Artificial intelligence (AI) offers the promise of bringing infinite automation at and beyond a level humanity is capable of at present. It also brings forth the promise of the singularity where all technical growth and development collapses into the automation cycle of advanced artificial intelligence. There isn’t an argument on whether this will happen or not (if we can avoid destroying ourselves until then), just a matter of when. The issue is that the “AI” of today isn’t really all that intelligent, but most people think it is.
Most modern AI is glorified machine learning (ML) at best. Even the most advanced lacks any comprehension or understanding of what it is doing. You have a black box; you plug data into it, and you get out some (hopefully) correct results. That isn’t to say ML isn’t impressive and can’t deliver results; you just need to know what you have and what you’ll get from the process.
There are some overblown claims in ML and AI, but if you understand what AI can do, and more importantly what it can’t, you can temper your expectations to fit reality. I’m going to refer to these various technologies as AI for the sake of convenience unless the distinction is pertinent.
The Promise Of AI
It feels like there’s some kind of AI or ML solution strapped into everything and anything. Security and networking solutions throw in AI. Analytic solutions bolt on ML. This isn’t a coincidence either; we’ve reached an awkward spot in the development of technology. We’re past the era of heuristics and human-generated algorithms in many fields.
There’s been an arms race in technology. Hackers use more and more novel techniques to exploit software and people at levels where even the slightest human slip-up can snowball into catastrophe. Modern viruses have become polymorphic messes of novel exploits that defy analysis outside of dedicated technical research. Humans can’t keep up. They need something at least fractionally intelligent for all the minutia — something that doesn’t get tired and doesn’t make mistakes.
This is where the promise of AI comes in. All of the various AI solutions claim to do this and more; they’ve unlocked the magic solution to every problem, and their solution does things better than any of the old-guard solutions. You just need to buy in, and all your problems will disappear like magic.
Limitations Of AI
Unfortunately, that’s all sales talk. The facts are buried in the fantasy, but it’s up to you to figure out what’s what. Even the simplest machine learning can bring something to the table, but you’re going to disappointed if you’re expecting a steak and you get a bowl of chips instead. Current-generation AI solutions are limited in many ways.
There isn’t an AI solution that has any degree of sentience or understanding of what it’s doing. You get your magic black box, which approximates a human by some measurement, but even the most advanced AI doesn’t understand the data, the results, what it’s doing or why it’s doing something. The AI can’t understand any part of the process, so bad data gets bad results. Another flip side to this, if the principle the process was created around was flawed, the entire process will be flawed as well. A person can use their better judgment to know whether something makes sense or not — a machine can’t (yet).
You need to know the right questions to ask to determine whether a product can or will fit your needs. What theoretical principles are behind the implementation? How does it collect or work with training data? Is the process adjusted regularly, or is it static? Are the real-world statistics in line with the theoretical statistics? What do you need to maintain? You need to pull at the thread until you unravel the whole thing to something you can understand. Otherwise, what exactly are you buying? There’s going to be a limit, and it’s up to you to figure out what it is.
Putting These Factors In Perspective
AI offers the promise of boundless improvement to virtually any process when done right, but that hinges on it being done right. What are you trying to solve, and how does the solution target that? You need the right solution for the right problem, or else you’re just wasting time. A good programmer won’t necessarily make a good technician.
If you’re introducing your findings to your company, you need to temper their expectations. A solution doesn’t have to be bad to not be the right choice, but many people treat it as a zero-sum game. This reductionist approach makes sense when you don’t understand all of the factors: Either it works, or it doesn’t.
You’re fighting an outside salesperson familiar with the product, what it can do and all of the smooth talking to sell your superiors on how sleek it is. If you don’t understand it and no one else at your organization does, who can make sense of the claims enough to make the right choice? To top this off, if you don’t understand it enough to relay the information, who will trust your interpretation of the solution for better or worse? It may be worthless, but you can’t just say that; you need to explain and show why it doesn’t fit.
The future is going to be lined with developments in AI, but that doesn’t mean every product that adds AI will be the right choice every time. What are you trying to do, and what does the solution do? Pull the fact out of the fantasy and see what you can actually expect. It’s not magic, but as Clarke’s Third Law states, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Do you want to fall for magic snake oil or see it for what it is and unlock the true potential behind a given technology?
Windows Virtual Desktop is a service hosted on Azure which allows clients to consolidate their workflow like a traditional RDS server, but with a Windows 10 VM instead which is more intuitive to most users. This is a powerful technology for MSP’s which can cut both you and your client’s costs, reduce technical overhead, and increase security. It works out to a large win for everyone involved for most workflows.
Azure has become one of the biggest virtualization and cloud platforms with a medley of offerings and services which meld together into a Windows administrator’s sweetest dream. Let’s see exactly what Windows Virtual Desktop is, what it does well, how to get the most out of the platform if you’re not used to the cloud, and the security and backup features you get as well.
What Is Windows Virtual Desktop?
Windows Virtual Desktop boils down to a solution which allows you to manage a cloud Windows environment without having to manage the tedious parts of infrastructure, maintenance, or the pain of licensing. It is the natural evolution of RDP. We previously wrote about the more technical aspects of what makes a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure work. Let’s look at the features Windows Virtual Desktop offers to get a taste for what it does in practice rather than theory. Microsoft lays their Windows Virtual Desktop offering out with the following features:
Set up a multi-session Windows 10 deployment that delivers a full Windows 10 with scalability
Virtualize Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise and optimize it to run in multi-user virtual scenarios
Provide Windows 7 virtual desktops with free Extended Security Updates
Bring your existing Remote Desktop Services (RDS) and Windows Server desktops and apps to any computer
Virtualize both desktops and apps
Manage Windows 10, Windows Server, and Windows 7 desktops and apps with a unified management experience
You get the ability to use a multi-user, multi-session version of Windows 10 which means a more simplified changeover and an easier licensing situation. You also have the option for Windows Server or an up-to-date version of Windows 7. Desktops and apps alone can be virtualized with this solution.
Windows Virtual Desktop makes it easy to get users virtualized cheaper and more efficiently than other solutions. You handle the setup, they handle the infrastructure (Azure AD) and maintenance (mostly). Microsoft also makes it easier than RDP, you don’t need a gateway server and RDP setups deployed to each desktop, your users just use a simple native app or an HTML5 webapp.
What Makes Windows Virtual Desktop Amazing?
This solution basically provides you a way to make virtual desktops for clients to work off of (which are especially important with work from home), but that isn’t all it does. It also allows support for Windows 7 which is compliant (i.e. it is patched and up to date from the vendor), and it allows porting over existing RDP setups. You get everything a traditional Windows virtualization solution could provide, plus an easier way to administer it and use it. It offers an easy line for clients to move over as well.
If you have clients with old Windows 7 desktops or Windows Server 2008 R2 boxes, you know how painful they can be to manage. The extended support on its own is far too expensive for most companies to realistically consider, so they take their chances with VM’s or trying to isolate the machine from the rest of the network. No matter how it’s done, it’s either expensive or painful for everyone involved.
The Azure setup streamlines maintaining a domain environment. Domain costs can become especially costly per user in smaller traditional setups. Ease of use is a general feature across the board for Azure. That being said, Azure can be hard to get going with since there are just so many features and options.
Augmenting Azure
We offer project services for migrations to help our partners focus on business while we focus on the boring parts. We partnered with both Crayon and Nerdio to augment our Azure offerings. Azure is complicated and can be difficult to navigate, but solutions like Crayon and Nerdio both have different offerings which fill in the gaps. They help handle translating the client’s need into something which can be cost effective with Windows Virtual Desktop (among many other Azure services).
Transitioning to Azure is easy if you’re somewhat technical and can follow directions, but you can end up with 10 different solutions which do the same thing and vary wildly in cost. The cost all depends on how well you understand the platform and what you need to satisfy the client.
Any MSP can handle the technical side, but the platform requires knowledge and experience to leverage it as efficiently as possible. It can be hard to find the time to maintain your business obligations while staying ahead of the dizzying number of XaaS platforms. Paying for a project to migrate or working with a vendor to simplify Azure and Windows Virtual Desktop setup can ensure your first migrations are a success and stay on track for cost and expectations.
It’s easy once you understand it, but it takes a lot of time and effort to get to the point it all comes together naturally. You can choose to learn on your own slowly, or you can get a jumps jump-start with expertise to immerse you in Azure and learn as you go. Neither solution is the right answer for all MSP’s or businesses, but if it gets overwhelming, there are options to get through the most mundanely challenging parts.
Azure Backup and Security
Azure offers a backup service which makes recovery and backup administration trivial if you’ve already bought into the Azure platform. Azure Backup doesn’t just work for devices hosted on Azure, you can also run it on traditional on-premise setups. It isn’t always the most cost effective solution outside of Azure however.
You also have a simplified network interface which abstracts your networking away from supporting a virtual appliance. Some providers still require you to support virtual firewalls and similar if you want the service to work and be secure. Azure makes it easy in general and keeps it easy enough that some power users can even administer it.
Azure Backups running as a cloud appliance rather than an on-premise machine or similar provides an advantage for security as well. Some crypto and ransomware variants are known to target HyperV machines or certain backup solutions to make recovery more painful. It’s a lot harder to do when it’s a one way transfer into the cloud rather than a machine sharing the same network.
I mentioned compliance earlier with Windows 7 with Windows Virtual Desktop, but this is a huge selling point to some clients. They need a legacy OS and they need to do things right or else have a hugely inconvenient network isolation project. We’ve had vendors suggest clients with applications on Windows Server 2008 R2 literally isolate and spin up a full, separate domain (intentionally using different credentials and user structuring), maintain a jumpbox (or two) which is at least partially isolated, and then suggest users transfer data by moving it from their system to the jumpbox, and then to the secure server to try and remain secure because extended support was too expensive. Or, they could just use Windows Virtual Desktop.
Conclusion
Windows Virtual Desktop won’t fit every client or every workflow, but it is a powerful offering and an efficient tool for many companies. Windows Virtual Desktop expounds on the possibilities in Azure with virtualization and creates the natural evolution to RDP and similar tools and technologies. Understand what it does and how, and you can understand when to use it, or when to not.
Services from Nerdio or Crayon can give you a shortcut to getting the most out of Windows Virtual Desktop and other Azure offerings. Windows Virtual Desktop is powerful, but it can be complicated if you are not familiar with the sheer volume of options. You can make the same basic system a dozen ways with a dozen different prices that all work the same; understanding how the options work and are billed is essential to making the right choices. It’s not hard on its own, but it can be when you’re trying to balance a business and selecting technology.
Sometimes it just works out cheaper long-term to rely on another expert to make the best choices and build the best experience the first few times. It’s important to remember how much your time or obligation is worth. We enable our partners to make use of these technologies to get the most bang for their buck.
Windows Virtual Desktop can provide an easier to manage environment which can be cheaper to operate for many clients. It abstracts away many security and infrastructure concerns, as well as unexpected costs. I’m yet to hear of a client moving to Azure or Windows Virtual Desktop and deciding to move back due to anything other than poor planning. The advantages are too great once you understand them.
Technology moves at a breakneck pace. New standards pop up, old technologies lose support, novel threats are revealed, and the wheel just turns and turns. Nothing has really changed with the pattern, but it feels like it’s moving faster than ever before.
Things are changing at the same individual rate, but there are more things changing to account for. You used to only need to worry about the basics like networking, servers, and workstations (or similar), now you need to fight the choice between software suites, hosting types, security suites, advanced networking capabilities, etc. The choices have gotten endless for each one, and very rarely is there a clear-cut case of objectively better once you hit a certain minimum. Salespeople have no qualms embellishing claims and the spec sheets may not always be apples to apples for comparisons among similar suites.
Technology comparisons can get downright onerous if you don’t know how to find the right resources to make sense of claims and features. Billing gets even crazier unless you have the market to pull special treatment. It’s the difference between a flat $0.50 an endpoint per month, and a billing scheme with unclear tiers, fixed and/or variable fees, or even variable price per month. When looking at technology we look at what they promise, what they can show, and how it fits the model for our clients.
What Does It Promise?
What features does an offering have and what claims do they make? The adage of “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” usually holds true here. But, sometimes you get pricing by buying in early, as a way to expand business, or even as part of a partnership. Striking one of these deals can make your offering that much more amazing if you know how to negotiate a new promise out of the sales team. Pricing may not be the first thing you figure out, but it is one of the biggest deal breakers for a promise.
What have you been promised it can do? This can even be spec sheets and “raw data”. How well does it actually work out? If you can’t easily weigh the individual promise, how well have they held up their previous promises? Don’t look too far if the company has been through substantial change unless you want to be extremely cautious. If the entire C-suite and management was completely changed out and it’s been a few years with the new management, you may want to just look at the promises in that period. Don’t look too far if their track record is bad either.
AI excites me but also scares the bejesus out of me. Promises get a lot vaguer with Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI and ML are computing black boxes. You have an input and (ideally) an output that fits what you want, but you have no real insight into how the process works. The people making it can understand what they’ve put in, but the actual process is still a mystery.
You have to know how to make sense of their promises and claims for them to mean anything. How many promises are vague and loaded with empty marketing speak and how many can actually be quantified? Buzzwords are fine if they actually mean something contextually, but they’re less than useless otherwise. How many of the promises make sense? Now, how can you turn their promises into something verifiable?
What Has It Shown?
Where does it stand in comparison to its competition? What rates is this measured from and who sponsored the research? What have they shown they can do consistently well? Are there features which stand out which you can actually benefit from? Look at what they have shown they can do for you.
Even if something is possible to do, it doesn’t mean it’s practical. That cheap consumer router may say it works great for a business and someone used it for a day when their expensive equipment went down, but does that mean it’s shown anything useful if you’re buying for business? I’ve been in that spot, and they usually work for a day or two at a larger place before having to be continuously rebooted. There’s a reason a commercial or enterprise router costs more and works better in a commercial setting; it’s made to do so. You have to know how to apply the same filters for promises or else you get sold on a different bill of goods.
Benchmark the results you get. What can they show you they can actually do and how can you measure the data? A product might work great in a virtualized environment, but how does it work on real life hardware? You have to put the promises you can actually show into the context of how it fits you and your business needs. If you know what to look for, you might get in on something exceptional which is just marketed poorly, or avoid the inverse.
How Does It Fit?
A great product targeted at a different market may not be a great (or even good) fit. Your business continues to change (just like the businesses we support). What do you need and who is the product targeting? If you’re a Managed Service Provider (MSP), you’ll probably have multiple clients in multiple industries. How do you find the common denominator that can get you better pricing while satisfying all of their needs?
A product is going to have an associated cost. I keep coming back to cost, but cost is one of the most important factors for a product being a good fit or not. It doesn’t just matter what a client needs, it also matters what they can afford and are willing to spend. While a single service isn’t going to break the bank, 10 of them will. Technology continues to expand and more and more things become necessary to just run a business. You have to focus on the bigger picture which combines risk, need, desire, and support.
You have to take into account compliance, security, accessibility, maintainability, scalability, etc. and all of it costs money. While it’s not ideal, some businesses just don’t have the money to solve certain problems the best way possible. Other times, a certain technology may not have something financially accessible or practical which fits what the client is willing to do. You have to pick something which makes your life easier in some way as the IT professional as well, but sometimes that comes at a cost too, and that cost can be a deal-breaker.
Measure each factor and compare it to what you or the client need. If something really simplifies their business, it can be worth the extra cost, but you have to be able to show them. Clients will hold you accountable for your decisions to push a product, so you have to do your due diligence. Make sure it can deliver on its promises and can back up its claims. This helps you determine whether it’s the right fit, or if you need to go a different direction. Not every choice will be a home run, but if you focus on the right factors, you make informed decisions instead of blind gambles.
We use our ability to negotiate and our expertise to keep with and stay ahead of market trends. You may not always want to be the first early adopter, but you don’t want to be late to the party either. Where is the market going and how do you get ahead without getting lost?
Interested in finding out more about The 20? Click here.
Virtual VISION 2020 – Why You Don’t Want to Miss Out!
Virtual VISION 2020 provides two days of compelling speakers, educational sessions, and networking focused on MSP business best practices, thought leadership, and growth.
Join world-class MSPs and ITSPs for two days of non-stop learning and a wealth of insightful sessions. The conference is supercharged with content catered to every member of your MSP team, from tech to exec.
Connect with IT professionals and experts from around the world. Exchange best practices and share tips, tricks, and secrets for success with a powerful network of MSPs.
Here are the top 10 reasons you don’t want to miss #VirtualVISION:
Agenda
Great content with killer strategies on how to grow your MSP
Speaker Line Up
Amazing speakers including, Mark Manson, Walter Bond, and Gary V.
Breakout Sessions
Great speakers lined up that will be teaching technical skills, sales, and everything in between.
Event Platform
The event platform is a fully immersive, 3-D technology that feels like a game!
No Mask + No Social Distancing
The entire event is virtual, so there is no need to wear a mask!
Networking
Join top MSPs and network with like-minded business owners.
Party
Virtual party with fireworks and a special guest performance.
Sponsors
Full slate of industry-leading vendors.
Cash giveaway
One person will receive $5,000 in cash, and five people will win $1,000 each!
Never have to leave home
Join us at Virtual VISION 2020 and network from the comfort of your own home. Register here.
We can’t wait to “see” all of you there!
Meet Terrence Boylan of PacketLogix!
Tell us a little about your MSP…
Founded in 2002, PacketLogix has worked with organizations of all different sizes and in a broad spectrum of market sectors. In the early days of PacketLogix, we focused exclusively on the corporate enterprise marketplace assisting large organizations and agencies mainly with network security and wireless design. As cyberthreats became more omni-present, we have invested significantly in our capability of helping better protect both clients’ networks, but also their end points and servers. For the past fifteen years, we have been working with the United States federal government through our own GSA blanket contract. We have worked on national classified networks at various intelligence agencies, trained network technicians in Baghdad, Iraq, and even worked with the US Secret Service, US House of Represtatives, and the US Senate. In recent years, PacketLogix has taken a focus closer to home in Rhode Island helping the small to medium business community.
How long have you been a member of The 20?
Since January 2020.
Why did your MSP originally look to partner with The 20?
The model, the Support Desk and tools were clearly first class and what we needed to get to our next level.
Tell us about the biggest change in your business since joining The 20.
The biggest change I have had since joining The 20 was the realization and action I have taken in seeking our larger clients that I can now handle with the support of The 20 Support Desk and community of like-minded partners.
What do you like most about being a member of The 20?
Hands down – the other members. Their generosity and honest desire to help me grow my business has been so overwhelming. I hope when I get on my feet I’ll be able to repay it forward with other members.
What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success?
Never, ever, ever give up. You can screw up 7 ways til Sunday, but don’t ever give up.
What are your biggest business challenges?
Sales and marketing. Getting new clients.
What are your areas of focus for 2020?
New client acquisition and bringing our operations in line with the best practices of The 20 and its members.
What advice would you share with an MSP looking to scale their business?
Sales and marketing is everything. Yes, you need great operations, but without sales and marketing excellence, you won’t have anyone to support.
Interested in becoming a member like PacketLogix? Click here for more information!
Well, that’s a wrap on another successful Quarterly meeting with our partners!
Summer Quarterly was held at our offices at Legacy Central in Plano on July 18th and 19th, and we had an incredible time with all of you.
Our first day saw training from ID Agent, Blokworx, Deep Instinct, and Cytracom! Day 1 was focused heavily on cybersecurity; discussing hacked passwords, the dark web, and how to protect your employees’ credentials. The day concluded with a happy hour sponsored by Cytracom, and featured hours of games, music and good times spent with our 20 family.
Day 2 kicked off with Roland Technology’s Emily Powell who showed our members how to work lead generation to their benefit to help create an efficient lead list. The day continued with special training segments from Password Boss, Datto, and Crayon — the latter letting our partners know about some fun stuff heading their way! CEO Tim Conkle then took charge by opening up the floor to discuss the direction of The 20 with our partners, and how we see our growth in the future. He also discussed things for us to improve upon to get to that next level of greatness.
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, give us a call! And don’t forget about VISION ’19 coming up in October!
Tim’s opening remarks.
Pre Quarterly Mingling.
by Monika Gupta
Remote Desktop Services (RDS) benefit employees and IT administrators alike. With employees often working from anywhere, remote desktop reduces the physical burden of carrying a work laptop home ????. It also makes updating and managing systems easier, which can alleviate the administrative burden when handling a large network. ????????
Unfortunately, a vulnerability recently discovered in RDS has the potential to let hackers remotely wreak havoc on computers or servers running RDS — and their networks — if the issue isn’t patched. Read on to learn more!
What is BlueKeep?
During Windows’ May 2019 patch cycle, Microsoft released a patch for a remote code execution bug in their Remote Desktop Services software. If left unpatched, this vulnerability could allow remote, unauthenticated attackers to execute payloads with administrative privileges and spread to other computers/servers within a network.
Errata Security CEO, Robert Graham, scanned all externally facing IP addresses on May 28th, 2019 for systems susceptible to BlueKeep… [click to continue reading]
by Camden Rendon
Wondering if you should intern in college? Internships are fast-growing and more important than ever – for multiple reasons. Internships are proven to help students learn and prepare for the real world after college, because classrooms can only teach so much. Some schools and/or majors require internships in order to graduate, and some just encourage finding one (or two, or three) before graduation. Here at The 20, we completely support the learning process of students, and have opened up three summer internships this year to help in that process. It’s not to be taken lightly – we know that we are helping to shape the next generation of professionals. Here are five reasons that you should intern in college – bonus points if you want to work with us! ????
Network and Learn Under Professionals
Though there are many reasons you should intern in college, this one is reason enough to get an internship. I say this to every new grad I meet – you NEVER know who knows who and who you will meet. Connections go SO FAR in the workforce, to the point that some people hire solely off of referrals. Building connections and networking with people is a great way to learn about tons of opportunities in your field. In addition, learning under industry professionals can be great for your resume. If you get a good mentor to coach you through your internship and teach you as much as possible, you will come out of the internship with information that you can apply in your next (potentially full-time) role. As an intern, it’s your responsibility to be engaging, prepared, and to soak up as much as possible, as there will be so much to learn.
Figure Out What You Want in a Career… and What You Don’t Want
Sometimes we don’t know what we want to be when we grow up – and that’s okay! College makes you feel pressured to choose a major that will fit in with a career, but what happens if you don’t know what you want to do? The best way to test out different roles is through internships. You’ve got to start somewhere to gain experience, and companies are pretty supportive of that. According to NACE, 81% of graduates report that internships helped them to shift their career directions by changing either the focus of classes or their major. You may have your heart set on a particular profession, but after working it for a summer, may decide that it wasn’t for you – or that you like something better. Your college years are the years to explore, make mistakes, and learn from them.
Real World Application
Let’s be real – your college classes and professors can only teach you so much while you’re sitting at a desk. You’ve got the brain knowledge, but what about the real-world application? No number of tests, pop quizzes, or projects will prepare you for what is required in a professional position. You will get to apply your textbook knowledge to things that you will apply in your day to day role.
Full-Time Opportunities Post-Graduation
It’s no secret that interns are usually the first to be considered if a full-time role opens up. According to Forbes, paid internships turn into full time job offers 60% of the time. Interns spend their time getting to know the company, the employees, and the position itself – meaning it’s the easy option when it comes to a full-time role. Companies can cut down on their spending for sourcing, hiring, and training a new employee, since the intern already has that knowledge. It’s important to be prepared, timely, and always give 110% throughout your internship.
Make Your Resume Stand Out
So let’s say for one reason or another, your internship doesn’t turn full-time. That does NOT mean that you wasted your time! Not only are you leaving there with actual, tangible experience, but you should also have some solid recommendations under your belt! In a sea of entry-level graduates and applicants, how can you make yourself stand out? By relating your internship experience to the next position! You’ve already got a leg up on the competition if you join an entry-level role with experience.
Well that’s a wrap on another successful Quarterly meeting with our partners!
Spring Quarterly was held at our offices at Legacy Central in Plano on April 11th and 12th, and we had an incredible time with all of you.
Our first day was entirely dedicated to in-depth training session by CloudJumper where they showcased their new Cloud Workspace Management Suite on the new Microsoft Azure Marketplace. This day-long training really allowed Cloudjumper to dive deep into the product and focus our members on the benefits of the new suite that features simplified management, optimized billing, and more automation with control.
The day concluded with 2 demos on ACE and CWA setup, followed by a happy hour sponsored by Cytracom! It was 2 hours of games, music and good times spent with our 20 family.
Day 2 kicked off with Tim Conkle discussing how vision without execution is purely a dream. He also talked about the unlimited potential of growth that exists if you simply reach for it enough. Then, Elite member John Rutkowski of Bolder Designs gave a great presentation on client relations and onboarding.
So much was learned, and so much fun was had – there’s nothing we look forward to more then 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 utilize our Chat feature on the site, or give us a call! We’d love for you to be a part of our Summer Quarterly in July!
Tim’s opening remarks.
COO Ciera Cole presents.
Cloudjumper presentation.
We kicked off the new year with 2019’s Winter Quarterly on January 17, and it was a wonderful experience! Held at our offices at Legacy Central in Plano, our new space really allowed the event to shine. And as always, getting so many of our partners from around the country conversing in the same room is a real pleasure.
We pride ourselves on creating a family-like atmosphere, so to see the close friendships that have formed between the MSPs is truly amazing.
But to Quarterly itself, it was an incredible 2 days of insight and fellowship.
Tim Conkle of course kicked things off with a lot of energy and some famous “Tim-isms” – always a surefire way to get everyone feeling good and motivated to grow their companies!
It was then time for all of our great vendors to walk us through their amazing products and how MSPs can utilize them to run their IT companies more successfully.
Vendors like:
Deep Instinct, which serves as proactive cybersecurity that applies deep learning techniques to protect against cyberattacks.
Cytracom, which provides VoIP made simple, specifically created for small to medium MSPs.
Itopia: offering solutions that empower enterprises and service providers to deliver and consume cloud in an easy, secure, scalable and cost-efficient manner.
RapidFire Tools, whose offerings include Network Detective for IT assessments, documentation and reporting; Audit Guru for Compliance Process Automation; Cyber Hawk for internal cyber security threat detection and alerting.
Veriato, which specializes in providing insight and actionable intelligence into the activities and behaviors of the user: employees, contractors, and those who seek to steal their credentials.
Compliancy Group: providing everything you need for compliance. They cover every aspect of regulation and document every step of the process. Includes HIPAA, PCI and more.
Then, sprinkled throughout, were appearances by our very own Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Crystal McFerran, our CIO, Jonathan Blakey, our Support Desk and NOC Manager, Zach Eshelman, and attorney Dan Astin, of Ciardi Ciardi & Astin. Crystal broke down the approach of our marketing program, Jonathan spoke on best practices for working with the 20, Zach discussed the onboarding process — as well as IT Glue and their powerful documentation management, and Dan Astin discussed limiting risk and maximizing customer relationships.
So much was learned, and so much fun was had – especially at our in-house Happy Hour Thursday night!
If you have any questions about future Quarterly events, please utilize our Chat feature on the site, or give us a call! We’d love for you to be a part of our Spring Quarterly in April!
