Meet Pat Quin, Content Writer!
Pat Quin quickly became a tremendous asset to the entire team at The 20. Read below to find out more about Pat.
What do you do here at The 20?
I’m a content writer.
Describe The 20 in three words…
Ahead of … curve.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
For a while there I wanted to be an architect who drives a Camry. Don’t ask me why — just seemed like a cool situation to be in.
What’s the most challenging thing about your job?
Trusting that the ideas will come even when it doesn’t feel like they will.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Building a table.
What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success?
Taking just a few things very seriously and being relaxed about everything else.
What do you like most about The 20?
The people!
What do you like to do in your spare time? / What are your hobbies?
Hanging with my cats and wife.
Where are you going on your next vacation?
Chicago!
What’s your top life hack?
I don’t know about life hacks, but I’ve had a lot of success with vinegar.
Interested in working with Pat at The 20? We’re hiring! Check out our Careers page for more info.
Well, it’s that time of year again.
That time of year when many people make New Year’s resolutions for their personal and professional lives.
It’s important, I think, to set goals for ourselves, in an effort to better ourselves. We have one go-around at this thing, so shouldn’t we try to live out our best version? There’s always room for improvement in every business, and the New Year is a great time to evaluate both our strengths and our weaknesses.
We recently asked our partners from all over the country to give us their business resolutions for 2019, and the response was incredible!
Here are a handful of resolutions for you to enjoy:
I have two goals: 1) Acquire a company and 2) end the 2019 tax year as an Inc. 5000 applicant (which requires having $2 million in revenue).
I want BOLDER Designs to grow by 20%, I want to end the 2019 tax year as an Inc. 5000 applicant, and I’m also hoping to finish the ‘MID Operations Handbook’ that I’ve been writing for all members of The 20. It’s the definitive guide in creating a Scalable Service Operations.
Michael Wayland, Managing Director of Byte-Werx
My goals are to break into the MSP 501 list and hire my first full time employee.
My business New Year’s Resolutions: 1) Adding $25k in MRR, and 2) growing our footprint in South Carolina so as to have a full-time presence in Greenville and/or Charleston.
Sell, baby, sell! I want to land 2 MID clients per month; 24 for the year.
Our business New Year’s resolution is to continue growing into our financial and law verticals. We are also working to build an offering specific to non-profits in our area!
Sean Michie, Business Development Manager of MetroMSP, LLC
To build meaningful relationships within the medical industry to help practices avoid HHS fines.
Right now, one of our goals is to add another solid lead generation plan.
Our goal is to optimize our support-delivery to increase client retention and word-of-mouth referrals. It’s cheaper to keep ’em than to find new ones!
Jesús Zarzosa, President of TriuneIT
A couple of our goals for 2019: 1) Acquire an average of $10k new MRR per month, and 2) reduce our sales life cycle average to under 30 days.
I want Stratocent Technologies to support more than 500 devices with our business clients, and 1000 devices for consumer clients. I want to re-hire Max (he’s working as a VW Technician right now) and hire a local field tech — both will have fully-branded tech vans with vinyl wraps. I want a solid foundation for $1,000,000 in revenue in 2020.
I want our first MSP 501, and I want to move into real office space. I want our biggest challenge to be keeping up with the growth and continuing to deliver a quality customer experience.
I want to have $40k in MID/BDR MRR revenue by year’s end. I want to be operating at 100% MID for all of my clients, and to get rid of any remaining break/fix clients that won’t convert. Finally, I want to be more engaged in social media to promote my company as well as The 20!
So, there it is!
The New Year is the perfect opportunity to make the changes necessary to yield big dividends for years to come. Here’s to 2019!
The End of an Era: Microsoft Ends Extended Support for Windows 7
by Alex Bleam and Scott Meeler, Contributors
Every few years it happens: Microsoft lets us know that they will no longer be supporting one of their older operating systems or versions of Office.
Sometimes, as is the case with Windows ME, Windows Vista, or Window 8 – we don’t care. We don’t care because those were horrible operating systems so fraught with bugs and potential security issues that most of us avoided them – at home and in the office.
Then, there are those times we cringe when we hear the news of Microsoft wanting to take away software – software, mind you, that works well, runs on almost anything, and is stable and easy to use.
Originally released on July 22, 2009 – Windows 7 – is one of those operating systems.
Unfortunately, its time is now at an end. Microsoft has confirmed that on January 14, 2020, it will no longer support the Windows 7 operating system.
So, what does this mean?
This means that critical patches and security patches that protected your computers, network and data will no longer be developed. As a result, your machines will be susceptible to attacks without Microsoft there to plug those holes.
You may say, “Aren’t you providing anti-virus so bad things don’t happen?” The answer is, “Of course we are.”
Anti-virus is just one piece of a giant jigsaw puzzle that protects your network, your data and your client data. Microsoft’s updates and patches are an essential component needed to properly protect your business. These patches and updates address specific bugs, improve the operating system with additional features, and perhaps most importantly – address security vulnerabilities.
In addition, there are many organizations bound by law to meet HIPAA, Sarbanes Oxley, NIST or other compliancy guidelines. Running an operating system that is no longer supported by Microsoft puts your organization at risk of complaints being filed, audits, fines, and in worst case scenarios – potential criminal charges.
Outside of the potential security concerns that this can also bring, your computer may stop working properly. If you have a new issue pop up, the company who created your specific line of business (LOB) software may no longer fix this issue because you are on an obsolete version of Windows. The last thing you need is for critical business functions to go down or to stop working properly with your other technology. Migrations take planning, time, and money – waiting until there is an issue or a fire to put out can cost you more in the long run.
So, what are the options? While initially considered not-ready-for-prime-time, Windows 10 has developed into a stable, even likeable operating system that will be around for some time.
It will also likely be the last Windows operating system that you do not have to pay a subscription to use.
Yes, that’s right.
Microsoft has plans to move their operating system solutions to a subscription model like Office 365.
So, what is a business owner to do?
Well, DON’T panic for starters! You still have some time and we can definitely help. Call us and we will review your current situation. We will help you determine the most efficient process for replacing or updating those older machines.
Alex Bleam is the President of Frogworks, which serves the greater Washington, DC area, and is an Elite Member of The 20.
Scott Meeler is the CEO of Managed IT Systems, which serves the Atlanta and Athens, Georgia areas, and is also an Elite Member of The 20.
