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

Every business owner needs some time away. Six weeks is a long time to walk away, but Tom did it. He was able to leave his business in a place where it could function completely without him. Imagine trying to create an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) Manual for yourself. Tom had to do that in two months. Of course we talked about the business side of being away, but we also discussed the person...

Get a clean and professional website for your IT business. Tech Marketing Engine has a complete toolbox to help with your organic online marketing as well.  Website: https://www.techmarketingengine.com/ =====  Join us in Chicago for Techcon Unplugged: September 16-18, 2022 Tech Marketing Engine was last year's Swag Winner. Can they defend their title?  Techcon Unplugged : https://techconunplugged....

Dark Cubed provides automated threat detection and blocking for your clients.  Dark Cubed: https://darkcubed.com/  Schedule a demo here: https://darkcubed.com/schedule-a-demo-2 Bigfoot Festival: https://hockinghillsbigfoot.com/ =====  Matt Lee's Beard Challenge: https://cybermattlee.com/shave-that-beard Donate here – https://go.cybermattlee.com/gofundme =====  Join us in Chicago for Techcon Unplug...

It's been two years since JB Fowler has been on the show. There have been a lot of new features and integrations added, making Domotz a force in the channel for MSPs.  Some of the new features: Updated and Customizable Monitoring Dashboards Search for endpoints across ALL of your sites Pre-configured SNMP Sensors More integrations... now more than 120 hardware and software integrations ===== Links...

Pay attention to Matt's "two sentence response" about his upcoming session at this year's event. We also have a nice chat on cybersecurity and insurance.  Do you know anyone else in the industry that gets this excited about actuarial data? And finally, someone explains the MSP world with a great sports analogy. Hockey stick vs. Asymptote?  Techcon Unplugged : https://techconunplugged.com/ Use disc...

Local Circuit is a Denton, Texas-based managed service provider specializing in small business technology management and security. Some items in their stack include Cisco Meraki, Unify, Cylance, Mail Protector, Solutions Granted, Synology, Synchro and Pax8. Check out the post-show on YouTube as they share some of their work with municipalities and local police departments. === In the News Apple wi...

Little Meta Sues Big Meta: https://tinyurl.com/3ubxb2eb Florida Man Sued for Using Umbrella at the Beach: https://tinyurl.com/2smtmcw4 === Links from last weeks show: 412 Document How Things Get Done | IT Business Podcast Website: https://www.sweetprocess.com/unclemarv LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sweetprocess/ === Other links for items mentioned in this show Techcon Unplugged : Use...

Guest Owen McGab Enahwo explains how documenting all those repetitive tasks  can free up your time, reduce errors and re-dos. Getting them out of your head and documented gives your business the systemization it needs to scale and grow.  Stop doing everything yourself. If you have to do it twice, document it!  Website: https://www.sweetprocess.com/unclemarv LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/compa...

 In some cases, it means a great deal how you word your proposal to a client. Calling your proposal an estimate, job quote or statement of work (SOW) can mean different things to the client, and to the law.  As estimate is a "guestimate" or an approximation. Estimates are flexible and in most cases, negotiable. A quote provides your client with an exact price for the job or project. Quotes are exa...

I recently gave a client their second strike. One more and we are done. Here's a short list of my customer red flags:  The client is rude and abusive The client doesn't support your worth: always tries to talk me down on price or doesn't have time to meet with me regarding big decisions. If they don't have time for me, I don't have time for them. The client slow pays. The percentages are off. A cl...

In response to the show title being terrible advice. Here is some real things to put on your backup checklist.  Get Email Notifications: Whether you get them or your clients get them, you should choose to get documentation where a backup is successful or fails.  Check the Email: If you get the emails, someone should read them. Or at the very least, make Sure it doesn't go to the spam folder.  Test...

When Jay McBain speaks, people listen!  As Chief Analyst at Canalys, Jay continues his  legendary thought leadership at the world's leading analyst firm with a true focus on channels, partnerships, alliances and ecosystems. We only touched on a few of his predictions: 76% of CEOs think current business model will be unrecognizable The world shifts to subscription and consumption models Distributor...

If you ever have connection issues with a device, use Domotz to check for any packet loss and see the historical ping range. It helped me pinpoint a cable issue that we that was a firewall issue. Whew! Get a Domotz box from Amazon .  I installed Uplevel's Secure Remote Gateway at my house over the weekend. It was much easier than I thought it would be and should be a pretty good option in you have...

Other reviews have claimed that the RT2600 is one of the fastest Wi-Fi routers on the market. My quick review puts the Synology router up against two access points: the Ruckus R710 and an Engenius EWS377APv3.  It's not very scientific, but it works for me to quickly access how a wireless access point works here in south Florida. === Links for items mentioned in this show Synology RT2600ac 4x4 Giga...

As managed service providers (MSPs), we know what phishing is. We know that we should be helping our clients get the proper training to prevent a successful phishing attack. Phin Security helps us get past the challenge of training and make training easier and more pleasant for our clients. === Links for items mentioned in this show Phin Security Website : Channel Only Security Awareness & Phishin...

Ever wonder how Amazon determines when you get your packages? Do you want to get Amazon bucks added to your account simply by changing the days of your delivery? John shares his behind the scenes tips as an Amazon delivery driver.  Oh... and make sure the numbers on your house are legible! === Links for items mentioned in this show Amazon Rewards Chase Visa Card : Endorsed by Paco Lebron smile.ama...

This episode expands on what I mentioned last episode where I helped a fellow MSP with a network discovery audit. I used both the NetAlly EtherScope nXG and a Domotz box to scan the network.  We do a deep dive into my audit and what I provided my client afterwards.  For prospects, you can assure them that you won't need a password to "see" their network. With the EtherScope you can do all this in...

How do you bill a client when they ask you to be available all day, but then you only are onsite with them for a few hours? I explain how I used the Netally Etherscope nXG to help another MSP with a network discovery audit. Please give me your advice for running a virtual server and file server on the same Synology NAS. I also want to mix solid state and NAS drives for each storage pool. Please le...

If you don't have a local recycler, give MSP Disposal a try. They offer pickup just about anywhere in the lower 48  states and make it easy with the new FedEx Freight Box Program. Just like a moving pod, you get a box delivered to you, pack it  then arrange for pickup at your leisure.  For reference, MSP Disposal works with Kaseya, Broadcam and hundreds of MSPs. They also supply "rage rooms" with...

Akarsh shares his journey that was inspired in 2017 and has finally resulted in his speakers being produced and ready for shipment this year.  A major difference in bringing a consumer hardware item to market is the amount of work that goes into creating the concept, coming up with a prototype, and approaching the big boy manufacturers to help produce it.  Some of Akarsh's tips to  getting started...

We start with  the joy of a client visit where we brought in a cable tech to help cleanup a server closet and move about 30 cables from one side of the room to another. Ugh! The show received email from Tom and Diana asking about Synology. Tom wanted to know if Synology could be monitored through N-Able RMM and Diana wanted to hear about Synology features to replace an on-premise server. Looks lik...

Uncle Marv's IT Business Podcast - Presented by NetAlly === Mentioned in this show PitchIT : Join the PitchIT Accelerator Program  to share your innovation that solves a need in cyber security, finance, or another practice area.  Modes Theory Assessment : The Mode Mindset combines how you define success, manage your service delivery offerings, lead your teams, build systems and develop partnership...

Uncle Marv's IT Business Podcast - Presented by NetAlly === Mentioned in this show Nerdio : Ron is currently moving two clients to AWS using Nerdio.  Synology : We talked about using Synology boxes as file servers and backup appliances. Snapshot Replication and Hyber Backup have been our applications of choice. I brought up using the Synology Directory Server  package to setup domain services for...

Uncle Marv's IT Business Podcast - Presented by NetAlly In this podcast, Stan shares some of his tips and philosophies to reaching his goals. Sell product to get service; service makes the most money Bill based on value, not hours. Invest in processes and standardization to work smarter, not harder. It takes the same amount of energy to go after big clients as it does to go after smaller clients....

  === Mentioned in this show Techcon Unplugged : Join me for the 2022 Annual Conference this September in Chicago hosted by techs for techs. NetGuard Plus - Cyber Liability :  Find the different application and renewal forms  The majority of this episode focused on the NetGuard Plus Application that businesses are now getting when they apply for or try to renew their cyber insurance.  Intermedia :...