Richard Tubb's Blog, page 31
June 6, 2023
Steve’s Tribal Dispatches #2 – Powerful Ways to Systemise Your MSP
Steve’s Tribal Dispatches #2 – May 2023In the short series “Steve’s Tribal Dispatches”, I, Stephen McCormick, will be taking a look at some of the resources available inside The Tech Tribe.
I’ll be reporting back on the best the membership has to offer, so that you can see what’s available to you, should you decide to become a member.
The Tech Tribe is a paid, members-only, online community for managed service providers (MSPs) that is filled with great resources for its members.
In this month’s dispatches, I mention the monthly marketing packs, job description templates and the new client onboarding checklist.
Featured Resource: Monthly Marketing PacksEvery month, the Tech Tribe put together a pack containing all the marketing content templates the average MSP needs.
TechMarketingEngine helped design these marketing packs and they’re free to all Tech Tribe members.
These packs contain a staggering amount of content.
They’re aimed at assisting busy MSP owners who are trying to build an audience. Whether that’s to assist in driving traffic to their website, or building a following on social media.
The aim of the content is to be informative and educational. Included are blog posts, videos and newsletters, and there some nurture email templates to follow-up any interested new contacts.
An average monthly marketing pack contains:
6 x professionally written blog posts6 x social media videos (related to the blog posts)18 x social media image posts (related to the blog posts)18 x social media text posts (related to the blog posts)30 x daily social media posts (ready to be imported into your scheduling tool)1 x email newsletter template8 x nurture emailsPlus a load of A4 legacy printed newsletter templatesDesigned to be easy to use, the monthly marketing packs take the hassle out of content marketing.
In fact, the blog posts can be automatically published on WordPress, using the Tech Tribe’s own WordPress plugin.
The Tribal Library is an area of the Tribe where you can quickly access templates, videos, reviews and other tools.
This month, I took a closer look at the Job Description templates and the New Client Onboarding Checklist.
Job Description TemplatesWhether you’re scaling up and expanding your business or filling in skills gaps in your team. It’s vital, when you’re recruiting, to set the expectations for the role in the job description.
The two primary purposes of a job descriptions are to:
Set out the roles and responsibility expectations of the jobList the skills and attributes required and desired of the applicants applyingInside the Tribal Library, there are a number of pre-written job description templates for you to download and make your own.
These templates represent roles that a great many managed service providers will be familiar with.
Among them are:
Field EngineerService Delivery ManagerSenior Helpdesk EngineerNew Client Onboarding ChecklistThe new client onboarding checklist is a comprehensive pdf guide to help you start off in the best way possible with new clients.
This is not a checklist in itself, but a guide to preparing your own checklist.
This guide ensures all bases are covered during the onboarding process. From setting up the account details, to administrating the passwords, as well as all the admin in between.
The checklist is part of a series of materials for onboarding new clients, which includes:
The New Client ManualThe New Client Intake SurveyThe New Client Onboarding Email ScriptsGetting the onboarding process right from the start sets a strong foundation for partnerships with your clients.
Tribal Dispatch Hot TopicsSteve’s Tribal Dispatches are designed to help you quickly identify the most helpful parts of The Tech Tribe, so you can get up and running as soon as you join.
The Community Forums are where members of the tribe can post and comment on topics that are relevant to them.
The forums are where members may openly ask any questions they have, whilst helping others who are seeking answers.
This can be anything from advice on how to cultivate a prospects list, to help in choosing an insurance provider.
Some of this months featured Hot Topics were:
Advice on paying a sales person working on a commission basisGetting marketing development funds from vendorsAdvice on how to deal with a client disputeSuggestions for call answering servicesChoosing a CRM for a One-Person MSPWhat to do with spare devices on a per-user policy
Each month there are regular local gatherings of The Tech Tribe. And you don’t even have to be a member to attend them!
One of the more recent additions is a regular local gathering set up by Chris Timm to serve the East Anglia region!
You can find out where your local Tech Tribe gathering is, as well as who to contact about attending, here.
These are great peer groups that are free to attend, and are well worth your time.
Was there anything in Steve’s Tribal Dispatches this month that has piqued your interest, and made you want to find out more?
Click here for more information and a 40% discount code!
The purpose of a template is to standardise a process, thereby making it easier to delegate to someone in your team.
A big tick on your operational maturity checklist, as a business owner, is for it to able to succeed without you.
As a member of The Tech Tribe, you always have the opportunity to draw upon the expertise of other members, if you need to.
Look out for next instalment of Steve’s Tribal Dispatches, where I’ll be reporting on some of the Sales & Marketing resources available to members.
Are you already a member of the Tribe? What do you think is the best thing about being part of the community? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.
The post Steve’s Tribal Dispatches #2 – Powerful Ways to Systemise Your MSP appeared first on Tubblog: The Hub for MSPs.
June 5, 2023
TubbTalk Bonusode: How Monitoring Your MSP Metrics Leads to Profit and Growth
In this episode, Richard speaks to Peter Kujawa, Vice President of Service Leadership and TSP 
evangelist. Service Leadership helps IT solution providers to monitor MSP metrics. And to build shareholder value and reach top quartile, best-in-class profitability.
They do this through objective benchmarking, advanced peer groups, self-paced performance improvement tools, executive training, and individual management consulting for MSPs worldwide.
An Interview with Peter KujawaWhat is a TSP?A ‘TSP’ is a ‘technology solution provider’, a broader category than just MSP. Peter explains that Service Leadership benchmarks 10 different TSPs. “So these are what we refer to as predominant business models, PBMs. MSP is certainly one of them – it’s our largest sample set.
“But we also have benchmark product centric also known as VARs, which are defined as 60% or more of their revenue from product. There are all sorts of other infrastructure types, including break/fix. We tend to use ‘TSP’ rather than ‘MSP’ in-house.”
How Service Leadership Helps You Monitor MSP MetricsService Leadership was founded to help provide objective data to the industry on what ‘good’ looks like. Peter says that founders Paul Dippell and Brian O’Connell had both worked at very large, product-centric and MSP providers.
“So this experience led them to realise that there was a need for objective data, and set the business up to benchmark the IT industry. We benchmark our providers every quarter and feed that data into a system.
“Then, we report back on how they’re doing. But it’s not just relative to the last quarter or last year; it’s how they performed relative to what we refer to as ‘best in class in the industry.’ Those are the most profitable in a sample each quarter. So it’s really helpful, valuable information.”
What MSPs Should Know about Compensation and RemunerationPeter says: “From the time I joined Service Leadership, I got requests for information on compensation and remuneration. People wanted to know what was happening in the market and how much others were paying staff and so on.
“And this led us to bring back our compensation report. Previously we’d published every other year, but the need for these MSP metrics was so great, we made it an annual publication.
“Because we have such a large data set, from all over the world, we can get really granular on the information we share. Plus, we’re the only company in the world that can correlate compensation or remuneration data to profitability. And having those two sets of data means we can provide a whole collection of averages and highlight best in class in each category.”
The Types of MSPs Who are a Good Fit for Service LeadershipNot all MSPs are right for Service Leadership. Peter says: “It’s typically MSPs with $1m+ in revenue. Why? Because if you’re lower than that amount, you don’t need our products.
“Although in fairness, when you’re at the point where you have a few employees, that’s the ideal time to learn how to build pricing, packaging and your go-to-market process. But most MSPs at that stage don’t, because of the information we need about your accounts.”
Two Benchmarks to Monitor to Understand Your MSP MetricsService Leadership have recently announced a new tool, available through the ConnectWise PSM team called SL Insights – it’s free. An MSP has a session with a PSM to take a 30,000 foot view of profitability, their value creation strategy and Modes Theory.
“So the idea is to help introduce all of those concepts to the MSP owner who doesn’t benchmark, so they can understand how some of these pieces fit together and how they can add value to them.
“We benchmark over 60 different KPIs. But the two that we cite as being important is and running their MSP the two profitability metrics that we extrapolate, we have over 60 different KPIs that we benchmarked to in our report books. But the two that we cite are the service multiple of wages and the sales multiple of wages. Because that way the MSP knows where to start.”
Performance Improvement Assistance for MSPs“If you benchmark your MSP metrics with us, we broadcast a quarterly ‘financial fireside chat’ through SLIQ, our tool to help you understand what’s driving your profit,” says Peter.
Any SLIQ member can access the information, and Service Leadership also share it in their newsletters. The aim, Peter adds, is to provide guidance at scale. And they’re happy to share the data with anyone who asks.
“For any MSP just starting out with benchmarking, we’re happy to jump on a call to offer advice. Our goal is for everybody in the industry to use these tools and really getting the benefit from them. And how to do that at scale is key, too.”
How to Connect With Peter KujawaService LeadershipFollow Service Leadership on LinkedInFollow Service Leadership on TwitterConnect with Peter Kujawa on LinkedInHow to Connect With MeSubscribe to TubbTalk RSS feedSubscribe, rate and review TubbTalk in iTunesSubscribe, rate and review TubbTalk on Stitcher RadioSubscribe and rate TubbTalk on SpotifyFollow TubbTalk on iHeartRadioFollow @tubblog on TwitterMentioned in This EpisodeConnectWiseSLIQIT Nation EvolveAnnual IT Solution Provider Remuneration ReportSL InsightsModes TheoryCompTIAThe Tech TribeBrightGauge You Might Also be Interested inPodcast: Why the Fastest-Growing MSPs are Using the Master MSP ModelHow to Measure the MSP Metrics That MatterPodcast: How to Grow Your MSP in an IT Community Like IT NationThe post TubbTalk Bonusode: How Monitoring Your MSP Metrics Leads to Profit and Growth appeared first on Tubblog: The Hub for MSPs.
May 29, 2023
Channel-Sec 2023: A Security Event for the European IT Channel
Channel-Sec 2023 was a high-level conference and networking event aimed at managed service providers (MSPs) and managed security service providers (MSSPs), IT resellers and systems integrators.
The event featured several keynote speakers, panels and workshops covering a range of different security-related subjects. Including: security trends, security-as-a-service, endpoint security, and education & training.
Some big names sponsored the event including: Pax8, Connectwise, PIA, Threatlocker, Acronis, Giacom and Heimdal.
Channel-Sec 2023 took place on Thursday 18th May in London, at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, which also hosted the IT Europa Channel Awards in the evening.
It was a very busy itinerary this year, but it attracted a good mix of delegates, vendors and experts. There were well over 100 MSPs in attendance.
New for this year was the addition of the workshop sessions. This allowed for much smaller groups to get more involved in the discussions.
There were also some great guest speakers on the day, and we’ve picked out a couple of them here that we were most impressed with.
Will Greenwood MBE played international rugby for England, earning 55 caps for his country and was active from 1997 to 2004. In recent years, Will has been the Chief Customer Officer at Afiniti Ltd, which develops artificial intelligence (AI) for customer call centres.
Will talked about how some of his experiences as a player have led to success through leadership and determination.
He talked about how to be a better leader by asking your people how they are, and not just taking the first automatic answer they give. For example, when you ask someone, “How are you?” And the reply comes back, “Fine thanks.” You ask again, “No, how are you, really?”
And this is something that also extends to empathy. He said: “Don’t treat people how you’d like to be treated. Treat them how they’d like to be treated.”
We should also look for inspiration outside of the IT industry from time to time. Changing your perspective and applying it back into your business is an opportunity that many miss out on.
How Our Values Define UsHe said we should be true to our values in life and in business. He listed his four values as:
Courage – the ability to go against the grain, and speak out when it’s importantHumility – don’t assume that your knowledge or experience trumps that of othersHonesty – be true to yourself and hold yourself to account when necessaryEmpathy – being able to sense how others might feel about actions and your messageOther key themes of his talk were culture over strategy, believing in the people around you and reiterating the good ideas that come into your business so that they stick.
Overall, his keynote was full of amusing real-life examples, and it set the tone for the day. It was a strong way to open the event.
Following on from the opening keynote came a discussion on current opportunities for security-focused MSPs.
Question: Where should the focus of the channel be, and where is there money to be made?Dan Scott said we should be assessing the concerns, needs and risk of the businesses we serve, and don’t put new tools first.
Whereas Paul Fuge said there needs to be a greater onus on end-user training.
James Baker admitted that security is a complex topic in today’s market. Which horse should you back? It really depends on what is best for your customer’s businesses.
Question: Where does AI factor into today’s solutions?Mostyn Thomas said that AI and ML (machine learning) is already being used by security services to qualify where cyber attacks are coming from. Both criminals and protectors are in an arms race over AI at the moment.
Paul Fuge suggested that at over-reliance on AI was a bad thing, but as an augmentation, it’s a good thing.
Dan Scott said that while AI is great for helping you do things smarter and faster, we should not forget the value of human interaction.
Graham Cluley is a well-respected security blogger and an expert in the industry for over three decades.
As the keynote title suggests, at Channel-Sec 2023, Graham took us through the last 30 years of cyber crime. From the early nineties when most virus writers fit the stereotype of the the young male anarchist who wrote the virus on his home computer in his bedroom. It was seen as a form of electronic graffiti, and the results, while annoying, were mostly harmless.
Then the virus coders began to evolve more aggressive methods of attack. This included things like spamming someone’s email or creating botnets worldwide, which would cause distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
As the hackers got together to form gangs, the malware became more sophisticated, and they saw this as a way to make money.
However, intelligence services also discovered malware could also be used to spy on people. A group of Israeli Mossad agents were able to track a known Hamas agent after uploading a trojan horse virus onto his computer. This allowed them to access his calendar and email to find out exactly where he’d be staying where and when he went on holiday.
Cyber Incidents in the PressReporting cybercrime in the press has been seen as a double-edged sword. While we want to be informed if businesses we depend on have been compromised, Graham suggested that when they report details of breaches, journalists can in fact, be doing the cyber criminals’ job for them when it comes to reputational damage.
He went on to show us a few memorable headlines, including one from the Daily Star: “Give us your money or the Nik Naks get it!” This was when KP snacks admitted to being the victim of a cyber attack in 2022. Another one was when the WannaCry ransomware attack on the NHS, and other systems worldwide in 2017.
Why Are There So Many Attacks Now?Cybercrime is such big business now. It’s easier than ever for cyber criminals to launch attacks simultaneously all over the world.
Phishing is just a case of asking potential victims to input their details into your website, and malware hidden in attachments can be automatically installed onto your device at a click of a button. Zero-day exploits are shared on the Dark Web faster than they can be patched, and there are plenty of unpatched or misconfigured services that are open to manipulation too.
It isn’t just the primary attack when it comes to ransomware either. Once they have your data, they can threaten to extort you to keep it private. They may even contact your clients directly and extort them as well.
Regardless, they know that the threat of reputational damage is worth money, and they’ll exploit it if they can.
That’s why now, more than ever, we need to be cautious and assume it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.
And when it does happen, we have to make sure we’re covered with a full back-up and disaster recovery plan.
It was another very interesting presentation for this year’s Channel-Sec attendees.
Channel-Sec 2023’s second panel discussion was around providing security as an MSP or a vendor, and there were some great questions and answers. Here’s just a few of them.
Question: What is the single biggest threat to businesses at the moment?Steven Wood admitted that the human factor was the biggest threat. A lack of training and a susceptibility to making mistakes could cost businesses if not properly addressed.
Rob Allen said legislation was a concern too. We need to ensure that we’re meeting regulatory obligations while adapting to new legislation as it is written.
Question: If you were to start an MSP today, what advice would you give to someone in relation to cybersecurity?Kyle Torres advised that anyone starting out today should pay close attention to what is happening in the channel. See what services are being recommended, and how vendors are helping.
Steven Wood said that he would advise cyber resiliency over cybersecurity.
Question: What powerful cyber strategies have you encountered recently?Greg Jones said that it’s always a good strategy to enforce regular cyber security training on your staff, and make regular tests of your disaster recovery plan. Just getting your staff together to enact your plan from a hard copy, to practice the effectiveness of your strategy.
Following the break for lunch there were a number of round table workshop sessions for delegates to attend. Each covered a particular area of interest, and were designed to educational and informative, hopefully prompting some debate and discussion. Here’s a very brief summary of two of them.
What Does Open AI Mean for the MSP Community?Dan Scott and Sam Callaghan of Connectwise moderated this session, a look at the role of AI Chatbots in today’s industry.
They highlighted the benefits and limitations of AI and machine learning for MSPs, including some practical examples.
How Can Historical Insights Help Build a Better Cybersecurity Future?Pax8’s Mostyn Thomas reported on the lessons learned from the cyberattack and defence trends of the past.
And the verdict? That cybersecurity needs to be multi-layered to be effective.
Plus he took a look at the constantly evolving tools and technologies we have employed over the years, and how MSPs can build a best practice framework which supports their role as their clients’ security adviser.
One of the more powerful insights shared by Mostyn, was his Five Laws of Cybersecurity:
If there is a vulnerability, it will be exploited, no exceptionsEverything is vulnerable in its own wayHumans can trust when they shouldn’tWith innovation comes opportunity for exploitation When in doubt see law 1
Richard Tubb Interviews at Channel-SecBetween the breaks, we had the opportunity to talk to some of the attendees at Channel-Sec.
Two of those Richard Tubb interviewed included MSP Owner Theo Nell and Pax8’s Senior Director of Channel Michael Breeze.
Theo talked about the importance of choosing the right security product for your MSP, and paying particular attention to the support agreement. It’s that support you’ll be counting on when you have questions to ask, or if things go wrong.
Michael gave us an overview of all the activities Pax8 have been undertaking recently, including:
The Pax8 Aacademy, their on-demand video platformThe Cybersecurity Masterclasses, which have been a success over the past 18 monthsTheir Mission Briefing events for partnersMichael also mentioned that they’ve recently onboarded more vendor partners, and are up to 30 now!
It was a day full of useful insights, both in terms of security trends and analysis, but also leadership and business best practice as well.
The opening keynote from Will Greenwood really started the day off well, with lots of interesting discussions throughout. And it was well-attended by MSPs and vendors alike.
Did you attend this year’s Channel-Sec conference? What was the highlight for you?
Please leave your reaction in the comments, we’d love to hear from you.
The post Channel-Sec 2023: A Security Event for the European IT Channel appeared first on Tubblog: The Hub for MSPs.
May 26, 2023
Office 365 Backup Solutions – Our Experience with Dropsuite for MSPs
What is Dropsuite and why is it useful for MSPs?
Well, as an IT Managed Service Provider (MSP) or IT Solution Provider business, you’ll undoubtedly support clients that use Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace to run their business.
With most modern businesses relying on M365 or Google Workspace, you know just how important it is to keep everything secure and backed up.
I was reminded of this within my own business when we recently had to restore some deleted emails to our Google Workspace setup.
The importance of email in modern businessWe’ve all experienced the situation where someone has accidentally (or perhaps, not so accidentally…) deleted an important email.
Relying on Microsoft or Google to assist you when you urgently need to restore data is *not* my suggested option. This can be time consuming and frustrating.
For my business, part of the challenge is that we’re a busy team, with people all over the world.
For example, my EA, Kareena, who is based in South Africa, is constantly in touch with our clients.
Therefore, Kareena needs to be able to access her emails without interruption. As you can imagine, radio silence with clients isn’t good!
Thankfully, for the past few months we’ve used a solution that can help you automate the backup of your cloud-based data and easily and quickly recover it.
The solution we’ve been using is Dropsuite.
Dropsuite is a cloud-based backup and recovery solution.
In their own words, the Dropsuite solution lets users “effortlessly and securely backup, restore, and migrate all business-critical email data.”
Although Dropsuite is primarily designed for M365 and Google Workspace backup, the solution offers Quickbooks Online and website backup as well — giving you even greater peace of mind.
Here are just a few reasons why you might want to consider using Dropsuite within your MSP business.
We’ve found that one of the best things about Dropsuite is that it’s incredibly easy to use.
As well as being multi-tenant for MSPs, the Dropsuite platform is designed with the end user in mind.
This means that even if your clients are not tech experts, they can still use Dropsuite with ease.
As a result, you should see a drop in support tickets as end-users can self-serve their own data restoration requirements.
Within Team Tubb, we’ve found that the Dropsuite user interface is intuitive, and the setup process is straightforward.
In conclusion, you can be up and running with Dropsuite in no time.
As mentioned, Dropsuite provides complete protection for your Microsoft 365, emails, and Google Workspace:
Clients avoid coercion by threat actors because their records, emails, and business-critical files are safe and backed upData loss is minimised or entirely avertedRecovery from an attack can be quick and unhinderedClients can set flexible data retention rates that match compliance requirements and regulations tailored for every industryThis means that you can rest easy knowing that your clients’ data is safe and secure, even in the event of a disaster.
Using Dropsuite, you can back up all of your files, emails, contacts, calendars, and more, and restore them at any time.
Another great thing about Dropsuite is that it’s affordable.
As an MSP, you can choose from different pricing plans to find the one that works best for your business model.
Using Dropsuite can give you peace of mind knowing that your clients data is protected.
In today’s digital age, data breaches and cyber attacks are more common than ever.
However, by using Dropsuite, you can ensure that your business is prepared for anything.
For example, everything you store in Dropsuite is protected against ransomware.
That means that if the worst happens, and your client’s M365 or Google Workspace data is breached, then everything is backed up and fully recoverable.
Moreover, Dropsuite security includes MFA and military-grade encryption to ensure data is secure both in transit and at rest.
Since deploying Dropsuite within our business (I’ll share more about how to deploy Dropsuite at the end of this blog), we’ve not had to worry about whether our data is being protected.
Dropsuite is a scalable solution that can grow with your Managed Service Provider (MSP) business.
Whether your MSP primarily deals with Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs), Mid-Market or Enterprise clients, Dropsuite works well.
In short, you can easily add more users, storage, and features as your MSP business and clients business grows.
Using Dropsuite helps your MSP to ensure compliance.
I know that adhering to GDPR legislation can be a headache for MSPs.
Fortunately, Dropsuite is designed to help make it a little easier.
Dropsuite offers MSPs support with both data privacy laws and regulatory compliance.
It’s essential that your MSP business not only correctly stores any client data, but you can access it quickly, too, if asked.
Some other benefits of Dropsuite include:
eDiscoveryBusiness Intelligence (BI) analyticsArchiving
Some of your MSP clients may be asking you for eDiscovery tools.
I think it is fair to say that the majority of MSPs wouldn’t know where to direct their clients when they experienced this request.
So, it’s worth being aware that Dropsuite provides eDiscovery tools that your clients can use for investigations, regulatory compliance and legal proceedings.
An interesting use case for Dropsuite is with Business Intelligence (BI) analytics.
Perhaps your clients are struggling with complicated data sets from their emails.
Well, how about having these turned into a simple report you can use or share with clients?
Dropsuite’s Business Intelligence insights are free, and they provide a great toolset for email analytics.
As a result, you can use old email data to create actionable BI data for your MSP clients.
Dropsuite’s email archiving is built on top of backup, so you can store older data as you need.
Dropsuite email archiving:
Uses journaling to capture every sent or received emailSimplifies the management of email systemsIs tamper proof (great for investigations or audits)Is searchable and emails are easily retrievableTherefore, as well as helping you stay compliant, you can use archiving for a whole range of analyses and insights for your clients.
Seamless integration: Whether you use Google, Microsoft, IMAP/POP or an alternative email system, you can integrate with Dropsuite.Plus, they deliver ‘streamlined provisioning, billing and support.’
We’ve had a really good experience with Dropsuite for deployment and support.
As well as a responsive and helpful tech support team that is available when you need them, Dropsuite also helps by offering training and marketing to their MSP partners.
We found the deployment of Dropsuite to be very easy.
In our case, the deployment was handled by the technical team at Dropsuite — they offer this deployment help for any MSP partner.
As mentioned, we’re a Google Workspace shop, but Dropsuite can work to protect both your Microsoft 365, emails, and Google Workspace clients.
Here’s what our deployment looked like.
Step 1: Sign up for Dropsuite for MSPsThe first step is to sign up for Dropsuite. It has a partner choice model, allowing you to partner in multiple ways.
Back in 2018, Dropsuite announced a partnership with Pax8.
What this means is that MSPs that partner with Pax8 can easily provide Dropsuite to their Managed Services clients, and this is the option we chose.
Once you’ve signed up to Dropsuite, you will then receive an email with instructions on how to get started.
Step 2: Install the Dropsuite AppDropsuite will walk you through the setup process and connect to your Microsoft 365, emails, or Google Workspace accounts.
If you’re using Google Workspace, you will need to install the Dropsuite connectivity for Google.
Step 3: Configure Your Backup SettingsOnce you’ve installed Dropsuite, you’ll need to configure your backup settings.
This includes selecting the files, emails, contacts, and calendars you want to back up.
You can also choose how often you want to back up your data and where you want to store your backups.
Step 4: Monitor Your BackupsAfter you’ve configured your backup settings, you’ll need to monitor your backups to ensure everything is working properly.
You can monitor your backups through Dropsuite, which will show you the status of your backups and any errors that may have occurred.
Step 5: Restore Your DataA backup is only as good as the restore!
In the event of a disaster, you may need to restore your data from your backups and so it is best to test out a data restore before an emergency.
With Dropsuite, this is a straightforward process.
You can restore your data through the website and it will be available for you to access in no time.
(App is Google only)
In conclusion, Dropsuite is an excellent solution for IT Managed Service Providers who want to protect Microsoft 365, emails, Google Workspace data and more.
We have found that Dropsuite is easy to use, provides complete protection, is affordable, offers peace of mind, and is scalable.
As a result, if you’re looking for a data protection solution, we recommend checking out Dropsuite.
By using Dropsuite, you can rest easy knowing that your data is safe and secure, even in the event of a disaster.
Do you use Dropsuite or something similar to backup your clients’ M365 or Google Workspace data? How do you find that the solution works for your MSP? Please leave a comment below or get in touch.
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How Adopting EDR Helps Us to Think Like Spies and Cyber Criminals
When it comes to cybersecurity defences, endpoints are a vulnerability for your network if threats go undetected. That’s why today’s MSPs need to understand EDR. 
Endpoints are essentially areas of your network that connect to a device. This can be laptops, desktops, mobile phones, servers, switches, Point of Sale, IoT (Internet of Things), printers and more.
EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) is a security toolkit that monitors these endpoints, allowing you to detect, isolate, fix and remove any threats or unauthorised access as they attempt to penetrate your system.
Cybersecurity experts Acronis held a media event to promote the launch of their new EDR solution that integrates with their Cyber Protect Cloud product.
To kick things off, Candid Wuest, Vice President of Research at Acronis, provided us with an update on the current security threat landscape, to remind us of the types of attacks we’re seeing most at the moment.
Typical attack vectors into our business systems come in 6 different forms:
Malicious Emails: containing malicious attachments, using social engineering, utilising AI to become more sophisticated.Service Exploits: exploiting a misconfigured or unpatched service, using fileless attacks.Malicious Websites: exploiting your browser, site redirection/take over or manual downloads.Known Credentials: brute-force password cracking, credential stuffing/phishing and paid dropper/initial access brokers.Supply Chain Attacks: vendor compromised, SaaS/MSP takeover or dependency infections.Human Factor: Insider help, physical access, or human error/complexity issue.Once the attack successfully invades your system, the hackeers expand their access to achieve their goals.
This can include:
Deploying Tools: ransomware, Infostealer & malware and dual use/public toolsDiscovery: finding other workloads to exploit, finding data/confidential information as well as read emails, internal wikis, etcPrivilege Escalation: domain administrator privileges, keyloggers/tokens and use Minikatz/Bloodhound to extract passwords from the memoryDisable/Bypass Defences: force stop security processes, delete backups and logs, utilise living-off-the-land attacks to sustain the attackLateral Movement: using the infrastructure to replicate and hide. For example, through group policy objects (GPOs), and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) or sending spoof messages to co-workersThe important message here is that the frequency of attacks has scaled up this year, thanks in part to AI tools like ChatGPT.
Eric O’Neill, a former FBI Counterintelligence Operative and author of Gray Day, gave a very special keynote speech on how cybercriminals operate in similar ways to spies. And he revealed how he caught a double agent by compromising his endpoint device.
To set the scene of how we’ve got to this point, Eric provided a number of startling statistics.
He explained that today’s global cybercriminal syndicates as ‘mostly untouchable’ by law enforcement. They operate out of the Dark Web using servers in non-extradition countries, and do so with little to no fear of reprisal.
So how did we arrive here?
“We have to mention how the pandemic created a pressure situation, which made us vulnerable,” says Eric, “and even now, more than 50% of the global workforce is still working in a remote or hybrid capacity.” This has led to an adoption of remote-first cloud technology before security providers were ready.
In fact, we’ve had to adopt new technologies much quicker than before. Technologies that would have taken years to develop previously. This has opened up the field for cybercriminals to exploit.
According to the FBI’s IC3 (the Internet Crime Complaints Centre):
In 2020, cyberattacks cost $4.2bn800,000 internet crime reports to the FBI, which doesn’t account for those that we’re reported globallyIn 2021, the costs raised to $6.9bn, and 2022 it was $10.3bn. If this trend continues, by the end of 2023 it could be over $15bnGlobally, the cost of cybercrime in 2021 was $7tn, making the Dark Web the third biggest economy in the world by GDPGetting Endpoint Security Right to Counteract Superior Cyber ThreatsWhy are these cyber syndicates so successful? They’ve learned from the best – foreign intelligence services. Spies. They operate like intelligence services, which makes it so hard to disrupt and stop them.
“In order to combat the cyber syndicates, we have to start thinking like spy hunters!” says Eric.
EDR technology brings security as close to the human as possible, allowing us to control the access and detect threats at the device level directly through the cloud. Then crucially, at the point of origin where the initial breach occurs, is where the response comes in.
It’s the core principle behind ‘Zero Trust’, identifying and locking down suspicious behaviours on your endpoints, allowing you to investigate them before they spread.
How to Catch a Spy by Compromising his Endpoint DeviceRobert Hanssen was a spy working as a supervisory special agent for the FBI and selling secrets to a foreign intelligence service for over 22 years. He was the most damaging spy in US history, and Eric caught him by stealing his Palm Pilot device.
When it was identified that Hanssen might be a spy, they had to get the proof and catch him in the act. Eric spotted that he was never without his PDA, his Palm Pilot. Hanssen would methodically check it often, and so Eric was sure the incriminating evidence was on there somewhere.
Using a diversion, Eric was able to get his quarry to leave his office for long enough for him to steal his PDA, take it to the tech team to copy and return it to where he found it before Hanssen returned.
The tech team explained that the PDA was encrypted, which was suspicious in itself. Two weeks later, Hanssen was arrested just after completing his last drop for his foreign intelligence handlers.
So, in stealing his data, the FBI compromised Special Agent Hanssen’s endpoint, and used the data to extract the time of the meeting to catch him in the act.
Todd Cramer, Director of Business Development Security Ecosystems at Intel, highlighted how many of today’s attacks are being designed to avoid detection.
The Challenge of Fileless AttacksThere has been a 900% increase of fileless attacks since 2021, accounting for over 70% of all attacks. Fileless attacks are malicious code that work completely in memory and they can be difficult for EDRs to detect.
From their foothold in the memory, the criminals place malware into legitimate processes that draw on that memory capacity, and use tools like Cobalt Strike to drop ransomware as well as other attacks.
Solutions Engineer James Erby gave a demonstration of the EDR product to show us how the dashboard works, and how to carry out investigative and remedial actions.
Countering attacks and addressing the impact require more advanced security tools, especially for regulatory purposes. For example, GDPR requires a strict time-frame for incident reporting and post-incident analysis.
The process of how EDR works:
Detect security incidents or anomaliesContain the incident at the endpointInvestigate security incidentsProvide remediation guidanceEDR is especially useful for zero-day exploit attacks, as well as elusive threats such as fileless attacks and living off the land malware.
How EDR Works with Acronis Cyber Protect CloudThe EDR package is bundled with the Advanced Security Pack because many of the features require both to be enabled on the customer’s network.
When you go in to manage the protection, you can select devices and see if any incidents have been detected. Here you can also see which modules are active on this device and enable them if they’re not already enabled.
In the protection tab, it will show you all the incidents detected across your network and here you can find out more information about the incident including the severity, what triggered the incident, date and time the incident was reported, etc.
You can further drill into the incident details to see what processes were created as part of the attack, and find detailed information on what each process did to your system.
When it comes to taking response actions on the incident, you can add to the allowlist, in the case of a false positive, or add to the blocklist. You can also delete or quarantine the affected file.
You can also take actions on the affected workload, such as perform a forensic backup for more in-depth analysis later, or recover from a backup.
Overall there is a lot of functionality in this EDR product.
ConclusionThe Acronis EDR is another valuable addition to the Cyber Protect Cloud security solution and is available now.
As the cybercriminal syndicates evolve to be more like spies and intelligence operatives, we have to cleverly adapt to their increasingly sophisticated forms of attack.
Fileless attacks and compromised accounts on devices are a massive risk to your business, and they’re on the rise, so implementing an EDR solution makes perfect sense.
Has your business suffered a fileless attack? Or perhaps you’re trying to sell your customers on the importance of endpoint security? We would love to hear about it in the comments.
The post How Adopting EDR Helps Us to Think Like Spies and Cyber Criminals appeared first on Tubblog: The Hub for MSPs.
May 25, 2023
Global MSP Day 2023: The Secret To Thriving and Growing in the MSP Industry
How does a full day of networking and learning with your fellow MSPs around the world sound?
If you want to know the latest trends and challenges facing IT professionals, then don’t miss this year’s annual Global MSP Day 2023, sponsored by BarracudaMSP!
This year’s event is virtual and in-person, so you’ve got a choice for 1st June 23!
https://www.tubblog.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Global_MSP_Day_23_mp4.mp4
Global MSP Day 2023 – Dealing with Growing Competition, Sustainability, and Employee BurnoutWith the pandemic over, MSP owners have barely had time to catch their breaths before the next lot of problems arrive. Fortunately, BarracudaMSP have recognised that there’s a lot going on at the minute.
And that’s why they’ve pulled together an exciting programme for you – there will be presentations, collaboration opportunities and vendor exhibits, plus plenty of networking.
Global MSP Day 2023 Launch of MSP ReportAs always, the Global MSP Day will look at the latest “Evolving Landscape of the MSP Business Report”.
This is an annual survey of MSP business owners, and the report delves deep into the challenges and opportunities MSPs are expecting to come in 2023.
What’s Happening at This Year’s Event?
Global MSP Day 2023, sponsored by BarracudaMSP, is the sixth annual event. It was designed as a way to recognise and support MSPs around the world.
And, it provides an opportunity for MSPs and vendors to collaborate, interact, share success and best practices, as well as key learnings.
I am delighted to be coming back as an expert speaker, and my topic will be The Secret To Thriving and Growing in the MSP Industry
The Secret To Thriving and Growing in the MSP IndustryRunning an IT Solution Provider or Managed Service Provider (MSP) business can sometimes feel a lonely, thankless task.
In between dealing with client support requests and keeping on top of new technology trends, you’ve got the ever looming shadow of cybersecurity breaches, plus making time for all the day-to-day sales, marketing, HR and finance activities.
So, how do you cope with it all *and* make time to actually grow your MSP business?
In this fast moving session at Global MSP Day 23, I will share my insights for growth, based on my experience of running and selling a managed services business.
At the end of this session, you’ll go away with an understanding of how the top MSP businesses find a way to not only survive, but thrive and grow despite the demands placed on them by our ever-changing industry.
Plus, CompTIA will be highlighting their new cybersecurity programmes. These programmes are designed to help guide MSPs on their journey to achieving cyber resilience.
If you’re still not sure if the event is right for you, then read BarracudaMSP’s blog. This articles contains highlights from last year’s event.
Get Your Ticket for Global MSP Day 2023This year, there are three venues to choose from in the USA.
Plus there’s events happening in Canada, The Netherlands and London!
But if you can’t get away from the office, you can join in the fun with a virtual ticket option.
BarracudaMSP advise that spaces are limited and tickets are going fast!
Therefore, if you want to attend in-person on 1st June, get booked in now!
Are you coming along? What are you most looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!
Will There be a Recording of This Event?The event will be recorded and made available to attendees.
Click here to register for the event and be notified when the replay becomes available.
The post Global MSP Day 2023: The Secret To Thriving and Growing in the MSP Industry appeared first on Tubblog: The Hub for MSPs.
May 22, 2023
TubbTalk 132: What Every MSP Should Know to Run and Grow a Successful Business
WinnersOver the past few weeks, Stephen McCormick and I have been speaking to MSP owners, creative marketers and directors to share their experiences of entering and winning the SuperOps MSP awards, and their best advice for running and growing a successful business.
To mark the end of season five of TubbTalk, we present to you a round-up of those top tips. There are all kinds of things that these IT experts do that you could start doing in your MSP too. You never know – you too could be an award winner!
Jack Peploe – Veterinary IT ServicesJack Peploe runs Veterinary IT Services, and won the MSP Website of the Year Award at the SuperOps MSP awards.
Why Niching Leads to a Successful BusinessJack explains that, after many years in the IT industry, he decided to niche his business about four years ago, now serving veterinary practices of all sizes. “We decided to do something radical, because it was an untapped market.”
He adds: “I saw it as an opportunity. And we realised we had quite a number of different other vets so decided to focus on that, and we’ve exploded in the process, which is great. We understand exactly what they need, and they know we can provide it.”
The Most Common Mistakes MSP Businesses Make With WebsitesOne of the most common things that MSP businesses do is use stock photography on their websites instead of sharing pictures of their team. “It might seem expensive, but professional photos are so important. For example, I appear on our homepage because I’m the front of the business.”
Another mistake Jack sees MSP owners make is to not explain what they do clearly enough. “Don’t use jargon and terminology that your target customers don’t understand. They aren’t IT experts, so saying ‘disaster recovery’ sounds like you save them from earthquakes!”
Listen to Stephen’s full interview with Jack here.
How to Connect With Jack PeploeVeterinary IT ServicesEmail JackConnect with Jack on LinkedInFollow IT Veterinary IT Services on LinkedInLike IT Veterinary IT Services on FacebookFollow IT Veterinary IT Services on TwitterMitch Redekopp – Rivercity Technology ServicesMitch Redekopp is CEO of Rivercity Technology Services, an MSP in Canada. They operate on a cybersecurity first approach, while also having a highly experienced software development on hand.
Why Cyber Risk Assessments Help You Have a Successful BusinessMitch explains that for his business, a security-first mindset means that anyone who wants to work with them has to have a cyber risk assessment first. “Before we’ll do any business with anyone, we carry out an assessment.
“We find out what data they’re holding, what kind of personalised, identifiable information they have and any security holes. It’s our job to stay up to date and protect our clients. We don’t want to find a gap later on and damage their trust in us.”
The Challenges of Running an MSPMitch says one of the most challenging things of running an IT business is keeping up with the industry. “It’s not once a year or every couple of years you need to do training. Really, you need to be reading news articles, attending webinars, following experts on social media. And doing so every week.
“If you’re not paying attention, you’re falling behind. It’s a busy industry, and there’s continuous growth happening. It’s also really easy to get caught up in doing too much work yourself, so you have to learn to delegate.”
How to Connect With Mitch RedekoppRivercity TechnologyFollow Rivercity Technology on LinkedInConnect with Mitch on LinkedInFollow Rivercity Technology on TwitterLike Rivercity Technology on FacebookListen to Stephen’s full interview with Mitch here.
Sarah Turner – IT BackboneSarah Turner is a creative marketer at IT Backbone. They support cloud migration, infrastructure overhauls and build anything that their clients need.
How a Customer-First Approach Grows a Successful BusinessFor Sarah and IT Backbone, everything comes down to brand values. “If your brand values are not customer first, you can’t fake it. It needs to be inherent and top-down in everything you do across the business.
“I believe that it’s something that needs to be lived every day, but that’s only possible if everybody is living it too. Because we do it, our clients say they trust us and understand their business. We look at the problem and how we help solve it, how they want to approach it and the outcome they’re after. We’re not just selling them stuff.”
Why Overcoming IT Marketing Challenges Leads to a Successful BusinessInterestingly, Sarah’s biggest challenge and greatest success in marketing in the IT industry are the same. “The length of a sales journey to getting a client to sign up. But no business owner goes looking for a new MSP for fun.
“Unfortunately, it’s usually when they have a real pain point, and something that has gone wrong with their existing partner. So companies aren’t necessarily primed to want to hear from you and engage with you.
“But on the other hand, when somebody does engage, it’s really exciting. Or when they respond to your marketing, or let you know that they’ve seen your content and want to arrange a meeting. It’s so rewarding, because we know that the long game is working.”
How to Connect With Sarah TurnerIT BackboneFollow IT Backbone on TwitterFollow IT Backbone on LinkedInConnect with Sarah on LinkedInListen to Richard’s full interview with Sarah here.
Jack Gray – FOMO Technology LimitedJack Gray is the founder and Managing Director of FOMO Technology Limited, which he runs as a solo MSP. He recently won the “Solo MSP of the Year” award in the recent SuperOps MSP awards.
Overcoming Challenges to Grow a Successful Business as a Solo MSPAs with many other service-based industries, there are only so many hours an MSP can work in a day. “So to grow, you need to hire more staff, work more hours as a business as a whole and wear all the hats”, Jack explains.
“Another big challenge is standardising a set of services, when your clients have different requirements and budgets. That happens often with cybersecurity support. I feel like we’re constantly re-evaluating our stack. Finding suitable staff is an ongoing problem at the moment, too.”
The Obstacles to Business Growth as a Solo MSPOne of the biggest obstacles of growth and expansion is needing to get into the mindset of being a business owner. Because it’s much easier to have a lifestyle business. And to do that you need to let go of things and delegate more.
“Finding the right staff and keeping them busy and incentivised is always a problem. For the most part, we’ve outsourced our NOC and SOC, which has been great. But we need people onsite too. That’s the big step that will take us to growth.”
How to Connect With Jack GrayConnect with Jack on LinkedInLike FOMO Technology on FacebookListen to Richard’s full interview with Jack here.
Simon Heath – The Final StepSimon Heath is a director at The Final Step. They’re a long-established MSP based in London, supporting time-poor business owners with a white glove IT service.
How The Culture at The Final Step Helps With Business SuccessSimon says that (founder) Raja has put a lot of thought into questions such as ‘Why are we in business?’ ‘What’s the point of us; are we needed or are we just another MSP?’
Doing so has allowed him to take an organisation-wide approach to helping people fulfil their potential. And this then extends to the wider IT community, partners and even clients.
“So for Raja, it’s about finding ways to be of service. And that sets you up for dealing with people in a significantly different way. We’re big fans of Bob Burg’s Go-Giver parable – it’s not about how much you can get, but how much you can give and help. Clients notice that about us, and that’s how you grow a successful business.”
How the Pandemic Led to Clearer Values and a Really Strong MSP CultureSimon agrees that the pandemic meant that The Final Step did things differently. “However, I wonder how much of it was a change and how much it was a reinforcement of values. It’s relatively easy to be a go-giver in a time of abundance. But when things are tight and difficult, that’s when your values are really put to the test.
“So we looked to see how we could help and support them. We’ve ridden out recessions before, but nothing on that global scale. But this time, we decided to take extra good care of our staff. And to over-communicate, because they were such uncertain times.”
Listen to Richard’s full interview with Simon here.
How to Connect With Simon HeathThe Final StepFollow The Final Step on LinkedInConnect with Simon on LinkedInEmail SimonLike The Final Step on FacebookFollow The Final Step on TwitterHow to Connect With MeSubscribe to TubbTalk RSS feedSubscribe, rate and review TubbTalk in iTunesSubscribe, rate and review TubbTalk on Stitcher RadioSubscribe and rate TubbTalk on SpotifyFollow TubbTalk on iHeartRadioFollow @tubblog on TwitterMentioned in This EpisodeBook: Marcus Sheridan: They Ask, You Answer: A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing, and Today’s Digital ConsumerAI tool: ChatGPTMSP marketing expert: Paul GreenThe Tech Tribe7 Figure MSPBook: Chris Wiser: 16 Strategies You Need To Know To Protect Your Business From Hackers Book: Janna Dutton: Conversations Over Coffee – Volume 1: Real People, Real Stories, Real SuccessErnest Murry CTO of Genuine Technology GroupMarketing CRM: HubSpotDesign tool: CanvaOnline video editor: InvideoWebsite heatmap tool: HotjarMel Robbins PodcastJay Shetty PodcastBook: Mel Robbins: The High 5 Habit: Take Control of Your Life with One Simple HabitBook: Mel Robbins: The 5 Second Rule: The Surprisingly Simple Way to Live, Love, and Speak with Courage: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage, (cover may vary)Feel Better, Live More podcastBook: Dr Rangan Chatterjee: Happy Mind, Happy Life: 10 Simple Ways to Feel Great Every DayBook: Dr Rangan Chatterjee: The 4 Pillar Plan: How to Relax, Eat, Move and Sleep Your Way to a Longer, Healthier LifeBook: Nir Eyal: Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your LifeBook: James Clear: Atomic Habits: the life-changing million-copy #1 bestsellerCompTIAIT Nation EvolveBook: Bob Burg: The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business IdeaGazelle management strategyTraction management strategyIT NationKim Scott – Radical CandorBook: Michael E Gerber: The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About ItBook: L David Marquet: Turn The Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers Into LeadersYou Might Also be Interested inPodcast: How to Niche Your MSP and Navigate M&AsVideo: The Best Cybersecurity Solutions for Today’s SMBsHow Marketing Conferences can Dramatically Improve Your MSP’s Marketing Knowledge7 Essential Ways to Strengthen Your MSP’s Backup OfferingHow Being a Go-Giver can Increase Your SalesThe Joys of CommunicationThe post TubbTalk 132: What Every MSP Should Know to Run and Grow a Successful Business appeared first on Tubblog: The Hub for MSPs.
May 11, 2023
This Year’s Best Open Source Tools to Improve Your MSP Stack
Free and open source software, or (FOSS), has grown in popularity over the past twenty years as a viable alternative to proprietary software.
For those needs that your vendor partners can’t quite meet, or if you want to be ahead of the curve in implementing a solution one or more of your clients lack, open source software can be the preferred option for managed service providers (MSPs).
What is open source? According to opensource.com:
“The term ‘open source’ refers to something people can modify and share because its design is publicly accessible.”
There are many open source applications out there already. You may already be using them, sometimes unaware that they’re open source.
Free and open source software means that anyone is free to use, copy, study, change and redistribute it as they see fit. Community sharing is encouraged, which is in contrast to commercial proprietary software which is subject to copyright licencing.
Well-known open source software projects include:
WordPress – a website content managerGimp – an image editorLinux – an operating systemMozilla Firefox – a web browserThere are a number of benefits to using open source software:
Flexible and agile – instead of waiting for a vendor to develop a capability that you’re lacking in your MSP, you can adopt or develop an open source solution, and easily tailor it to your precise needs.
Efficient implementation – once you’ve identified what you need, you can get started on open source solutions immediately. Existing projects can be easily customised to suit your needs, and deployments are quick and easy.
Regular security updates – with a large community continually improving the code, it means more eyes looking out for vulnerabilities. And while the code is open, anyone can fix any loopholes. That is to say, there is no need to wait for a proprietary developer to spot, develop, test and apply a fix in the next update.
Cost savings – compared to proprietary equivalents, open source solutions are typically much more cost effective for similar capabilities. This gives smaller MSPs a chance to start small and scale if they’re working with limited budgets.
The free licence aspect means anyone can use or modify the software, and distribute the original or modified copies without having to pay royalties to previous developers.
Open source communities are self-governing and self-organising. With no-one directly in charge, it’s assumed that if a feature is needed enough, someone will write it and redistribute it – improving on the previous iteration – at least for their needs.
With hundreds of people working on developments and having free access to the source code, they are generally working to improve things all the time, making the software more stable and secure.
Communities like Github and Sourceforge are examples of sites where you can develop and code your own projects, and publish and share them to the community.
Getting Involved in Open Source DevelopmentOne of the best things about being an adopter of open source software is that you are free to modify it yourself, to suit your needs if you want to.
Open source development has much in common with the android DEV community, in that they both push innovation.
Getting involved in developing open source solutions has a number of benefits, besides making the software better and more secure.
Improving your skills – whether that’s coding, analysis or writingMaking friends – your contributions could build friendships with people sharing your interestsTeaching others – asking others for advice in the communities, and paying it forward to othersBuild your portfolio – all your contributions help build your reputation in the community
As you may imagine, there are a great number of open source applications out there for MSPs.
To help you, James Steel of Akamai Linode, along with technology experts Tom Lawrence and Jay LaCroix, have created an eBook containing the best open source tools, covering growth, security, productivity, and much more.
The Ultimate 2023 Open Source Tech Stack Guide for MSPs provides all the information about each tool on a single page for easy reference, and explains:
Key featuresPros and consIndustry sectorsEase of deploymentWhat the experts thinkYou can download your free copy of this brilliant eBook here:
The 2023 Open Source Tech Stack for MSPs
And here are a couple of great examples from the eBook: Invoice Ninja and Zammad
Invoice NinjaInvoice Ninja is an online all-in-one invoicing, payment processing and tracking solution aimed at freelancers, consultants, small businesses, and of course, MSPs.
It’s completely free for up to twenty clients, and comes packed with some useful built-in features.
Invoice Ninja lets you:
Create branded invoicesCustomise client portalsCreate online payment linksGenerate invoices from quotesTrack time and expensesAutomate recurring invoices and payment remindersIntegrate with your CRM softwareHowever, it has its limitations as well. For instance, it doesn’t integrate with third party tax calculation software, and the project planning could be better overall.
Jay LaCroix’s take on Invoice Ninja is: “Invoice Ninja is one of those applications that knocks it so far out of the park that I can’t think of a single reason not to use it. It’s not specific to one sector, so it’s a fit for just about everyone.”
ZammadZammad is a helpdesk and ticketing system which helps MSPs to manage support requests and streamline communication.
It has a simple, easy-to-use interface, enabling MSPs to provide efficient personalised support to their clients, and the community edition is free.
Zammad’s features include:
Despite this, there is limited sales and marketing functionality, and no built-in social media management. Also there is no in-built AI chatbot capability either.
James Steel said of Zammad: “If you’re looking for a ticketing system that has a modern interface, manages inbound email, and has a free community edition available, Zammad should absolutely be on your list for consideration.”
There is a wealth of great open source applications out there, and some of the advantages of selecting open source over proprietary software can make your MSP more efficient, cost-effective and flexible enough to meet the needs of your clients.
Sometimes necessity forces us to seek out open source alternatives, if regular applications don’t quite have the functionality our clients need. With a little tweaking, we can create solid solutions without having to wait for the commercial vendors to catch up.
This eBook from Akamai Linode provides a strong starting point for MSPs who are looking to find out more about the best open source tools on market at the moment.
What’s the best open source tool you use for your business? And have you developed a solution on the back of a open source project to fulfil a need for a client? Please let us know in the comments.
The post This Year’s Best Open Source Tools to Improve Your MSP Stack appeared first on Tubblog: The Hub for MSPs.
May 10, 2023
How Your Unique Personal Brand Helps You to Stand Out in Your Industry
Get ready to be inspired by today’s guest blogger, Joshua Liberman! Joshua is a true jack-of-all-trades, with a background in mountaineering, martial arts, and photography. He’s written all about using your personal brand to stand out.
He is the President of Net Sciences, a proud member of MSP501, and an ASCII board member. With a passion for writing and public speaking, Joshua shares his knowledge and experiences with others in the tech industry.
He’s also a proud husky owner, and his wife Heidi affectionately calls him the Most Interesting Geek in the World.
You won’t want to miss out on the insights and perspectives he has to share.
Richard Tubb.
***
Your Personal Brand
We all know that using the same fonts, colours, logo(s), styles, and telling the same story across a range of media over time will build your company’s brand.
We know everything we do, from issuing quotes, to answering the phone, defines our brand. But how do we build our own personal brand and become the interesting character that draws business to us?
The first step is to define what makes you unique. This is analogous to defining your USP (unique selling proposition). It still thrills me to hear “you don’t seem like an IT guy” and indeed, that is not my life. I’ve been a mechanic, worked in oil fields and on pipelines, played guitar, done journalism, and much more.
I am not my job, and you are not yours.
I always include a picture of myself (and our logo) in personal communications and posts. In our marketing I also try to include photos of our facility, staff, and logo, prominently displayed. And we always try to “sign” anything we do to identify it as our work, we do it, such as leaving logo stickers on all equipment. This is great company branding, but let’s get more personal yet.
Getting More PersonalEvery MSP or other IT service provider sells just one thing first, and that is trust. While it is true that small business owners do business with folks they like, when it comes to critical choices for professional services, including accounting and legal services, and IT support, trust is the coin of the realm. Without trust, you cannot build a relationship.
The first step to building that trust is to find a way to build a bond with someone, often over a shared interest. One of the hardest things about the pandemic was the loss of personal contact and the challenges of trying to build initial trust in its absence. For example, how will you know a prospect loves soccer if you cannot see his wall of photos? Finding common ground is everything.
Getting naked (in the Pat Lencioni sense) and presenting our own UPIs (unique personalities and interests) is key here. For me, it’s languages, photography, dogs, and travel. Figure out what your own UPIs are and use them to bridge that initial “trust gulf.” You will not connect with everyone, but you will with those who’ll trust you, which is who we want as clients.
Climb Different RockWhen I started out climbing rock in my twenties, I realised that even an expert crack climber would suffer on granite faces, or delicate slabs. That is without considering how different the same rock is around the world, as anyone that has climbed granite on four continents can tell you. The answer was to climb different rock around the world.
Fight in Different StylesSimilarly, when I first studied judo, and later Shotokan and Tae Kwan Do, I realised that neither were necessarily going to help me defeat Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners, Muay Thai fighters, or even good boxers. Once again, the only answer was to fight a variety of fighters across assorted styles and learn from them all. But carefully.
Take on New ChallengesHow does this relate to running and MSP and branding yourself? To excel at climbing, fighting, or building a personal brand, the first step is to take on new challenges. Are you nervous about public speaking? Then speak in public often and watch others speak in public, and study them. Climb different rock, study different fighters.
Learn From PeersOne of the great shortcuts to achieving proficiency in any craft is to learn from others. To that end, I have chosen to participate in three types of groups. Membership groups such as The ASCII Group, Karl Palachuk’s Small Business Thoughts, and The Tech Tribe are top of the list. Next come peer groups for sharing of challenges, ideas, and commiseration.
Joining partner advisory councils is a way to learn, share, and even direct their decision-making as well, if you get lucky. I have also chosen to embrace writing in the industry, for vendors, peer groups and ChannelPro magazine, primarily. There is a bonus in of this. I get to travel more, makes friends worldwide and “climb different rock” as well.
Become That Interesting PersonIn the end, building your personal brand is about growing not your business, but yourself. You will learn to share and communicate better. You will also learn to identify and run with your own personal strengths.
Are you a good orator? Do you tell stories well? Do you use analogies effectively? Are you funny? Find your strengths and challenge your weaknesses. And unlike traditional business branding, where consistency is critical, personal branding is about growth and change. What could be more fun than this?
Join the Discussion and Share Your Personal Branding TipsQuestion: What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to building a personal brand, and how do you plan to overcome it? We’d love to hear your thoughts and strategies in the comments below.
Leave a comment below or get in touch with Richard or me, Joshua Liberman!
About Joshua LibermanJoshua Liberman
is President and founder of Net Sciences, Inc. Founded in 1995, NSI has built managed, and secured hundreds of networks in New Mexico and beyond.
NSI is an MSP 501 winner, and the most security-focused MSP in New Mexico.
A former mountaineer, martial artist, and a lifelong photographer, Joshua has travelled worldwide and speaks several languages. Joshua is an ASCII board member, writes and speaks publicly.
Joshua’s diverse interests range from geopolitics to drinking fine wines. He also raises Siberian Huskies with his wife Heidi.
Tubbservatory Round-Up #3 – March 2022
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May 8, 2023
TubbTalk 131: Why You Should Build a Strong MSP Culture for Your Business
In this episode, Richard talks to Simon Heath, a director at The Final Step. They’re a long-established MSP based in London, supporting time-poor business owners with a white glove IT service. We discuss the importance of having a strong MSP culture, and how to build one. I also recently interviewed Simon’s colleague and founder of the company, Raja Pagadala.
The MSP Culture at The Final StepSimon says that (founder) Raja has put a lot of thought into questions such as ‘Why are we in business?’ ‘What’s the point of us; are we needed or are we just another MSP?’
Doing so has allowed him to take an organisation-wide approach to helping people fulfil their potential. And this then extends to the wider IT community, partners and even clients.
“So for Raja, it’s about finding ways to be of service. And that sets you up for dealing with people in a significantly different way. We’re big fans of Bob Burg’s Go-Giver parable – it’s not about how much you can get, but how much you can give and help. Clients notice that about us.”
How They Find ClientsLike a lot of companies, The Final Step find that their best source of new business is referrals. Simon explains: “I think it’s because if people enjoy working with you, genuinely derive a lot of value from it and they feel the benefit from it, they’re generous with how they refer.
“It’s nerve-racking to make a referral, you worry that it won’t work out for the other party. It’s not to be taken lightly; it’s how we find a lot of our business. But of course, sales and marketing are also important. For us, we tell our clients stories, so they understand how we help the reach their business goals.”
How the Pandemic Led to Clearer Values and a Really Strong MSP CultureSimon agrees that the pandemic meant that The Final Step did things differently. “However, I wonder how much of it was a change and how much it was a reinforcement of values. It’s relatively easy to be a go-giver in a time of abundance. But when things are tight and difficult, that’s when your values are really put to the test.”
When people were struggling to find household necessities, it would have been easy to keep things to yourself, Ben adds: “But we stayed true to our values. We’re part of a community, and many of our clients were struggling through no fault of their own.
“So we looked to see how we could help and support them. We’ve ridden out recessions before, but nothing on that global scale. But this time, we decided to take extra good care of our staff. And to over-communicate, because they were such uncertain times.”
How to Build a Strong MSP CultureSimon says the most important thing to consider is the capacity of the people you have within your organisation – that can be the biggest limiting factor. So you need the right people around you to help you to move forward.
“People decisions are crucial. So look at how you recruit new people. A rigorous process is required, with lots of data points. It’s not enough to go on gut feeling – you need evidence.
“Because if you make the wrong decision, it could be very costly later on. So recruit the right people, and have a great onboarding process so they have a good first impression. This is your opportunity to show them the MSP culture and help them to fit in with it.”
The SuperOps Awards ProcessThe Final Step won the “MSP with the Best Work Culture” award at the recent SuperOps award ceremony. Simon explains that they found the process refreshing. “So you worry about answering all the questions in time for the submission deadline, but it’s also good, because you have the opportunity to look at your culture and see how you’re doing.
“And it also lets you see how far you’ve come. You don’t realise how far you’ve come; how much your business has achieved. It allows you to give yourself a pat on the back, and to benchmark what else you need to do.”
Simon would recommend entering awards to any MSP owner. “It lets you look at your peers and how they represent themselves. And it highlights what else is happening in the industry, and what you should be doing too.”
The Challenges and Successes of Running an MSPSimon admits that not coming from a technical background has been a challenge. “I notice it at peer group events. The MSP owners are former engineers, and they get very excited about technology. And they’re used to jumping in and filling in gaps, because they’ve got that experience.
“It also means that when our technical manager comes with something new, I struggle to understand what it does and why a client would buy it.” But on the other hand, there are some positives to working in the IT space.
“It’s really nice being of service, actually. I do genuinely enjoy that sense of fulfilling organisations’ or people’s potential. Because it’s nice to look back and see that a colleague or client is a better version of themselves because we’ve worked together. I’ve helped them make a transformation, and that’s really satisfying.”
How to Connect With Simon HeathThe Final StepFollow The Final Step on LinkedInConnect with Simon on LinkedInEmail SimonLike The Final Step on FacebookFollow The Final Step on TwitterHow to Connect With MeSubscribe to TubbTalk RSS feedSubscribe, rate and review TubbTalk in iTunesSubscribe, rate and review TubbTalk on Stitcher RadioSubscribe and rate TubbTalk on SpotifyFollow TubbTalk on iHeartRadioFollow @tubblog on TwitterMentioned in This EpisodeIT Nation EvolveBook: Bob Burg: The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business IdeaGazelle management strategyTraction management strategyIT NationKim Scott – Radical CandorBook: Michael E Gerber: The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About ItBook: L David Marquet: Turn The Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers Into LeadersYou Might Also be Interested inHow Being a Go-Giver can Increase Your SalesThe Joys of CommunicationThe Culture Creation Canvas – Assess Your Company Culture VisuallyThe post TubbTalk 131: Why You Should Build a Strong MSP Culture for Your Business appeared first on Tubblog: The Hub for MSPs.
