The 20, leading MSP consortium, announced today that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Tim Conkle to its 2020 list of Channel Chiefs. This annual list recognizes the top vendor executives who continually demonstrate exemplary leadership, influence, innovation, and growth for the IT channel.
Tim Conkle holds over 30 years of entrepreneurial success in the Information Technology and Services sector. As a leading voice in the Managed IT Service Provider space, Tim is dedicated to developing simple, solid IT solutions for SMB clients and MSPs (Managed Service Providers) across the nation. His notoriously energetic nature, along with his deep-rooted passion for technology, has helped him forge solid customer relationships built on trust, dependability, and service.
As CEO of The 20, Conkle is the driving force behind a business revolutionizing the IT industry. By utilizing a proven multi-million dollar sales model and an execution framework that he developed, Tim helps MSPs attain profitability and success. Through The 20’s business model, Tim has advised hundreds of MSPs in sales and operations, resulting in catastrophic revenue generation and millions of dollars in savings from process improvements and single-funnel vendor access.
“I am honored to be recognized as a 2020 Channel Chief alongside a roster of remarkable individuals,” said Conkle. “This past year has been an incredible journey with many big developments for The 20, and I am looking forward to all we have in store for 2020.”
CRN’s 2020 Channel Chiefs list honors the distinguished leaders who have influenced the IT channel with cutting-edge strategies and partnerships.
The 2020 Channel Chiefs have shown outstanding commitment, an ability to lead, and a passion for progress within the channel through their partner programs. The Channel Chief honorees were chosen by the CRN editorial staff for their dedication, industry prestige, and exceptional accomplishments in driving the channel agenda and evangelizing the importance of channel partnerships.
“The IT channel is undergoing constant evolution to meet customer demands and changing business environments,” said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. “CRN’s Channel Chiefs work tirelessly, leading the industry forward through superior partner programs and strategies with a focus on helping solution providers transform and grow. Our team here at The Channel Company congratulates these outstanding individuals for their dedication to the channel.”
CRN’s 2020 Channel Chiefs list will be featured in the February 2020 issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs.
About The 20 The 20 is an exclusive business development group for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) aimed at dominating and revolutionizing the IT industry with its standardized all-in-one approach. The 20’s robust RMM, PSA, and documentation platform ensures superior service for MSP clients utilizing their completely US-based Help Desk and Network Operations Center. Extending beyond cutting-edge tools and processes, The 20 touts a proven sales model, a community of industry leaders, and ultimate scalability. For more information, visit: www.the20.com or go to LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.
About The Channel Company
The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com
Meet Mark Elliott, CEO of 3i International!
Tell us a little about your MSP…
3i International is located in Houston, TX. We have 25 employees and have provided expert IT services since the year 2000. We are awesome at security and managed services, and our mission is to help people be their best by making technology easy and secure. We have a great team and have a lot of fun every day!
How long have you been a member of The 20?
3i International joined The 20 in December of 2018.
Why did your MSP originally look to partner with The 20?
Great question, this is a two-part answer for us. First, we were looking to move upmarket to larger clients and wanted a way to deliver services on a national level where we did not lose control of our customer or have degradation in support by hiring one-off boots on the ground. Secondly, we were having challenges scaling the business, and it kept leading to service delivery issues. Before The 20, we had a great company with talented engineers, and our clients loved our support and personal touch. At our size, we did not have separate teams for the helpdesk and onsite engineers. Every engineer had a seat in the call center, and when needed, they would be sent onsite. This methodology worked well as long as we did not grow. Every time we had major projects or a large new client onboarding, we would have to move resources from the call center to install equipment or onboard new seats. As soon as we reallocated resources from our call center, the level of service that our clients had become accustomed to would fall. We would then move some resources from the field back to call center only to have project deliver suffer. We found our company stuck on a staffing teeter-totter with happy and then unhappy clients. The 20 gave us the ability to truly separate our call center from the onsite and project team, which has been a Godsend. We now have happy clients all the time, not just in between waves of growth.
Tell us about the biggest change in your business since joining The 20.
We are closing more new MRR deals every month with the 20 offering and pitch. Our pipeline has grown with higher monthly recurring opportunities than we had before. The 20’s footprint has allowed us to focus on larger companies with multiple locations in different cities. We have found a real need here as an internal IT department with 500 employees cannot successfully support 20 locations with a couple of engineers. Our customer satisfaction with project delivery is through the roof. The 20’s call center handles the majority of our tickets, so we were able to shift our team around and create a dedicated team focused solely on project delivery. During our growth, we can now provide great support from the call center, our local onsite team, and the project team.
What do you like most about being a member of The 20?
The community is awesome, from weekly accountability calls with other members, the ability to message nationally on Microsoft Teams to find an answer to a tough question, the comradery at quarterly training meetings. It just a strong group of like-minded individuals with 1000’s of years of experience all fighting to make a difference in the lives of their customers and their families. The services The 20 provides encompass most of what an IT company needs to succeed. It is a great offering of tools at a fair price. We were concerned about what our customers would say about the changes, but our customer satisfaction continues to increase since becoming a member.
What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success?
I don’t. I think this question could be answered ten different ways by ten people, and no one would be wrong. You might hear answers like grit, ambition, courage, commitment, willpower, drive, integrity, and on and on, you get my point. So why is it that sometimes you see individuals with these traits fall short of their full potential? I have been at this game for 25 years now, and I know that I possess all of the traits I just listed above. I am moderately successful, debt-free, and can retire comfortably in a few more years. By national standards, I’m in the top 1%, but by no means do I have a yacht or private aircraft. My journey to this point has been a dog fight in a highly competitive market. So, I think great success takes more than character traits as they are table steaks in today’s business climate. I feel to blow it out of the water truly you have to be first, better, or different. I feel the opportunity The 20 has afforded my company compliments my character traits by creating a differentiation that allows me to reach my full potential.
What are your biggest business challenges?
Last year we spent time identifying our weaknesses and threats. Now, last year’s challenges are this year’s opportunities as we have prioritized what we will be fixing and implementing during this calendar year. This year we are working on increasing outbound lead generation to 50 leads per month, implementing an employee training program around culture and function, standardizing our QBR methodology, and executing on a new inbound digital marketing strategy.
What are your areas of focus for 2020?
We are an EOS company, so we will continue to implement and improve our use of the traction tools set. From a top-line perspective, we are focused on growing monthly recurring revenue in the healthcare, legal, AEC, manufacturing, and energy verticals.
What advice would you share with an MSP looking to scale their business?
Identify what’s holding you back, and if you’re willing to fix it, find a business coach or organization with the skill set to help you solve your challenges and hold you accountable. Don’t be afraid to partner with The 20. It is one of the best decisions we have made for our business and the people we support.
What book are you currently reading?
I recently just finished setting my personal goals for 2020, which includes a list of 36 books. Here are the three that I am currently reading in January:
Interested in becoming a member? Click here for more information!
Well that’s a wrap on another successful Quarterly meeting with our members!
Winter Quarterly was held at our offices at Legacy Central in Plano on January 16th and 17th, and we had an incredible time with all of you.
You’ve got to win somewhere before you can win everywhere.
– Joseph Landes of Nerdio
Our first day was entirely dedicated to in-depth training sessions by Nerdio, CloudJumper and Crayon. Each company discussed how to sell, calculate and implement Azure. The day concluded with a happy hour. It was 2 hours of games, music and good times spent with our 20 family!
Day 2 kicked off with Tim Conkle who went over with our members the best way to sell cloud and how to package it with our other software platforms. Everyone is moving more away from hardware and towards cloud.
So much was learned, and so much fun was had – there’s nothing we look forward to more than when we have our partners in town, and in the same room. It’s a tremendous energy, and we’re always sad when it ends!
If you have any questions about future Quarterly events, please contact us today to learn more about The 20! We’d love for you to be a part of our Spring Quarterly in May!
And don’t forget to sign up for our MSP Sales Academy going on next month!
Tim clowning around before start time!
Panel discussion lead by CIO Jeff Griffin, CTO Jonathan Blakey, SVP of Sales Roxann Sawyers, and COO Ciera Cole.
Meet Misty Kaufman, Cloud Services Specialist
What do you do here at The 20?
I build and maintain strategic partnerships with vendors to better service/support our members!
Describe The 20 in three words…
Innovative, imaginative, resourceful.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a Foley Artist.
What’s the most challenging thing about your job?
Making sure communication flows internally and externally so everyone remains informed and up-to-date.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Giving birth to my son!
What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success?
Work ethic. And you have to care about all aspects of your job/position to be successful.
What do you like most about The 20?
The 20 has given me the ability to utilize many skills I have that are not related to my position. I have had the opportunity to bring my ideas to the forefront that have now become standard practice!
What do you like to do in your spare time? / What are your hobbies?
So many hobbies. Mostly I am a musician, but I also make jewelry, knit/weave and turn on a lathe. When I am not doing any of those, I enjoy watching movies and running AV at church.
Where are you going on your next vacation?
New Mexico — we are going to see my husband’s brother.
What’s the Difference Between Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)?
by Sage Driskell
All Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), but not all MFA is 2FA. Multi-Factor Authentication works on the principle of using multiple pieces of secret information in order to verify identity. Standard usernames and passwords can be brute forced, but using a separate piece (or more) of information makes this more and more impractical. Some MFA schemes will use secret questions (effectively extra passwords), or a one time key from some kind of authentication application.
MFA and 2FA are a prerequisite for security anymore. It used to take days to guess an 8 character password, now it takes literal minutes on a $35 Raspberry Pi. Everything requires a password, and people can be lazy and recycle passwords. If a user’s password is compromised for one site, who knows what other accounts are now compromised? Even the most trivial 2FA or MFA solution can reduce the impact substantially.
How Does MFA Work?
MFA (and by extension 2FA) add a protection scheme based on knowledge, possession, or biometrics.
Knowledge
This form of authentication relies on a knowledge based challenge. This can be an extra password, a security question, or some other type of challenge. The goal here is to buy time without inconveniencing the user. By adding a separate password, an attacker has to gain access to both passwords, and avoid locking themselves out trying to do so. Some challenges will have multiple potential knowledge tests to make this more complex.
Some of the first MFA I ever worked with was through a bank. The bank had a list of 20 images which you picked from and added a description to. Each time you logged in, it would give you a subset of the images, you picked the one you had, and then it prompted you for the description. If you got it wrong 3 times, it locked the account for some period of time. My password got hacked plenty of times, but my account never did. Even something this low-tech ended up stopping dozens of potential breaches.
By having you pick the specific image first, it tested your knowledge. The prompt would then pop up no matter what was picked. This method is somewhat safe, but not foolproof by any stretch of the imagination. A single incident with a keylogger could get everything.
Possession
Possession challenges rely on the physical possession of a device or some other item. This can be a USB key or a device which generates a code. Most things people think of as 2FA are generally going to be a password based on possession of an application which generates a one-time key.
Almost everyone has something like Microsoft Authenticator or Google Authenticator on their phone for work or just general security. If someone manages to compromise your computer, they don’t necessarily get your account outside of the current session. Using a separate device to authenticate mitigates the effectiveness of a keylogger or of a very coordinated attack to gather information on a target. A user can tell someone about their first pet “Mr. Fluffikins” (coincidentally their security verification answer), but if I tell you my authenticator says “224 544” right now it does absolutely nothing to getting through MFA on my account.
Biometrics
Fingerprint readers, retina scanners, facial recognition, etc. are all forms of biometrics. Biometrics rely on inherent properties of the user. This works for and against security though. A mask can fool facial recognition, while a carefully crafted gloves can trick the fingerprint reader. Biometrics are inherent properties, so the entire method needs to be changed if they’re compromised. Collecting biometrics for work and similar also presents privacy issues for their storage and usage.
Which Method Works Best?
Most standard 2FA solutions use the principle of possession, but this doesn’t mean it’s objectively the best method. Each of these methods performs a balancing act between convenience and security. Knowledge is the easiest to get and easiest to track without extra equipment. Biometrics are the hardest to copy (at present, deep fakes and technology aren’t helping here), but they’re also impossible to (practically) change. You can’t just grow new fingerprints. Possession strikes a balance. An item or a device can be revoked, but users have to account for an extra device. If you forget your phone, you’re out of luck.
Possession is the most practical at present. Having a physical device means that stealing a one-time key or password is near useless (unless the algorithm can be cracked), and the device can be revoked if it is physically misplaced or stolen. We use the principle of possession (and a degree of knowledge for an added challenge) for ID 20/20, our in-house MFA solution. The trick is using a device someone will (almost) always have and a way to authenticate without inconveniencing the user.
Why Is MFA So Important?
Phishing and social engineering are some of the biggest security threats to businesses. MFA helps neuter phishing and social engineering attacks by adding a layer that an end user will struggle to give away. It’s easy to type your password into the wrong box, but how do you give your phone or a USB key out too? You also know almost instantly when one of these devices is missing.
You can try and train end users, but people don’t always listen and don’t always want to learn. It’s hard to tell the difference between l and I, or why it matters if a site is .com or .org. What does it mean if a certificate is invalid? Most users don’t know, and more importantly, they don’t really care. They see an email saying they have to “act now” to prevent a catastrophe and they act. Attackers prey on ignorance and emotion.
MFA throws a wrench in the gears for this. The username and password are only two of the three parts to the key. Without the third part, the whole exercise doesn’t accomplish much for its direct target. If 2FA or MFA in general is available, enable it. If a product doesn’t offer MFA and it’s going to have personal information or other sensitive data, ditch it as soon as possible.
Using More Factors
The more factors in use for authentication, the harder it is for an attacker to get in. The more important information is, the more factors which should be in play. Ideally, use multiple challenges. Have a secondary knowledge test on top of a possession based challenge. Stack the odds in your favor.
A targeted enough attack might get the username and password, but it’s harder to get MFA information. Harder, but not impossible. Your user might tell someone their mother’s maiden name or it might even get breached from a targeted attack elsewhere. The more unrelated pieces of information and unrelated challenges there are, the harder it is to actually breach an account even if the credentials are leaked. Your mother’s maiden name doesn’t help much when it’s necessary in conjunction with a one-time password.
Using MFA
MFA is often seen as a hindrance and an inconvenience, but it’s more important now than ever to use it. Apply MFA where you can to reduce the attack surface for a given product. If you are helping your client find a MFA solution, try to go with something they use already. Don’t go with Google Authenticator if they have to use AuthAnvil already if you can help it.
You don’t want your bank giving away your money to the wrong person, and you don’t want your users doing the same to their employer either. Present MFA implementation as a protection for the client’s business rather than just a plain “security measure” with cryptic “future risks”. Don’t introduce a technical solution without making it mean something to the client. If you frame MFA the right way, clients will jump on it, but frame it the wrong way and it becomes an inconvenience with no tangible benefit. Sell MFA as a good business move.
Make MFA work for your client and not against them. Even an extra password or some other knowledge based challenge is going to be better than nothing. It doesn’t have to be over the most efficient solution, it just needs to work and provide security.
Can you believe 2020 is here? It’s a brand new decade!
It’s a great time to reflect on on the lessons learned last year, and to set intentions for what we wish to create for the rest of the year! These are the tops MSP lessons learned by our members in 2019. Check them out!
We posed the question to our members: As an MSP, what’s one lesson you learned in 2019?
Plan, Execute, Review, Revise, & Repeat.
“Setting quarterly objectives and being accountable to them is critical to evolving as an organization. I would even go so far as breaking those down monthly as well. Big picture goals are great, but if you don’t pay attention to them often enough it is easy to lose sight of organizational priorities. Plan, Execute, Review, Revise, & Repeat.” – Gary Blawat, Businertia Group
Track Your Progress
“Write down your yearly, three years, and five year plans. Then break the yearly plans into manageable quarterly plans. Track your progress and keep pushing, especially when behind on the plans. We came verrrry close to hitting a big goal for the year that was definitely a stretch goal.” – Kevin Peterson, Peterson Technology Group
Always Be Looking Forward
“Growth does not come without pain and sacrifice but as long as you stay true to your goals, success will come. We have added great people and in order to keep that momentum you need to involve your team in interviewing new people. Mentor as much as you can and find your own mentor to surround yourself in growth. Always be looking forward and not backwards!” – Jeff Davis, Southern Data Solutions
Marketing is Crucial
“Marketing can be very effective and it is necessary to grow a company.” – George Monroy, Monroy IT Services
Security is a Necessity, not a Buzzword
“2019 reinforced security as a necessity not a buzz word. With MSPs and their supply chain being actively targeted and compromised, our hard-work and dedication to securing our systems, our vendors (and booting those that refused to harden theirs), and our client’s networks let us stand out from some unfortunate other competitors here in our marketplace.” – Caleb Brown, JS Computek
“I’ve learned that even though security is always in the front of my mind for my customers. I also have to focus on the security of the vendors/products that an MSP uses as well.” – Brad Daugherty, Hoola Technology
We hope you enjoyed reading these MSP lessons learned from The 20 members. If you’re looking to take your MSP to the next level in 2020, contact us to learn more about The 20. Don’t miss The 20’s upcoming MSP Sales Academy – learn more here!
2019 in Review
2019 was an amazing year here at The 20! We are proud of our accomplishments and the company culture we have established. Within the last twelve months, we have hit many milestones.
Here are some of the highlights from the past year…
Closed nearly over 169,000 tickets!
Handled over 81,000 end client phone calls
Maintained a 97% CSAT rating
Increased our footprint in 21 additional states and 3 additional countries
Produced 20 pieces of marketing collateral for MSPs
Paid out over $400K in employee bonuses
Attended 13 events (Check out our 2020 event calendar here)
Not to mention, we had nearly 500 attendees at our VISION’19 Conference! Make sure you save the date for VISION 2020, to be held September 29th through October 2nd.
Check out our 2019 in Review recap video
Here’s to wrapping up 2019 and to growth within The 20. Cheers to an amazing 2020!
What Happens When Support for Windows 7 Ends?
We’ve already had ample warning that Windows 7 and derivatives are reaching the end of life, but what is actually going to happen on January 15th? Previously, Microsoft was content to just let the devices fall off on their own, but devices with XP hung on for years past what anyone expected. Many of us still deal with the odd Server 2003 machine. Microsoft has also been receiving a bit of ire for their forced upgrades on Windows 10, so it should come as no surprise that they’re going to do the same with Windows 7.
Upgrade Popups
Microsoft has stated that the December 10th rollup KB4530734 will show a full screen popup telling users that Windows 7 has reached the end of life and there will be no further updates without purchasing extended support. The popup will require user interaction. The good news is that Microsoft has stated that this will not affect machines in kiosk mode or machines joined to a domain. This patch also applies to Windows Server 2008 R2.
Compliance Risk
Since Windows 7 and Server 2008 (R2) are all going out of support, they will also be going out of compliance (e.g. PCI compliance). Most compliance specifications have something touching on updated software or operating systems. To make it even worse, usually just a single agent at the site is enough to blow the compliance status of the entire site.
PCI compliance, HIPAA compliance, ISO 27001, etc. all require operating systems to be supported and up to date. Out of date OSes create massive issues and can be a huge security vulnerability. The compliance headache of a violation alone should be enough to move most businesses, but unfortunately it’s not unless it’s explained correctly. Your clients should know that a compliance violation can be grounds for a fine or lawsuit if they don’t act.
Security Risks
Windows 7 and Server 2008 (R2) going out of support are one of the many security concerns for 2020. It’s also one of the easiest to stop at least, but many organizations want to hold out like they did for XP. The popup won’t be showing up for domain joined machines though, so the people who need it the most probably won’t see it.
There are some serious security risks to consider with Windows 7 and derivatives. First of all, there aren’t going to be anymore updates. That means the next Spectre or SWAPGS are probably going to be there to stay. Microsoft may have relented with XP, but the nagware and push towards Windows 10 and its inability to avoid patching is a direct action to force upgrades the time around.
Microsoft isn’t the only one planning to drop support for Windows 7, it gives third-party software developers a reason to drop it as well. From advanced security software to basic accounting software, all of them will drop support sooner than later. It only makes sense to drop a platform without vendor support since it means less testing and less support for something which should be gone already.
Holding Out For Windows 7
Microsoft doesn’t have to worry about too many holdouts. Windows 7 will have been supported for almost a decade, and they stopped selling licenses in 2016. Modern hardware doesn’t support it, and come January 15, 2020, new hardware will begin to work less and less with Windows 7.
The machines from early in Windows 7 life cycle have ancient dual core processors and some even have 2GB or 4GB, which is almost unusable with the modern internet. They’re littered with old spinning rust drives which have long passed the 3 year reliability mark, and early generation SSDs, some of which didn’t even have TRIM. Microsoft is just going to let attrition take out the few holdouts where they can. After all, how long are these machines going to be usable?
Avoid Security Ramifications of Windows 7
Microsoft has “forgotten” to close a loophole which can be used to upgrade from Windows 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10 for free. Upgrading is the easiest way to avoid security issues. This method also wholesale avoids the compliance issue if you can do this at the entire organization.
Obviously, upgrading everything isn’t always possible. Some legacy programs require Windows 7 or older, and there can be other compelling reasons a client doesn’t want to upgrade. Even though they may have good enough reasons, their decision or limitation is still going to present security issues.
We previously went over how to circumvent some of these limitations. Air-gap the environment with legacy bits as much as possible and use virtualization where possible. This won’t necessarily solve your compliance woes entirely, but it does reduce them. If you’re an MSP, this is a great chance for an upsell.
Capitalizing on the End of Windows 7 and Server 2008 (R2)
You can bet hardware manufacturers and technical companies are going to take the chance to cash in on the end of Windows 7 and Server 2008 (R2). If you’re running an MSP, this is a great chance to use any vendor discounts to get systems and sell them for a markup which reduces your workload and the client’s frustration with the move to Windows 10.
A new computer shouldn’t have issues with Windows 10, but that Windows 7 machine may just plain not be compatible. How old is it by the way? Can you get parts if it dies? How business essential is that machine? You may not sell the organization on all new computers, but you can sell the right group on upgrades and format the old ones to be used elsewhere splitting the difference in work.
If they decide to keep some Windows 7 or Server 2008 (R2) servers, you need to have the uncomfortable talk about security. It’s not going to be supported, so who ends up supporting it? You do. This can be an opportunity to upsell security services and network services though. The networks with legacy OSes need to be schismed off as much as possible and made as secure as possible for both your sake and the client’s. This can require new networking equipment if the old stuff just doesn’t cut it.
Countless service, software, and hardware companies are all looking to cash in on the mass exodus from Windows 7. Make both your client’s life and yours easier, and make your wallet fatter by selling them on what helps them and helps you. Sort out the trash for them and provide them with a value worth buying. Get them secure and compliant again without wasting their time or yours. Learn more about how to leverage these opportunities for your business and your client’s with our MSP Sales Academy.
Moving Forward
KB4530734 probably won’t affect your enterprise clients, but it shows what Microsoft is planning. They learned from the inertia against moving away from Windows XP. The same tricks forcing people between upgrades of Windows 10 are going to be used against Windows 7 holdouts.
Don’t expect KB4530734 to be the last move to push people from Windows 7. Expect more nagware and inconvenience to force upgrades to either extended support or Windows 10. Even though this is a huge pain, it is also a golden opportunity to help sell the client on new hardware and services to bring them back to compliance and keep them secure.
The popup is going to be the least of your worries if you don’t act now. With modern security threats and the growing interconnectness of every device, you need to be on top of security or risk having your business pulled under. Your client’s business is on the line if you don’t act, and Microsoft has no qualms pushing harder than they ever have to ensure upgrades. Move now or risk compliance and security issues.
by Sage Driskell
Tim Conkle Celebrates Milestone with Forbes Technology Council
Tim Conkle, CEO of The 20, is celebrating his one-year anniversary as a member of the Forbes Technology Council, an invitation-only organization for senior leaders to publish original content, connect and excel.
“We are so pleased to have Tim Conkle entering year two as a member of Forbes Technology Council,” said Scott Gerber, founder and CEO of Forbes Councils. “Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world, and Tim is an important part of that community.”
“Contributing to the Forbes Technology Council and connecting with other industry leaders has been an invaluable experience. I am honored to have the opportunity to collaborate, share best practices and contribute with my peers in the Forbes community. Having served the industry for a long time, the values of the community are in perfect alignment with The 20’s dedication to making a powerful impact through intelligent connections,” said Tim Conkle.
Conkle’s past contributions to Forbes, as well as his contributions to a variety of other media outlets, can be viewed on The 20 Press page. His executive profile is also available on Forbes.
ABOUT FORBES COUNCILS
Forbes Councils is a collective of invitation-only communities created in partnership with Forbes and the expert community builders who founded Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). In Forbes Councils, exceptional business owners and leaders come together with the people and resources that can help them thrive. More information is available at forbescouncils.com.
ABOUT THE 20
The 20 is an exclusive consortium for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) aimed at dominating and revolutionizing the IT industry with its standardized all-in-one approach. The 20’s robust RMM, PSA, and documentation platform ensures superior service for MSP clients utilizing their completely US-based Help Desk and Network Operations Center. Extending beyond cutting-edge tools and processes, The 20 touts a proven sales model, a community of industry leaders, and ultimate scalability. For more information about becoming a member, visit: https://www.the20.com/partner.
Meet Travis Street, President and CEO of Complete Technology Solutions!
Tell us a little about your MSP…
Complete Technology Solutions (CTS) was founded in 2001 in Muncie, Indiana. I ‘accidentally’ started the company when I was finishing my bachelor’s degree at Ball State University. I was working at Staples at the time and a customer (an elderly lady in her 70s) asked if I would come to her house and setup a computer I sold her. I didn’t see the value of my skills at the time so I traded my labor for a home-cooked meal lol. After I was finished with my work, she gave me a $20 tip and asked if she could give my number out to some of her friends. I didn’t realize how connected she was in the community. The next week I had 10 elderly ladies calling me for computer help! And that was how CTS was started. Since our humble beginning as a one-man break/fix shop, CTS has evolved and grown over the years to a fully-managed IT department service with over 50 staff members, and offering nationwide IT support and consulting services exclusively to the multifamily industry.
How long have you been a member of The 20?
We joined The 20 in the spring of 2018.
Why did your MSP originally look to partner with The 20?
Prior to joining, our company had hit a revenue ceiling for over 5 years that we could not overcome. At the time we did not have a vertical focus. And although we had been working with multifamily companies for close to 15 years, we still supported other local businesses and were competing with many IT companies locally. I wanted to change our direction and offer a service with a vertical focus that was unique and would give us a competitive advantage. I accidentally discovered The 20 while attending a ChannelPro conference in Dallas. After a ‘colorful’ keynote speech by Tim Conkle, I immediately recognized The 20 model was the way to succeed and allow CTS to scale up and grow. I signed up the next day! It was the best business decision I have ever made.
Tell us about the biggest change in your business since joining The 20.
The biggest change in our business since we joined is that we are now 100% vertically-focused. The tools and nationwide footprint of the 20 has given us the freedom to focus on our multifamily specialty and deliver superior all-inclusive service and support to our clients for a predictable, flat monthly fee.
What do you like most about being a member of The 20?
The best thing about The 20 is the camaraderie between the partners. Every member is a great resource and has unique talents and skills they share with the group as a whole.
What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success?
In order to succeed, you gotta put in the work. Hard work, discipline, and determination.
What are your biggest business challenges?
I think I speak for most of the companies out there in saying sales and marketing is always a challenge for an IT company. One of the biggest advantages of joining The 20 is that they became my marketing and sales department and handle it all. This way I can focus on business development and on our vertical.
What are your areas of focus for 2020?
We are focused 100% on multifamily and student housing moving forward. This is a vertical we have been working with for over 15 years and have a wealth of experience. We truly understand the unique needs of property management and development companies which allows us to provide superior service and consulting services to this market.
What advice would you share with an MSP looking to scale their business?
Focus on at least 2 or 3 vertical markets and tailor your service delivery around them.
