Imagine merging your small managed services practice with a larger VAR business and being faced with the prospect of having 45 customers who are used to paying for IT solutions and services only when something breaks. That’s the situation Jason Brunt, CEO of e3 Technical Solutions, found himself in after joining forces with Rick Carpenter, owner of break-fix IT service company Beyond Development, last year.  Continue Reading..

Success is temporary. There are a whole lot of companies that were once dominant and are now faded memories. That was the gist of Josh Linkner’s opening message of at IT Nation 2014, held last week in Orlando. Linkner is a former VAR, venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and author who emphasizes reinvention. While on stage during his keynote, he urged the audience to take on the role of disruptor by innovating...  Continue Reading..

If you follow my writing, you know that I’m a big fan of the recurring revenue model. You’ll also know that to be successful in that model, you have to be running efficiently. Automation tools are a great way to help in that regard. While at IT Nation 2014, I had an opportunity to meet with Kent McNall, CEO of Quosal, a quotation and proposal automation tool. If you care about being more efficient, while appearing more...  Continue Reading..

IT Nation attendees last week were treated to a sneak peek of new and upcoming features and enhancements to the ConnectWise platform. The company’s CEO, Arnie Bellini, and his team spent time walking the 2,400 attendees through the most significant enhancements of version 2015.1. Here’s my quick overview of the highlights...  Continue Reading..

When the RSPA (Retail Solutions Providers Association) announced that Chip Heath, co-author of business best-sellers Switch and Made to Stick, would be the featured speaker for the INSPIRE 2015 conference, I was super excited. To be able to spend a couple days with one of the world’s leading minds in business is a rare opportunity. And to do that at the Grand Wailea Resort in Maui makes it even better.  Continue Reading..

“Thought leadership” is a phrase thrown around rather casually by companies and marketers, especially in the IT channel. True thought leadership includes having genuine, original ideas and then presenting those concepts to everyone in your constituency.  Continue Reading..

I really liked the slide titled “The MSP Evolution” presented by Shannon Mayer (pictured), the channel engagement manager for LogMeIn, at the ASCII Success Summit in Atlantic City on October 23.  Continue Reading..