The news is filled with stories about horrible attacks against corporate and government networks. It’s almost enough to make administrators for small and mid-sized networks give up.

But it’s important to note not all of these attacks are the same. There’s a vast difference, for example, between the incredibly sophisticated long-term attacks against high-profile companies and government agencies, and the mere smash-and-grab attacks.

In June 2015, we learned attackers had carried out the massive theft of highly sensitive data from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), essentially the human resources department for the US federal government.

The attack has been blamed on the Chinese government. And while there were almost certainly things that could have been done to detect the attack earlier, it probably couldn’t have been prevented. The attackers were well-resourced, patient, and had an exceptionally valuable target.

On the other hand, in March 2018, the city of Atlanta suffered a more typical sort of attack: ransomware. Ransomware attacks have also crippled hospitals in several countries and companies around the world.

Not all hacks are the same

The difference between the OPM attack and these ransomware attacks is like the difference between a sophisticated bank heist and a thug smashing the window of a jewelry store to grab whatever they can.

To stop a sophisticated heist, banks deploy complex alarm systems and 24×7 monitoring. They use vaults with timed locks that can’t be opened after-hours.

To stop a smash-and-grab thief, the solutions are simpler: things like shatterproof glass, cameras, and alarms.

In both cases, the companies think about the likely attack scenarios and the motivations of the attackers, then defend against them appropriately. We need to do the same when defending networks against attackers.

If you have something of great value to defend, you should probably deploy a vast, sophisticated, and expensive security infrastructure.

If you’re worried more about ransomware smash-and-grab attacks, the defenses are simpler.

Protecting clients against ransomware smash-and-grabs

The first thing to do is to determine the likely attack vectors. In the case of ransomware, the malware will probably come in through either an email attachment or some sort of web download.

You can cover the email vector fairly easily using a cloud-based or on-premises email scanning tool. I generally recommend the cloud-based tools because they’re very easy to deploy and reasonably inexpensive. If you’re using a cloud-based email system such as Microsoft Office365, there may already be some attachment scanning enabled. Or you may be able to enable it for a modest additional monthly cost.

Covering the web download vector is much harder because the content of most web sessions is encrypted using SSL/TLS. Just having a good scanning tool inline with your internet circuit isn’t actually sufficient unless it’s also decrypting your content. But, once again, there are some good cloud-based web proxies that can help with this problem.

Then, if you can force all your web-browsing traffic through a cloud-based proxy, you can put a rule on your firewall that blocks all web traffic that isn’t directed through the cloud proxy service provider. This helps prevent malware from calling back home for instructions or to download additional code.

That covers the entry points.

The next thing you need to do is to try to detect the malware as soon as it hits a user’s workstation. For this you need some sort of endpoint protection software that uses a combination of anti-virus signatures and behavioural heuristics to detect when software starts doing something that looks hostile.

Remember that we’re trying to prevent smash-and-grab type attacks, not sophisticated government spies. Most of the malware in circulation uses pretty basic tricks that can be spotted quickly with the right tools.

And finally, because you can’t cover everything, you need to be able to recover quickly from the damage these attacks can cause. That means backups.

There are many ways to do backups. Again, some are cloud-based. The critical thing with backups is that some ransomware variants have started looking for backup software and trying to destroy the backups at the same time as they destroy your live systems. So it’s worthwhile having a talk with the provider of your backup software to make sure your backups can’t be destroyed from an infected workstation.

None of the solutions I’ve described need to be prohibitively expensive, and there are multiple vendors in each of these spaces.

Remember that everybody faces exactly the same set of challenges, which means you don’t need to invent anything here. The tools exist and many of them are available as cloud-based subscription services.

The post Not All Hacks Are the Same, Plan Your Network Defenses Accordingly appeared first on Auvik Networks.

Part of owning a client network—taking full responsibility for it—is providing strategic guidance, guidance that makes sure the network is evolving over time to continually meet the client’s needs and goals.

But just telling a client they need a new switch or firewall typically doesn’t cut it. You might know they need it but without context, all the business hears is that you’re trying to sell them new gear.

You need to show your client why they need new or different gear, and how the upgrade is necessary for their business.

That’s where Auvik comes in.

First, Auvik helps you identify network devices that are no longer fit for purpose

With Auvik’s real-time network map and inventory, you have constant visibility into device health and network performance.

Crystal Sharpe at Next I.T. says Auvik has been invaluable:

You get a plethora of really essential network information. We’ve been able to pinpoint bandwidth hogs, dead or dying ports on switches, and uncover devices we never even knew existed.

Auvik also alerts you to spikes in network device utilization, high bandwidth, and more. These alerts can point to a device that needs replacing.

Since the network typically supports your client’s entire business, it’s risky to wait until a network device crashes to replace it. Downtime is extremely costly—and it doesn’t inspire client confidence.

Gareth Johns at Business Computer Solutions (BCS) admits that before Auvik, his team was often responding after the fact:

Generally, most of the network gear gets left alone because it’s working—until the thing stops and then we deal with it in a very reactive, not very managed service provider-y way.

By using Auvik to monitor infrastructure and automatically maintain a device inventory, MSPs can evolve client networks proactively instead of reactively.

Next, Auvik gives you the business case to evolve the client network

Donni Ulgade at Cadan Technologies is one of many partners who use Auvik to explain to clients why they should invest money to keep network infrastructure up to date:

Network devices are typically pretty solid. But they still need to be replaced, they need firmware updates, monitoring. So that’s probably the biggest Auvik value-add—you can see the asset inventory and leverage that on sales calls: ‘It looks like your switches are 5 years old. It’s time to replace them.’

Auvik also allows you to anticipate changes well in advance of the client actually needing them. This means the client can work expenses into their budget for future quarters, rather than being hit with a surprise outlay when a device fails.

Gareth Johns at BCS continues:

Auvik is the evidence to be able to sell the business benefit. You can tell the customer, ‘Can you put us in a thousand bucks to replace that switch next year?’ Not just ‘your switch is old,’ but, ‘Here’s some evidence of the bandwidth spikes that are now limiting your ability to be able to use that network.’

And what happens when you proactively ensure client networks are up to date and fit for purpose? You own that network and that client.

The post Auvik Use Case #16: Making the Business Case for Evolving a Client Network appeared first on Auvik Networks.

When I’m speaking to the owners of IT solution provider and managed service provider (MSP) businesses, they often lament how their business would be a lot easier to run if their employees shared their work ethic.

“I really need to clone myself about a dozen times!” they say.

They’re referring to the frustrations they experience with things such as:

• Engineers incorrectly logging the time they’ve spent on tickets
• Staff not following checklists and processes accurately
• Employees not working towards training and certification goals

… and so on.

Anybody who has run an MSP business will recognize these frustrations. As a former MSP owner myself, I certainly do.

But rather than sympathize too much with an MSP owner in this situation, I ask them a simple question: Do you follow these processes yourself?

When the response comes back as a sheepish “Not always,” I remind them of the importance of leading by example.

The problem with ‘do as I say, not as I do’

Why should your employees follow the systems and processes you’ve set out if you, as the business owner, don’t yourself?

It’s not enough to say “I’m the boss. Do as I say!” Experience tells us people simply don’t respect this approach.

• If you don’t correctly log the time you’re spending on tickets, why should your engineers?
• If your business processes are drawn up to help everyone in the business, what impression does it give when you don’t follow those processes?
• If you as the business owner aren’t setting yourself targets for professional development, why do you think your staff would?

Being “the boss” isn’t enough. Your business isn’t a dictatorship where you can tell people to follow the rules—but you’re exempt from them.

Why you need to lead by example

Let’s look at the most common frustration expressed by MSP owners: They can’t motivate their service desk engineers to log their time in the ticketing system.

A lack of recorded time leads to poor reporting and an inability to measure client profitability. It also makes tracking trends and analyzing client improvements very difficult.

When I ask most MSP owners whether they log their own time though, they typically say no. They expect their employees to track where they spend their time, but don’t believe the rule applies to them.

I’ve heard many excuses from MSP business owners on why they can’t record their time:

• My time can’t be recorded in a ticket.
• It’s impossible to measure time spent on sales activities.
• I’m far too busy doing the work to record my time!

Do any of these excuses match up to any of the objections you’ve heard from engineers on why they don’t log their time? They look suspiciously similar, don’t they?

But do you believe that your engineers’ time can’t be recorded in a ticket, or that they can’t effectively track their time helping clients?

Of course you don’t. And one way to demonstrate this to your engineers is to lead by example.

Some examples of leading by example

In practical terms, what does it mean to lead by example as an MSP owner?

Consider implementing the following structure to the time you spend in your business:

• Raise tickets for the day-to-day activities you complete within your business, whether they’re admin tasks, finances, sales, HR, or anything else.
• Record the time you spend on those tickets, in real-time.
• Allow others to see what you’re spending your time on and why.

The results of leading by example

As a result of these types of leading by example, the changes in attitudes I’ve seen from staff can be dramatic.

• If the leader of the business—with all his or her challenges—can log their time effectively, there’s no excuse for me not to do so.
• If the leader of the business can follow the rules, then what excuse do I have for not aspiring to the same standard?
• If the leader of the business—even with a focus on sales, marketing, and leadership—can consistently make time for personal development and certifications, why can’t I?

Good leaders lead by example. They don’t ask their staff to do anything they wouldn’t be comfortable doing themselves.

The next time you become frustrated with your employees, consider the example you’re setting. Are you behaving the way you’d like your staff to? If not, why not?

The post Why You Need to Lead By Example as an MSP Owner appeared first on Auvik Networks.

In this edition of News That Makes the Channel Cringe, a new Sophos report reveals IT pros can’t identify almost half (45%) of the traffic flowing through their networks.

The Dirty Secrets of Network Firewalls study, which included the responses of 2,700 mid-size business IT leaders, goes on to say 25% can’t identify over 70% of total network traffic. That’s a massive blind spot, especially with mounting concerns over cybersecurity.

The network is what keeps your clients connected. Not only is it challenging to support the network if you don’t know what’s on there, but unknown traffic can serve clients a blow that devastates their business. And if you’re responsible for your clients’ security, that blow could devastate you too.

Why is this network traffic blindspot a thing?

When people use the word firewall, they’re referring to a general category of device without distinguishing between old generation and new generation devices.

The traditional firewall is an early 1990s technology, and it really focuses on Layer 3 and 4 of the OSI stack. It was built before the internet as we know it today existed. Back then, you could pretty much rely on the well-known ports to carry the protocols they were assigned to. For example, port 80 was for HTTP web traffic only.

The belief that a traditional stateful inspection firewall is the be all and end all of security is outdated.

Network gear and configurations have evolved over the past 20 years. Traditional firewalls don’t provide good insight into how traffic flows today through complex networks formed by advanced network devices. When analyzing traffic, they say, ‘This is where you’re from, and this is where you’re going. Should I let you through?’ There’s no context to the actual content within the packets.

The next level up is adding signature-based tools to the traditional firewall. These firewalls say, ‘Let’s actually look at the content of that traffic. Does it contain a pattern that’s known to be bad?’

We’ve now taken a giant leap into looking at the traffic itself. The problem is the firewall must have seen a malicious pattern before to recognize that it’s bad.

As the Sophos report says, “Network firewalls with signature-based detection are unable to provide adequate visibility into application traffic due to a variety of factors such as the increasing use of encryption, browser emulation, and advanced evasion techniques.”

Unsurprisingly, uncatalogued patterns were one of the biggest risks identified in the Sophos report, in which 48% of respondents said the number-one firewall enhancement they’d like is better protection.

Erase the blind spot with a next-gen firewall

Enter the next level up: a next-gen firewall. You might know it as a UTM (unified threat management) device or another name. There are a ton of different marketing terms, but in short, what I mean is devices that look at Layer 7 traffic and do deeper inspection into the packets by using behavior-based data.

Some behavior-based firewalls also offer sandboxing, which can live in the cloud to reduce bandwidth consumption. In this case, the firewall would say, ‘Here’s the traffic. I’m just going to play that traffic back and see what happens, then analyze the result and either allow or disallow the traffic.’

The problem is, as functionality increases beyond the basics, so do complexity and price. That’s why many smaller businesses don’t use next-gen firewalls—they can’t always afford them.

In the past, it may also have seemed like overkill to use UTM functions on a small client. But it’s the only way to get the best protection. Small and mid-sized companies are increasingly being targeted for attack, and are also suffering collateral damage in broader attacks.

If your smaller clients can’t afford to upgrade their firewalls, you can still help them increase their protection by adding UTM software licences on existing boxes. Then at least they’ve got a base level of behavior-based protection that’s a giant leap from 1990s tech.

Justifying the investment in a firewall upgrade

The Sophos report found that, on average, technicians spend seven working days per month fixing 16 infected machines—which is an inefficient use of time.

Investing in behavior-based firewalls reduces the amount of billable time you need to use to remediate network traffic issues and security concerns. And, since behavior-based firewalls provide event-based alerts, you won’t need to spend hours monitoring and analyzing the traffic yourself.

To persuade clients to purchase those UTM software licences or new firewalls, you could explain that every hour you spend doing traffic monitoring, traffic analysis, and remediation tasks takes time away from other services.

Another way to position the investment in behavior-based detection is that it’s like an insurance policy. It reduces risk and decreases the number of infections for your client. Just be careful—even behavior-based firewalls aren’t a guarantee against a breach. So make sure your service contracts are structured to minimize your legal liability.

The post Why Your Client’s Firewall May Not Be Up to the Task of Network Security appeared first on Auvik Networks.

Your MSP’s financial situation can be a thorny subject to discuss with employees, especially when it comes to things like salaries. But sharing certain numbers with staff can inspire and motivate, ultimately leading to business growth.

“Usually when businesses are trying to grow, the owners end up doing most of the strategy. They want to hand off some of that authority so they can move onto bigger things, but they do that without handing off the responsibility for driving financial numbers inside the business,” says Brad Schow, the COO of HTG Peer Groups.

He says owners shield staff from the finances because they don’t want employees understanding how much money the business is making. But without insight into the wider financial situation, employees can make incorrect assumptions about how much they’re earning compared to what the owners are pocketing.

And if MSP owners aren’t transparent about the company’s financials, the consequence could be stunted growth, says Schow. “Usually the businesses that get mature enough to understand the financial makeup of their business—and to educate not only the managers but the entire company—are the ones that tend to do better.”

That’s because if staff don’t understand the financial baseline, they can’t make decisions that boost margins or reduce costs.

For example, says Schow, “If you want me to be in charge of the service team and I don’t have access to how much we’re being paid for service or how much we’re spending on service, every time I make a decision I have to get approval from somebody else because I don’t have visibility as to whether we can afford it.”

Creating a culture of financial transparency

In addition to streamlining decision-making, financial transparency can shift employee doubts into a culture of trust.

Being open “gets rid of tension that you should be compensated more. If you go to work every day and you’re thinking, ‘For every hour I get $25 and the owner gets $75. How come I can’t have a raise?’ Eventually that builds and over time, it can be a cultural issue.”

That’s why, once you have open books, it’s vital to educate employees about the meaning behind those financials to avoid misconceptions . “If you’re an average tech and you’re making anywhere from $40,000 to $80,000. If you hear your business is a $5-million company with 10% EBITDA, that’s $500,000 a year in profit. You’re thinking, ‘Well, why can’t I have a $20,000 raise?’”

Through education, employees learn the broader business context. “For a $500,000 business, the payroll alone in that business—if you have a bad month or two—that $500,000 is gone. There’s no profit, and if you don’t have anything in the bank, the owner has to start either getting personal loans or financing to keep the business going himself.”

How to introduce financial transparency

An MSP owner can’t suddenly go from sharing no financials to sharing everything without the risk of employees misunderstanding the numbers. Schow suggests shifting from closed to open books over time by following these steps.

1. Owner receives financial education

   “Make sure you’re educated on good financials in the IT industry and what that looks like.” He recommends the book The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack and Bo Burlinhgam.

2. Pick a good teacher

   “Not everybody can communicate in a way that will get people to understand. Whether it’s you or somebody else, find a good teacher.”

3. Begin with a small group

   “Start with your key leaders and learn how to teach them how to understand this. Then begin to roll it out into the broader company.”

4. Don’t tell everyone everything

   If given the full book, employees could uncover the salaries of peers and superiors, which isn’t any of their business, says Schow. To avoid this, lump together admin expenses and display each category as a percentage.

   Of course, the managerial level should have greater insight. “I would hope managers would have visibility into the salaries of the people that are working for them. But we don’t want to share that level of detail with the entire staff.

   “So maybe lump it into the COGS across the entire department, including all tools and payroll, so there’s no way for them to back out their salary and figure out what everyone else is making.”

5. Share the important numbers

   The most important figures to share with employees are revenue and margin, says Schow. “Your business could lose money because you’re spending too much on rent, cars, and insurance. You can eat up an entire company’s profit even if they’re really great at selling things and delivering service profitably if you’re not watching general and admin expenses.”

Schow says the end result of financial transparency is happier employees and reliable growth. “In general, the more you strategically share financial information, the better your chances of successfully growing your business. The healthier the company is financially, the better everybody feels about working there.

You don’t want to be working for a company that doesn’t look like they’re making money.”

The post Being Transparent About Financials Can Lead to Growth for Your MSP appeared first on Auvik Networks.

Artificial intelligence is a hot topic these days. If it’s starting to seem like something you can’t get away from, there’s a reason for that. Artificial intelligence (AI) is making sweeping changes in the way everyone is doing business, and nowhere more so than in the IT industry.

Managed service providers (MSPs) are feeling the impact of AI use, mostly when it comes to the power of chatbots. Chatbots are an incredible way for MSPs to save time and money when it comes to the lower levels of their customer support. Well-programmed bots can take the burden off techs and your support staff when it comes to answering simple questions and troubleshooting common issues. By no means do they replace the need for more complex support offered by human experts, but they can help take the burden of the simple stuff off your staff, allowing them to focus on the bigger issues.

Jetsons or Terminators?

I’ve talked before about how technology will impact our future, whether we’re looking at a bleak future controlled by robot overlords or a tech-infused life of innovative simplicity. As I said then, “’It’s clear that technology will be what paves our path to the future, but what will that future look like? Will it be a Terminator-like future, where an all-powerful technology force controls the world for evil? People are scared to find themselves up against a Skynet-esque entity set on removing the threat of humanity from the world. That may be an extreme example, but there is certainly a school of thought that technology will continue to make us less connected, more self-centered.”

Technology is a tool, only as good as the people who wield it, so of course there will be people who misuse it, but I don’t believe that’s the direction of technology as a whole. AI is going to become an integral part of how we make our lives and our businesses easier. By connecting our chatbots with our time tracking software, our ticketing solutions, and more, we can turn a chatbot conversation into a time-tracked support session that’s recorded in the corresponding customer ticket. A problem tracked, solved, and billable without needing a tech to get on the phone or to roll a truck.

Predicting the future

There’s no AI to do that yet, but I believe that we’re headed toward a positive future where technology will continue to make us better. As the role of CIO becomes a major player in the business of tomorrow, technology helps us all prepare for the flexibility of this new model. AI will play a key role in helping us all scale our businesses and communications into the cloud as the internet continues to connect everyone instantaneously to the information they’re looking for.

Pocket assistants

Just look at systems like Alexa, Cortana, and Siri. Compared to newer technologies, these simple phone-based AI’s may not seem like anything incredible. But we’re all walking around with a pocket-sized assistant who can answer our questions, search the internet on our behalf, perform complex calculations, and order our toilet paper when it’s running low. The way I see it, that’s pretty incredible, and I’m excited that it’s just the first vanguard of what’s to come with AI technology. These AI systems still rely on human-created lists of options to answer their questions.

“After an afternoon of interviewing Siri, it turns out there are millions of questions that it can’t or won’t answer,” says a recent Guardian article. That’s a pretty serious limitation for an AI we’ve come to rely on as all-knowing. These people-programmed systems are already a tremendous help, but aren’t as flexible as newer options being developed. Siri can’t handle uncertainty, Alexa doesn’t work well with probability. Smarter systems coming down the line will be better able to fill in the blanks, ask the right questions, and be even better prepared to help.

Service delivery relief

As these technologies continue to advance, MSPs will have a growing number of opportunities to implement AI as another layer of support that helps customers experience smoother, more immediate service delivery. Customers will find solutions faster, your customer satisfaction ratings will increase, and it will all happen with a complex AI that takes the pressure off of your overworked help desk team.

As AI solutions become more complex, you’ll be able to rely on them to spot patterns in one task that could be applied to another with a few shifts, and you’ll be gaining efficiencies automatically. It’s an exciting new world and I, for one, am looking forward to it.

The post What Artificial Intelligence Means for MSPs appeared first on Auvik Networks.

In a crowded MSP market, you need ways to differentiate yourself from the competition.

As former MSP Charles Loves points out, “When you compare MSPs, the look and feel of the offering is often the same. So when the customer tries to compare MSP A, B, and C, what are the real differentiators they can leverage?”

You don’t want to end up in a situation where dropping prices is the only way to edge out firms with similar offerings. (According to CompTIA’s 2017 IT Industry Outlook, the biggest barrier to MSPs maximizing profit is pricing pressure.)

Offering discounts to win business is a race to the bottom you don’t want to be in.

Instead, you can differentiate your firm with managed network services backed by Auvik’s deep network insights.

Win the head-to-head battle—without compromising on price

Jason Whitehurst, the owner of NoctisIT, beat out a larger MSP in a client bid by proving he had a higher level of network insight.

Our most recent conversion had a quote from a company which is much bigger than us. I immediately installed Auvik, and I used it to show them the issues they were having with their infrastructure. Using Auvik as a selling tool has been significant in building the trust with the decision maker.

Even though Jason’s quote was higher than the larger MSP’s, NoctisIT won.

They still came in with us because, as they put it, ‘You showed us you had the resources to really know what was going on in our infrastructure.’

Stand out from all the others

Charles Love, previously the director of service delivery at Untangled Solutions, says MSPs all look the same to customers. Network monitoring is how you can stand out.

In most cases, the quotes look the same, the tickets look the same, and the levels of service are the same. I feel one really good differentiator is network monitoring—I mean real network monitoring. It’s one thing to check a box that says you monitor network devices. It’s another thing to actually do it.

Land the whole account

Robinson Roca from BBH used to share a client with a competitor. BBH managed the network devices, while the competitor was responsible for the desktops and servers. But Robinson was able to earn the endpoint business away from his competitor because of Auvik’s seamless integrations.

After we presented how our RMM platforms roll up into a single pane of glass and offered deeper feature integrations, BBH was asked to begin monitoring all aspects of the [IT environment]. We won this whale of a deal because Auvik rolled up into our ticketing system.

Get out ahead of network issues—and competitors

Martin Hynes from BCS says the proactive network monitoring they can deliver with Auvik gives the firm a distinct competitive advantage.

In some instances we can actually find out an issue before a client has perceived it on their site. And being able to go to a client and phone them up and say we’ve identified an issue, we’ve had to go through these steps, and now you should be okay—in terms of customer satisfaction, it’s something that’s a massive point of difference for us.

The post Auvik Use Case #14: Differentiate Your MSP Services With Network Monitoring & Management appeared first on Auvik Networks.

When it’s time to add or rework a wireless network for a client, a lot of little things need to line up for the venture to be successful. It’s not enough to simply have an SSID in the air, and if you’re not careful, you risk disrupting your client’s business and damaging your reputation.

Though not every business has the same focus, when it comes to Wi-Fi there are a common set of concerns. Make sure these bases are covered.

Remember wireless is just one part of the network

Networks exist to let devices talk to each other using applications. That simple formula implies a lot, even in smaller business settings. Wireless networks tend to be extensions of wired networks, and a slew of important services and factors come into play to make the entire ecosystem function right:

1. Internet connectivity needs to be of sufficient capacity to support wired and wireless clients that will be talking to destinations beyond the client’s own network. Skimp here and too-small pipes will make it feel like the entire network is struggling.
2. Network wiring is easy to take for granted but so important to a high-performance network. It’s might be tempting to cut corners when you need to run wiring between a router or switches and the field devices—like wireless access points. But given that most access points are likely to be powered by PoE and uplinked at a Gig, it’s important the cable be recognized as a component in its own right and installed accordingly.
3. Keep things isolated that shouldn’t share network space. You don’t want wireless guests on the same VLAN or SSID as your client’s point-of-sale terminals, for example. Make sure the wireless environment isn’t creating a security situation as it comes to life.
4. DHCP addresses can be easy to screw up. Too small of an address pool or lease times that last days can make for exhaustion (no available DHCP leases) which means no other devices can connect until one of the other leases expires. Make sure you have a generous pool, on the order of twice the number of maximum expected clients. And keep the lease durations no longer than 8-12 hours, even shorter if you have a lot of transient client devices.

Don’t go crazy with captive portal stuff

If you want to get a page in front of your client’s wireless guests that thanks them for visiting and conveys some simple terms of service, that’s fine. But load that page up with ads, demand people’s social networking credentials, or push a page that acts wonky on certain browsers and you’ll only irritate their users.

What about “loyalty programs” that help pay for the WLAN? It’s risky territory, and if your clients choose that route, make sure you keep it easy to use and lightly invasive at worst.

If you’re uncomfortable with how the program partner handles the data collected on your clients, advise them to say no despite the financial appeal. And never put the client’s own employees behind a wireless captive portal.

One AP for a big space isn’t a design

Sometimes small business doesn’t equal small space, and trying to squeeze coverage out of a single access point can be problematic. Many businesses try to get away with a single AP because it can be difficult to get wiring to distant rooms, floors, or even buildings.

Whether you creatively employ point-to-point bridging, Ethernet-over-Power, or pay someone to run cable in challenging scenarios, it’s important to do what needs to be done under the heading of network distribution to extend the WLAN properly.

Mesh networking might provide benefits here, but if not done properly can be as big of a headache as not having enough APs. Put in too many access points, and you can self-interfere to the point where you’re right back to having poor performance.

Defaults are never good, and update at least annually

Networking equipment from any vendor tends to ship with a slew of administrative services and protocols that may or may not be needed to keep a network running.

It’s not uncommon to look right past the default settings when you bring up new gear, as the focus tends to be on what features you need rather than those you don’t. But routers, access points, switches, and even client devices like printers and digital video recorders can be exploited through those unused services to cause major security issues.

This is a concern for networks of all sizes. Other than disabling the features you don’t need, all of your network equipment should be audited for available software/firmware updates at least once a year. Better vendors provide security patches along with new features, and the administrative overhead of keeping up in this regard is just the cost of doing business.

Ignorance isn’t bliss

The best networks just work. They work so well that nobody using them needs to wonder about the specifics. In fact, clients shouldn’t even notice the Wi-Fi is working well because that’s the only reality they know.

If you can get to that point, you’ve done everything right. But you still need to be paying attention. From utilization to applications in use to CPU and memory, the network only stays healthy if you stay on top of things. Use good monitoring tools to spot trouble before it hits.

The post Don’t Let These Wi-Fi Pitfalls Trip You Up appeared first on Auvik Networks.

The MSP world is competitive. Becoming Auvik certified is one way you can differentiate your skills and stand out in the industry.

Staff from Auvik partner MSPs who successfully complete Auvik’s new certification program earn an Auvik Certified Professional (ACP) designation. Here are four reasons you’ll want to grab your ACP badge this summer.

1. You’ll turbocharge your professional profile

   
   When you successfully complete the training, you receive a formal certificate verifying you passed. You’ll also get some nifty badges you can download and add to your LinkedIn profile or company website to make you stand out.

   Completing the certification cements your value and expertise. Adding the logo to your signature line is a great way to formally declare, “I know how to efficiently and productively manage networks.” And that’s something to be proud of.

2. You’ll learn Auvik tips and tricks

   There’s always something new to learn, and you could get some time- or money-saving tips by refreshing yourself with the training and completing the exam.

3. You’ll be a trusted network manager

   The network is the connection to everything businesses need to operate. And your MSP needs to keep client networks up and running so they stay productive and happy. As an ACP, you prove you can be the trusted technician responsible for managing that connection.

4. You’ll be automatically entered in Auv-toberfest 2018

   If you successfully become an ACP before August 30, you’ll automatically have a chance to win a free trip to the biggest Oktoberfest outside Germany. The Auv-toberfest 2018 grand prize includes round-trip airfare, accommodations, meals, and tickets to a city-wide party for two (2) people.

Getting started

As an Auvik partner, you don’t have to spend hours learning something new. The testing complements the training videos and materials you already have access to in the Auvik partner portal. Simply formalize those skills by becoming an Auvik Certified Professional—the test should only take a couple hours to complete.

If you haven’t completed the Auvik training materials, don’t fret! It should only take a few hours to get into gear and study.

For more information about the program, visit our certification FAQ. To be notified when Auvik certification testing goes live this summer, go here.

The post 4 Reasons to Earn Your Auvik Certified Professional Designation appeared first on Auvik Networks.

Last week, the Auvik crew travelled to DattoCon 2018. Here are some of the highlights.

DattoCon 2018

ChannelPro Network reported that DattoCon “drew over 1,600 MSP partners from 25 countries… making it the largest open ecosystem MSP event in the industry.”

The event took place in Austin, Texas, a city with a reputation for being creative and laid back. With Austin also being the first name of Datto CEO Austin McChord, opportunities abounded to have some fun with the conference vibe.

Keep Austin weird! / far right photo: Focus Data Solutions

Austin kicked things off with a recap of Datto’s commitment to MSPs, a look at some new product launches, and the announcement that Autotask AEM is now called Datto RMM.

Datto CEO Austin McChord

Is that a polar bear on the DattoCon main stage? Why, yes. Yes. it is.

Alex Hoff, Auvik VP of product & sales, on stage at DattoCon 2018

Each DattoCon sponsor got 30 seconds to deliver a pitch or tidbit of information. Auvik’s VP of product and sales donned the bear suit to tell a story of an MSP who was locked in a server room by their client. Unfortunately, Alex ran out of time before he could finish. You’ll hear him get the buzzer in the video below. sad trombone

Not to worry though! Right after the quick fire round was Alex’s breakout session on how to own your clients’ networks, where Alex finished the story. Folks were lined up at the door to attend, and inside it was a full house.

Lined up out the door to see the Own the Network breakout session from Alex hoff

In the afternoon, Robert Herjavec—perhaps best known for his appearances as an investor on TV’s Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank—delivered a well-received keynote.

photo credit: Darren Mak

On Tuesday night, Auvik, ID Agent, and Duo rented a boat to take 100 attendees on a bat tour! The underside of the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin is home to million of Mexican bats, who migrate to the city in spring.

Armed (faced?) with bat masks, the crowd watched as the bats poured out in a wave at sunset. An amazing sight! Fun fact: 90% of the bats under the bridge are pregnant females.

Bat masks on the bat boat!

Approaching the bridge, waiting for sunset and the bats to emerge

A stream of bats as sunset approaches

No DattoCon would be complete without an epic disaster demo. As TSG Ltd. reports:

“Two firefighters came onto the stage and cut the server and then an appliance in half, then recovered virtual machines not once, but twice. Once using the Datto appliance and once using the Datto cloud DR. They were also brave/confident (delete as appropriate) enough to run the presentation from the recovered VMs in the cloud.”

photo credit: TSG Ltd.

Then came the moment that many had been waiting for—the Richard Branson keynote. At the beginning of the session, Richard walked over and removed Austin’s tie to make the discussion less formal. Austin then pulled out a “back up” tie. Good one, Austin!

photo credit: Richard Thompson

The final day of the conference wrapped up with an Auvik Arcade, where MSPs could hang out with a polar bear ice sculpture (naturally!), try their hand at a number of video and interactive games, and ham it up in the photo booth.

Photo booth fun at DattoCon 2018

Poutine, eh?

For a grand finale, the Spazmatics took the stage for a great concert. That bear—he’s everywhere.

The post Branson, Bat Boat, and the Bear: DattoCon 2018 Photo Recap appeared first on Auvik Networks.

Last week, an Auvik crew travelled to Orlando, Fla., for Automation Nation 2018. Here are some of the highlights.

(At the same time, Auvik also had a team in Austin, Texas, for DattoCon. Check out our photo recap of that show as well.)

Welcome to the Bonnet Creek Resort in Orlando. Even a VIB (very important bear) has to stand in the hotel check-in line sometimes.

The theme of the conference was TEAM. Hey look, that’s us on the right.

photo credit: ConnectWise

ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini made an appearance, of course.

photo credit: ConnectWise

Auvik’s Channel Programs Manager Sam Lowe gave a breakout session to a packed room on how MSPs can own their client networks.

Auvik announced the launch of our certification program. Partners can now earn the Auvik Certified Professional designation. Check out that shirt!

L to R: Sam Lowe, Ashley Cooper, Sarah Cunningham-Scharf

This is a pretty great shirt too, available to attendees courtesy of ConnectWise.

photo credit: Doug Hazelman

Nanook got to hang out with the Automate robot and the ConnectWise owl. What a lineup of superheroes!

Everyone wants their photo taken in a bear suit. (Don’t you?)

The bear is everywhere!

Auvik’s Technical Sales Director Steve Petryschuk led a hands-on Auvik lab to another full room.

And we topped off the show with our Auvik Oktoberfest hats at the pub crawl. The hats were part of our Auv-toberfest promotion, unveiled at the show. Any partner who earns their Auvik certification before August 30 is automatically entered to win an all-expenses paid trip to Oktoberfest in Auvik’s hometown of Waterloo, Ontario—it’s the biggest Oktoberfest celebration in the world outside of Germany.

People who aren’t partners yet can still enter by booking and attending an Auvik demo before August 30. Prost!

See you next year!

The post Breakouts, Beer, and Bears: Automation Nation 2018 Photo Recap appeared first on Auvik Networks.

If you’re at a crossroads in your MSP business, or simply want to learn tips and tricks to inspire growth or evolution, who better to learn from than the experts?

And no, I don’t mean Google. I mean business authors.

We asked leaders from IT channel companies and MSPs which book they’ve read that left them with actionable learning. Here are their top book picks for MSPs.

Reinvent YourselfJames Altucher

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With the MSP market changing so rapidly, companies are being forced to examine how they’ll stay relevant and compete. Reinvent Yourself shares bite-sized examples of ways that people have done just that. There’s a chapter in the book that compares Eminem’s rap battle in the movie 8 Mile to the sales process, and it’s the best sales tutorial I’ve ever read. I constantly share snippets and read it every day—it outlines step-by-step how to win new business. This is a fun read, and a nice break from the classic business books. Approach this book with an open mind and an interesting problem, and I guarantee you’ll come away with new ideas.

Carrie Simpson
Founder & CEO, Managed Sales Pros
@coldcallcarrie

Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without YouJohn Warrilow

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Built to Sell is a great book which explains how to create a business that holds value in itself, and not in the owners’ time and involvement. It’s a book that everyone should read if they want to build a stable business.

Leigh Wood
Director, Node IT Solutions
@NodeIT

The Digital Revolution: How Connected Digital Innovations Are Transforming Your Industry, Company & Career Inder Sidhu

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This book is a great macro and micro look at how digitization is changing all industries. The insights about transforming to a digital world are lessons for any MSP to take to customers, as well as to apply to their own business. Great read.

Carolyn April
Sr. Director, Industry Analysis, CompTIA
@CarolynAApril

Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time FlatMichael Masterson

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Once our partners get their service delivery under control and begin to profit substantially from their existing customer base the natural question is—what’s next for our MSP? The answer is new product ideas, marketing, and revenue streams. Ready, Fire, Aim is a guide to doing just that. The author provides a step-by-step process for developing, testing, and marketing products and services with a very simple and cost-effective methodology. I make a point of re-reading this book at least once a year to keep our company on its toes and bring new profitable and innovative products to the marketplace.

James Vickery
CEO, Benchmark 365
@JamesVickery

The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer ConversationMatthew Dixon and Brent Adamson

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I love The Challenger Sale. It helps you identify the right people to have on your side to close the deal. It’s a very good book, and a must-have for all MSPs.

Corey Kirkendoll
President & CEO, 5K Technical Services
@ckirkend01

Outliers: The Story of SuccessMalcolm Gladwell

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There’s one author who always makes me think a little bit differently, which is why I’m a huge fan of Malcolm Gladwell and his book Outliers. Working with people—whether it be employees or customers—is one business aspect I’ve always been more curious about. Gladwell simply makes you think differently about how and why we engage with people and the subconscious behind our interactions.

Rob Rae
VP of Business Development, Datto
@RobTRae

Hyper Sales GrowthJack Daly

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It’s a book about personality types—acknowledging yours and figuring out how to instantly adapt to others. Very quickly you’ll be able to increase sales, establish a winning culture for your business, and be “Jacked up” to keep it all moving in a positive direction.

Barb Paluszkiewicz
CEO, CDN Technologies
@bpluszkiewicz

The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business WinGene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford

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The reason I encourage MSP owners and service managers to read this book is it gives a practical approach to implementing LEAN methodology for IT service groups. MSPs often battle against an endless tidal wave of work. Working on a LEAN approach can help get to the source of the noise and reduce the volume of work. Instead of throwing bodies at the problem, LEAN methodology can help MSPs get out of reactive mode and shift into a more structured and proactive approach.

Todd Kane
President, Evolved Management Consulting
@toddakane

Who: The A Method for HiringGeoff Smart & Randy Street

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Behind every great MSP, there’s a team of great people. And the only way to build a team of great people is to focus on attracting, hiring, and retaining A-players. This book is full of gold nuggets to help you knock your next hiring campaign out of the ballpark and find the amazing people you need to grow an outstanding MSP.

Nigel Moore
Founder, The Tech Tribe
@nigel_moore

Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck-Why Some Thrive Despite Them AllJim Collins

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For folks who are getting into reading books to start or build a business, I’d recommend The E-Myth Revisited. It does a great job of showing MSPs how to move from being mostly technical to other facets of business ownership. It’s an excellent read to take a small one-to-three person business to the next level. For folks who are already a level or two up from there and need to improve operations from a vision point of view, a book I love is Great by Choice. This book is a fascinating true story and shows that a determined and calculated growth rate—rather than a wild, unknown growth rate—is best .

David Pence
Founder and Managing Partner, AcumenIT
@acumenit

The post MSP Book Picks 2018: 10 Recommended Books for Growing Your MSP Business appeared first on Auvik Networks.

MSPs, we’re halfway done 2018—which means it’s hot out, you’ve been working hard, and it’s time to take a break.

Auvik and nine other awesome channel vendors have some news that’ll help you go from this:

To this:

MSPs—the Summer Treat Wave is back!

What’s the MSP Summer Treat Wave?

10 hot days, 10 cool treats, 1 epic grand prize!

Auvik and nine of our vendor friends have come together to bring you 10 days of free giveaways. Each business day from July 9-20, you’ll unwrap a new goodie from a Treat Wave sponsor. It might be a conference pass, an ebook, a gift card—there are all kinds of cool and helpful items available.

Yesterday was Day 1, and participating MSPs got a free copy of Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman, courtesy of Auvik.

Today, BrightGauge is giving away a sweet freebie—want to see what it is? Click here to find out.

What’s in that epic grand prize?

Only $1,800 worth of top summer swag that’ll take those hot days from sweaty to sweet. Here’s what’s inside:

• $150 Visa cash card
• Amazon Echo Show
• Yeti Roadie 20 hard-sided cooler
• Movie projector and inflatable 14’ outdoor movie screen
• Cuisinart soft-serve ice cream maker
• Boss SoundLink Revolve portable speaker
• Ray-Ban New Wayfarer Classic sunglasses
• Leatherman Tread multi-tool bracelet
• 2 beach towels, 2 t-shirts
• Inflatable shark beverage boat
• Extra-large Sport-Brella
• Large banana beach blanket
• $75 Omaha Steak gift card and an Omaha Steak seasoning kit

In other words, everything you need to take a break, chill out, and soak up the sun. Or, y’know, stay cool indoors. We all have our preferences.

How does the Treat Wave work?

Join the MSP Summer Treat Wave using the form on this page. You’ll automatically receive all 10 giveaways*, which will be sent out by the sponsors on July 27.

You’ll get one entry into the grand prize draw**. The winner will be randomly selected on July 24.

* EU residents are not eligible for the Treat Wave.
** The grand prize is only available to residents of the United States and Canada, excluding Quebec.
Full terms and conditions here.

Who’s sponsoring the Treat Wave?

10 of the coolest vendors in the channel, of course! Here are the companies bringing you the giveaways and grand prize.

So join the Treat Wave today, then sit back and relax. Happy summer!

The post The MSP Summer Treat Wave Is Back! appeared first on Auvik Networks.

Let me ask you a hypothetical question. You’re boarding an airplane and as you enter the aircraft, you glance into the cockpit. You see the pilot and co-pilot doing one of two things:

• They’re sitting with their feet up, laughing and joking.
• They’re running through a series of checklists, ticking off items as they check the dials and dashboard readings.

Which scenario makes you feel the most comfortable?

I’m going to guess it’s the pilots who are using checklists. But why? We know that in both scenarios, the pilots are trained and competent. They know how to fly the plane.

But we also intuitively understand that no matter how trained and skilled they are, the pilots are also human, and human beings can and do forget things.

Why checklists work

In his famous book The Checklist Manifesto, author Atul Gawande talks about the power of checklists. Gawande is an American surgeon and public health researcher. In his book, he reveals how the mortality rate in surgery is drastically lowered when surgeons and their teams use checklists.

Why? These are surgeons. They’re highly trained and skilled.

Yet surgeons are human too. They get distracted. They forget things.

Checklists enable professionals to methodically do repetitive tasks without missing any important steps.

If you’re distracted when working through a checklist, no problem. You can return to where you left off.

If you’re feeling under the weather when working through a checklist, perhaps a bit fuzzy-headed, no problem. A checklist reminds you what needs to be done.

Notice I’m not talking about teaching what needs to be done. The difference between checklists and training manuals is that checklists assume the reader is competent and trained, and it merely reminds them to do what needs to be done.

Checklists are powerful. Yet not enough IT solution providers and managed service providers (MSPs) use them.

Checklists for MSP service delivery

I can recall my own MSP business delivering a large migration project, moving clients from one Windows domain to another. We excelled at this (if I do say so myself), minimizing downtime and migrating all the client data across without issue.

But on the Monday morning that users returned to the office to the new infrastructure, there were howls of protest. The issue? We’d forgotten to migrate the users’ desktop wallpapers.

On no level is this important to the success of the project, but it was a tiny step that made the difference between the client employees viewing the project as a success or failure.

The next time we ran a migration, we used checklists to remind ourselves of all the steps we needed to take. The list included a step for transferring desktop wallpapers.

As an MSP yourself, you can use checklists for all manner of things:

• PC installs: Use checklists to make sure your client gets all their line of business apps, plus any other client-specific software.
• New users: Use checklists to remind your service desk of the user naming structure, to ensure they have home directories correctly set, and that the user is notified of their new password.
• Disposals: Use checklists to ensure any retired or returned equipment from a client has its data securely wiped, is properly labelled, and is ethically disposed of.

Checklists are powerful. They’re part of building a business. And they’re intellectual property that’s valuable to your business.

Learning more about checklists

Australian-based MSP expert Nigel Moore spoke on the Frankly MSP podcast on the power of checklists.

I’d also encourage you to check out the Auvik webinar with Nigel where he gives practical examples of checklists for MSPs.

You can use MSP specific tools like IT Glue to build checklists.

While we’re not an MSP, my own team uses a tool called Manifest.ly, a checklist app for teams that makes checklists easy to create and use.

Start small. The next time you do any task you think you may need to repeat in the future, slow down and document the steps you take to complete that task. There’s your first checklist.

However highly trained your staff are, they’re still fallible human beings. Checklists remind you and your staff of the right steps to take, on time, every time. Checklists create professional results and consistency—something every MSP should be striving for.

The post The Power of Checklists in Your MSP Business appeared first on Auvik Networks.

Managed IT services have undergone significant change and evolution in a very short time. As an IT service provider, remote monitoring and management (RMM) is at the core of your business, allowing you to manage a large number and variety of endpoints.

At the same time, your clients have grown to expect 24×7 uptime with outstanding customer service, potentially leading to some growing pains on your end.

Eventually, these growing pains can turn into growth inhibitors, whether they involve technology, labor costs, or service delivery issues.

So how can your MSP business remove these growth barriers? How can you successfully get on the path from “here” to “there?”

As you look to scale your IT monitoring revenue, the following tips will help you combat common challenges that may come up along the way.

1. Look beyond desktops and servers

   Technology drives business innovation. Your clients are part of a hyper-connected world featuring more and more endpoints and advanced technology than ever before.

   What’s more, technology advances have caused a shift in how you offer RMM services. It’s no longer just about monitoring PCs or servers—MSPs are expected to cover the whole network, as well as the devices that are connected to and entering it.

   Say, for example, that a client’s email isn’t working. This scenario isn’t exceedingly disruptive to the business because the problem is contained to one device. It’s fairly easy to troubleshoot.

   On the other hand, if a business’s network or Wi-Fi isn’t working, it can affect the entire IT environment, causing the business to suffer from costly downtime.

   There’s a clear opportunity and value in catering to the network needs of your clients. By expanding your RMM offering to cover the network, as well as its devices, you can position yourself as an all-encompassing IT provider and effectively grow your revenue.

   There are comprehensive RMM solutions available that can help you manage and automate networks at scale, the same way you manage servers and endpoints. Or, you can look for an add-on to offer network coverage.

   Whichever route you choose, the goal is to cover the entire network and monitor the health of the IT environment as a whole. As a result, clients will view you as that one-stop shop for their monitoring needs, leading to simplified management, happier clients, and more profit in your pocket.

2. Cut down on the noise

   The reality for MSPs is that the more clients you take on, the more you’re left to manage. Unfortunately, this can lead to ‘noise’ that hinders productivity.

   When you and your team are stuck wading through waves of data and tickets all day, you might miss issues that actually require action. You also have less time to focus on more strategic work or building client relationships.

   So how do you simplify IT management and cut down on this noise?

   A quick way to simplify the issue resolution process is by leveraging a shared knowledge base. Adding notes to a ticket with past or related fixes makes it easier on the tech that’s working to resolve it.

   Also, you could benefit from managing your alert thresholds. False positives can be filtered out so your inbox can be dedicated to those notifications that truly require your attention. Some RMM tools can even filter, consolidate, and categorize tickets for you—making a huge difference in productivity and profitability.

   In any case, being able to filter out false positives allows technicians to minimize their time identifying issues and maximize their time solving problems. By regaining this valuable time, you and your team will be free to spend it doing what you do best: delighting—and growing—your client base.

3. Leverage a third-party network operations center

   You simply can’t sustain profitability if you’re running your team into the ground as you struggle to support your clients. The key to extracting the most from your team and propelling your business to success is by maximizing your techs’ time. One way to achieve this is by partnering with a network operations center (NOC).

   Having access to an on-demand center of experts, such as a NOC, allows you to cut down on inefficiencies and put your techs’ valuable skills to better use.

   Think about it: When your in-house techs can offload the technical heavy-lifting of their day-to-day, they’ll be free to focus on revenue-driving projects that increase your profit margins and grow your business.

   What’s more, they’ll appreciate the opportunity to be free of tedious tasks and take on more fulfilling work.

Keep these important points in mind and you’ll see your RMM line of business become much more efficient and profitable.

The post 3 Ways to Grow Your IT Monitoring Revenue appeared first on Auvik Networks.

There are few office experiences more frustrating than sending a document to the printer and hearing… nothing. No whirring, no thumping, no document.

Your client will probably check if the device is plugged in and turned on, if there’s enough ink, and if paper needs restocking. But if these simple fixes don’t uncover the problem, then they’ll likely call you—and in the past, that meant jumping in the car and driving to the client site.

Manually troubleshooting any device’s internal connections can take hours, demanding you dig into onerous tasks like tracing wires and testing ports. Worse, if the client can’t connect to critical business functions—like printers, a point of sale (POS) system, or the internet as a whole—while you’re working, their business is interrupted.

And since downtime can have both reputational and financial consequences, that means a frustrated client—if you’re not using Auvik. Our network management software allows you to remotely troubleshoot connectivity problems so you can avoid truck rolls, save time, and keep clients productive and happy.

One of our partners, Matthew Greenbaum from Envision Technology Advisors, from Realized Solutions Inc., experienced how seeing device connections on the Auvik map helps with troubleshooting:

“Auvik is great for mapping networks, and it’s wonderful for troubleshooting connection issues. You can see how devices connect to each other, including the actual switch ports being used.”

Locate device stats on the Auvik map

Here’s a step-by-step example how Auvik can help you solve internal connection issues.

Let’s say a client’s workstation can’t ping a printer (which, if everything was hunky dory, it should be able to do). That means the issue lies outside the software and endpoints. So, it’s probably a network problem—which means it’s time to troubleshoot Layers 1, 2, and 3.

After pulling up the Auvik dashboard for the site, use the topology map to locate both the workstation and the printer, since we don’t know which is the culprit. Search for basic biodata like the devices’ names or serial numbers. Once they’re located, Auvik will show you whether they’re up or down, as well as key stats like IP addresses and VLANs.

Determine the logical and physical path from A to B

Then, by hovering over wires on the map, you can determine the logical and physical path that connects those two devices at Layers 1 through 3. Along the route, look for stats like interface status, duplex mismatches, and switch port configs. You can even search the map by VLAN to make sure the devices actually appear.

If you’re still unsure where the problem is, you can pull up the devices’ routing tables to compare against the connections you found following the topology map. That way, you can determine whether both devices have an appropriate next hop and destination. If you see a different hop or destination, that might be where the packet is getting lost.

Benjamin Rutter from The Logic Group says seeing device connections visually in both the map and routing table is especially helpful if you manage complex networks:

“Auvik has saved us many hours of troubleshooting. Having immediate visibility into ‘what’s plugged in where’ across an environment with 35 switches, 30 access points, and 10 routers has ended the days of relying on complex documentation to keep track of where everything is connected.”

Check traced routes against device routing tables

If one of the devices doesn’t appear on the VLAN or you suspect a misroute, you can dive into the device’s configurations through the documentation tab. That way, you can compare the most recent configurations to past configs and see if anything changed that shouldn’t have.

You can also do a command+F search for specific details. There’s a separate configuration entry for every physical port, and you’ll see where each one is mapped to connect. Looking at switchport configs will help you make sure nothing has been shifted or omitted.

Inspect alert history

By checking the device’s alert history, you’ll see if there were interface drops or packet loss. This could mean a Layer 1 issue, such as a bad cable or a switch port that’s gone bad. The solution could simply be moving the connection to a different switch port, for example, or swapping a cable. If that doesn’t work, you could swap the small form-factor pluggable (SFP).

To facilitate the resulting configuration change, you can use one of three remote management protocols available in Auvik: remote terminal, tunnel, or browser.

Joey Undis from TechGen Consulting, Inc. used Auvik’s troubleshooting capabilities in a variety of complicated internal connectivity scenarios:

“Auvik has been a huge boon to troubleshooting network issues on complicated client networks where you don’t know where a user device may be, or if it’s plugged into a phone, unmanaged switch, or just wireless.”

The post Auvik Use Case #9: Troubleshooting Internal Connectivity appeared first on Auvik Networks.

Technical talent in the channel is 100% employed, says Gary Pica, MSP coach and CEO of TruMethods.

Since strong techs could secure work anywhere, it’s hard to hire and keep them. Worse, it’s not just MSPs scooping up the best talent.

“The higher the skill set you need, the more competitive it is,” says Pica. “You’re trying to compete with a lot of big companies, and the average size of an MSP is small. Here in Philadelphia, Comcast is headquartered. They’re a vacuum cleaner for talent. And the higher you go in the stack of people you need, the harder it is to attract and retain those people.”

Another issue that Rex Frank, president of Sea-Level Operations, notes is that the current state of the economy has a negative effect on employees confidence in their hireability.

Even if engineers are unhappy in their current role, he says they might stay in a bad job out of fear that if they change jobs, they might not be able to get another one.

“There’s a lot of fear keeping good people in bad jobs,” Frank says. “And because IT unemployment has been so low, it’s only the bottom of the barrel that’s left out there.”

So how do you recruit tech talent in a highly competitive space where demand for high performers vastly outweighs supply?

Offer talent the chance to grow

To attract high-performing techs to your MSP, you need to offer more than a slight pay increase, says Todd Billiar, director of channel sales at IT By Design and former director at VAR Staffing.

“What we’re seeing really attract talent today are the learning opportunities, training opportunities, and career development plans. Showing a path forward. A couple thousand dollars a year more to do the same job isn’t a highly motivating factor.”

One key mistake to avoid when offering the chance to learn, says Pica, is vague roles. When an employee isn’t certain of their defined responsibilities and they touch multiple areas of the business, it’s hard for them know what success looks like.

“One of the ways we’ve solved this problem is we’ve set up very defined roles. They either just do support, or they just do technology alignment, or they’re just a vCIO. Because of that, we can train them faster.”

Frank says another major mistake to avoid is hiring someone with a corporate IT background that prefers to be immersed in a single environment, and would therefore dislike working with several clients at once.

“We have to find the ones that crave a different dynamic environment to support every day. If we hire the guy that wants the same system every day, they’re not going to fit.”

To avoid this, Frank says that during interviews he’ll go out of his way to make sure someone coming from corporate IT decides that an MSP role is a job they want. “Do you want to work in different environments all the time? Is that something that’s exciting to you?”

Reset your expectations as a hiring manager

With so few candidates on the market, IT By Design president Kam Attwal-Kaila recommends hiring candidates who can fulfill most, but not necessarily all, of the job description. “Take 70% of what you’re looking for and train up the rest of the way. You’re never going to find someone that’s 100% who’s willing to move jobs.

Billiar agrees, and says knowledge gaps can actually drive a candidate to commit. “That 30% you’re looking for that they don’t have makes the position and the opportunity attractive to the candidate because they want to expand their skill set and their technical expertise.”

After all, it’s impossible to have an entire team of A-players, says Pica. “All those A players don’t want to work for us—we can’t create enough opportunity. You want a team of B players who get A results who are a great cultural fit. They have aptitude and you put them in a very defined role so they can achieve success quickly, and you get more consistent results.”

Be a brand ambassador

Attwal-Kaila says attracting great talent is just as competitive today as attracting customers. “In today’s world of social media, companies need to be wooing the right candidates. We have to make sure we’re giving an accurate image of our organization online, showing how we value our employees, and the culture we’re creating.”

Using social media is also a great way to build an internal referral network, Attwal-Kaila says. “Build your image so not only existing employees, but also their referral network and any prospective employees see what the organization is like.”

The best way to do this on social media, she says, is to “make sure you’ve clearly outlined what your organization does and how each individual team member contributes to the greater good of the organization. Because nowadays people want to be a part of something bigger.”

And, notes Attwal-Kaila, the best person for the vacant role probably isn’t looking for a new opportunity. So to find the best fit, “targeting them using a paid LinkedIn account is very important. Have a company page that’s consistently updated on a weekly basis. We’ve found that’s most successful for us.”

Billiar says this is because LinkedIn users, even if they’re not searching for a new role, are open to being contacted. “LinkedIn did a survey of 10,000 active members. They sent a very simple question: If approached with a new opportunity that aligns with your experience and skills, would you be interested in exploring it.? Over 80% responded yes.”

Build a farm team of candidates

Keeping in touch on LinkedIn is also a good way to maintain a database of candidates, says Pica. “If you have an open technical role and you’re starting from scratch, it’s really tough right now. When you meet a good candidate but it’s not the right fit or right time, keep in contact with them. Once a quarter have coffee with them, see what’s going on. I call it keeping a virtual bench.”

As well, says Frank, it’s helpful to build your internal bench. That way, when you need a senior engineer, you can promote a more junior tech who’s been with the company for a while and knows the systems and processes.

“You find out early if they fit your culture or not,” says Frank. “Then you can grow them into your future senior engineers. It’s a three- to five-year cycle. If you need a senior engineer now you should have hired him three to five years ago.”

Growing people internally is also a good way to mitigate the risk of hiring a senior employee who doesn’t work out. “Bringing in one person turns into a $50,000 mistake really fast. But when you bring them in as junior engineers, each is a potential $10,000 mistake. So you can make that mistake five times and equal the impact of one mistake,” he says.

Don’t fret, though, if this isn’t a strategy you’re currently using. Frank says there’s a simple solution: “If you’re in that spot where you need a Level 3 engineer and you don’t have anybody on your farm team, that’s when you turn to the staffing agencies. Employees that aren’t actively looking but would take a new job opportunity that came along? The staffing companies have those guys in their Rolodex.”

The post How to Recruit Scarce Tech Talent for Your MSP appeared first on Auvik Networks.

We all get by with a little help from our friends—and it’s no different for MSPs.

The opportunity for MSPs to network, learn from each other, compare vendors and software stacks, and discuss best practices are a few reasons why MSP peer groups and online forums are so popular.

They provide a venue to discuss ideas and industry trends, to form potential business-expanding partnerships, and of course, to find out tips and tricks on growing your business.

What’s more, there’s actually research showing tangible business benefits—service providers who participate in peer groups reportedly outperform those who aren’t part of any such groups, according to a 2018 ConnectWise-commissioned report.

Here’s are 13 peer groups and online forums available to MSPs like you. (Listed in alphabetical order).

ASCII Groupwww.ascii.com

Run by: Alan Weinberger, founder and CEO
Focus on: All things MSP, MSSP, and VAR-related, with a special emphasis on marketing

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The ASCII Group’s history stretches all the way back to 1984, which makes it the oldest professional community that focuses specifically on MSPs, MSSPs, and VARs. With over 1,300 members, it’s one of the largest and most active MSP peer groups in North America. In addition to its nine annual conferences, the organization hosts a popular online knowledge-exchange forum so you can network from the comfort of your living room.

• Main events: IT SMB Success Summits

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CompTIAwww.comptia.org

Run by: Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO
Focus on: Broad range of IT areas, from networking and security to cloud and Linux

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Founded in 1982, CompTIA is one of the biggest professional groups for the wider IT industry. Its main event, ChannelCon, occurs annually in both North America and EMEA. The organization also offers several smaller events—both physical and virtual—devoted to various topics. This gives you the chance to participate in the ones that are most relevant to your areas of technical focus, and also expand your expertise around emerging trends that could affect your business

• Main event: ChannelCon

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IT/MSP Entrepreneurs Facebook Groupwww.facebook.com/groups/itentrepreneurship/

Run by: Stetson Blake, co-founder
Focus on: Crowd-sourced advice and recommendations

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This isn’t a peer group but is certainly a community where MSPs leaders and IT pros can ask questions, discuss best practices, and recommend vendors. It’s a place where MSPs can feel supported by each other, and find a variety of solutions to everyday problems. Also, memes.

• Main event: N/A

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IT Nation Evolve (formerly HTG)www.htgpeergroups.com

Run by: Arlin Sorensen, VP of peer groups, former founder of HTG
Focus on: Business development and management

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HTG Peer Groups was acquired by ConnectWise in January 2018. Though the brand has shifted to IT Nation Evolve and the leadership team has adopted new roles, the group’s goal remains the same: to enable groups of 10-12 MSPs to learn from each other and share business strategies. All members are executives or owners at IT companies. Both the regular peer group meetings and the quarterly events that bring together all the groups from across the country will continue in HTG’s style and format.

• Main events: Quarterly Business Reviews

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MSP subredditwww.reddit.com/r/msp/

Run by: The community
Focus on: Crowd-sourced advice and recommendations

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The MSP subreddit is a place for MSPs to hang out and swap tales. Lots of questions are asked and advice is shared, along with jokes and recommendations. Never a dull moment.

• Main event: N/A

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MSPAlliancewww.mspalliance.com

Run by: Charles Weaver, co-founder and CEO
Focus on: Managed services and cloud computing

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MSPAlliance labels itself as the “largest and oldest vendor neutral organization” for MSPs and independent cloud providers. Founded in 2000, it’s grown to over 30,000 members. Its focus on being a “unified voice for the managed services industry” provides a great opportunity for MSPs to connect with one another and share insights at the group’s events. The annual MSPWorld conference aims to deliver practical, educational sessions with real-world applicability.

• Main events: MSPWorld

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MSP-Ignitewww.msp-ignite.com/peer/MSP/

Run by: Steve Alexander, founder and CEO
Focus on: Collaboration, profitability, growth

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MSP-Ignite says its unique peer group angle is the emphasis on member collaboration and idea sharing. Each peer group, of which there are several categories (MSP, VAR, service manager, IT company, and Autotask), is facilitated by a business advisor, who helps members think through common problems and work together to find solutions. Each group is comprised of people from non-competing industries, so you don’t give away your secret sauce by sharing advice.

• Main events: Bi-annual meetings

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The Network Groupnbg.co.uk/

Run by: Phylip Morgan, managing director
Focus on:Emerging technology, best practices

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Run out of London, UK, the Network Group offers live events to help businesses in the IT channel connect with each other, assess vendors, discuss best practices, and find solutions to common business problems. Members have access to vendor discounts, shared resources, training, and operational tools such as an online procurement and purchasing portal. In addition to regular large events, called VISION and FOCUS, the Network Group has roadshows around the UK where members can meet vendors and network.

• Main event: VISION, FOCUS

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Robin Robins’ Producers Clubwww.robinrobins.com

Run by: Robin Robins, founder and CEO
Focus on: Marketing, sales, business growth

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Robin Robins’ Producers Club is a program for her Senior Technology Marketing Toolkit members that goes above and beyond her basic consulting. Members get access to exclusive marketing tools and resources, sales strategies, and business development tactics. In-person events are personal, focused and exclusive (there’s an application process to attend and the organizers say only those applicants who are the “right fit” can participate). MSPs also benefit from getting to pick the brains of other members. Essentially, it’s life coaching for MSPs.

• Main events: Producers Club, Boot Camps, & Roadshow

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SMBiTwww.smbitpro.org/

Run by: Brett Chalmers, director & CEO
Focus on: Growth, efficiency, SMB clients

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SMBiT is an Australian peer group that serves MSPs with small to mid-sized clients. The group offers best practice education around problem solving, boosting efficiency, and scaling your business. Members can communicate with experts in the association’s forum, by email, or at monthly member meetings at each chapter—there are five in Australia and one in New Zealand. SMBiT also provides members with industry insurance, vendor discounts, and other business support resources.

• Main events: Monthly chapter meetings

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Taylor Business Groupwww.taylorbusinessgroup.com

Run by: John Christophersen, president
Focus on: Financials, profitability, business management, sales

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At Taylor Business Group events—namely the BIG Big Conference—you’ll meet MSP owners and leaders who work together to share best practices and meet aggressive sales and performance goals. The main focus of this peer group is on boosting the profitability of its members through business improvement, sales transformation, and overall efficiency. There are many digital resources available, such as webinars and toolkits, in addition to live events.

• Main events: BIG Big Conference

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The Tech Tribewww.mytechnologybusiness.com

Run by: Nigel Moore, founder and president
Focus on: Profitability, business improvement

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The Tech Tribe offers a library of resources for members to improve various areas of their businesses—including (but not limited to) pricing and service agreement templates, training and workshops, email scripts, private coaching, quick-win video explainers, and virtual collaboration sessions. The founder, Nigel Moore, ran and sold his own MSP. He’s based in Australia, but has members globally.

• Main event: TBD

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TruMethodswww.trumethods.com

Run by: Gary Pica, founder and CEO
Focus on: Business growth, profitability

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The goal of TruMethods is to help its members find their “superpower”—a competitive advantage that results in profitability. A proprietary software product together with coaching promises to help streamline your business operations and save you from the “reactive spiral of death” that arises when day-to-day tasks interfere with planning for and investing in the future. TruMethods’ annual event, Schnizzfest, is attended only by MSPs, making it a great opportunity for networking and sharing business strategies. While the ideas exchanged are serious, the event—as its name implies—offers a lighthearted and relaxed atmosphere. Tagline: “It’s Schnizzfest… how could we not have fun?”

• Main events: Schnizzfest

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The post 13 MSP Peer Groups & Online Forums to Support Your Business Success appeared first on Auvik Networks.

For the past number of years, I’ve worked with the owners of IT solution providers and managed service providers (MSPs) all across the globe.

All of these MSPs face different challenges on a day-to-day basis, based on their size, their drive, and even their geography.But if there’s one challenge that’s universal to all MSPs, I think it’s this:

How can I effectively educate my clients to help themselves?

Why helping clients to help themselves is important

Whether it be security, efficiency, business continuity, or any number of other areas, there’s only so much we, the MSP, can do to help our clients if they don’t learn to help themselves.

As a former MSP owner myself, I’ve experienced the frustration of knowing what the client needs to be learn to help themselves, but seeing them unwilling or unable to learn it.

Of course, even after we’ve tried to educate our clients, if they don’t listen and the inevitable problem occurs, guess who’s responsible for picking up the pieces? That’s right. We are.

With that in mind, I went to Twitter and asked the MSP community a hypothetical question. If you could put a message on a giant billboard that your clients would see and learn from every day, what would your message be?

Here’s what they said.

James Eades

Change your password today.

How many of your clients have been hit by security breaches, struck by ransomware, or have had confidential data stolen because of one simple, easily avoided mistake: They had the same, weak password for too long?

There are many password management tools that make changing passwords a simple and automatic function, so there’s no longer any excuse.

Setting the clients’ internal password policy to force a password change every few weeks is enough to improve security.

Passwords are the key to the castle that is your clients’ IT infrastructure. The sooner clients learn this lesson, the less we’ll have to clean up after them.

Terry Rossi

Train your users, they are your weakest link.

If there’s a key lesson that would help clients with every aspect of their business, it’s probably this idea from Terry.

Without training, end users get frustrated. At best, they’re constantly asking for help. At worst, they try to overcome simple obstacles themselves and cause hellish problems for their MSP.

IT needs to be taught. Nobody would sit somebody in a car, and, without any training, let them drive. So why is IT training treated as a nice-to-do rather than a necessity?

Mark Lis

Train your users: Don’t blindly click!

Bertrand Ellen-Prevot

To click or not to click? Ask us the question.

I absolutely love this advice and Bertrand’s catchy billboard phrase.

While we can implement tools such as web filtering, anti-virus, and anti-spyware protection, at the end of the day, we can’t prevent users from foolishly clicking malicious links.

Educating people to err on the side of caution when faced with such links is the only way we can help clients help themselves.

Finally, Basic Business Systems in Ruddington, England would use their billboard to emphasize the importance of backing up your data.

Get backup so you can get back up!

Florida-based CompuSys had a similar idea for their billboard.

Make sure to have 3 copies of your data, 2 of which are local and 1 offsite.

Both Basic and CompuSys make great points with their billboards. Even when your clients change their passwords regularly… even when your client trains their staff to use IT properly… despite knowing not to click on dodgy links… the unforeseen can and does happen.

One backup is no longer enough—yet many clients don’t have even a single copy in place.

Data should be backed up locally (for speedy restores) and offsite (for business continuity). The alternative is too scary to think about and can spell the end of a business.

Clients need to understand that today, IT is their business. Without it, they simply don’t have a business that can compete effectively. Backing up their data is imperative.

Thanks to all of our contributors for their IT billboard suggestions.

The next time you drive past an advertising billboard on your way to the office, ask yourself: What would my billboard message to my clients be?

Leave a comment below or tweet to @tubblog and @AuvikNetworks to let us know.

The post What IT Advice Would You Put on a Billboard for Clients? appeared first on Auvik Networks.

Whether you inherit an IT environment or build it from scratch, managing your clients’ network infrastructure can be a real headache.

Keeping clients’ network devices functioning so they stay connected and productive requires complex manual tasks, expensive expertise, and tons of valuable time—that is, if you don’t use software to simplify and automate network management activities.

To add another layer of complexity, Auvik’s new industry report, Managing Network Vendor Diversity: The MSP Challenge, finds nearly three-quarters of MSPs manage more than four different network vendors on their client sites, with some managing upwards of 20.

The trouble is, there’s little industry standardization in terms of how network devices operate or are managed, and a high diversity of devices means MSPs must grapple with multiple operating systems, languages, and interfaces. It’s also difficult to find and train staff to knowledgeably support a variety of vendors.

But if your client sites have network equipment from multiple vendors, you’re certainly not alone. With nearly three-quarters of MSPs managing four or more vendors and only 5.3% managing single-vendor environments, the data shows vendor diversity is the norm.

Source: Auvik Networks

The most popular network vendors

Despite this high degree of vendor diversity, Cisco is the most commonly deployed networking vendor on MSP-managed networks by a fairly large margin. Including the numbers for Cisco-owned Meraki, Cisco devices make up 36.4% of deployed network hardware.

The top nine most commonly deployed vendors claim around 80% of the total market, leaving dozens and dozens of smaller vendors to fight over what’s left. At least 40 vendors compete in each network device category—switch, router, firewall, and Wi-Fi access point.

Source: Auvik Networks

The report—based on data from close to 100,000 managed network devices on nearly 17,000 MSP-managed networks—shows the larger the MSP, the more network vendors it’s likely to manage on client sites.

To learn more, download the free report called Managing Network Vendor Diversity: The MSP Challenge.

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