Did you ever trek up to a famous lookout spot, only to find that once you get there the clouds have rolled in and you can’t see much of anything? Like the time I was in Rio and went up to the Christ the Redeemer statue and it was so foggy I couldn’t even see the top of the statue, much less the city below. I was only there for a day, and had already paid for the tour, so I didn’t have a whole lot of choice about going, even though I knew the weather was bad. I mean, nobody in their right mind would choose to have such terrible visibility, right?
At the top of the New Year, ConnectWise and HTG Peer Groups collaboratively announced that the former was acquiring the latter. Among the HTG associate, member, and greater MSP communities, the news incited a lot of speculation about the future of the HTG empire led by Arlin Sorensen and family. This week, the speculation was put to rest. HTG is now IT Nation Evolve, a new brand that reflects the Arnie Bellini-inspired ConnectWise flavor of channel community building.
The difference between being the owner of a business or being self employed is at the end of the day when you consider exiting or selling your business, how does the business transition without you? As you grow your IT business, the way you make operational decisions to increase the equity of your business is very important. It will determine if you have established your MSP as a lifestyle business or a scalable enterprise.
Here are 6 steps to help your business evolve in the age of IoT.
Seven reasons resellers and MSPs should consider adding IoT solutions to their portfolio.
Recent studies show that 73 percent of the U.S. population (237,736,346) have at least one compromised credential and 18 percent (60,441,444) have a compromised social security number found within the Dark Web, the portion of the Internet that is hidden from conventional search engines. In 2016-2017, 4.2 billion email account credentials have been identified for sale, not including fake data. The global cost of data breaches will reach $2.1 trillion by 2019.
Technology is essential to mitigate the risk of exposure to cyberattack. Note that mitigate means to reduce or lessen in severity, not preclude. It’s often difficult for IT service providers (ITSPs) to convince business owners that no one can guarantee complete elimination of cyberattack risk. Anyone with a computer connected to the internet is under attack. Your best option is preparation for the inevitable.
Studies have shown that businesses are starting to increasingly rely on social media to help build brand awareness and drive the sale of their products and solutions. For example, according to a recent Forrester report, 98 percent of sales and marketing leaders see value in social selling in the short and long term, and 49 percent have already developed a formal social selling program. Many Channel companies would agree with the potential benefits of social media marketing, but they also acknowledge they’re a long way from realizing its full potential.
ARRRGH! No, this is not me living my fantasy as a swashbuckler, though as a fencing instructor (a healthy and fun diversion of mine), it would not be too far from reality. Rather, it is an expression of angst when I hear Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems reduced to being called “accounting” or “financial” systems. I let the rather defamatory term slide when it comes from the chief financial officer or vice president of finance at a client of mine: hey, I am pretty picky about most things but even I have my limitations. But I cringe when I hear it from the reseller, because I know that this is a reseller with a myopic focus.
Forrester is reporting that 65% of technology decisions are influenced and/or made by line of business executives. It's predicted that this number could rise to 90% by the year 2020. Here's how VARs should adjust their pitch accordingly.
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