The MSP Zone

WOM: Medium It has been a longstanding issue at the MSPAlliance that we have standards for the MSP profession. While this may have been a philosophical issue early on, it is no longer merely an academic matter. Today, standards matter.   The UK government is now taking matters into their own hands regarding MSP standards and practices. Why does this matter? Because the UK (and many other governmen...

WOM: Medium The increase of cyber consultants has produced a lot of confusion and not always positive outcomes. But, there is one positive outcome we can point to: general awareness of cybersecurity issues has become more central to our daily discussion as a society.   A recent story about misconfiguration of ServiceNow instances is a great example of how cybersecurity and managed services are ver...

Weaver Outrage Meter (WOM): Medium MSPs have been dealing with scarcity of technical and security talent for many years. The global pandemic and the more recent inflationary pressures have contributed to MSPs paying much higher wages than in previous years. This trend may be coming to an end.   I don't want to suggest that we are entering a phase of wage deflation, but, it seems to me that we have...

In the early days of the managed services profession we saw an incredible amount of misinformation about the role of the MSP. In fact, this was one of the chief reasons the MSPAlliance was created, to address and correct that misinformation.   Today, history seems to be repeating itself. Just like when outsourcing and offshoring were confused with managed services, we are seeing similar confusion...

Weaver Outrage Meter (WOM): Low The importance of cyber insurance should be obvious to most people today. The fact that cyber insurance coverage is being denied to an increasing number of organizations should be 1) a wake up call and 2) an opportunity for MSPs to have important conversations with their clients.   There are some simple yet effective techniques you can employ right now to generate n...

WOM (Weaver Outrage Meter): Medium   Aside from the obvious additional "S", the inclusion of security in MSP is both incorrect and misleading. Looking at the historical evolution of the MSP profession, managed security has been baked into managed IT services from the very early days.   What has changed? MSSPs are now the rage and there is an active campaign taking place to disrupt existing managed...

If you were paying attention during the early and mid 2000s you heard the phrase, “trusted advisor” used quite extensively. Today, some might have you believe that MSPs have lost that trusted advisor status with their clients. I don’t know if this is true, but it does deserve further investigation.   Highlights:   Trusted Advisor History  Impact of Non-MSP “trusted advisors”  How do we solve the t...

Outrage Level - Low A really interesting article about a recent study from CrowdStrike. The premise of the article is that while cyber-attacks surged last year, 62% of those attacks did not involve malware. What does this mean? It means that old-fashioned intrusion methods are still very much alive and well today.    It also means that we should not rely exclusively on malware intrusion defense te...

It's that time of year again…MSPWorld! This episode will focus on all the things that I am excited to see at the upcoming MSPWorld conference. Speakers, sessions, sponsors, and topics I anticipate will be on everyone's mind.     Highlights:   Overview of sessions  Review of this year's sponsors  Analysis of MSP topics   This episode is sponsored by PCMatic: PCMatic.com/MSP

MSPs and customers alike are instrumental in the global fight against cyber attacks. Nobody can win by themselves; both groups are crucial to winning this fight.   This episode will explore what lessons we have learned in the past 12 months regarding the global cybersecurity war and what methodologies are being successfully employed to reduce the  attack surface for cyber threats.   Highlights:  ...

Cloud computing is not a new topic for MSPs. In 2009-10 our profession had an extensive debate around public cloud computing and its impact on MSPs and their clients. Today, it is time we have another discussion about cloud: the post pandemic cloud options for MSPs and their clients.   Highlights:   Current cloud situation  Supply chain impact on private and hybrid cloud  Flexibility for the MSP,...

The stock continues to be volatile, inflation is impacting large sections of our economy, oil prices are rising, and geo-political events are creating uncertainty. And yet, the managed services market remains strong.   There are many reasons why investors and customers are continuing to invest in the managed services sector. In today’s episode, we examine the 2022 economic outlook and provide some...

Cyber insurance has become critically important to our modern business operations. For MSPs, the role of cyber insurance is especially important, both because of the protection it affords the MSP, but also for the protection it offers customers of the MSP. While cyber insurance carriers struggle to understand the complex world of managed IT services, cloud computing, and IT security, some brokers...

Pennsylvania Senate Bill 726 from the 2021 session has passed. Now what? While this bill is not yet law, it is important to understand what is in this law and how it may impact MSPs, particularly those practicing within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.   Highlights:   Bill overview  MSP impact  Analysis and comparison to other MSP legislation  Impact on future legislation  This episode is sponsor...

The role of automation in managed services is not new, however, it has a rough history. MSPs have always recognized the need to scale their operations but have struggled with how to implement automation in a consistent fashion.  Besides the obvious benefits automation can bring to the internal operations of the MSP, there are revenue generating opportunities as well. The same automation practices...

The United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania both took steps recently to pass legislation around managed IT service providers (MSP) and cybersecurity. While these actions by themselves are not concerning, underlying assumptions surrounding the role of the MSP in our modern world should be triggering the alarm bells in every MSP operating throughout the world.   Highlights:   MSPs need t...

Ten years ago, I wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal arguing for a “universal standard” for cloud computing. While a lot has changed in the last decade, the need for standards has not. There are many standards related to Information Technology (IT), but each has its own focus and area of expertise. The same is true for cyber security standards.

The rise of armchair cybersecurity “experts” has accelerated in recent years. Perhaps the industry most impacted by these armchair cybersecurity experts is managed services.   As cyberattacks and threats continue to increase, so do the voices from these “amateur” compliance and security individuals who sometimes place unwarranted and dangerous risk on the MSP they use. Risks such as these must be...

The time has come for MSP protection legislation. MSPs safeguard many thousands of industries throughout the world and they need our support. More importantly, MSPs need the support of our legislative community.   We, at the MSPAlliance, believe that MSP protection legislation will go a long way in fighting the cyber war.   Highlights:   Distinctions between MSPs and break/fix companies  Steps MSP...

Part of the responsibility of being an MSP is to understand what is being said about your profession. The task of observing how "non-industry" people and organizations talk about MSPs is of particular concern, because it can create negative or even false ideas about how we operate.   Sometimes, the content comes in a mixed fashion, where it is not all right, but it is also not entirely wrong. This...

There are many mistakes you should avoid when selecting your MSP. To be honest, the most critical mistakes will differ depending on who you are, your organizational needs, the type of MSP you are talking to, and a few other factors.   Nevertheless, there are some fundamentals we can generally apply whenever you are discussing the engagement of an MSP. I came across an article the other day (author...

When you are exposed to anything long enough, you will become familiar with that thing. In this case, I'm talking about selling managed services. To say that managed services sales and marketing has been a sticking point for many MSPs globally, would be an understatement.   Highlights:   Know your customers  Sell Through Education  Have Defined Products/Services (i.e., Service Catalog)  Document t...

Is inflation having an impact on the MSP market? As undeniable evidence of inflation is being felt, at least in the United States, it was only a matter of time before someone asked the question: is inflation having an impact on MSPs?   Highlights:   Inflation evidence in the general market  Inflationary impact on MSPs; how would it manifest itself?   Should MSPs raise prices? Do MSPs need to raise...

Data processing is an important element of any managed services agreement. The handling of data belonging to clients has never been more critical to the relationship between customer and MSP. Data processing is no longer just a service delivery issue, it is now a contractual one as well.    Join the discussion as MSP Zone explores the various ways in which data processing occurs within a managed s...

Not a month goes by without some analyst firm or consulting agency producing a managed services spending report. You would think, with all these reports forecasting future managed services spending and growth, that there would be an abundance of data for MSPs and consumers. You would be wrong.   The existence of these "managed services analyst reports" provide little to no value whatsoever to the...