Welcome to the first episode of Frankly MSP, a podcast for managed service providers who want to boost their productivity, efficiency, and profitability.
I’m your host, Jennifer Tribe.
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Our first segment is called What’s Going On. It’s going to be a recurring feature on Frankly MSP and we’ve got 2 amazing hosts lined up for you, both likely names that you are familiar to you.
The first is Karl Palachuk, a US-based MSP consultant who’s very well known for his work in the industry and for the great content he produces, including the book Managed Services in a Month.
Your second host for What’s Going On is Richard Tubb, a UK-based MSP consultant, also very well known for his consulting and prolific content.
In every episode, Karl and Richard are going to pull a couple of headlines from recent news and talk about what that news means in an MSP context.
How will it affect your business? Should you be paying attention to it? Is it a lot of hype with no substance. Karl & Richard are going to tell us.
What’s Going On
[03:32] Karl discusses recent news about Bill Burr who worked for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and put together standards for passwords. Burr recently came out with a statement saying he regrets his past password advice.
[05:09] It’s so easy to help your clients be secure by using password sentences.
[07:03] Making a password longer makes all the difference in security.
[09:10] The frequent bad news headlines about security breaches means IT security sells itself.
[11:11] Richard introduces a story about the new Facebook AI. He doesn’t think AI is going to take over, but he is interested in how AI can help businesses.
[13:04] How some MSPs are using bots to engage with clients.
[14:20] At least one MSP has hacked an Amazon device to make the wakeup word his MSP’s name.
Partnering to extend your service mix
[16:50] Today, I’m talking with Kevin Royalty, managing partner at Total Care Computer Consulting, a Cincinnati-based MSP that supports a large client base by partnering with other companies.
[17:33] Kevin partners with companies offering a wide range of services that Total Care doesn’t have the personnel or expertise to handle.
[18:23] How Total Care positions their partner services with clients.
[20:20] No matter the relationship, whether it’s a referral or a subcontract, Kevin’s team provides project management and is the primary point of contact for the client.
[21:04] How they structure fees with their partners.
[21:37] The #1 place that Total Care finds companies to partner with is the local IT pro community and face-to-face meetings.
[22:57] Kevin vets new partners to assure quality. They’re representing Total Care one way or another so he wants to make sure they are top-notch. He’s never had a bad experience with a partner.
[24:39] The type of contracts and documentation that’s put in place.
[26:08] Partnering has helped Total Care keeps its employee overhead low, and helps them specialize in what they do best.
[28:09] Kevin’s number one piece of advice is to plug into the IT pro community and start building relationships.
Links from this episode
What’s Going On
Passwords
- The Man Who Put Us Through Password Hell Regrets Everything
- Why Your ‘Strong’ Password Isn’t That Strong
- Equifax Execs’ ‘Alarmingly Simple’ Passwords for Sale on Dark Web
- LastPass
- KeePass
Facebook AI
The Hosts
- Karl Palachuk: Small Biz Thoughts
- Richard Tubb: Tubblog
Interview
- Kevin Royalty (LinkedIn)
- Total Care Computer Consulting
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