bit, and send you a summary report. And you can keep that internal or share with your own customers.”

How to Explain the Importance of Continuity to Your MSP Clients

Your MSP clients need to really understand the risk of not having a backup and continuity solution in place. So, Daisy says, give them real-world examples. These can be from your own customer base and you make the company anonymous.

“Because everyone has a story about data loss or ransomware. So bring out the emotional and financial side so they can see the impact on a business’s profitability and reputation.

“You could even point to a big company like Royal Mail – if they can lose data, anyone can. Pax8 have a resource guide to help MSPs talk to their customers about this.”

Daisy’s Experiences as a Woman in IT

With three older brothers and a half brother, Daisy says she’s used to being in a mostly male environment. “I did STEM at school before doing electrical engineering. So I’ve always been surrounded by men.

“There have been some challenges in the workplace, with men assuming I’m young and inexperienced. But for the most part, I’ve found the MSP industry to be really welcoming.

“In fact there’s only one negative experience that stands out. It was a long time ago at a network event. And almost all of the attendees were men, who would only shake hands with each other. Or look at my colleagues when I spoke. But other than that, most men are friendly and supportive.”

How to Connect With Daisy PikePax8Connect with Daisy on LinkedInHow to Connect With MeSubscribe to TubbTalk RSS feedSubscribe, rate and review TubbTalk in iTunesSubscribe and rate TubbTalk on SpotifyFollow TubbTalk on iHeartRadioFollow @tubblog on TwitterMentioned in This EpisodeMicrosoft DynamicsCollaboration tool: SharePointAI security platform: SentinelOneBackup tool: AcronisAutomation tool: RoostBackup tool: DropsuiteAzure backup: redstorPax8 AcademyBook: Bernadine Evaristo: Girl, Woman, Other: WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2019Cookbook: Ixta Belfrage: MEZCLA: Recipes to ExciteYou Might Also be Interested inPodcast: Pax8 Professional Services: The Benefits of Using it in Your MSPWhy Your MSP Business Should Offer Offsite Data Backup to Clients7 Essential Ways to Strengthen Your MSP’s Backup Offering

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Webinar: The Power of Intelligent Protection for M365 Users with SkyKick

For small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), proactive and intelligent protection for their data is paramount.

They’ll look to their Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to consider the best options available for their budget.

As an MSP, having the right tools that are capable of backing up your client’s Microsoft 365 cloud data, while suggesting a better security posture will help you deliver value and piece of mind.

SkyKick hosted a webinar to showcase the new developments for two of their core products: Cloud Backup and Security Manager — And to take the reaction from a partner panel of three MSPs from the EMEA region.

The Vision of Intelligent Customer Protection

Before going into demonstrations of some of the new features, Harpreet Duggal, Head of Product & Partner Marketing for SkyKick, explained the vision behind some of the changes.

He explained that SkyKick’s mission has always been “to help our partners be more successful in the Cloud”.

By understanding the challenges partners face everyday, they have developed software and automation to address those challenges.

Ten years ago, migrations to Microsoft365 were a challenge for MSPsFive years ago, it was data protection and backupTwo years ago, it was helpdesk automation

Today, MSPs are concerned with building a more security-focused offering. To move away from reactive tickets to proactive planning.

Enabling MSPs to fulfil their promise as trusted advisors to their customers.

Ensuring the Security Readiness of Your MSP

Harpreet proposed for proactive security, it comes down to the 3 ‘S’s:

See It: Easily discover problems and opportunitiesSolve It: Efficiency deliver consistent solutionsShare It: Engage, retain and grow customers on security

According to Harpreet, the answer lies in a combination of continually strengthening security while also having a safe fallback option. With automation a key-feature of intelligent protection.

Intelligent Protection – Cloud Backup Demo

Varshaa Pallaath gave us an demonstration of the new features in the Cloud Backup product.

The first thing to note was an enhancement to the user interface. The dashboard has a few new tabs to explore.

Smart Insights Dashboard

SmartInsights is a feature that allows you to show individual customers their data growth as well as their data protection trends.

Varshaa demonstrated three of the chart widgets, and what they tell us:

Snapshot Summary – shows you all the new data picked up in SkyKick Cloud Backup (6 Snapshots are taken per day)Total Data Under Protection – a visual chart of the amount of M365 data you’re currently protecting for your clientData Protection Status – compares the protected and unprotected mailboxes the client has, showing where improvements can be made

The information in these three widgets allows an MSP to have a conversation with their client about increasing security, demonstrating their value as a trusted technology partner. If there is a growing upward trend in data, but there’s a gap in the protection status, then informing them of the risks and providing solutions will better protect them in the long run.

These charts are a simple way to show a client what is going on with their data security; showing what’s covered and what’s not. Furthermore, for the MSP, they can easily see where the gaps are and close them.

User and Groups Tab

The focus of protection has moved away from what’s being protected to who’s being protected.

You can click on individual users to see what services are being protected, and further drill down into what’s inside each service to perform a restore on a folder level.

Groups management is another new feature that allows you to take advantage of groups set up in Azure Active Directory. It makes onboarding and offboarding at scale much easier allowing you to turn a group of users off and on. You can also do a group restore to restore the data across all the users in a group.

Other Features

Also included in the updates are now more granular restoration options. And alerts have been significantly reduced to prevent alert fatigue.

Intelligent Protection – Security Manager

Mark Deakin gave us a demonstration of some of the new features in the Security Manager portal.

Mark described security manager as a great tool for assessing the security posture of your customers.

Analyse

This tab shows information across your whole customer base, or can be filtered to a specific customer.

Secure Score – gives you an overall picture of where you are with your customersAverage Secure Score Over Time – provides a direction of travel of progress, as well as highlighting any sharp pitfalls that need to be addressedRecommended Actions by Point – remedial actions you can take to improve the secure scoreSecure Scores in the Top and Bottom 10% – Your top performers and those that need the most improvementSolutions Pane

The lightbulb icon on the dashboard pulls up a number of solutions that you can do to improve the secure score. These come in the form of Commands, Collections and Workflows that all provide contextual information on what needs to be changed.

The solutions pane is contextual to each other tab on the dashboard too. So, for example the Alerts and Risky Users tab shows specific solutions relevant to that tab.

Security Review Tab

Sometimes engaging the customer about improving their secure score can be difficult without having the facts that demonstrate the value of what you’re doing in front of you.

The security review tab shows them their current score and where it puts them on the scale, and their secure score over time, which shows them the progress made so far. The resolve alerts and time to resolution also demonstrate your value in how quickly you’ve resolved any issues in 90 days, for example.

Next Steps are suggested courses of action where you possibly need to engage with your customer as part of their technical business review, where you might discuss turning on multi-factor authentication (MFA).

Security Radar

Security Radar contains a number of reports, but Mark highlighted two of his favourites:

Get the Microsoft 365 Security Report – gives a detailed report on what needs to addressed to give your customers a better secure scoreAssigned Licenses Report – shows the licenses that are bought and assigned, but also any disabled services that might be better turned on

Partner Panel Discussion

To finish off the session, Rowan Ridley chaired a panel of MSP partners from a broad cross-section of the EMEA community to get their reaction to the intelligent protection updates.

For brevity, I’ve paraphrased some of the questions asked.

Panel speakers:

Jeremy Hemus, GCCJurian Rietvelt, Hands on ICTKalle Walleij, PCNET Norden ABQ. How do you think you’ll use what you’ve seen today to better engage your customers?

Jeremy: As MSPs, one of the things we want to do is to set ourselves apart from the competition. The automation will make our responses much quicker and easier to locate the problem.

Jurian: Also, it’s not just what we can do in the back end, it’s what we can demonstrate to the customer. Showing them exactly what we have done and where we’ve added value.

Jeremy: Agreed. After the initial honeymoon-period where the customer sees the positive changes you’re making. The support tickets stop coming in, and so this is a great way to demonstrate that you’re pre-empting the problems.

Q. Thinking in terms of how we demonstrate value in different countries, what do your customers look to you for in a quality service?

Jurian: I think it’s universal that customers want trust from their IT providers. They put their faith in you to manage their IT and solve any problems. Keeping things running smoothly. However when it comes to security it’s a constantly moving target, so demonstrating a strong baseline and updating the service regularly is the best we can do for our customers.

Kalle: Keeping the customer informed of what you do is important too.

Q. As Microsoft has increased the security side of their products in the last 12 months, do you still look to other third-party security providers or are you using more of the security features within their products?

Jurian: We use Microsoft Azure as a baseline, but we use third party software to test it, SkyKick for backup and security, as well as another tool for end-user Phishing training.

Jeremy: Certainly, we use Microsoft as the baseline. But there are other things you can bolt-on for added peace-of-mind security, like end-user training. In the UK we use Cyber Essentials as a framework, and that is a big help when deciding what type of services we need to offer to keep our customers safe and secure.

Kalle: Security training is going to be the next big thing for MSPs to offer as a service.

To see the full panel discussion, as well as the demos, you can find the webinar catchup on demand here.

Conclusion

This webinar was highly insightful in demonstrating the value of  SkyKick’s updated features to MSPs.

Intelligent protection, supported by automation that helps MSPs to fill the gaps in data security, will give their client’s peace-of-mind if we can engage in conversations about improvements, such as turning on multi-factor authentication.

The reports are both an important strategic asset for MSPs, and a tool for educating SMBs in how to be more secure in the Microsoft Cloud.

Are you a Microsoft 365 MSP? Will these new features help you to deliver a secure service without needing a separate stand-alone security product on top?

Please let us know in the comments.

You Might Also Be Interested InSecurity, Sales and Leadership Led the Way at CompTIA EMEACon 2023TubbTalk 134: The Best Cybersecurity Resources for MSPs You Need to Be Aware OfTubbservatory Round-Up #20 – August 2023

 

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TubbTalk 138: How to Become the Go-To Threat Operations Expert for MSPs

In this episode of TubbTalk, Richard speaks to Dray Agha, UK Operations Manager for cybersecurity experts Huntress. Huntress are “there to stop you getting hacked by the hackers for your devices that can get hacked.” He shares his advice on how to improve your threat operations offering.

An Interview With Dray AghaThe Workplace Culture at Huntress

When you work in IT, and especially cybersecurity, there’s always something new to deal with. So that could be a vulnerability, an update. You push yourself to keep working until it’s fixed.

And that’s fine when you’re young, but not when you’ve got responsibilities, says Dray. “I’ve worked at places where that’s fine. But at Huntress, my boss will message me and tell me to go offline. And I do the same with my staff. Wellbeing is more important.”

The Huntress Threat Operations Experience

Dray says that clients sometimes worry because they haven’t heard from anyone at Huntress for a while. “So we talked about it as a team. When we’re doing threat operations work, should we report every investigation to the client? Because often we spot something and we can fix it. Not hearing from us is a good thing.

“It’s not useful for the client to see it all. So we try to curate the most helpful threat detections so their analyst can see severity ratings and so on. We want to be ‘low noise’ on security notifications.”

How They Support MSPs with Three Key Cybersecurity Challenges

Dray agrees that three of the key areas MSPs need to focus on to protect their clients are endpoints, email and employees. “Huntress started with persistence as a priority. Because adversaries like to get into an environment and stay there.

“So when it comes to threat detection, you need to work out how they trick users or develop exploits that gives them that access. I can’t train a user to stop a zero day. But I can train them to have better security awareness. And we engage them by showing them how things like MFA can keep them safe at home, too.

“We support MSPs to help their clients identify their endpoint weaknesses too. And we built an MDR for M365 to stop business email compromise. We want to add layered security telemetry to improve detections.”

Why MSPs Want to Outsource Their SOC and Threat Operations

One of the reasons that MSPs decide to outsource is, Dray says, a curse of knowledge. “They know a lot about some things. But there are other tech things that they know nothing about.

“They’re aware that they could learn to do it, but they’re busy. So they’d rather give it to people who spend all day in threat operations. It’s great working with them, because we can have a conversation about what’s wrong and what they need.

“So once you’ve decided to outsource, choose wisely. Ask them if they have analysts. If they offer 24/7 support, are their staff up all night or do they have a global team? You want to get a good service.”

Why Defensive Security is Both Exciting and Frustrating

Dray says he loves and hates defensive security. “I get stagnant easily if I don’t grow. And for me, cybersecurity is the most interesting thing we’re doing as a civilisation. It’s unbelievable what we can do. So I love learning.

“But because of where our solution ends up, it can be stressful too. We end up staying late at work and burning out to fix a problem. There’s always something else going wrong.”

How to Connect With Dray AghaHuntressFollow Huntress on TwitterLike Huntress on FacebookFollow Huntress on LinkedInConnect with Dray on LinkedInFollow Dray on TwitterHow to Connect With MeSubscribe to TubbTalk RSS feedSubscribe, rate and review TubbTalk in iTunesSubscribe and rate TubbTalk on SpotifyFollow TubbTalk on iHeartRadioFollow @tubblog on TwitterMentioned in This InterviewProduct LabsThe Tech TribeCiscoWindows event forwardingWindows event collectorBlog: Defense Evasion: Defenders Strike Back!SplunkElasticsearchOpenSearchHuntress/Kyle Hanslovan on YouTubeAndrew Thompson of Mandiant IntelligenceLockheed Martin cyber kill chainMITRE ATT&CKBook: Jaime Levy: UX Strategy: Product Strategy Techniques for Devising Innovative Digital SolutionsMark GouldBook: Harlan Carvey: [Windows Registry Forensics: Advanced Digital Forensic Analysis of the Windows Registry] [By: Carvey, Harlan] [March, 2016]John Fitzpatrick, MWR InfosecurityDarknet DiariesGreyNoiseHuntress Tradecraft TuesdayHuntress free trialYou Might Also be Interested inPodcast: Dealing With Customer Objections to Outsourced ServicesWhy Networking Monitoring for MSPs is a Strong OpportunityPodcast: How to Turn Employees into a Company’s Cybersecurity Asset

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Bonusode: Global Expansion, Harnessing the Power of AI and Serving the MSP Channel Better

Arvind Parthiban is the CEO and co-founder of SuperOps.AI, a combined PSA and RMM for the forward-thinking MSP. They have built artificial intelligence or AI into the very foundation of everything the platform does.

Arvind says they describe themselves as the modern PSA and RMM platform, with five products streamlined into one. Their goal is to help MSPs do business more easily and get to profitability quicker.

This special bonus episode was put together to share the latest funding news from SuperOps with the wider MSP community. They closed a series B funding round with $12.4m raised, plus additional capital investment. The total raised is $30m.

An Interview With Arvind Parthiban

 

Watch the Video Interview With Arvind Parthiban

What the Funding Means for Their MSP Clients

Arvind explains that they have a few plans for what to do with their funding. First, they’re going to expand globally. SuperOps will be a US-headquartered company with a local presence.

So to that end, they’ve hired expert tech leader Juan Fernandez to be their Channel Chief in North America. Secondly, they’re going to invest more in AI, especially as it’s becoming more common throughout the industry.

“I don’t want MSPs to see AI as a threat. Instead, if they use it right it can be a weapon for growth. It can help solve client pain points, because those won’t change. It’s just the tool you use that’s different.” And finally, they’re expanding their IT solutions.

Why SuperOps Decided to Apply for Funding Now

The SuperOps team had no plans to pitch for investing at this point in time. But the business has been growing rapidly in a recession-proof market. They shared their successes with their audience, and investors asked them to consider applying for funding.

“But before we knew it, we’d been approached by a new investor, March Capital. They wanted to know about our expansion and hiring plans and when we were going to start. I said we’d wait, but they encouraged us to do it now.

“At that stage we were at 350% growth, and by the end of the year it’ll be almost 600%. So the numbers were attractive to investors and we couldn’t say no. We didn’t even have a pitch deck when we started!”

Planned SuperOps Updates for MSP Clients

So you might be wondering what all this means for the MSP community, and specifically those who are already SuperOps customers. Arvind explains that they are opening early access for their new network monitoring.

“We listened to our customers and they told us they wanted network monitoring. So we changed our roadmap to accommodate that. We have three segments in our MSP audience: emerging, maturing and advanced.

“Those in the first two categories were using a PSA RMM platform, and a separate network monitoring tool. So it seemed obvious to offer a combined solution. We are also looking at a smart tracker to improve technician efficiency and add worklogs they can use on the go.”

The New SuperOps MSP Community

Arvind agrees that there are a lot of MSP communities already. “But we wanted a forum where we could make MSPs’ lives better and to help them. So we’re starting our community for customers to ask product-related questions.

“And the other side of that is to create a supportive community where the members help each other. We want it to be a place where people can be vulnerable and reach out for support from their peers.”

How to Connect With Arvind ParthibanSuperOpsFollow SuperOps on LinkedInFollow SuperOps on TwitterConnect with Arvind on LinkedInHow to Connect With MeSubscribe to TubbTalk RSS feedSubscribe, rate and review TubbTalk in iTunesSubscribe and rate TubbTalk on SpotifyFollow TubbTalk on iHeartRadioFollow @tubblog on TwitterMentioned in This InterviewChatGPTGenerative AIInvestment firm: March CapitalJuan FernandezBook: Juan Fernandez: The MSP Owner’s Handbook: QBR EditionYou Might Also be Interested inPodcast: AI Based Intelligent Alerting for MSPsHow to Future-Proof Your MSPClever Ways AI is Being Leveraged to Empower Customer Experience

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Why Ada Lovelace is an Inspiration for Women in Tech Everywhere

Who was Ada Lovelace?

Ada Lovelace was the only legitimate child of the poet Lord Byron, famous as much for his hellraising, romantic entanglements and friendships with other writers as for his poems. Byron died of a fever when his daughter was eight, and they never had a relationship.

Her mother, educational reformer and philanthopist Lady Anne Byron, was keen to encourage her daughter in the world of science. Part of this was to help Ada avoid her father’s insanity, which Anne believed was the cause (or result) of his unconventional lifestyle.

Ada Lovelace spent much of her childhood with her maternal grandmother. But by the age of 12, her interest in science and mathematics became apparent, and tutors were arranged to educate her further.

Her tutor, Mary Somerville, herself a scientist, introduced Ada to Charles Babbage, a mechanical engineer credited as being the inventor of the first mechanical computer. Byron’s daughter became Ada Lovelace on her marriage to Baron William King, later first earl of Lovelace.

What Was Her Contribution to the World of Tech?

Her maths skills really came to the forefront when she was 17, and it was her life’s focus from then on. Ada even attempted to develop a mathematical model for betting on the horses, fuelled by her fondness for gambling.

However, it was her connections with Somerville and Babbage that led to Ada Lovelace making an impact on tech as we know it today. These led to becoming acquainted with many other leading scientists of the day.

She knew Andrew Crosse, Sir David Brewster and Michael Faraday (of the Faraday Cage). Crosse taught her to carry out electrical experiments of her own as part of her studies into how the brain worked. And she began a study into magnetism, sadly abandoned when she became ill.

Ada Lovelace also saw far greater potential for the Analytical Machine than its inventor. So while Babbage focused on the number crunching, Ada realised a computer could manipulate images, letters, musical notes and more. And she wrote down her theories in 1843.

Ada Lovelace and Computing

You might wonder how a 19th century scientist could be a computer programmer before computers. So, it’s a bit confusing, but this is how it came about that Ada Lovelace was the first of them:

1. Ada’s colleague Babbage gave a talk in Turin in 1850 about his Analytical Engine (a mechanical, all-purpose computer)
2. An Italian engineer transcribed it into French
3. Ada then translated it into English, adding lots more detail from her own notes. This was published under her initials
4. The notes contained an algorithm for Babbage’s machine to calculate Bernoulli numbers (a sequence of rational numbers used in analysis)

As the Analytical Engine was a prototype computer, the algorithm Ada Lovelace devised was therefore a ‘computer programme’. Although sadly, the machine was never finished.

Are there any other female mathematicians or scientists we should be championing? Let us know in the comments!

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Security, Sales and Leadership Trends Led the Way at CompTIA EMEACon 2023

On the 2nd and 3rd of October, CompTIA EMEACon 2023 was held for members and partners at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel in London.

The event was a chance for IT professionals from all over the region to meet and engage, with over two full days of presentations, panels and breakout sessions. And as ever, there were plenty of opportunities for the delegates to expand their networks too.

There were a lot of diverse subjects covered over the two days, and plenty for all to get their teeth into – regardless of their place in the community.

Many sessions took place at the same time as others, so attendees had to choose which ones they wanted to be part of. Therefore it was impossible to attend them all.

CompTIA EMEACon 2023 – Day One

Monday 2nd October started with registration, breakfast and networking before the rest of the morning split into three optional sessions running from 10am til noon.

Cybersecurity Trustmark Workshops: Culture and strategy approach to Trustmark, and a risk management courseBusiness Genius Cafes: Pre-booked sessions for CompTIA membersCompTIA Tech Talent Track: Including an introduction and update on tech talent and a presentation from CompTIA’s Customer Success TeamOpening Introduction and CompTIA Community Update

Following lunch in the exhibition hall, the afternoon session began with Leanne Johnson and MJ Shoer giving an update on CompTIA’s various communities, regions, technology interest groups (TIGs) and Industry Advisory Councils (IACs).

There was mention of the Global Task Force and Global Cybersecurity Task Force to share growing market trends and trends in cybersecurity respectively.

And that the highly successful CompTIA Spotlight Awards is coming to the ANZ region soon!

Wayne Selk also provided an update on the CompTIA ISAO organisation. Reminding us that it is available to all MSP/IT solution provider members as a platform for discussion and collaboration.

MJ also mentioned Trustmark Accreditation and the benefits it provides to organisations who have it. It demonstrates a company’s commitment to delivering cybersecurity to the highest standards.

Also mentioned, the new Emergency Response Team, which has been launched in the North America region. The service is aimed at connecting service providers to cybersecurity experts  in time of crisis.

A Journey to Inner Greatness – Your Personal Flight to Self-Discovery and Leadership!

Hans Demeyer became our pilot on a voyage of emotional understanding in the next session.

He took us on a journey demonstrating how our fears can cause turbulence in our lives, which can have a profound effect on us. But also, about how experience can help us to reframe our outlook in the face of similar.

He described his feelings when he took part in his first-ever tandem skydive.

About how the fear made him anxious, but how he eventually loved it once it was all over.

It prompted an audience discussion around how each of us have previously dealt with a stressful event.

Some said they turned to their partner or spouse, while others took a moment and planned their next steps.

Hans said that: “Fear knocks the door, but confidence opens and sees nothing.”

Reframing Your Outlook

Next the audience was asked to pick a partner and play ‘thumb war’ with them.

The objective was to create the biggest number of ticks (where the thumb is held down for a second) as a group.

As you can imagine, we didn’t listen to what was asked of us, and instead just tried to play the game normally, scoring against one another. Hans observed our collective mistake and offered that if we’d looked again at what was being asked of us, we would have been better off tackling it differently.

If we’d let one half of each pair let themselves be caught by their opponent, we would have scored more ticks.

If we had reframed the problem and approached it in a different way, we would have produced better results.

He had some other tips for reframing how we look at things too.

When it comes to how we respond to fear, or other negative emotions, we can do better if we ask: “How does this serve me?”

And we could all benefit from taking it S.L.O.W.

Stop. Take a breathLand. Ask yourself what outcome do you want?Options. Which versions of yourself are you going to consult?Way. Choose oneState of Cybersecurity Update at CompTIA EMEACon 2023

Kyle Torres and Carolyn April gave an informative deep-dive into the state of cybersecurity research that CompTIA has recently published, with the trends to watch in 2024.

They covered three of the four trend areas to look out for:

PolicyProductsPeopleProcess (not covered in the session, but still important)Barriers to Cybersecurity Initiatives

Before diving into to the trends, the main barriers to cybersecurity initiatives were revealed as:

Low understanding of new cyber threatsPrioritisation of other technologyBelief current security is ‘good enough’Uncertainty contracting security to a third partyEmployee security skill gapsLack of budgetLack of metrics to demonstrate security effectivenessPolicy Trends – Risk Management

When it comes to policy trends, risk management is key, and the UK has a more structured approach to risk management strategies than other regions.

Smaller companies are less likely to recover from a major cyberattack than larger-scale businesses, but they’re also less likely to have a formal security strategy in place.

The most popular risk topics:

Use of cloud computingData warehousesUse of mobile devicesClassification of dataData ownershipTech procurement/shadow ITEmployee exit procedureSocial media usePartner/supplier relationshipsDR/Business continuityPoint of sale systems

The level of people who are involved in risk discussions:

Tech staff 44%Mid-level tech managers 37%CEO 31%Board of Directors 29%CIO 24%Product Trends – AI’s Role in Cybersecurity

According to the research, Technology procurement shows that cybersecurity is not the primary or secondary factor when purchasing a technology solution.

Shabad Chawla, in the audience asked: “Would you expect it to be the primary factor?”

Carolyn replied: “Yes, it should be now. Business owners are liable for the client’s data, so it should be a critical conversation.”

Cybersecurity Products in use Today:

FirewallAntivirusVPNNetwork MonitoringEncryption SoftwareAnti-malwareData Loss PreventionAnti-Spyware

Unlocking AI: Potential Uses:

Monitoring network traffic/detecting malwareAutomating cybersecurity configAnalysing behaviour patternsGenerating tests of cyber defencesPredicting where future breaches may occurAutomating response to cybersecurity incidents

51% of organisations surveyed in favour of generative AI for existing AI/ML practices. 42% say that generative AI is driving first-time exploration of AI adoption.

People Trends – Talent Pipelines Get Stronger as Firms Build Skill Resilience

The top challenge for pursuing cybersecurity initiatives are skill gaps in the workforce. However, there has also been a 28% rise in demand for cybersecurity professionals since the pandemic.

This means that recruiting to fill those gaps in-house is a challenge as well. Therefore companies are seeking third party partners to carry out their cybersecurity initiatives.

Practices Included in Cybersecurity Strategy:

Cloud workspace governanceNetwork analyticsFormal continuous improvement processMFAIdentity and access managementCorporate device managementSoftware defined-micro segmentation

Groups Involved in Cybersecurity Initiatives:

44% internal general IT employees51% internal cybersecurity specialists29% third party cybersecurity firm30% third party technology firm

When selecting third party assistance in cybersecurity, most firms will recruit someone with a broad knowledge across multiple cybersecurity disciplines over someone with specific knowledge in a focused area.

Although the data presented is specific to the UK, the US version of the full report can be found here: State of Cybersecurity 2024.

CompTIA Forums and Charity Updates

Estelle Johannes commenced the last quarter of the first day by mentioning the CompTIA forums, before Leanne mentioned two of the deserving charities that CompTIA have chosen to support this year.

The Cyber Helpline

Charlotte Hooper, Head of Operations at The Cyber Helpline, told us all about the charity and how it helps people. The helpline is a 24/7 intelligent chatbot that can diagnose the form of cyber crime you’re experiencing and work out how to best support you. It’s a free service and the chatbot has helped over 30,000 people get the help they need.

Teen Tech

Maggie Philbin OBE co-founded the Teen Tech charity over 15 years ago as a way to help springboard students into interesting careers in science, technology and engineering.

They do this through:

Live virtual events – suitable for all ages, interests and abilitiesFestivals – which take place all over the UKAnnual awards – which reward innovation for brilliantly demonstrated ideas

She brought two of her award-winning students to speak to us about their experiences. Ali and Thamina explained how the awards have opened a world of innovation and curiosity in the health and engineering sectors, respectively.

If you want to hear more about Maggie and the Teen Tech charity, make sure you listen to her interview on the TubbTalk podcast!

You Had Me at Hello! What You’re Actually Saying with Your Body Language

Adrianne Carter, the face whisperer – an expert on body language – led a very interesting presentation on body language and facial expressions, and what they tell us.

Whereas the way our bodies express how we feel can be different depending on where we come from geographically, facial expressions are universal. 

There are certain triggers to watch out for when you’re talking to someone face-to-face. For example:

Contempt – shows as a tight lip corner on one side of the mouth. If you see that, they think they’re better than youDisgust – displays as a wrinkling of the nose and a raised upper lipFear – raised eyebrows, raised upper eyelids, tensed lower eyelids and lips stretched shows they’re out of control and need reassuranceHappiness – crow’s feet wrinkles, raised cheeks and movement from muscle that orbits the eye show they like what they’re hearing or seeing

People are more likely to approach if your smile is genuine, but knowing the difference between a real and fake smile is vital when negotiating with someone.

If someone is as annoyed or upset, always validate their opinion. You may not agree with it, but validating it shows their opinion matters.

Whereas showing you’re comfortable in interviews or marketing material is more attractive to your audience – so lean in and relax.

A tweak of your body language can make all the difference in human interactions.

CompTIA EMEACon 2023 Day One Wrap-Up

The conference dinner gave everyone a chance to unwind and continue to network with their peers.

It was an excellent way to wrap up the end of day one, and following the dinner, attendees were treated to more entertainment and music, with James Steel behind the decks in one of the conference rooms.

CompTIA EMEACon 2023 – Day Two

The second and final day of the conference was filled with more excellent opportunities for learning.

State of the Industry Keynote

Todd Thibodeaux of CompTIA and Scott Barlow of Sophos had a chat about the state of the industry.

Reflecting on some of the trends and challenges that we’re seeing right now.

Some really interesting discussion points included:

The difficulty in hiring and retaining tech talentCompanies that are failing to enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA)Email security being a hot topic at the momentEndpoint detection and managed access to make sure you’re always prepared for an attack and mitigating the damage

Scott said, a wise thing to do is to keep a WhatsApp group ready for key stakeholders should you suffer an attack and have to respond quickly.

Managed Detection and Response (MDR), firewall and regular user training are table stakes if you’re offering cybersecurity-as-a-service – and there are plenty of vendors that MSPs can bring in to help if you need it.

The thing to avoid is creating line items for your clients for each layer of protection you’re adding on. 

Is AI as Big as the Introduction of the Internet or the Smartphone?

Sana Khareghani from Responsible AI UK took part in a fireside chat with Carolyn April, CompTIA.

She reminded us that AI is not a new term. It’s been around since the 1950s and AI is something we use every day and take for granted. Our smartphones have dozens of apps that use AI in one form or another, for example.

“However, generative AI has become a massive hype cycle,” says Sana, “It’s the librarian who’s read everything and we ask it questions. But there’s a fear about how much power that librarian holds with how it answers.”

Some of the questions Carolyn asked Sana about AI included:

Q. What’s the difference between ethical AI and responsible AI?

A. Ethics is part of the responsibility agenda, so it’s a more broad term, inclusive of other factors. Responsibility here refers to the society as a whole, not just one at the individual or organisational level, which is where ethics lies.

Q. What do you think the skills of the future is going to look like for AI?

A. It’s a big question. People who live, work with and develop AI all need to upskill.

However it’s going to be a long time before AI will completely replace a person. You’re more likely to lose your job to a person who is skilled at using AI than just an AI machine.

Personalisation is already customising our experiences in work and in our leisure time, so we’re already living in an AI-enhanced world.

Q. What about regulation?

A. We can’t wait for policy makers to start the conversation. We as tech leaders need to be leading the way in discussing the opportunities and pitfalls, so that we’re not on the back foot in AI innovations.

Leading Towards Legacy: The M&A Journey from an MSP Founder’s Perspective

Dan Scott talked to Raja Pagadala about his 35 years plus building a successful MSP business -The Final Step – and his subsequent decision to sell his business.

Raja had an interest in tech since leaving university in 1987. He took out a two-line advertisement in tTe Evening Standard for £250 ,which produced £12 worth of business. He knew it wasn’t going to work out, so he went back to study a bit more and returned to it in 1997.

In 2023, when a family member passed away earlier in the year, he decided he wanted to sell his business, to be certain his wife would be financially worry-free if the worst was to happen to him.

He completed sale of his business on the 1st September 2023, which he was told was an amazingly quick turnaround (10 weeks). He was conscious that he wanted to make sure that his staff would be happy with the arrangement, and a month in, everyone is still employed within the company.

His three-person management team all started in the business at around the same time and have been with him for 18 years, with one of them stepping up to become the new Managing Director.

Dan asked Raja a number of questions about his experiences:

Q. What advice would you give to someone else who might go through something similar?

Raja replied: You should run your business as though you could be selling it next week. And pay attention to your people. You’re not adding value if you’re doing everything yourself. Surround yourself with people better than you and let them get on with it.

Q. What is your unique proposition to you clients?

Raja commented: What we are selling is trust. You have to demonstrate what you mean by trust. If you make a mistake, own it and do your best to make amends. You’re not in a partnership if you feel you’re unable to do this.

Q. What would you say to people who have seen other M&A situations that have worked out less favourably, about your experiences?

Raja: M&A is not just a situation where everyone loses. In my case M&A worked out as a happy outcome for all involved.

Q. What lessons have you learned about your own experience selling your business?

Raja: Get some good advisors, and keep them up-to-date. Be open and do your due diligence.

Q. How do you know when your team is ready to take the reins of your business?

Raja: Support them and advise them as much as you can, but you have to let them just do it. If they make mistakes, go over what went wrong to help them be better next time. You’ll find they’ll often end up being better than you in the end, and you’ll have nothing more to worry about.

Q. What’s next for you now, Raja?

Raja: I haven’t given it much thought about what to do next, but I’m open to other opportunities.

Unveiling the Future: Unleashing the Power of Young Talent

Mark Freer of Heads Up gave us a few tips on how to engage and get the most out of the upcoming Gen Z and Gen Alpha workforce.

He said by 2030 nearly half your workforce will be made up of them.

Gen Z – 14 to 28 year oldsGen Alpha – under 13 years old (born 2010 onwards)

The working world according to Gen Z is one of job insecurity, financial instability, emotional distress and obstacles to working effectively, and yet their view of economic opportunity is still optimistic.

Many believe they’ll be unable to own their own home and that they’ll be treated for or diagnosed with a mental illness.

In order to attract more young people into the workforce, Mark believes it’s key to meet their needs in ways that push boundaries, give choice and give them a voice.

Some of these things include:

Support and encouragement for individualsCreating a great work environmentEngagement in social pursuitsAllowing individuals to be authenticSupporting mental healthUnderstanding where their support networks are

Gen Z and Alphas look for workplaces that offer hybrid and flexible working policies, digital tools, mentoring and coaching, wellbeing etc.

Triumph Over Adversity: Inspiring Stories of Overcoming Life’s Challenges

Chris Ward moderated a very frank and powerful panel on the tricky subject of mental health.

It was arguably one of the most frank sessions run over the two days at CompTIA EMEACon 2023!

The speakers were:

Amanda Stewart, Illuminate TechnologyLeigh Wood, Node IT SolutionsRichard Tubb, Tubblog

Each of the speakers gave a bit of background on how a particular mental health illness has affected them over the years, and how they’ve coped with it, or mitigated the effects.

Richard was diagnosed with depression in his 20s.

He describes it as sometimes a feeling that he’s unkind to himself. “Depression is a liar,” he says. But it’s as much a physical illness as a mental one.

Leigh struggled to keep his business afloat, which came to a head in 2018. The stress was too much. He kept thinking: ‘How am I going to pay the bills?’ and ‘Why has success eluded me?’

Amanda, similarly to Leigh, struggled to make her business a success to start with. Menopause and being a woman in business just added to the stress and led to depression.

Chris then asked the questions:

Q. What led to your realisation that it was more than just a bad day, and it was depression?

Amanda said it was her father who first noticed something wasn’t right and said: “What’s up?”

But the advice was, only you can do something about it. However it’s not wrong to seek help when you need it. You need to find the right people to talk to.

The great thing about the menopause is that you don’t really care what people think about you when sharing your problems. Men want to fix things but women just want them to listen.

Leigh said his wife had peri-menopause and thought that it was depression, so they went on their mental health journey together. Educating men about the struggles women encounter that come with menopause is a good thing. 

He started seeing a professional business coach and shared his journey with his team, and the coach was able to help him unpack some of the things that were failing.

Richard said he saw lots of common points in what Amanda and Leigh were saying. He said there was a lot of poor advice when he first got his diagnosis like: “Have you tried being happier?” He shared that there have been days where he’s not wanted to get out of bed and had suicidal thoughts.

We need to destigmatise mental health because it’s an invisible illness sometimes. It’s the black dog at the door again. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can condition you to recognise the signs and take preventative action.

Leigh mentioned Andy’s Man Club, a charity for mental health as a safe space to talk about stress, anxiety and depression – or just to listen if you prefer.

Q. What are the wrong things to say to someone suffering with depression?

Amanda: It’s about listening really.

Leigh said he had to hit rock bottom to recognise he had depression. It’s difficult to talk to someone when you’re struggling.

Q. What are your thoughts on ‘Mental Fitness’ – Is that a Thing?

Richard said yes it very much is. Richard journals each day three things to be grateful for.

Social media is toxic and a great procrastinator. Looking at friends’ posts, you only see their highlights and you naturally measure it against the bad stuff in your own life.

Amanda reminded us that we frequently say: “Be kind” but we sometimes forget to be kind to ourselves.

In the audience, Gareth Westwood asked:

Q. Is procrastination a cause or a symptom of depression?

Leigh answered: It’s a symptom of stress. When you’re stressed you put off those things, only to swoop in and get them done at the last minute.

From Geek to Sales Jedi: Simple Sales Techniques for Technical Experts

James Steel moderated a panel around the topic of sales, with three experts ready to offer their advice.

Robert Gibbons started off by saying that it’s far easier to sell more to existing customers because you already have their attention.

Dave Sutton said that are some types of products may can appeal to many customers, but it’s about being that trusted advisor on how to use technology to better manage their businesses. Yes, it will increase their overheads, but it will help them maximise their profits while reducing the risks of losing data.

Danny Boyle remarked that qualifying stages are often missing when MSPs are looking to turn leads into sales prospects. So understanding where the opportunities are and whether they’re in a place to buy is so important. Budget, authority, need and opportunity are important in qualifying a potential sale.Attracting New Customers

Dave – Start with a one-off service so that they’re able to trust you and they’ll be more likely to buy an ongoing product in the future.

Danny – Case studies can demonstrate your value and overcome typical objections. Social proof is key too.

Robert – Learn about your potential customer before attempting to sell to them and build a profile to see where they are on their buying journey.

More Effective Cold Calling

Robert – Get an impression of the person you’re calling and create a profile before you pick up the phone. Good research is key.

Danny – Be human. It’s easier to get past the gatekeeper if you use their first name. The first 15 seconds is so important.

Dave – Prior intelligence is really helpful for cold calling. In a typical day, you’re looking at making 130 calls in order to make it worthwhile.

Robert – Email campaigns: You can tailor campaigns to existing customers on what you know they don’t have yet, provided you’ve created a profile upfront.

Asking For Customer Referrals

Danny – It’s human nature to complain about bad service, but don’t be shy to ask your customers to provide a good review.

Louis Theroux Closing Keynote

Todd Thibodeaux of CompTIA asked the questions of the broadcaster, journalist and award-winning documentarian, Louis Theroux.

Q. Is there an area you haven’t covered with your documentaries that you still want to do?

A. Islamic extremism – Louis said he never had the ‘stones’ (cajones) for it. He said it might have led to a death warrant situation, but joked he still dreams of, one day, watching a stoning in an Islamic caliphate.

Q. Who are your role models?

He interned for Michael Moore who was an inspiration for him to make documentaries. John Noakes, Blue Peter presenter, and his fearless approach to the things he took on was also massive inspiration.

Q. How does it feel when you sit across someone detestable when making your documentaries?

He said he found it easy to detach himself from the situation. With the exception of the Scientologists, who: “Have a knack for getting under your skin” to make you feel uncomfortable. They have some sort of mandate to confront anyone trying to show Scientology in a negative light. They start talking over you and filming you back! They’re just irritating!”

Q. What’s your process when deciding on what project to do next?

He chooses those subjects that seem counterintuitive or self-sabotaging, because it’s interesting to him.

Louis confesses to have lots of ideas in his head, but they’re not always good ones. He wanted to do a documentary on David Icke and his conspiracy theory that the world is run by shape-shifting lizard people!

Q. Who would you love to interview?

“Trump. He’s cleverly unflappable”. He said he would like to have done a documentary when Trump thought he had control, but really it would show his true colours, but he’s ‘too savvy for that sort of thing’.

Q. Are there any tech topics that you find interesting at the moment?

Louis said Crypto and AI are two areas he finds fascinating, and would love to know more about.

CompTIA EMEACon 2023 Day Two Wrap-Up

The second day was even more session-packed, with so many memorable panels and presentations.

Delegates were offered a last chance to network over a drink before the event was brought to a close.

CompTIA EMEACon 2023 Event Conclusion

Once again, the community team did an incredible job of organising the itinerary and pulling it all together. The venue, the speakers, the content; everything had a lot of work put into it, and yet it came off effortlessly.

Did you attend CompTIA EMEACon 2023? How did you find the event, and what session did you draw the most value from?

We’d love to hear your account of it in the comments.

You Might Also Be Interested InHow the CompTIA ChannelCon Event Helps MSPs to Build the ImpossibleTubbTalk 119: Why Building a White Glove MSP Leads to Better Client RelationshipsSuperSummit Virtual: Strategies for Success MSP Growth and Scale

The post Security, Sales and Leadership Trends Led the Way at CompTIA EMEACon 2023 appeared first on Tubblog: The Hub for MSPs.

Tubbservatory Round-Up #21 – September 2023

Tubbservatory Round-Up – Tools and Resources for Your MSP

Every single week, Richard brings you five must-have resources that all you Managed Service Provider (MSP) rockstars in the IT world should absolutely have on your radar. Say hello to the Tubbservatory! It’s your weekly video fix, packed to the brim with hand-picked articles, podcasts, and events that are of great interest to amazing IT business owners just like yourself. And guess what’s on the menu? You got it – introducing Tubbservatory Round-Up #21 for September 2023. We’ve gone the extra mile to put together the juiciest episodes from this month, all polished up and ready for your viewing pleasure. So don’t sweat about missing a beat, because it’s all right here, waiting for you whenever you’re ready to dive in.

Now, let’s talk about what’s been sizzling this month. I’ve got quick and snappy summaries lined up for each topic, listed below. And hey, if you’re itching to explore further, no worries – the links to all the resources I’m talking about in the video are waiting for you at the end of this article. So go on, kick back, relax, and soak in the Tubbservatory Round-Up extravaganza! Enjoy reliving all those incredible moments!

This month’s topics include: Merges & Acquisitions, NOC, Whitelabelled Outsourcing, Helpdesk, Open Source Tech Stack, Growth, Productivity, Sustainability, Kubernetes and much more.

Tubbservatory: The September 2023 Round-Up Video

Tubbservatory Round-Up #21: September – Week 1

 

#1 Breaking News from Uptime Solutions and Inbay!

We start this week with a huge breaking piece of news from Bradley Munday, co-founder of Uptime Solutions!

I’m excited to hear that Uptime Solutions and Inbay are coming together to give MSPs even more scope for white-labelled outsourcing of their Helpdesk, Network Operation Centre (NOC) and project resources.

I sat down with Jason Kemsley and Bradley Munday of Uptime to ask them questions and hear more about the implications of this deal. Keep your eyes peeled for that video and podcast, released this coming Monday 4th Sept.

#2 What an MSP Should Do When Growth Plateaus

A podcast that caught my ear was MSP expert Pete Matheson speaking with the SuperOps‘ SuperPod on what an MSP should do when growth plateaus.

Matheson grew his MSP the business to over 16 staff and over £1.2m in revenue. He successfully sold the business in 2020, so he knows a thing or two about growth.

#3 From Procrastinator to Productivity Ninja: Try This Technique Now!

Have you ever wondered if you have ADHD with an inability to concentrate?

MSP expert Todd Kane’s latest video shares a powerful technique to overcome procrastination and become a productivity ninja, using the Pomodoro technique.

I’ve used Pomodoro for many years and swear by it, so if you need some help getting productive, check out Todd’s video

#4 The Sustainable Tech Partner Website

If sustainability is a goal for your tech business (and it should be) then check out the Sustainable Tech Partner website.

The brainchild of technology journalism legend Joe Panettieri, the website offers news, insights and advice to empower technology partners & their customers to achieve & maintain their sustainability goals.

#5 XChange EMEA conference

And finally, CRN will be hosting its first XChange EMEA conference on 10th-11th October 2023 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The line-up looks impressive, including market leaders such as Managed Cybersecurity Platform, Huntress, so this event is definitely one to check out.

Tubbservatory Round-Up #21: September – Week 2

 

#1 This Year’s Best Open Source Tools to Improve Your MSP Stack

A free MSP book that is proving incredibly popular in the industry is the Ultimate Open Source Tech Stack Guide for MSPs from Akamai Linode.

Open Source lets you can save on license costs and support, and their are open source projects for everything from help desk tools and ticketing to infrastructure security.

#2 Cybersecurity Threat Advisory: Global Ransomware Campaign Targeting MSPs

Some worrying news as SmarterMSP reports a Global ransomware campaign targeting MSPs.

Zachary Beaudet reports that The Play Ransomware Group, also known as PlayCrypt, are currently waging a global cyberattack campaign against multiple midsize businesses in sectors like finance, legal, software, shipping and law enforcement.

This article contains a number of recommendations from Cybersecurity specialists Barracuda MSP on how MSPs can protect themselves against attack.

#3 MSPs On Growth During Economic Uncertainty: ‘Traditional IT is Dead’

Traditional IT is Dead, reports Gina Narcisi for CRN from the Xchange 2023 Conference in the USA.

Karen Penticost of Envision Technology says they saw strong revenue during the first half of 2023 thanks to its focus on cybersecurity services.

And Corey Kirkendoll of 5K Technical Services says they focused on having conversations with client’s to understand their changing needs.

This article is worth reading for any MSP.

#4 Powerful Books that Inspire: Top Picks for Entrepreneurs on Book Lover’s Day

Team Tubb and I recently collated our recommendations of Powerful Books that Inspire: Top Picks for Entrepreneurs.

My pick was The Go-Giver by Bob Burg  and John David Mann, while Stephen McCormick picked Take Your Shot by Robin Waite.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, check out our full list!

#5 Kaseya DattaCon

And finally, lots of MSPs will be headed to Miami, Florida for October 2-4th for Kaseya DattoCon!

If you’ve not already got your ticket, then we’re afraid to say the event is sold out — but you can expect plenty of news to emerge via Fred Voccola and the team at this huge event!

Tubbservatory Round-Up #21: September – Week 3

 

#1 SecurityRadar – Scale Your Security Practice with Data-Driven Insights for Personalised Customer Engagement and Growth

What can be measured, can be managed, but how can you measure your Cybersecurity effectiveness as an MSP?

Well, earlier this year SkyKick launched their SecurityRadar platform to enable Microsoft Partners to use data-driven insights to proactively engage with their client’s on Cybersecurity on Foundational security insights, Access & permissions, Mailbox security, plus Teams, collaboration & Tenant security.

#2 Build Open Source AWS ECS, Explore Odoo, ChannelCon, Akamai CTO

Digital guru James Steel is back with another awesome video for Akamai Linode, this time with a Matrix-themed look at Open Source alternatives to AWS ECS. 

Plus, James takes a look at CompTIA ChannelCon23 and more!

#3 First NIST update in a decade: What MSPs need to know

After ten years, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have released an update for their for roadmaps and best practices in cybersecurity.

Kevin Williams reports for SmarterMSP that NIST had been built around five key components: identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover. Now they have added a sixth, the “govern” function.

With NIST being a popular framework for MSPs, I’d recommend every IT business be aware of these changes.

#4 Need to Know Podcast–Episode 309

A Podcast that caught my ear was the Need to Know Podcast with Microsoft Cloud expert Robert Crane.

In episode 309, Crane looks at all the latest news and updates from the Microsoft Cloud with a focus on SMB. Inside this episode are also some thoughts around incident response: why you should have one and why you should be reviewing and updating it regularly.

Well worth a listen!

#5 MSP Spotlight with Richard Tubb: Upleveling your MSP Business

And finally, on Sept 26th I’ll be hosting an MSP Spotlight on MJ Flood, a leading technology solutions and managed services provider in Ireland.

Join me as I speak with James Finglas, Managing Director, MJ Flood Technology to share how they have successfully brought a new offering – Extended Detection and Response (XDR) – to market.

Thanks to Barracuda MSP for hosting this conversation. Registration is now open!

Tubbservatory Round-Up #21: September – Week 4

 

#1 Backstories: Pax8 x Funky Mouse

“My soul is to help others. And that is why I love technology.” says Tim Kidney, Chief Mouse of Funky Mouse, who have been helping SMBs for over 10 years in the Dorset area with IT support in this inspiring video from Pax8 focusing on one of their partners.

From feeding locals in his community who are unhoused with free pizzas through his project, Pizza in Need, to the non-profits he supports with IT services, Tim is a Pax8 partner making a difference.

#2 AgoraPulse – Inbox Zero for Social Media

With Social Media being a key part of most MSPs marketing efforts, I’m often asked which tool I recommend to MSP marketing teams trying to manage conversations over multiple platforms.

We use AgoraPulse which provides an Inbox Zero for Social Media and connects with Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and more.

If you’re serious about your social media efforts, check out this tool. Thanks, Mike Allton for the recommendation!

#3 The Kubernetes Opportunity for MSPs | Interview With a Linode Solutions Engineer

A video that caught my attention was James Steel of Akamai Linode speaking with Solutions Engineer Billy Thompson about The Kubernetes Opportunity.

If you’re wondering how MSPs are taking advantage of Kubernetes to grow their business, then check out this conversation.

#4 Cloud Bursting: What it is and What it’s Good For

And talking of learning, if you’re not familiar with cloud bursting, then Stephen Pritchard of Computer Weekly has a great article on What it is and what it’s good for.

Cloud bursting allows firms to take advantage of the cloud’s almost limitless scale and capacity on a temporary basis, but without the need to move workloads permanently to the public cloud.

#5 CompTIA EMEA Member and Partner Conference

And finally, a reminder that the big CompTIA EMEA Conference takes place in London on October 2nd-3rd.

I’ll be speaking at the event, and the closing keynote speaker is the amazing television personality, Louis Theroux.

Registration is open to everyone in the MSP industry. I hope to see you there!

Tubbservatory Round-Up #21: September – Week 5

 

Best Of… #tubbservatory
#1 It’s A Numbers Game by the MSP Finance Team

A podcast that caught my ear this week is “It’s a Numbers Game” by MSP experts Daniel Welling and Adam Morris.

In this podcast series, MSP business owners will learn the fundamental steps, the tips and tricks, the dos and don’ts to achieve MSP financial growth.

#2 Revenue Stack: The 4 Tools Every MSP Needs to Manage Their Pipeline

And talking of money, MSP expert Ben Spector has written a great article about the Revenue Stack: The 4 Tools Every MSP Needs to Manage Their Pipeline. Spector describes how MSPs should focus on a Marketing CRM, Sales CRM, PSA and Accounting package.

#3 Pax8 Academy

The Pax8 Academy provides MSPs with an extensive library of free, on-demand content and paid instructor-led courses.

If you’re not already a Pax8 partner, then this new Academy adds so much value that it makes it a no-brainer to choose Pax8 to work with.

#4 MSP Success – Habits to Stand Out From the Competition

What habits are IT Solution Providers and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) using to stand above their competitors? I offer some advice in a guest article I’ve written for Domotz. For instance, does your MSP business use Engineering Floorwalks?

Read more in this article.

#5 Generate More Leads, The Power of Portability, Maximising Your Cloud Spend and More…

If you’re not already following the amazing James Steel of Linode with his MSP videos, then you’re missing out! In his latest video, Steel shares insights on how to generate more leads, the power of portability, maximising your cloud spend and much more.

Steel’s YouTube is definitely a channel for MSPs to subscribe to!

 

Links to the Resources Mentioned in this Round-Up

From Week 1Breaking News from Uptime Solutions and Inbay!What an MSP Should do When Growth PlateausFrom Procrastinator to Productivity Ninja: Try This Technique Now!The Sustainable Tech Partner WebsiteXChange EMEA conferenceMentioned in Week 2This Year’s Best Open Source Tools to Improve Your MSP StackCybersecurity Threat Advisory: Global Ransomware Campaign Targeting MSPsMSPs On Growth During Economic Uncertainty: ‘Traditional IT Is Dead’Powerful Books that Inspire: Top Picks for Entrepreneurs on Book Lover’s DayKaseya DattaConWeek 3SecurityRadar – Scale your Security Practice with Data-Driven Insights for Personalised Customer Engagement and GrowthBuild Open Source AWS ECS, Explore Odoo, ChannelCon, Akamai CTOFirst NIST update in a decade: What MSPs need to knowNeed to Know Podcast – Episode 309MSP Spotlight with Richard Tubb: Upleveling your MSP BusinessWeek 4Backstories: Pax8 x Funky MouseAgoraPulse – Inbox Zero for Social MediaThe Kubernetes Opportunity for MSPs | Interview With a Linode Solutions EngineerCloud Bursting: What it is and What it’s Good ForCompTIA EMEA Member and Partner ConferenceAnd Week 5It’s A Numbers Game By The MSP Finance TeamRevenue Stack: The 4 Tools Every MSP Needs to Manage Their PipelinePax8 AcademyMSP Success – Habits to Stand out From the Competition MSP Success – Habits to Stand Out from the CompetitionGenerate More Leads, The Power of Portability, Maximizing Your Cloud Spend and More…

How You Can Help

And that’s a wrap for Tubbservatory Round-Up #21!

Got something incredible to share? Whether it’s an awesome tool or a mind-blowing resource, we want to hear all about it!

Drop it in the comments below, and let’s keep the knowledge flowing. Your input means the world to us!

You Might Also be Interested inWebinar: 3 Ways to Unleash MSP Success by Increasing Efficiency and ProfitabilityTubbTalk 135: How to Turn Employees into a Company’s Biggest Cybersecurity AssetIs a Co-Managed IT Model the Opportunity Your MSP Has Been Looking For?

The post Tubbservatory Round-Up #21 – September 2023 appeared first on Tubblog: The Hub for MSPs.

TubbTalk 137: How MSPs can Overcome Their Fear of Sales and Win Clients

In this episode, Richard Tubb speaks to MSP sales expert Danny Boyle, author of “Sell More, Do Less, an MSP and IT Specialists’ Guide to Better Sales Calls.”

Danny’s a sales leader with a proven history of success in driving step change growth for cloud software brands in the IT industry.

He shares his advice on how MSPs can become comfortable with selling and the skills you need to master.

An Interview With Danny BoyleHow Danny Got into MSP Sales

Danny explains that he got into the IT industry via his time in sales at BT. Rick Yates at Zedsphere was looking for a VOIP solution. From there, Danny worked directly with Rick until the business was acquired.

Today, he’s part of the NinjaOne family. They’re one of the leading RMM products globally, with over 1,000 employees worldwide, one of the highest ranked tools, month after month, quarter after quarter for support and service.

What Inspired Danny to Write a Book

Danny admits it wasn’t his intention to write a book. But he’d spent a lot of time at BT  coaching and mentoring others, especially on all the little things that they can say over the phone to make a big difference in the end outcome.

“And when I joined the MSP world, it became clear that technicians aren’t great at selling either. They’re often scared of it and try to avoid it. I saw it as a rewarding way of helping the community.

“So I admit that I hit rock bottom during lockdown. And I started writing as a way to distract myself. Once I did, it became a habit and I was driven to keep going. In my career, I’ve helped businesses generate the big numbers. But I’d never done anything that was an achievement of my own.”

Why MSPs Struggle With Sales

Like me, Danny finds that sales is the number one challenge for MSPs. He explains: “I think it’s to do with the fear of failure and venturing into the unknown. Because we don’t know what we don’t know, there are lots of situations in our lives where we’re built to settle for the path of least resistance.

“For example, if you were going to ask someone out, it can be easier to assume they’ll say no. So you avoid asking the question at all and you’re not disappointed. It’s much easier for technicians to settle with that option. And avoid pushing things to that next level.

The Skills You Need to be a Good Salesman

A lot of the advice relates to being confident, tenacious and able to overcome the fear. But Danny says that sales is just a process like anything else. You need a step-by-step guide and know how to overcome objections.

“The challenge for technical people is to bridge the gap between the logic and the emotional side of a buying decision. There’s a void of understanding in the full sales cycle because it’s based around the journey of the person, not always the product.

Obviously, everybody understands the long and short of why a product is useful. But sometimes people fail to make that emotional connection as to why it’s important, not just how it’s important.”

The Biggest Mistake to Avoid in MSP Sales

Again, Danny highlights the disconnect between logic and emotion. “Because technical people are so driven by the features and the benefits. And they dissociate from the emotional side as to how this will impact their customer.

“Everyone likes to think they’re a shepherd, leading the way. But really we’re sheep, because we like to make buying decisions based on reviews. They want to see the positive outcome for themselves. And technical people often miss that part out.”

The BANC OUT Process for Better MSP Sales

As an MSP sales mentor, Danny often sees key facts missed out during the initial chat with the qualifying lead. He has developed a tool called “BANC OUT”, which stands for the seven different key details of information.

“So these are the details you require to understand the customer. B= budget – how much they have. A = authority – establishing the decision maker. N = need – why does the customer need a solution?

“C = Competition – who else is in the frame for the work? O = opportunity – what is the size of the project? U = unique – why are they considering you? And T = timeline – when do they want to finish the project? And all of this is vital to the pipeline.”

How to Connect With Danny BoyleNinjaOneConnect with Danny on LinkedInEmail DannyHow to Connect With MeSubscribe to TubbTalk RSS feedSubscribe, rate and review TubbTalk in iTunesSubscribe and rate TubbTalk on SpotifyFollow TubbTalk on iHeartRadioFollow @tubblog on TwitterMentioned in This EpisodeMSP Expert Rick YatesPsychologist Jordan PetersonBook: Bob Burg: The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business IdeaMSP Expert James SteelYou Might Also be Interested inPodcast: How to do Awesome MSP SalesFrom Building Audiences to Structuring SalesPodcast: How to Accelerate Your MSP Sales for Business Growth

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How Huntress’ Product Lab Shares News, Trends and Improvements with Partners

One of the ways cybersecurity experts Huntress continue to innovate and meet the needs of their customers is by holding regular webinars like the Product Lab.

Both educational and interactive, these online presentations encourage engagement from their community audiences in how to better align their managed security platform. And they’re a great way for partners to see how the product is developing to address growing security threat landscape.

Attending September 2023’s Product Lab, we saw some of Huntress’ recent developments as well as a couple of deep-dives into session/cookie hijacking.

The Product Lab

The two main speakers were:

Kyle Hanslovan, CEO of Huntress

Chris Bisnett, CTO of Huntress

with a guest presentation from:

John Hammond, Principal Security Researcher for Huntress

The hour-long webinar set out to provide updates, and to educate partners on some of the current developments, as well as the important security trends that we all need to be aware of.

Straight Outta the Lab

To kick off the Product Lab agenda, Kyle went through some of the new developments from the Huntress team. Here are a few examples:

1. Halo PSA Integration Beta

A new integration for Halo’s professional services automation has been added to the Incident Reporting section of the Huntress platform.

2. Call and Text Notifications

You can now opt-in for text and call notifications to be sent to key contacts in an attempt to accelerate outreach during critical incidents.

Currently available in the US and Canada only at the moment, but should be rolled out internationally in the future.

3. New HIPAA Episode Released

A new animated security training video has been released on the subject of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The protection of patients’ health data is similar to that of GDPR in the UK, and requires the custodians of such information to meet a particular standard.

4. Awareness Training Pipeline

Some updates listed as headlines, which included:

Huntress SOC Curates Your Training PlanImproved TOTP/Authenticator SupportKnee-Deep Managed PhishingBuilding Co-branded Reports for End Users

If not Logins, Then What?

Chris took over lead of the presentation to talk about the differences between events and sessions in Microsoft365.

M365 events show the actions a user makes. An event log can tell you who’s logged in, when permissions are changed and what is accessed. However not all events are logged.

M365 sessions are unique IDs that connect the events that occurred during a particular session. This is useful because it can reveal activity across multiple devices and can be used to see how a potential threat actor has altered items across your system.

Challenges

There are some issues or challenges that make identifying events and where they’ve occurred difficult to track and stop.

Without establishing conditional access rules, sessions can last forever.Not all events have a session ID attached. This could be because the event has been generated by an application, or if multiple events are created at the same time, it may only attach the session ID to the first one created.Hijacking Sessions, Why Do It?

A threat actor will look to hijack a session because logins are already authenticated and multi-factor authentication confirmed.

A hijacked session doesn’t look suspicious at first glance because it’s not a session ID. Traditional SIEM (Security Incident Event Management) software finds it difficult to identify and isolate. Furthermore, phishing is a good way to steal a session.

Stealing Browser Cookies

Browser cookies are how a website identifies you and your preferences on it, which includes web-based email. They pre-verify you, and so are of value to hackers. Malicious browser plugins are an ideal way to steal your cookie data, as well as malware on open, shared devices.

Cookies are a way to make it easier for you to access what you need to without being continually asked for your credentials. Cookie data is something that is bought and sold on Darkweb marketplaces, such as the Genesis Market.

Product Lab Hacker Demonstrations

John Hammond took over the presentation to show us a couple of demonstrations from the point of view of the victim and the threat actor.

First Demonstration

The first demonstration was a basic look at how easy it is for a threat actor to gain access to a victim’s email, using a session cookie obtained via the darkweb.

It demonstrated how browser cookies can bypass logins and passwords, allowing the cookie-bearer to assume the identity of the user and access their private spaces on the internet.

Second Demonstration

The second demonstration was a little bit more sophisticated and had the threat actor obtain a session token by first phishing the victim with a simple Microsoft-branded email giving them a link and a ‘secure code’ to enter.

The link returned a prompt for the user to input their login and password details.

Then, using a PowerShell script called Token Tactics, there were able to obtain all the session token details to access whatever they want to.

With just a few clicks, the threat actor could replace authentication fields with the stolen session token data.

Although I didn’t fully comprehend how the attack worked, it was clear that it was something that was quick and easy for professional hackers to do.

Detecting the Hacks

Due to the nature of session and browser hijacks, they can be quite difficult to detect. Therefore, multiple methods need to be employed to detect them.

Things that can reveal suspicious activity:

Session ID shows a change in locationThe device type changesOther types of malicious activity such as permissions changing, etc.

Audience Q+A

To round off the Product Lab agenda, some time was set aside to give the community a chance to field questions to the speakers.

Here are a few examples of the questions that were asked, along with the answers the panel gave:

Q. Would conditional access prevent or mitigate the problem of session hijacking in Microsoft 365?

A. Conditional access requires a successful login first, so it wouldn’t prevent a hijack attempt on the first login.

Q. How can we capture endpoint logs for compliance and insurance purposes?

A. It’s not something available at the moment, but it’s in the development pipeline for the future.

Q. Is there a way to turn off email notification for unresponsive agents?

A. Yes, this is something you can turn off and on yourself.

Conclusion

A monthly, interactive webinar such as the Product Lab is a great way to deliver value to your partners. By educating them about security trends, informing them of product updates and listening to what they want to see developed further, Huntress are demonstrating an investment in working to make their partners’ businesses more secure.

This is definitely the way forward for vendors, particularly those that are security-conscious, where technology needs to remain at the cutting edge.

Taking on board the input from partners and proving you’re listening to them shows great commitment.

What do you think of these kinds of product improvement webinars? Do they provide value and are they worth your time?

We’d love to hear about it in the comments!

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