IT Business Podcast Episodes

This episode features an interview with Adam Anderson, co-founder of Threat Captain, a cybersecurity leadership development company. Threat Captain aims to bridge the gap between executive leadership and security teams by providing a financial risk platform that helps communicate the financial impact of cybercrime. The discussion covers Threat Captain's mission, its software platform, integrations, and participation in the PitchIT accelerator program.

This episode features an interview with Larry Meador, the Channel Chief at Infima, a cybersecurity company that provides automated security awareness training and phishing simulations for managed service providers (MSPs) and their clients. Larry discusses Infima's unique approach to security awareness training, which is based on behavioral science principles and optimized for MSPs. He highlights the platform's key features, including three-click client onboarding, automated user synchronization, and fully managed reporting. Larry also emphasizes Infima's commitment to building true partnerships and friendships with MSPs.

This episode features an interview with Mark Lamb, the founder and CEO of HighGround.io, a cybersecurity platform designed to help IT service providers understand and reduce their cyber risks. Mark discusses how HighGround.io serves as a cybersecurity sales tool for MSPs, allowing them to visually represent their clients' technology spend, cybersecurity posture, and resilience. He explains how the platform integrates with PSA tools and provides metrics like the cyber score, resilience score, and NIST framework mapping to communicate security posture effectively. Mark also shares his background as an MSP and the challenges that led him to create HighGround.io.

This episode features an interview with Scott Green from Aportio Technologies, an IT service management startup participating in the PitchIt 2024 competition. Aportio provides an AI-powered email and alert management plugin that helps service desk agents work more efficiently by automating mundane tasks, categorizing requests, prioritizing them, and pre-assigning actions. The conversation explores Aportio's unique value proposition, its origins, and how it differs from other AI-based solutions in the market.

This episode of the IT Business Podcast features an interview with Randy Blasik and Mark Heather, co-founders of ComplianceAid.com, a startup participating in the 2024 PitchIT accelerator program organized by ConnectWise. ComplianceAid offers an AI-driven cybersecurity compliance platform that aims to simplify the compliance process for MSPs and their clients. The founders discuss the platform's capabilities, including automatically generating compliance documentation, aligning existing documentation with compliance frameworks, and conducting assessments using AI auditors.

Uncle Marv interviews Jeff Bishop, General Manager at ConnectWise, at the IT Nation conference. They discuss the latest updates on integrating various ConnectWise products into the ASIO unified platform, including the PSA, CPQ, BrightGauge, and security offerings. Jeff also shares insights on the recently announced Secure360 product and how ASIO enables seamless integration with third-party vendors through the vendor program.

This episode features two interviews from IT Nation Secure 2024 in Orlando. The first is with Matt Lee, Senior Director of Security and Compliance at Pax8, discussing passwordless authentication, biometrics, and the future of cybersecurity. The second interview is with Bobby Jacobs, Head of Growth at Thread, last year's winner of the ConnectWise Pitch It Accelerator program. Bobby shares updates on Thread's service experience platform, including new features like the Planner for dispatchers and upcoming integrations.

Uncle Marv interviews Tim, a veteran who received a service dog named Coop from K9 for Warriors, an organization that rescues shelter dogs and trains them as companions for veterans suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injury, or military sexual trauma. Tim shares his inspiring journey, the application process, and the life-changing impact Coop has had in helping him transition back into civilian life after multiple combat deployments. He also provides insights into the training process, attending events with Coop, and the incredible work K9 for Warriors does in saving both dogs and veterans.

Uncle Marv interviews Gregg Lalle, the newly appointed General Manager of IT Nation, at the IT Nation Secure event in Orlando. They discuss Gregg's transition from the international sales team to leading IT Nation, his vision for expanding the community beyond just ConnectWise partners, and the future plans for IT Nation events like Connect and PitchIT.

Uncle Marv interviews Andre Gilmore from ConnectWise about the IT Nation Evolve peer groups for managed service providers (MSPs). Andre explains the unique value proposition of these peer groups, which focus on both personal and professional growth by fostering close relationships and an environment of trust where members hold each other accountable. The secret sauce is the strong bonds formed through quarterly two-day in-person meetings that include social activities. Members review business metrics, get advice from peers, and define their own success goals that the group helps them achieve.

Uncle Marv sits down with Peter Kujawa from Service Leadership, a company acquired by ConnectWise that provides objective financial and operational benchmarking data to MSPs and other technology service providers worldwide. Peter shares his journey from being a lawyer to running an MSP and how discovering Service Leadership's benchmarking transformed his struggling business into a profitable $17 million company. He explains how Service Leadership helps MSPs understand industry best practices, pricing, margins, and where to focus their efforts by comparing their performance to the top 25% most profitable peers.

In this episode of the IT Business Podcast, Uncle Marv sits down with Raffael Marty, Vice President of Cybersecurity at ConnectWise, during the IT Nation Secure conference in Orlando, Florida. They discuss the unique challenges and opportunities in the Managed Service Provider (MSP) space, the differences between enterprise and MSP cybersecurity, and the innovative solutions ConnectWise is bringing to the table. Raffael shares insights on automation, product integration, and the evolving landscape of cybersecurity, including the impact of AI and deep fakes.

Uncle Marv interviews Jason and Rachel Miller, owners of an MSP based in Tennessee. They discuss the challenges of running a successful MSP business, including dealing with vendor issues like the recent Autodesk updater problems. The Millers share insights into their journey, from starting as a residential IT service to transitioning into a full-fledged MSP. They highlight the pivotal moment when they decided to focus solely on business clients, shedding their residential customer base. The conversation also touches on the renovations of their new office building and the financial management strategies they employ.

In this special Saturday edition, Uncle Marv shares interviews recorded at the SuperOps Super Summit in Tampa, Florida. He chats with Arvind Parthiban (CEO of SuperOps), Damo (VP of Products), Chris Cool (a new SuperOps MSP customer), and Juan Fernandez (SuperOps Channel Chief). They discuss the growth of SuperOps, the company's focus on providing an exceptional experience for MSPs, and Chris Cool's journey to joining the SuperOps family.

In this special episode, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the ASCII group, the oldest and largest independent IT community in the world. I'm joined by ASCII's founder and CEO Alan Weinberger, VP of Marketing Alysia Vetter, and longtime member David Stinner from US itek. We discuss the origins of ASCII, how it has evolved over the decades, the value it provides to members, and its exciting plans for the future.

Uncle Marv welcomes back Tim Fitzpatrick from Rialto Marketing to discuss the importance of having a strategic marketing plan before diving into tactics. Tim emphasizes the need to identify your ideal clients by asking three key questions: who do you love working with, who are your most profitable clients, and which clients are you getting the best results for? He then provides a step-by-step process for defining your target market, including analyzing demographics, psychographics, and market viability. The conversation also touches on using AI tools like Perplexity to research where your ideal clients congregate online and offline.

Uncle Marv interviews Rob Rae, Corporate VP of Community and Ecosystems at Pax8, about the upcoming Pax8 Beyond 2024 conference in Denver. They discuss Rob's first year at Pax8, the company's global expansion, marketing efforts, conference highlights, keynote speakers, and the new European conference in Berlin. Rob shares insights on the value of user conferences for MSPs and Pax8's focus on innovation, education, and community.

Florida man Ron Cervantes join us to discuss some of the best "Florida man" tech stories. However, before diving into those tales, I had to rant about the frustrating issues I've been experiencing with my RMM provider, N-able, for the past two days. Their SSO issue prevented me from logging in and remotely supporting clients through their platform, which was a major inconvenience.

Uncle Marv visits the Kaseya headquarters in Miami and interviews Nadir Merchant, the General Manager and Chief Technology Officer for Kaseya's IT Operations suite. They discuss Nadir's role in overseeing products like Autotask, BMS, IT Glue, ConnectBooster, and My IT Process, as well as Kaseya's approach to integrating AI into their offerings.

Uncle Marv shares his experience visiting the Kaseya corporate offices in Miami. He addresses concerns from listeners about the visit and provides insights into Kaseya's products, pricing, and future plans.

Uncle Marv rants about the importance of using proper cable testing tools and the frustration of dealing with subpar work from other service providers. Juan Fernandez from SuperOps joins the conversation, and they discuss the value of time, firing problematic clients, and the mindset shift required for business growth.

Uncle Marv interviews Paul Green, a marketing expert specializing in helping managed service providers grow their business. Paul shares valuable insights on common marketing mistakes MSPs make and strategies to effectively market their services.

Uncle Marv interviews Brook Lee, the new Director of Channel at ScalePad, to discuss her recent career move and her plans in her new role. Brook shares insights into her decision to join ScalePad, her responsibilities, and her goals for supporting MSPs with ScalePad's suite of products.

In this episode of the IT Business Podcast, Uncle Marv sits down with technology lawyer Bradley Gross to discuss the importance of having proper legal agreements in place for managed service providers (MSPs). They dive into a recent high-profile lawsuit involving an MSP and explore the lessons that can be learned from such situations.