Uncle Marv's IT Business Podcast (Real Talk for IT Pros & MSPs)

Using fewer AI tokens doesn’t automatically mean you’re saving money. I sat down with Andre Van der Post, Vice President of Cloud Solutions at TD SYNNEX, at Inspire in Greenville, South Carolina, to talk about FinOps Fusion and what it takes to manage AI spending beyond the token count. We get into infrastructure costs, poorly written prompts, governance, and the opportunity for MSPs to help clien...

Dr. Lorne Lavine, better known as The Digital Dentist, joined me to talk about building an IT business that serves one vertical and serves it well. Before becoming an MSP owner, Lorne practiced periodontics, which gave him a real advantage when he started helping dental offices with technology, software decisions, networks, HIPAA, and cybersecurity. We talked about how he grew through credibility,...

Charlotte Conroy from Recent Communications joins me for a straight conversation about UCaaS, cloud communications, and why MSPs should stop treating phones like the thing they would rather avoid. Her company works alongside MSPs to help clients move from aging phone systems to supported, reliable communications without turning every phone issue into an internal help desk problem. We talk about co...

Lucas Dowd and Kevin Townsend, co-founders of Catalyst Shift, join me to talk about a problem just about every MSP knows too well: the data you need to run the business is scattered across your PSA, RMM, CRM, email, accounting, and other tools. The result is too much manual digging, too many disconnected reports, and not enough time in front of the customer having the conversations that actually m...

I sat down with Andy Syrewicze from Proofpoint to talk about a problem every MSP runs into: Microsoft 365 security looks simple until you start managing it across real client environments. Andy explains how Proofpoint 365 Total Protection, the MSP platform formerly known as Hornetsecurity, brings together email security, Microsoft 365 backup, security awareness training, permission management, DMA...

I sat down with Dave Sobel to talk about why too many MSPs are leaving AI out of their websites, client conversations, and service offerings. We dig into AI governance, shadow AI, Microsoft Copilot, and why simply asking better questions can create real business opportunities. AI is everywhere. It is at every conference, in every vendor presentation, and in every customer conversation. Yet Dave’s...

I had a great conversation with Alex and Mariana of MyPCFriends Cybersecurity, a husband-and-wife MSP team based in Kissimmee, Florida. Their story starts with Alex’s computer engineering and break-fix work in Venezuela, continues through the challenges of rebuilding in the United States, and arrives at a business that is more intentional about managed services, cybersecurity, compliance, and serv...

Tom Bull of Two River Computer joins me for a practical conversation about building an MSP around trust, community, and the work clients actually need. Tom shares how his business grew from computer repair and consulting into managed IT, residential technology, Wi-Fi, smart-home projects, and cybersecurity, all while serving smaller businesses that larger MSPs often overlook. We talk about referra...

Sean Lardo, better known around the channel as Mr. IT Nation, joined me for a special conversation following the announcement of the IT Nation PitchIT 2026 finalists: Lemhi, Synthreo, and Blacksmith InfoSec. After a 16-week competitive cohort built around coaching, refinement, and practice, these three companies are now preparing to take the stage at IT Nation Connect Global in Orlando. === Chapte...

I am catching up on the latest NSITSP activity from August, and there was a lot worth paying attention to. From election and governance updates to advocacy around AI, cybersecurity, right-to-repair, and data centers, I wanted to bring these conversations to the podcast because they affect the business environment MSPs are working in every day. What stood out most to me is that the IT industry need...

I was riding solo for this Wednesday Live Show, and I had something on my mind that every MSP, IT professional, and business owner needs to consider: Can a client access everything their former IT company managed? I recently met with a prospect who believed they had administrative access, but when we sat down and checked, they did not have the level of access needed to manage their Microsoft 365 e...

I had Chris Miller back on the show, and we started with a topic every MSP owner understands: client service. ATB Technologies has built a reputation around keeping customers happy, but Chris was honest about what that really means. Technology still breaks, Microsoft and Azure still have outages, and users can still be frustrated. The difference is how your team responds, communicates, and works t...

Chris Miller did not come into the MSP industry as a lifelong technologist. He came from telecom sales, thought he knew computers because he knew how to use them, and then got a quick education when he had to explain firewalls, switches, and backups to business owners. What I appreciated about Chris is that he did not pretend to know what he did not know. He sat down with an engineer, asked questi...

Brian Weiss from iTech joined me for a real MSP owner conversation, the kind we need more of. We started with what happens when a vendor changes its roadmap and you are suddenly left having to rethink part of your own business. Brian shared how Pax8 winding down its business applications services affected his support plan for Microsoft Dynamics Business Central. The important lesson is bigger than...

I sat down with Cameron Brister from SquarePlanIT to talk about the real-world decisions MSP owners are making right now. AI is changing fast, clients want to use new tools yesterday, and we still have to think about security, permissions, data, and supportability. Cameron makes a great point that we cannot become the department of no, but we also cannot pretend every shiny new tool is ready to ro...

I had a great conversation with Mike Glasman, president of Vitalpoints IT Services in Los Angeles, because he came into the MSP world from a path many of us did not take. Mike spent years in channel and enterprise technology sales, working around major vendors and large solution providers before he became an MSP owner. That background taught him how to get in front of customers, ask better questio...

Matt Forman from The Local Circuit and I sit down for a good old-fashioned MSP catch-up, covering his steady growth, a changing vendor stack, and why automation is helping his team do more without hiring faster than they need to. We also get into practical AI guardrails, ticket triage, and the tools that save real time in the field. We talk through some decisions MSP owners deal with every day: ch...

Shaun Webber, Co-founder & CEO of Spotto, joins the IT Business Podcast to discuss an AI cloud-operations platform built to help MSPs manage and optimize Microsoft Azure environments at scale. Spotto surfaces actionable cost, performance, security, and reliability recommendations, with controlled remediation and automation designed to help providers reduce operational toil and identify service opp...

Aaron Birnbaum, co-founder of Seron Security’s TRaViS ASM, joins the show to discuss an AI-enhanced external attack surface management platform built for proactive cybersecurity. TRaViS helps MSPs identify exposed assets, vulnerabilities, leaked credentials, and shadow IT, then turn that visibility into an actionable security service for clients. Guest: Aaron Birnbaum Website: https://travisasm.co...

Mark Balovnev, CEO of Cyrisma, joins the IT Business Podcast’s PitchIT 2026 series to discuss helping MSPs turn cyber risk and compliance into scalable services. Cyrisma consolidates vulnerability management, asset and data discovery, secure configuration, compliance tracking, and remediation workflows so providers can reduce tool sprawl and better operationalize security services. Guest: Mark Bal...

Romain Basset, co-founder of belfor.io , joins the PitchIT 2026 conversation to discuss a human-risk-management platform built specifically for MSPs. Belfor helps providers deliver white-labeled security awareness content, adaptive phishing simulations, and actionable risk insights through native Microsoft 365 integration and automation. Guest: Romain Basset Website: https://belfor.io/ LinkedIn: h...

Lewis Williams is the Technical Project Manager and founder behind Handover, a PitchIT 2026 company built for MSP delivery teams. Handover connects to HaloPSA and ConnectWise to turn live ticket and project data into client-ready status updates, action logs, risk registers, service reviews, and QBR packs—reducing the manual reporting workload for project and service-delivery teams. Guest: Lewis Wi...

John Harden, Founder & CEO of Lemhi, joins the IT Business Podcast as a PitchIT 2026 participant to discuss turning client AI demand into a repeatable MSP service. Lemhi helps MSPs identify AI opportunities, build client-ready roadmaps, apply governance and enablement, and monitor adoption as an ongoing managed offering rather than a one-off project. Guest: John Harden Website: https://www.lemhi.c...

Danny Suk Brown, President of AppMeetup, joins the PitchIT 2026 series to discuss Nimo , an AI role-play and simulation platform for MSP teams. Nemo helps sales, technical, support, and leadership staff practice real-world client conversations, identify skill gaps, and retain institutional knowledge through repeatable coaching and analytics. Guest: Danny Suk Brown Website: https://getnimo.com/p/ap...

Michael Zbarsky, Co-Founder of Blacksmith InfoSec, joins the show to discuss a Compliance-as-a-Service platform built for MSPs. Blacksmith helps IT providers operationalize client compliance through customizable policies, risk management, security guidance, and a scalable service-delivery framework. Guest: Michael Zbarsky, Co-Founder Website: https://blacksmithinfosec.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.li...