Today we turn the spotlight on Donna Pebworth. Donna quickly became a tremendous asset to the entire team at The 20. Read below to find out more about Donna!
What do you do here at The 20?
I’m the Financial Controller and also handle HR & Payroll.
Describe The 20 in three words…
Innovative, Challenging, & Rewarding.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A Photographer.
What’s the most challenging thing about your job?
Trying to make processes and procedures so things run better, faster, and smarter.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Going back to college later in life to finish my Associates, then on to my Bachelor’s, and then my Master’s, all while working full time and throughout the process, paying my own way.
What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success?
I have two, you must be driven and self-reliant.
What do you like most about The 20?
The challenges I face daily and how these challenges help me grow as a person and as an employee of The 20.
What do you like to do in your spare time? / What are your hobbies?
In my spare time, I like hanging out with good friends and my four legged babies, going to dinner, and relaxing poolside. My hobbies are yard work/gardening, I love to have a beautiful lawn. It gives me a sense of pride.
Where are you going on your next vacation?
Depending on the COVID19 situation, maybe Hot Springs, or the beach, or if nothing else, my backyard pool!
Well, that’s a wrap on our first Virtual Quarterly!
Spring Quarterly was held on Zoom on May 28th and 29th and we had an incredible time with all of you! We look forward to these events every year, and while this one was a little different, it was every bit as fun and informative as its always been.
Our first day was entirely dedicated to in–depth training sessions by 3i International, Deep Instinct, BLOKWORX, and TruGrid. We then wrapped the day up with a Q&A session with Kris Blackmon of Informa, talking about the MSP 501.
Our CEO Tim Conkle kicked off day 2 with hammering on the importance of marketing and building pipeline. This was followed by a presentation from Danny Astin of Ciardi, Ciardi & Astin. We also held 3 insightful panel sessions: “How to Get the Most out of The 20” featuring several of our Elite members, “Growing is Not Magic” with Tim Conkle, Crystal McFerran and Mark Elliott, and a Support Desk/NOC Q&A with our CIO Jeff Griffin.
Last, but certainly not least, Nerdio and Crayon joined us to talk in-depth about Azure and Microsoft year-end incentives.
Everyone is adjusting within their businesses and we are glad to have had theopportunity to bring Quarterly to you during these ever-changing times!
So much was learned, and so much fun was had— we hope to see you at our next Quarterly!
If you have any questions about future Quarterly events, or would just like to learn more about The 20, please contact us today!
We find company names and how they were arrived at to be fascinating.
Amazon for example was originally “Cadabra,” intended as a reference to the word “abracadabra.” But CEO Jeff Bezos’ first lawyer pointed out that the reference was too obscure and that, “when you were on the phone, people sometimes heard ‘Cadaver’ instead.” So, Bezos started paging through the “A” section of the dictionary. At the time, website listings were alphabetized, so he wanted a word that started with “A.” When he landed on the word “Amazon,” the name of the largest river on the planet, he decided that was the perfect name for what would become the world’s largest bookstore.
As for our members, we thought we would go around the horn and ask how some of them landed upon their company names. We got some really great answers, so please enjoy! Perhaps if you’re looking to start your own business, some of these will serve to get the creative juices flowing!
We started over a decade ago as I was working as a systems admin at an education service center. In Texas, there are 20 education service centers that provide various services to school districts. During this time, I started working with smaller school districts outside of my normal job as a side gig. Eventually, I had so much side work that I decided to leave the education service center and pursue my own company full time. I really liked the idea of “synergy.” I also wanted to incorporate ISD (Independent School District) into the title, so ‘SynergISDic’ really seem to make sense.
My advice? Always find the domain first, THEN name the company. I wanted a name that sounded corporate, ‘techy,’ and represented what we do. I’ve also always loved the Art Deco era of exploration: graceful and bold design, rich textures and materials, a massive explosion of technology and communication, and adventure. After all, that’s whenRaiders of the Lost Arktakes place. Who doesn’t love that? ‘Stratoliner’ and ‘stratofortress’ were coined in the Art Deco era. ‘Strato’ is latin, relating to ‘layers,’ ‘spreading,’ and ‘cloud.’ ‘Cent’ literally means 100, but it is also heard in words like ‘magnificent’ and ‘luminescent.’ In Latin, ‘ent’ is applied to adjectives to make them into nouns or verbs. For me, adding ‘cent’ to the end was to imply knowledge, and the word put together was intended to mean ‘cloud knowledge’ — but I also love the alternate meanings of 100 layers and spreading knowledge. It all works perfectly.
We were formed over 33 years ago, and so in the dial-up days, there was no email or web. The Yellow Pageswere big. We were selling Computer Aided Design software (CAD), and so ‘B’ comes before ‘Computers,’ ‘CAD’ or ‘Consulting’ in the Yellow Pages. I liked ‘bolder’ because it represented ‘new,’ ‘innovative,’ and ‘different.’ And we were at the top of the listings.
I launched my business at a full sprint and was very busy before I even retired from the Navy. Windows 95 was such a flurry of business. One thing I noticed was that there was a real struggle with adopting Windows 95 and LAN technology and a lot of “computer guys” were sloppy and did shoddy work. Often times I was sent in after someone else and would do something in 30-45 minutes that the last guy took 4 hours to do, and it wasn’t even done right! This pattern seemed to continue and I had a knack for getting things done right the first time. So, I came up with ‘Just Right’ because a lot of these businesses absolutely hated it when they would have to get work redone.
‘Managed IT Systems’ just fit. While working in a break-fix role for another company, I knew there had to be a better way. I heard rumblings of managed networks and thought it sounded like a great idea for IT. In 2004, I learned I wasn’t alone and there was a movement starting. I wanted to offer managed IT to my clients and luckily the name was available.
It honestly was a slip of the tongue. I was looking at doing wireless connectivity for hotels and a friend of mine trying to say ‘concierge’ said ‘com-cierge’ instead. Thus, it was born. ‘Com’ also being for ‘computers,’ ‘communications,’ and ‘common sense.’
In our service area there was a lot of slow providers. When we started, business people still used phonebooks a lot to find providers. We wanted to be the first one listed. So how do you promote faster service and have a top listing in alphabetical order? You brainstorm. If it weren’t for old marketing ideas and a client-based need to market for, we would have a different name.
We had left a franchise with a catchy name and wanted to make sure that the new name stuck as well. After many weeks of soul searching, conference calls, and narrowing down ideas, we finally came up with something catchy and created our tagline, “We manage your technology so your business doesn’t croak.” Also, as some may know, ‘frog’ stands for ‘Fully Rely On God,’ which ‘Works’ for us.
I had 14 hours from when I was first informed my services would no longer be needed at my former company to the next morning when I needed to have an email and a ‘real’ company name for the benefit of three clients I might be taking on. Being the really expressive and creative type, I came up with ‘Peterson Technology Group’ in about an hour, using my last name and knowing we would work with ‘technology.’ I added ‘Group’ so I didn’t look small, even though it was me and one sub-contractor.
There are many businesses with names that specify their area of expertise with “works” appended to it… much like the ‘Water Works’ property in the Monopoly game. I was teaching at the local technical school in 2014, and a local computer shop decided to close after more than 15 years in business. The stars aligned: it presented a very low financial risk, and I had a student ready and willing to run the shop (she had previously worked there for a long time). Knowing that I didn’t want my own name in the business name, it really just popped in my head on the way to work one morning: ‘Tifton Tech Works.’ At the time, it was perfect — it didn’t limit us to anything specific. If it’s tech, we make it work.
When we started in 2007, I kept getting referred to as ‘computer geek’ or ‘computer nerd’ and it drove me crazy. Mainly, it was because people had this negative connotation of what tech people were like: nerdy, geeky, ill-mannered, unkempt. I knew this was far from the truth. I wanted a name that my staff and I could adopt that described who we were but was still fun and a little tongue-in-cheek. We handled more than just ‘computer repair.’ We were IT specialists. We worked with personal computers, phones, networks, audio visual, home automation, business environments, security, and so much more. Basically, anything tech-related we gravitated toward. We were techies, tech enthusiasts, we’re… ‘tech junkies.’ The name stuck.
So there you have it! A little insight into how our members came up with their identity!
Are you interested in becoming a Member of The 20? Click here for more information!
by Camden Rendon
We have come to a day and age in which we are all trying to navigate a candidate-driven job market. This can be both a good and a bad thing. On one hand, you’ve got candidates being pickier about their next move, which means that retention rates are getting higher, and it seems to be a better fit for both sides. On the other hand, you’ve lost a lot of negotiating power, especially if you’re working with a strong, well-rounded candidate that is wanted by multiple different companies. Dallas has the fifth-largest tech labor force in the US, behind Silicon Valley, D.C., and New York City. According to the same website, CBRE estimates that more than 160,000 DFW residents work in the technology field. With so much competition, it can be hard to hire and keep great talent. However, the best way to do that is to build a company culture worth believing in.
There are three steps to building and maintaining your company culture:
Lay it out
Implement
Study and revise
Lay It Out
In order to build a company culture, you’ve got to lay out what you want it to look like. Are you trying to build a “work hard, play hard” environment? Do you want to keep it buttoned-up and professional? Maybe you want to make your office dog-friendly or cater lunch once a week for your employees. Whatever it is, you have to start somewhere. Write down your company’s values, mission, and goals. From there, you can find and attract candidates that have similar views. Come up with traditions that you can make specific to your company, that employees look forward to participating in.
Implement
Once you’ve got an idea of what you want to accomplish, put it into place. Introduce things slowly, and make sure your current staff is on board. From there, bring in your newbies and help shift the culture to what you want it to be.
Study and Revise
It is imperative to continue to study the culture and revise as needed. If you see that something isn’t working, change it! I will say that consistency is key, so when you find something that works, stick with it. Building traditions, allowing employees to make friends with one another, and employee engagement are crucial to making it successful.
Building a company culture is extremely imperative to growing and maintaining a workforce. Now more than ever, candidates are looking for things that set companies apart – what will make your company a home rather than a stepping stone? Creating a culture and then hiring to fit within that culture makes retention much easier, as everyone has the same buy-in, beliefs, and values, and the expectations are set up front. Employees spend more time at work than they do with their own families, and they aren’t afraid to ditch jobs that don’t appreciate that. Appreciation goes a long way – as does a strong company culture.
By understanding what Workspace as a Service (WaaS) has to offer your End Customer, you can ensure that you’re reaching the customers who will benefit the most from the cloud. WaaS has so much to offer to so many. But, who is the ideal prospect?
So often we are asked, “What’s the best vertical for your solutions?” and, “What industries do you typically target?” or, “What type of companies can WaaS help?”
WaaS has practical applications across every vertical and just about every size business. This widespread versatility gives our partners the flexibility to develop their solution and messaging for the verticals they are already targeting, or to focus their marketing and sales as broadly as they want.
Using the Core-4 to Find the Ideal WaaS Customer.
When evaluating a prospective WaaS customer, look for the Core-4, which will help you zero in on the ideal cloud workspace customer. If the prospect answers “yes” to any of these four questions, then you have a winner:
1. Will you require a server refresh or other large IT project within the next 12 months?
Especially this year as Microsoft will sunset Windows 7 and Windows Server 2001/2008 R2 next January, so many companies are going to have to decide: expensive fork-lift upgrade, or easy and inexpensive transition into the cloud. End Customers hate IT projects, and with the cloud, you can eliminate the majority of them, saving them money and resources, and building your cloud business in the process.
2. Do you have employees who work remotely? Or does your business have multiple locations?
In today’s global business environment, companies are turning more and more to hiring remote staff, often outside their geographic footprint. Consider a company who hires Susan whose sole responsibility is to meet with customers; any time she spends in the office is just wasted time. Or, what about a business who needs Grant’s specific expertise, but he lives in Seattle, hundreds of miles away. In both cases, the staffers need the same accessibility as anyone working from the office. In both cases, the company’s IT needs to have control over their technology. Cloud Workspace simplifies both of these, making them an easy reality.
3. Do you have extensive security needs?
Think about a small bank, finance company or insurance agent. These are small companies, but they store and share sensitive client information. Security is paramount for them. At CloudJumper, we work incredibly hard to ensure our solutions are inherently secure. Additionally, we have a number of optional security add-ons that help your End Customers who need even more.
4. Is your company’s IT function larger than your IT team can support?
This can come out in a number of ways. Of course, if they have big security needs, but maybe, they also have numerous software apps to manage and maintain. They might have tight IT requirements for maintaining certifications or franchise agreements. Maybe they have a mix of OS and devices that all need to connect. The list here is endless, and no doubt your prospects will share items they simply would love to off-load to the cloud.
Always Has Been, and Still It Remains, it’s the Core-4
These are the four prospect characteristics that so easily translate into a sale, and they always have in the 20 years we have been providing a WaaS solution. You will find them in businesses across every industry, every vertical, every part of the world. Understand them, recognize them, and the sale is yours! It’s just a natural fit.
By understanding the ideal WaaS customer, you will more easily grow your business in the cloud, and boost your sales, profits and the stickiness of your customer base. Especially as you are just starting to build your cloud business, start with the Core-4. Soon, you’ll find yourself supporting your customers in ways no on-prem server farm can handle.
Patrick Sullivan is the Channel Sales Manager for CloudJumper who uses his cloud expertise and business acumen to guide MSPs as they create and grow their companies in the cloud. His support helps them build an IT cloud solution that saves their end customers money, time and hassle. Patrick has been with CloudJumper since June 2015 and has been very successful working helping his partners build their businesses in the cloud. Prior to joining CloudJumper, he honed his business development skills working in the equipment finance industry for more than 8 years. In 2005, Patrick graduated from New Hampshire University with Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
5 Reasons Why Your Company Should Outsource IT Support
Companies commonly outsource its accounting and bookkeeping duties, customer service, and HR management… so why should technical support be any different?
It shouldn’t.
Outsourcing provides a lot of benefits, especially to small businesses with limited resources. Plus, good IT support teams are especially hard for companies to build and maintain.
Here are 5 reasons as to why outsourcing is a good business move:
1. Reduces Costs
Reducing labor and equipment costs is one of the major reasons why companies outsource IT support. Employing a company to do the work for you is cheaper than hiring a whole IT staff. The employees’ initial training to get them onboarded, plus the regular training to ensure their knowledge is up-to-date, add to the cost as well.
Buying all the equipment you need for a functional IT department and maintaining the system also costs a lot of money. Removing these factors and paying a fixed cost contract will help you manage your annual operating costs more easily.
And If your operating cost is high, you will likely pass it on to customers by raising your product prices. This makes you lose your competitive edge.
2. Provides Support 24/7
If your business is one that needs to be open to customer calls 24 hours a day, that’s one of the reasons to outsource IT support. Instead of getting another IT staff, which will only cost you more, solely for answering calls outside of your normal working hours, outsourcing to a company will guarantee that someone is always available to help your customers.
A 24/7 team will also allow you to recognize flaws and bugs even before they affect your infrastructure and business.
3. Adjusts According to Demand
When the demand suddenly increases, and more calls start coming in, what do you do if you have a permanent staff?
Hiring temporary employees poses a lot of issues. You don’t know when the demand decreases, which will force you to terminate them immediately. You’re also not sure of the technical skills and personality if you’re in a rush to get someone onboarded.
Meanwhile, an IT company can easily scale up or down depending on your needs because of their access to vast resources.
4. Gives Access to Cutting-Edge Technologies and Industry Experts
Security of your data and your customers’ data is paramount. That’s why Facebook is in a lot of heat nowadays — its platform is vulnerable to third-party entities mishandling the users’ data. Even large companies are susceptible to attacks, with hackers successfully gaining access to JP Morgan’s 76 million households plus 7 million small businesses in 2014.
To keep your data safe and secure, however, you must have the newest technologies and the knowledge of industry experts. You and your staff must be up-to-date with the industry standards, which might be hard to do if you’re a small-time player.
Outsourcing solves this problem. It’s their job to get cutting-edge technologies and train their employees regularly so you don’t have to do it. Getting access to these will also ensure that your systems are working smoothly.
5. Allows You to Focus on Your Business
When you no longer have to worry about the security and integrity of your system, it allows you to focus on what you need to do in order to grow your business. Your employees, without network interruptions and possibly the added IT responsibilities, will also be able to perform with their best for the company.
You can focus on improving your products and services while the outsourced IT team deals with the technical issues so you and your staff can keep on working without worry.
