Posts made by GlennBarley

@RojoLoco Is there a way to embed the slideshare on here? If so, I wasn't aware of it...

Apologies if the link is upsetting to some...

As the new year approaches, we pulled together a list of some eye-popping cybersecurity stats from 2015.

After you take a look at our SlideShare, let us know if we missed any!

Check out the SlideShare!

Which verticals do you see emerging for MSPs in 2016? Will it be more of the same?

As you can probably tell, my favorite is A Christmas Story. I probably watch it 2-3 times each year...

"Bumpuses!!!!"

When it comes to the holidays, what is your favorite movie to watch? There are plenty of classics. We recently made an MSP-themed spoof of the classic, "A Christmas Story," and were wondering what others' favorite movies were?

Leave your favorite movie and favorite quote!

We recently published a "Would you rather" post on our blog and are planning on creating another one. I wanted to reach out to you clever folks to see if you could offer up any tough/clever/funny would you rather questions for the MSP community. Some of the examples that we have currently are....

• Never have a client get malware OR Never lose a skilled technician?
• Have a big client get hooked by a phising scheme OR Have one of your own employees hooked by a phishing scheme?
• Have an 8 day recovery window OR Have a small backup drive that needs to last 8 days?

What else can we ask?!

@Dashrender I disagree. I have gotten some cold emails from companies that can provide a valuable service to us. If it sounds like it could help, I'll set up a demo.

@scottalanmiller The stress is related to work though. I'm talking about the people who go home after work and continue to respond to emails, check reports, etc. and don't ever have the time to get away from it.

@scottalanmiller But don't you think that the reliance on these devices is causing the stress? It's like if you try to quit smoking, of course you're going to crave a cigarette at first, but goal is to make that craving go away.

At our recent user conference, one of our partners gave a presentation on the importance of maintaining a healthy work life balance. He made some very good and valid points, so I figured I'd reach out to see what others do in order to "leave work at the office."

It can be difficult to "unplug" when you head home for the day, so what do you do to make it happen?

There has been some recent discussion in the channel around SLAs... Joe Panettiere recently posted about the idea that it could be time for MSPs to abandon service level agreements, while Jaq Baldwin thinks that they just need to be adjusted.

So, what do your current service level agreements entail? Are you considering dropping/changing them?

I wanted to get a gauge on whether or not there was a web hosting presence on this platform, or if anyone knows where there may be one?

We have a blog that we create a lot of valuable content for web hosts and are just looking for the best places to share that content.

The managed services space is growing, and many businesses are well aware of the offerings provided by managed services providers (MSPs).

For example, CompTIA's "Fourth Annual Trends in Managed Services Study," released earlier this year, revealed more than two-thirds of companies said they used the services of an outside IT firm within the past 12 months. The study also showed that slightly more than half of respondents said they were "very familiar" with the concept of managed services, while another 40 percent said they were somewhat familiar.
"While one-time projects account for some of these engagements, a significant portion is ongoing management of one or more IT functions by a managed services provider," CompTIA Senior Director of Industry Analysis Carolyn April said. "There is a much higher degree of familiarity with the term 'managed services' and greater adoption."

Many businesses want managed services, and as an MSP, it is important to educate your customers about the services you provide. In addition, a successful MSP must be able to explain how its services benefit a business - that way, a company can understand and optimize its return on investment (ROI) in an MSP's offerings.

So what does it take to educate your customers about the benefits of managed services? Here are three tips to help you explain how your services work and how they can help your clients:

Check out the list!

Marketing is tough. It's tough to get your content, products and services in front of people and even tougher to get them to bite. But when you're not even targeting the right people, marketing can be near impossible. Whether you are sending out direct mail or promoting a blog post, you want your content to get in front of the people that are most likely to become your clients and brand champions. One way that you can do this is through social media platforms. Still, how are you supposed to know who the right people are? Well, that depends on your business. To determine who you should be targeting your marketing efforts at, you first need to evaluate your business. Once you have done that, you can kick your social media marketing strategy into high gear.

Many MSPs will target a certain region. Perhaps the vast majority of your business is local. Obviously, you're going to want to appeal to the people and businesses in your local area. Still, you can take your targeted efforts even further. Are you serving any specific verticals? Many MSPs make efforts to serve retail, financial and healthcare verticals, with much of their business coming from each of these markets. If this is the case for you, you can use your social media presence to hone in on those verticals that present the highest quality of prospects for your MSP business.

Read more!

The hackers responsible for the 2013 attacks on South Korea are believed to be back at it. Meanwhile, a security company has discovered two tools that may have been used to bypass security in the Sony Pictures Entertainment hack.

To hear more, and to watch the video, just click here!

Addressing the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) Tuesday, George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced a £1.9 billion investment in cyber security by 2020. In the wake of the horrific attacks in Paris, Osborne pledged solidarity with the nation of France as he shared details of a National Cyber Security Plan that had already been in the works. The new U.K. program will establish a National Cyber Centre (NCC) and increased support for the U.K.'s National Cyber Crime Unit.

In his speech, Osborne outlined his five-step plan to make cyber security the U.K.'s top priority. While the government will play the largest role in this effort, service providers should take this latest program to heart. With a greater focus on not just containing, but combatting cybercrime, there will be more opportunities to receive the financial support you need, while closing the widening IT skills gap that's kept you from growing and scaling your businesses.

During Osborne's speech, there were many poignant moments particularly relevant to U.K. IT solutions providers. We've grabbed the 15 we found to be the most relevant!

A National Emphasis on Cybercrime Prevention

1. "Getting cyber security right requires new thinking. But certain principles remain true in cyberspace as they are true about security in the physical world."

2. "Citizens need to follow basic rules of keeping themselves safe – installing security software, downloading software updates, using strong passwords."

3. "Companies need to protect their own networks, and harden themselves against cyber attack."

4. "The starting point must be that every British company is a target, that every British network will be attacked, and that cyber crime is not something that happens to other people."

5. "Over the past 18 months, for example, GCHQ has helped U.K. law enforcement tackle a number of high-profile operations against pernicious cybercrime malware threats, like Dridex, Shylock and GameOver Zeus. These have cost U.K. citizens and companies and government departments millions of pounds in the form of fraud, theft and damage[.]"

See the remaining 10 quotes!

A lot of companies recognize the opportunity to offer managed IT services to their clients, but that transition is easier said than done. There's a lot you need to consider, including new technology, new training, organizational changes and more.

On this episode of MSPradio, we chat with Milton Bartley, CEO, President & Co-Founder of ImageQuest, about how he has been able to successfully reposition his office equipment business into a true technology solution provider.

Tune in now to learn how you can effectively and successfully make the leap to managed IT services!

Listen to the podcast!