In a previous post, we explored some of the ways MSPs can find and attract strong tech talent in a tight market. (According to MSP coach Gary Pica, unemployment in the channel is at 0%.)

Given the competition for great employees, it’s quite possible your team members will receive job offers from other service providers or vendors.

Turnover is costly—there are recruitment costs for the replacement, lost productivity while that’s happening, and ramp up time for the new hire. So smart MSPs will focus on retaining technical staff as much as recruiting them.

Kam Attwal-Kaila, the CRO and president of IT By Design, says the answer is simple: “Culture, culture, culture. If you can create an ideal environment where your employees feel part of something bigger and enjoy coming to work, you’re going to retain them. You’ll be able to meet their financial needs because they’re not always looking for money. They’re looking for more.”

What, exactly, is the ‘more’ she’s talking about? She lists engagement, strong leadership, and the opportunity for personal and professional growth—all of which contribute to a company culture your employees want to be part of.

Cultivate leadership

Rex Frank, president of Sea-Level Operations, says companies with strong leadership have no difficulty retaining employees. On the other hand are the leaders who make what he calls “the classic mistakes.”

“Good leaders praise in public, admonish in private. Bad leaders admonish in public. You’re not going to be able to retain top talent if you’re behaving the second way.”

The trouble is, based on the Myers-Briggs personality test, he believes most MSP owners are IDs—introverted and dominant—which naturally translates to micromanagement.

“There’s a dramatic shortage of leadership in our industry,” Frank says, “largely because people have to adapt their personalities to be leaders. So many MSP business owners are technicians—we don’t always understand that the words we use can impact feelings.”

And, he explains, good technicians don’t like to be micromanaged. “They’ll go find another opportunity. I see that one a lot. If they’re working for a great leader, it’s not about money. It’s about liking coming to work every day.”

One way to encourage a more supportive, leadership-driven culture is what Frank calls ‘one up, one down.’ “Meaning everybody is always learning from somebody—that’s one hand up—and everybody is always teaching somebody—that’s the one hand down. Companies that create that environment tend to have no shortage of good people.”

Communicate, engage, and reward employees

A company newsletter that bridges the gap between departments—or even different geographic locations—can be important, says Attwal-Kaila.

She also suggests at least one employee engagement activity per month. If you have multiple locations, have one in every location. “Try to make sure someone from leadership is at each of those locations, or is at least in attendance when you do the engagement activities,” she adds.

Attwal-Kaila further recommends acknowledging employee birthdays, anniversaries, and especially, recognizing standout individuals.

“Rewards and recognition are very important. Make sure you do those within the first few weeks of the end of the quarter—get everybody together and recognize a great team player. Everybody loves to be recognized for hard work, and it’s important that we as owners not be stuck in the day-to-day business and remember to acknowledge great work.”

It’s key to engage employees in their own growth and success, too. Attwal-Kaila says, in addition to clarity around job roles, employees need clear and concise scorecards on how performance is being measured. “If there’s not effective communication between leadership, their direct manager, and the employee, that leads to dissatisfaction.”

Pica says just as important as communicating success metrics is communicating your MSP’s ways of working.

“Top-performing companies have really strong core values that the team has put together. You start to get people that are feeling part of your purpose. Spending time on those things pays way more dividends than just telling them ‘if you do better we’ll give you $100 more.’”

Invest in your team—both in and out of the office

Since top talent is more motivated by growth opportunities than a slight pay increase, it’s important to work with employees to encourage skill development, says Attwal-Kaila.

“Work on career development plans and leadership plans for the people you’ve identified as good team players. Help build them up within the organization. It will lead them to have a vested interest in your organization and boost retention of candidates.”

While larger channel organizations admittedly have more resources to dedicate to training and development, says Todd Billiar, director of channel sales at IT By Design and former director at VAR Staffing, “there’s also a segment of talent out there that prefers to work for a smaller organization where they feel they can make a bigger impact and grow that way.”

It’s also important to invest in your employees’ work-life balance, Billiar says. “If you’re constantly taking them away from their family after hours and weekends, the engineer’s going to leave because they’re going to have that pressure from home. You have to proactively manage that.”

In fact, one trend Attwal-Kaila is seeing is technicians becoming burnt out and moving to corporate IT.

“They want to be part of the JPMorgan Chase’s of the world where they’re getting more rest and relaxation and family quality time. It’s not necessarily that they’re going to the bigger MSPs—our challenge is the enterprises that are wooing away our talent because they’re so well-rounded.”

Gary Pica agrees. He says employees are more satisfied in their roles if they know, and can see, how they impact the customer. If they don’t see the impact of their role, tickets and projects appear like an endless ocean: “The next wave just keeps coming and coming and it seems pointless to them.”

That’s why, he says, it all comes back to company culture. “When you have someone who’s happy in their job, and passionate about it, and feels connected, they’re not going to jump for $4,000 or $5,000 salary. They’re not going to leave a $70,000 dollar job and friends and comfort and success for $75,000. They’ll come to you and try to work it out.”

The post How to Retain Technical Staff in a Red Hot Job Market appeared first on Auvik Networks.

To effectively support and manage a client’s network, you need to know what’s really on the network.

Sure, a tour of the IT environment will help. You’ll be able to slowly document information about the devices you can see, like the make, model, and serial number.

But what about the devices you can’t see—or that the client doesn’t know about?

Jason Whitehurst from NoctisIT explains how Auvik provides the visibility to more accurately scope the network:

As an enterprise architect and a virtual CIO, I need to know what’s really in the environment—not what the customer tells me, because they’re often incorrect. Auvik gives me immediate visibility into the infrastructure that I can’t get anywhere else.

Device details, automatically discovered in Auvik

In addition to discovering network devices so you can quote work accurately, with Auvik, the inventory populates comprehensive, vital data to help you understand how devices connect and how they’re configured.

Luis Alvarez of Alvarez Technology Group, Inc. says the depth of detail in Auvik simplifies client onboarding:

Auvik is a great documentation tool. When you deploy it during onboarding or discovery, it’ll tell you what you don’t know and what you need to find out—passwords, SNMP strings, etc. It’s indispensable.

Auvik’s automated network device inventory also mitigates the need for you to spend hours (if not days or weeks) documenting the data manually. Corey Kirkendoll from 5K Technical Services says:

Onboarding used to be an extra couple weeks spent on-site, pulling cables. Now, once we load the Auvik agent, it brings back everything we need, giving us an accurate, real-time view of the network. Now we spend our time focusing on better serving our customers’ networks, because we’re not spending time documenting.

Network device details & connections, automatically discovered in Auvik

Creating a real-time inventory of network devices keeps a technician’s memory from being the single source of knowledge about a client site. If that tech quits or isn’t available when an issue crops up, you won’t be starting from scratch. Automated inventory also expedites the troubleshooting process.

Here’s how Donni Ulgade from Cadan boosts his MSP’s profitability with Auvik:

By using Auvik and having as complete an inventory as we can, I don’t need the higher-level technicians. Auvik doesn’t require you to have that knowledge to troubleshoot the network. We have much tighter metrics. The faster we can get issues fixed, clients are happier. And we’re more profitable.

As well, when a time-sensitive issue like a security breach arises, having a device inventory that’s indexed, searchable, and exportable speeds up the creation of an action plan. You’ll be able to quickly show your customers you’re bringing your A-game to issues that aren’t your fault, but are your problem.

Ulgade has also used Auvik’s device inventory to help evolve his client networks (and quote more work):

Our sales people can see the asset inventory, and they can leverage that on their sales calls. They can say it looks like your switches and your printers are 5 years old. It’s time to replace them.

Don’t waste time compiling a manual inventory of your clients’ network devices. Let Auvik handle it for you, automatically and accurately, so you can spend time on value-add activities.

The post Auvik Use Case #2: Automatically Acquiring Network Inventory appeared first on Auvik Networks.

Switches are the most common network device deployed on MSP-managed networks, while routers are the least popular—and not by a small margin.

The data in Auvik’s recently published report, Managing Network Vendor Diversity: The MSP Challenge, shows switches represent almost half (48%) of all network devices on MSP-managed sites, while routers account for only 6% of the total.

Does this mean the death of the router is imminent? In short, no—and here’s why.

Differentiating between device types

Switches were built to connect devices on the same LAN and operate at Layer 2 of the OSI model—also known as the data link layer.

The main job of the Layer 2 switch is to process Ethernet data frames. And it does this far more efficiently than its ancestor, the old-school hub, which would simply retransmit packets in a blast without analyzing packet data.

By comparison, Layer 2 switches have the ability to learn which ports correspond with which MAC addresses by using forwarding tables. This, combined with custom-built ASICs, means the switch can process packets at blazing speeds far superior to the hub.

Climbing up a layer on the OSI model, the router exists on Layer 3—the IP layer. In most small and mid-sized business (SMB) environments, routers were traditionally provided by the internet service provider (ISP), and were used to connect users to the broader network outside the LAN.

But here’s where it gets a bit more complicated. The router could also be used internally to route between different VLANs the Layer 2 switches carry. Picture it as a gate between your neighborhood and the rest of town: The router lets you communicate outside your neighborhood using IP addresses.

Here’s an example. An old-school SMB network has two different VLANs on the same switch—one for workstations, one for servers. For a workstation to access resources on a server, packets would have to cross from the workstation VLAN into the server VLAN. This requires routing, since they’re two different neighborhoods.

The traffic would flow from the workstation VLAN to the router, and potentially back to that same switch as traffic returns from the server VLAN. That’s a long journey for a packet, especially since both VLANs are carried on the same switch. To eliminate a step (and a device), an even smarter switch was created.

The Layer 3 switch combines the capabilities of the Layer 2 switch and the router. Since it can operate at both layers, the Layer 3 switch has two purposes:

1. Connect devices on a LAN or VLAN using MAC addresses, and
2. Connect LANs or VLANs to the broader network using IP addresses.

Pros and cons of the Layer 3 switch

While Layer 2 switches use custom-built ASICs that process traffic very quickly, routers have to process traffic using software since they often connect different types of hardware at the network level. This means routers can be slower than switches, which is one benefit of the Layer 3 switch.

The Layer 3 switch was born once Ethernet was standardized as the data link layer protocol, and IP was standardized as the network layer protocol. With these protocols, it can build both MAC and IP forwarding tables, enabling it to perform Layer 3 processing in hardware—meaning the Layer 3 switch is faster than a router.

However, while a Layer 3 switch can do more with one box, it tends to be more expensive than a Layer 2 switch. So if your client’s business is growing and they need more than one 24-port or 48-port switch, you’ll have a decision to make. You can either create the network with several less expensive Layer 2 switches and a router, or purchase several Layer 3 switches and eliminate the router.

Who needs a router?

The true necessity of a router depends on the structure of your client’s IT environment and their internal networking needs. On a small network with a couple of user devices that communicate mostly outbound, it likely makes economic sense to use an all-in-one box that includes routing (and firewall) functions without a dedicated switch.

Routers also make sense for large networks with hundreds of endpoints, as these businesses tend to require complex routing functions like quality of service (QoS) and network address translation (NAT) internally. While these capabilities may be available on high-end Layer 3 switches, they’re often too expensive compared to a dedicated router.

Of all types of client businesses, SMBs tend to need routers least. That’s because the only router on most SMB networks today is provided by the ISP to connect to its network. A router’s basic functionality (and way more) is built into most firewalls—so it’s likely an SMB could eliminate the cost and necessity of a router by connecting a Layer 3 switch to a firewall.

Regardless of the network structure that’s right for your client, routing as a function isn’t dying out—there are just more options than the traditional standalone router.

The post Will Layer 3 Switches Give Routers the Boot? appeared first on Auvik Networks.

I know from experience as an IT solution provider that making the move from an ad hoc break-fix agreement to a flat-fee managed services agreement can be a real challenge.

When a client has become used to only paying for the time you spend, rather than the value you deliver, it can be a big leap to ask them to pay for a flat-fee arrangement.

That’s why many businesses that are moving toward managed services use block-time billing.

What are block-time agreements?

The clue to block-time agreements is definitely in the name. You sell your client a block of time—say, 10 hours—upfront.

Every time you do work for that client, instead of billing them (as you’d do under a break-fix agreement), you take the time off their prepaid block.

The real benefit to block-time agreements is that you reduce administrative overheads for billing—no more chasing overdue invoices. You also capture all the consultancy you’d otherwise give away for free.

If you’ve ever had a client call you to say, “Can I pick your brains about which new computer to buy?” then you know the client values you enough to ask for your advice. Bu they’d probably be horrified to receive a bill for the 15 minutes you spent advising them.

That’s called giving away free consultancy, and that’s why block-time agreements are valuable. In this scenario, you’d simply reduce their block of hours by the time you’ve spent, rather than trying to send them a bill.

I’ve seen many IT solution providers who’ve implemented block-time agreements really well. Here’s how I’ve observed they’ve been effective.

If it happens, log it

The key to block-time billing is, unsurprisingly, to capture all the time you spend helping your client. The most effective way to capture this time is to record it within your ticketing, help desk, or professional services automation (PSA) system.

Whether a query takes five minutes or five hours, record that time on a ticket and reduce the client’s block of time accordingly.

If you fail to do this, you’re essentially going back to what you did before, which is not capturing the value you deliver, and billing only for what you think the client will pay.

That’s not block-time billing. That’s not good business.

Educate yourself and your staff to start the clock every time they interact with a client. Lawyers and accountants do this, and so should you if you’re using block-time agreements.

Automatically bill for new blocks of time

When you set up a new block-time agreement, I suggest you include a clause that if the block of time falls below a certain level, you automatically bill the client for a new block of time.

If you’re selling blocks of 10 hours, then agree that if the block falls below five hours, you’ll automatically bill the client for a new block of 10 hours to top up the agreement.

This helps you avoid being in a situation, very common in break-fix, of doing work for a client but waiting for them to pay you.

With an automatic top-up arrangement, the client always has you on hand to fix their problems. They’ll never run out of hours in their agreement, and you’ll never do work without being paid upfront.

Be proactive in fixing issues

You and I, as IT professionals, know that an IT system is not self-maintaining. It doesn’t get installed, then run and run and run.

It needs maintenance. It needs patching. It needs updating.

Sadly, most client’s don’t want to pay for maintenance, patching, and updating. In fact, they don’t even want to pay you to fix things when they break. They just want it all to work.

Unfortunately, that’s not the reality of IT. But you can make sure the client doesn’t experience the pain of things breaking by using their block-time agreements to proactively look for maintenance, patching, and updating work that needs doing—and do it!

• If you see a server is using lots of disk space, offer to remediate the issue before the server crashes.
• Notice a printer that keeps failing? Quote the client for a new one and tell them they don’t have to worry about your time for installing it. It’s covered in the agreement.
• The client is laboring away on an old version of Microsoft Office? Tell them you can install the latest version, system-wide, and take it from the agreed time.

Clients who might have previously been reluctant to take these maintenance or upgrade steps, because they’re fearful of the cost, often seem much more comfortable doing this work if they’ve already paid for it through a block-time agreement.

Block-time vs managed services

At this stage, you may have the dawning realization that selling a client block-time is also coaching a client on two points:

1. Value your time as the MSP
2. Value their IT

That sounds a lot like managed services, doesn’t it?

Indeed, I’ve had many clients who’ve worked with me under a block-time agreement finally say, “Is there a way we can pay you a flat fee to do this work?”

While many IT businesses use block-time agreements indefinitely, there are many more who use it as a stepping stone towards managed services.

Block-time recap

• Block-time agreements can be a great way to capture all the time you’d otherwise spend doing work you don’t or can’t bill for.
• When using block-time, make sure to aggressively capture any time you spend working for the client and reduce their block of time accordingly.
• Make sure you create block-time agreements that automatically bill for a new block of time before the existing block has expired.
• Look for chances to highlight issues that genuinely need proactive maintenance, patching, or upgrading—and bill for them.
• Block-time is a great way to move clients to a better way of managing and maintaining their IT, and that better way is often called managed services.

The post How to Transition Clients to Managed Services With Block-Time Billing appeared first on Auvik Networks.

Tomorrow—Oct 3, 2018—marks the official one-year anniversary of Frankly MSP, the podcast for managed service providers who want to boost their productivity, efficiency, and profitability.

In 12 months and 28 episodes, we’ve shared advice on everything from branding, compassionate geeks, and workplace meditation to offshoring, unlearning, and partnering to extend your service mix.

If you’re a listener—thank you. Keep the feedback coming. We love to hear from you!

If you’re not yet a listener, the episodes below are a great place to start. These are the six most downloaded Frankly MSP episodes of the last year. Enjoy!

1. FMSP 008 / The Man of a Thousand SOPs

   Nigel Moore explains how documenting more than 1,000 SOPs (standard operating procedures) in his MSP helped him grow—and ultimately sell—the business. Richard Tubb and Karl Palachuk take a look at broadband in small places and the start of voice-activation in the workplace. Episode 008 show notes

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2. FMSP 012 / The Journey From Technician to Business Advisor

   MSP Josh Weiss explains how he successfully shifted his status with clients from technical order taker to valued business advisor. Richard Tubb and Karl Palachuk dig into the difference between AI and machine learning and how these automation trends will affect MSPs. Episode 012 show notes

   Listen here

   
   

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3. FMSP 018 / How to Avoid the Growing Pains That Can Derail Your MSP Business

   Eric Jorgenson, director of growth at Zaarly, tells us about some culture and management challenges that can blindside you during rapid growth, along with tips on how to avoid them. Richard Tubb and Karl Palachuk explore the scary and positive sides of AI being embedded in our lives. Episode 018 show notes

   Listen here

   
   

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4. FMSP 023 / Adding Cybersecurity to a Managed Services Portfolio

   Nick Espinosa of MSSP Security Fanatics discusses some of the pitfalls and best approaches to layering on security services in an MSP. Richard Tubb and Karl Palachuk dish on Microsoft developments and rumors from Microsoft Inspire 2018. Episode 023 show notes

   Listen here

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5. FMSP 016 / Using Vendor Relationships to Fuel Your MSP Growth

   Channel veteran Ted Hulsy shares actionable tips on how to leverage relationships with your vendors to build and grow your service provider business. Richard Tubb and Karl Palachuk report live from New Orleans, where they discuss Webroot’s 2018 Threat Report. MSPs in the audience share their stories around trying to keep their clients secure. Episode 016 show notes

   Listen here

   
   

   Subscribe in iTunes

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6. FMSP 022 / Turning Your MSP Services Into Profitable Products

   Flyght CEO Chris Rumpf explains how positioning his managed services as products has shifted his conversations with clients, shortened his sales cycle, and boosted gross margins. Richard Tubb and Karl Palachuk discuss crisp packets, Traction by Gino Wickman, and underwater data centers. Episode 022 show notes

   Listen here

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The post Top 6 Frankly MSP Podcast Episodes From Our First Year appeared first on Auvik Networks.

Winning new clients is one of the most satisfying feelings for any business owner. But scaling can present some operational challenges.

For example, one King Kong-sized hurdle many MSP businesses face is how to increase—or even maintain—margins during growth. It’s hard to provide the same standard of customer service to a larger client base without adding more (expensive) technicians to your payroll.

… if you’re not using automation to create efficiencies.

The main benefits of automating business processes and activities can be separated into two buckets: operations and service delivery. By automating back-of-house operations like payroll, procurement, accounts payable, and accounting, you can keep headcount low and save capital.

Your PSA is a perfect example of this, as it automates processes like time tracking, billing, and customer relationship management. A PSA can also streamline service delivery—you can see where techs are spending too much time through their ticket metrics, and implement automation to eliminate time-intensive, repetitive activities.

One activity that could be dragging on your techs’ time is manual network management—including tasks like wire tracing, hand-drawing Visio diagrams of your client networks, and backing up network device configurations.

Auvik automates network management so you can scale your business without scaling your team. Here’s how.

Assess networks automatically

Network assessments are a crucial part of the prospecting phase for many MSPs. To effectively support a new client’s IT environment, you need to know what’s where.

But sending a technician to a new client’s site to assess their network can take hours, days, or even weeks—and after all that work tracing wires and drawing maps, there could be hidden devices that cause problems down the road.

By automating network assessments with Auvik, you save your techs’ time so you don’t have to hire someone every time you win a client. Auvik automatically discovers the network, all the way from Layer 1 to Layer 3—meaning you won’t lose time on unquoted work resulting from surprise devices.

Jason Whitehurst, the owner of NoctisIT, uses Auvik regularly when prospecting to assess networks simply and quote work accurately without adding techs.

We don’t hire employees. We use partners to provide services for us, and Auvik is critical in our pre-sales toolkit. Auvik has significantly improved our margin by avoiding sunk costs, and having to do work we can’t charge for because we said the statement of work was A when it was really B.

Onboard new clients quickly and centrally

Once you assess a new client’s network, Auvik can uncover opportunities for you to improve it. You’ll know about outdated infrastructure you can replace, stale configurations you can update, devices you can recable, and firmware you can upgrade.

Andrew Kropf, formerly infrastructure and solutions manager at Network Doctor, says Auvik changed the way his MSP onboarded clients.

Since using Auvik for our onboarding process, it’s taken a lot of what was a manual process and automated it. It has cut our onboarding time by at least 75%.

Prevent network issues with proactive monitoring

By monitoring your client networks proactively, you can reduce the time it takes to solve problems. Auvik helps you do this with over 50 pre-configured alerts tuned to industry best practices so you know when something weird is happening with your client’s infrastructure.

DJ Forman, the CEO of ITque, says the proactive visibility he gains with Auvik helps his team be more efficient.

Labor is by far the most expensive part of our business. The more we can do with the fewer number of employees the better, but obviously we have to maintain the service level our customers are expecting from us. Auvik makes it easy for us to see what’s going on, and we can then troubleshoot and diagnose issues with the same number of staff as we add additional clients on board.

To resolve problems identified through Auvik, you can use one of the system’s three remote access features to dive into the environment and make changes. Not only does this reduce potential truck rolls, but you could prevent issues from reaching the client at all.

As well, Auvik automatically backs up and restores network device configurations. Being able to restore those configurations can really save time in the event of a disaster like a power outage.

Corey Kirkendoll, CEO of 5k Technical Services, has mitigated the need to hire more technicians by automating manual network tasks.

If we didn’t have Auvik, we’d have probably have to hire another engineer—if not two—to support the network and our customers’ infrastructure. It was a very manual, tedious process. If you have an intensive managed network offering, you need to look at Auvik because you’ll save on headcount and [be able to] deploy high-cost resources to something of more value.

The post Auvik Use Case #15: Scaling Your Business Without Scaling Your Team appeared first on Auvik Networks.

It seems like every year, there’s a trendy new business model that managed services providers (MSPs) are told to adopt if you want to, well, survive.

The most obvious example in 2018 is security. Cybercrime is a hot topic at channel conferences, and vendors are offering content in droves to help MSPs package and sell managed security services with the promise it’ll help you better protect your customers—and your business.

Jay McBain, Forrester

“We’re predicting that managed services are going to be about a quarter of the market and stable in the future. So that’s why it’s being compressed and being consolidated—the average managed services margin is now 17%.”

A high margin opportunity

The cloud, as we all know, is changing how businesses in every industry operate, and is creating new categories of businesses. One example is born in the cloud businesses, which “find their opportunity in project-based, downstream revenue that cloud opportunities create.”

Born in the cloud businesses enable cloud services rather than selling them—they take care of the implementation, integration, security, and optimization. And “they’re figuring out a way to find 40 to 75% margin business within these (cloud) projects.”

The difference between this business model and a current-day MSP is the absence of recurring revenue. “You don’t implement Salesforce and charge somebody per device per month,” says McBain. “It’s a project that’s charged one time. It’s sticky business but it’s not managed.”

The reason born in the cloud businesses are gaining popularity and generating significant revenue is because of a new type of IT buyer. “There’s been a big shift in buying from IT to the line of business executive. It used to be called shadow IT, when 10% of purchases were made outside of IT. Now 65% are made outside of IT—soon to be 80%.”

If the vast majority of tech buying decisions are being made outside the IT department, you’ll need to change how you prospect and deliver services. The way a VP of marketing selects software is likely very different from an IT decision maker. And 80% of purchases? That’s not an opportunity to squander.

Reach the new IT buyer through hyperspecialization

One way to access non-IT buyers is through a business model called hyperspecialization, which means pursuing and servicing customers in a hyper-specific niche.

Since non-IT buyers expect you to make tech recommendations based on their unique business goals, processes, segment, location, and line of business, you need deep niche expertise to resonate.

McBain says you need deep knowledge about five things to effectively hyperspecialize:

1. The client’s sub-industry

   “There are 297 sub-industries. So not only are you healthcare specialized, but I need your experience to be in mid-sized ambulatory care clinics with 50 doctors.”

2. The client’s line of business

   “I might be a VP of marketing, sales, operations, or finance, and I need you to speak my language. My pain point might be that I need more leads, so I need you to talk about top of funnel, lead progression, predictive analytics.”

3. The client’s geographic location

   “Selling to mid-sized clinics is very different in New York than it is in Canada, the U.K., and California. Every region has different compliance regulations and legislation. I need you to understand those nuances.”

4. The client’s sector, segment, and size

   “What might work in a small hospital or a large dentist’s office may not work for a 50-person clinic. So I’d like your resume to be very specific to my size, resources, and challenges.”

5. The line of business tech stack

   “The average solution today has seven layers to the tech stack. I need you to be very connected and detailed in terms of what those layers are. To drive leads in a mid-sized clinic, here’s what the seven layers look like—here are the vendors that participate.”

The only catch is, even if you meet the expertise criteria, non-IT buyers want to see “three examples of you being able to do this successfully across all those five hyper-specialties on your resume.”

If you look at your current client base and see some similar clients—say mid-market health clinics on the West Coast—you have a head start in hyperspecializing. But why would you want to focus solely on them? And what if your clients are literally all over the map?

McBain has an answer. “To use a Canadian analogy, you want to skate to where the puck is going to be. Managed services is plateauing. You’ve got to look at where the future opportunity is, especially high-margin business—and it’s centered around cloud and digital transformation projects.”

Stay tuned for the second piece in this series on MSP hyperspecialization, which will offer hyperspecialization tips and examples for MSPs who have a hyperspecialty in mind—and for those who don’t.

The post MSP Hyperspecialization: A High Margin Opportunity appeared first on Auvik Networks.

One of the things we at IT Glue wanted to accomplish with the production of our inaugural Global MSP Benchmark Report was to identify what a top-performing MSP looks like. There were certainly some surprises—such as the reality that size doesn’t matter—but a lot of what we found was fairly intuitive.

In this rapidly growing industry, there are around 20% of MSPs that are seeing both high growth (10%+ per annum) and high margins (20%+ net margin). We broke out this group, which we dubbed the Golden Quintile, and started examining what makes these MSPs so special. What are they doing differently from all the others?

One of the trends we identified was automation. A significant portion of top-performing MSPs are small shops, with four or fewer employees and recurring revenues below $1 million per annum. These are businesses that provide managed services, but also have to take care of all the sales, marketing, and administrative functions that any business must deal with.

Certainly, the sales and marketing functions play a key role in the revenue growth of these businesses. So how do they find the time to service their clients, crush tickets, and pound the phones to drum up new business?

The answer lies with the amount of automation that top-performing MSPs use. To speed up service delivery, and thus free up time for building their businesses, they rely on documentation.

Documenting clients is no easy task, but they automate as much of this task as possible. Top-performers automate documentation through integrations with their PSA, RMM, and network monitoring tools. The upcoming integration between Auvik and IT Glue, for example, will further enable this type of automation.

But it goes beyond just bringing information into a centralized data management application. The next step, one that has typically been adopted by the best-performing MSPs in the business, is to leverage documentation and automation to enhance business processes. We call this documentation maturity, and it reflects a company with a high level of operational sophistication.

A good example of this might be setting up workflow triggers so that certain events trigger actions for your team. If your network monitoring system detects an issue, you receive a text immediately to alert you to the issue. The same principle can be applied to other events, too, such as a change in the status of a process document or a password.

A checklist can then be created and referenced that will illustrate how to perform a task. With a workflow trigger to say, “This needs to be done” and a checklist to say, “Here’s how to do it,” you now have a much higher level of process automation. Your team thinks less and does more, making their use of time more efficient. They can use their brains for problem-solving instead of memorization.

All told, there’s a lot of opportunity for MSPs to automate business processes. Best-in-class MSPs consider automation one of their top priorities, and this automation involves more than just information flows. By automating processes, best-in-class MSPs do more in less time, with less hassle, and that’s what leads to high margins and more time for growing the business.

The post Using Automation to Improve Processes in Your MSP appeared first on Auvik Networks.

Just like the goblins, ghouls, and ghosts that’ll be walking down your street tomorrow night, network management can be scary.

If you’re not a network expert (and don’t have one on your payroll), it can be intimidating to make changes to clients’ infrastructure for fear of taking the network down. Small actions can have a big impact.

In a 2017 study from Dimensional Research and Veriflow, the surveyed network professionals admitted that the vast majority of network outages are caused by human error. Fat finger mistakes are scarily common.

For instance, in February 2017, Amazon Web Services (AWS) suffered a huge network outage caused by human error. An IT employee was debugging a problem in one of its billing platforms and accidentally took too many servers offline.

Amazon said in a statement, “Unfortunately, one of the inputs to the command was entered incorrectly and a larger set of servers was removed than intended.” That single error on the CLI took down major websites like Quora, Slack, and Business Insider.

A few months later, in May 2017, a British Airways IT maintenance contractor accidentally switched off the uninterrupted power supply (UPS). When it was reconnected, it caused a power surge that took down the airline’s entire global network.

British Airways cancelled over 400 flights, stranding 75,000 passengers. This calamity severely marred the airline’s reputation and took an estimated $112 million off the company’s bottom line.

Photo: Pixabay

Equally shiver-inducing is the potential for making fat finger mistakes if you manage networks manually. Working in the CLI often involves typing out complex commands and one missing letter or stray character could be disastrous for your client.

For example, an access control list (ACL) error—like a mistyped port number, rules put in the wrong order, or incorrect criteria—can result in unwanted external connections that authorize the wrong traffic. That compromises your client’s security, and can cost them big bucks—which would, in turn, have a blood-curdling effect on your bottom line.

Add to that hair-raising thought the diversity of today’s networks, and you’ve got a monster mashup of complexity. There are few standards across networking hardware made by different vendors—and it’s extremely unlikely you’ll have a single-vendor client site.

In fact, more than 75% of MSPs handle more than four vendors on their managed networks—and some MSPs manage more than 20. Having to navigate multiple standards and protocols is complex, causes headaches, and is a huge drag on time.

With Auvik, you can leave your fear of the network behind. The software automates and simplifies network management. You don’t have to hire (very rare) experts to handle complex network tasks, or take the horrifying risk of manually performing them yourself.

Find out more about how managing networks can be a walk in the park—unless, you know, you’re being chased by zombies.

The post BOO! Does Network Management Give You the Shivers? appeared first on Auvik Networks.

In part two of our two-part series on MSP hyperspecialization, we share tips and examples of how MSPs can create their own extremely competitive niche. (Read part one on why hyperspecialization is such a high-margin opportunity.)

So you get the business benefits of hyperspecializing your MSP to serve a particular business niche, and you understand the five criteria of niche expertise you need to do so.

Awesome! You’re ready to jump aboard a high-margin opportunity. But… now what?

Jay McBain, Forrester

By narrowing down your client list to a single sub-industry, line of business, geography, sector, and tech stack, the result will be a hyperspecialization that may give you “an unfair advantage over the competition.”

Don’t fret if your clients are all over the map, though. To develop a new hyperspecialty, McBain suggests you do three things. “Go and ask three questions of the buyers and participants in that market. What do they read, where do they go, and who do they follow.”

The next step is simple—read the same books, blogs, and trade publications; go to the industry events and participate in the webinars; and connect with well-known industry pundits who can, in turn, connect you with potential clients.

Adapting your business model

Now that you’ve picked your hyperspecialty, you need to do the hard part: accept your business will have to be more flexible to make the most of this high-margin opportunity.

Photo: Pexels

“Three-quarters of [IT buyers are] not going to be outsourcing to a single vendor. So to participate in this future, MSP firms need be more nimble—in other words, deliver services [without being] locked into this idea it has to be recurring.”

I know, cue the gasp.

McBain explains why. “Nobody owns the customer anymore. That whole trusted advisor thing is strong for maybe 23% of the market. But 77% of buyers are actually looking for teams and solutions broader than a single throat to choke.”

By that, he means, buyers from non-IT lines of business are more likely to buy direct from vendors. “They look like consumers in terms of the amount of research they do ahead of time, and 73% of them prefer a more direct relationship with their vendors.”

But don’t take umbrage at these new buyers wanting to buy direct. McBain says there’s more than enough opportunity elsewhere.

“For every dollar of cloud opportunity (ex. for every dollar a customer will pay Salesforce), it generates $4.14 cents of high-margin opportunity—all project based.

MSPs shouldn’t care if a customer wants to buy direct because the margin on six dollars a month doesn’t matter. Don’t slow yourself down—you should be focused on where you can make the most money.”

And, by trying to service for the entire project, you risk losing the non-IT buyer, because “80% of them find the sales people they deal with in the channel are not specialized enough. It’s like going to buy a car. You’ve done all the work—you know exactly what you want. You walk in and the salesperson is back at step one, and it’s a broken process.”

So, let’s say you take McBain’s advice. You adapt your business model and offer cloud enablement projects, since you want to access that 40-75% margin opportunity that will be available in a staggering 80% of IT purchases. This whole-scale business change doesn’t actually require an entire 180° about-face, McBain says.

“It’s not a new skill set, it’s a sales and marketing motion. Start participating in these conversations within the accounts you have. You’re not going to own the entire project, but you definitely have the expertise to wrap it in a secure and compliant way.”

Photo: Pexels

Alliances: the secret sauce of hyperspecialization

Building alliances with other firms to share cloud enables projects is a great way to generate awareness within your hyperspecialty, and ensure you’re completing projects to the best of your ability—by focusing on what you are good at.

To form these relationships, McBain says your first action should be declaring your hyperspecialty to your vendors. That way, if a vendor gets a lead for a company in your hyperspecialty, it could come your way.

The key, though, is to declare that hyperspecialty. “They won’t know who you are unless you do the heat map yourself and declare your specialty to Microsoft. They’re looking for these hyperspecialized partners for these opportunities that come up—and this is the future.”

Why do vendors like hyperspecialized partners? Well, “Microsoft can ship [a lead] off to a generic national partner, or hand it off to you—who has a resume of successfully delivering marketing projects at mid-sized clinics in the Northeast? They want you because the chance of success for Microsoft is going to be higher.”

A hyperspecialized MSP example

Eric Schlissel, GeekTek

“We made the choice to specialize back when we realized how generic most MSPs were targeting their services. We, as service providers, tend to want to say yes to all the different industries. At the end of the day it’s very easy to have a very broad skill set without going very deep.”

To build GeekTek’s expertise, he says, “We spent years developing our stack for this industry and developing our subject matter expertise down to the municipality level. Understanding regulations, speaking at conferences, and meeting everybody in the industry.”

He speaks to specific lines of business within the cannabis companies, too—another hyperspecialization criterion. “You’re on the phone with the CFO and you’re speaking their language—that’s far more impactful than saying, ‘Yeah, we’re a service provider.’”

Now, years after he began the hyperspecialization journey, “We’re known as the IT services firm for scaling companies in the cannabis space. Companies that want to grow, we’re the go-to. We started getting approached by Canadian companies because of our hyperspecialization.”

Photo: Pixabay

“That type of subject matter expertise is rare to begin with, and it’s even more rare in this space, because nobody has spent time doing the legwork. So we find ourselves uniquely positioned here. It would take any other IT services firm quite some time to catch up with what we’ve developed.”

And he admits that by hyperspecializing, he generates fewer leads. But “even if you don’t get many leads, the leads that you do get will be very qualified. Opportunities present themselves—but you have to publicize [your niche]. You might lose clients. But you will gain more clients in the long term when you do it right.”

His advice for other MSPs looking to hyperspecialize? “Find your niche, execute now, and invest. It’s a big investment to become a specialist in a niche, but when we have so many generalists that do a fair enough job, you want to be the person on the tip of people’s tongues.”

The post MSP Hyperspecialization: Building Your Niche Offering appeared first on Auvik Networks.

Auvik’s polar bear mascot, Nanook, has been all over the world—so we were surprised when the seasoned traveler went missing in June at DattoCon in Austin, Texas.

That’s right. Nanook vanished. We put our best and brightest on the case to solve the mystery and answer the question: Where’s the bear?

To help in the search, the Auvik team traveled down to ConnectWise IT Nation in Orlando, Fla., last week. We know Nanook loves network management, concerts, and dancing, so what better place for him to be?

IT Nation: Day 0

On IT Nation-eve, Auvik hosted a roadshow at Icebar Orlando. The bar looked incredible decked out in Auvik purple.

Purple! Auvik Polar Express Roadshow at ICEBAR Orlando

Some brave souls even ventured into the ice room. Cool, right? (Sorry! Couldn’t resist.)

The ice room. Brrrr!

Our Canadian crew felt right at home. Patrick Albert, AVP of product, and Lawrence Popa, technical support specialist, were even wearing t-shirts in the chilly temps. Although they’re both hugging penguins for warmth so… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The Auvik crew at ICEBAR Orlando

IT Nation: Day 1

On the opening day of the conference, the Auvik crew embodied #OneTeamOneDream by setting up the Auvik booth together. Sam Trieu, community manager, made sure to check in on the search for Nanook.

The team pitches in

Sam’s spidey senses must have been tingling—because meanwhile… Nanook was also checking in.

We were closing in. But first, it was time for the welcome reception.

MSPs from all over the world congregated in the Solutions Pavilion for the formal kickoff to ConnectWise IT Nation. (That’s Ashley Cooper, partner programs manager, in the polar bear paws on the left. Because who doesn’t wear polar bear paws to an IT conference?)

Stylin’ in polar bear paws

Brad Sakai, Cisco and Dan Byron, Auvik

IT Nation: Day 2

The keynote speaker on the second day of the conference was Arnie Bellini, CEO of ConnectWise. The talk focused on how channel companies can enable customers to embrace tech evolution, work together to make the world a better place, and differentiate themselves by being hyper-focused on customer service.

Arnie Bellini keynote, IT Nation 2018

For the rest of the day, attendees were uncovering clues about Nanook’s whereabouts and bringing them to the Auvik booth to join in the search for our missing bear.

Is that… bear poop?

In the afternoon, Jacqui Murphy, VP of marketing, and Alex Hoff, VP of product and sales, spoke at a jam-packed breakout session. They provided more detail about how MSPs can add managed network services to their existing offering. (Here’s more information about the opportunity to add this new stream of revenue.)

Auvik’s Jacqui Murphy and Alex Hoff rock the breakout room at IT Nation 2018

After the breakout session, MSPs returned to the Solutions Pavilion for the pub crawl. Everyone who came by the Auvik booth got a beer and (mini) bear to take home as a souvenir and had the chance to chat with Auvik leaders.

Beer and a bear

During the pub crawl, we finally found Nanook! It turned out he had stayed behind after DattoCon to enjoy the warm weather. He came out of hiding just in time to help out at the booth.

Where’s the bear? There’s the bear!

In a tribute to Nanook’s love of concerts, members of the Auvik team journeyed to see Walk the Moon. The band was incredible.

Ladies and gentlemen, Walk the Moon!

Hats off to an awesome conference, and thank you to everyone who participated in the #WheresTheBear search. Nanook is happy to be home in Canada!

The post Where Was the Bear? At IT Nation 2018! appeared first on Auvik Networks.

When network hardware vendors issue device recalls, field notices, or security alerts, the implication can be massive for MSPs.

Take the 2017 clock signal issue, for example. That huge recall of Intel microchips was a large-scale vulnerability for tons of devices—and meant MSPs had to figure out which devices were affected on which client sites.

After frustration with his other software, Jason Whitehurst, the cofounder and vCIO of NoctisIT, says Auvik was the first place he looked for specific device information to check for the clock signal flaw.

“The traditional RMM tool, generally, is either incapable of doing it or the rule sets are so complex that it’s difficult to do. Whereas I have found that Auvik has much more easily been able to present that information to me.”

And Cisco, for example, needed very specific information from MSPs to accept recalled devices. Robinson Roca, the lead network engineer and cloud architect at BBH Solutions, says, “The way Cisco identified what devices were affected were by certain numbers and letters within the serial number. They also needed to know how long the device had been up.”

Auvik automatically logs and reports on device up time

If he didn’t have the Auvik inventory data to discover which clients were vulnerable, Roca would have had to go through their purchases orders and massive spreadsheets to figure out which serial numbers met the criteria and where each device was located.”

That process would have required a high-level network engineer to remotely tunnel into client sites, the logistics team to look into the purchase history for clients, and service reps to call clients to gather additional information. With so many hands on deck, that would have been a very expensive, manual issue to resolve.

But with Auvik, Roca had only to tap a single, less expensive technician to find the affected devices:

“Before we had Auvik, multiple resources had to do different tasks to solve a problem. Now, I can have one person log into Auvik and—without having to log into a single piece of equipment—get serial numbers and other details I need. I may not have to have a network engineer dig into that. I can push off tasks to other engineers that are a lesser cost. So, we save time and money.”

Roca was also able to expedite the return merchandise authorization (RMA) process with Cisco. “Auvik was a really easy way of providing the detail that I needed to start a huge RMA process across multiple clients. Auvik was monitoring up time, and I had the serial numbers that were affected. [In cases like the clock signal flaw], I can start RMA processes ridiculously faster, and I’m able to hit more of my clients easier.”

James Fodor, service desk manager at Access One, says in addition to finding affected devices more easily, Auvik helps him proactively prevent hardware or software vulnerabilities from affecting client devices in the future—which cements the value of his business.

“To go to a client and say ‘We’re experiencing these problems across a number of our other clients, so we’re going to put a fix in on your machine before it even becomes a problem.’ That’s unbelievably invaluable to our clients and is something that will keep them as our clients forever.”

It’s all part of owning the network.

The post Auvik Use Case #6: Identifying Vulnerable Devices From Vendor Recalls and Security Notices appeared first on Auvik Networks.

How well does the team within your managed solution provider business communicate? How much would you say the service desk team in your MSP talks to one another?

For most MSPs, communication between members of a service desk team relies on the updates that are typed into a ticket, the casual conversations between taking support calls, and perhaps the occasional tap on the shoulder between engineers for specific issues.

While this communication is good, the challenge is that there’a a wealth of knowledge and real-time information that isn’t communicated between your team—and your clients are suffering as a result.

One way to ensure this information is shared effectively is through a daily huddle.

What’s a daily huddle?

I first became aware of the concept of daily huddles after reading Verne Harnish’s celebrated book Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Harnish says that “to make more than just a lot of noise in your business, you’ve got to have a rhythm.” At the heart of this rhythm is a daily meeting with a specific agenda.

Harnish refers to this meeting as a huddle, in a similar way that an American football team will briefly huddle together before tackling a big game play.

Your daily huddle should be something that’s scheduled and has a specific agenda. When I say scheduled, I don’t mean “We’ll try to get together at 9 a.m. each day.” That’s a hope, not a scheduled meeting.

A scheduled meeting is something that’s on the calendar, mandatory to attend, and treated as an important part of the day—not lip-service to the idea of team building.

The benefits of a daily huddle

At this point, I hear a lot of MSPs tell me it would be “impossible” to find time for their service desk team to get together. Some engineers are in the office. Some are on client sites. All of them are too busy actually doing their jobs to spend any time in meetings.

Normally I’d agree. Meetings can be a colossal waste of time. However, a famous quote (often incorrectly attributed to Abraham Lincoln) springs to mind here: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

The daily huddle will save you time.

The daily huddle is an investment of time to enable your team to support clients more effectively. It’s not a talking shop. It’s a short (think 5 minutes) gathering of engineers with a specific purpose (the agenda).

The benefits of a daily huddle are that it enables your entire team to:

• Be aware of what their colleagues are working on (rather than hope they chat about this casually)
• Share what they’re working on
• Share what they’ve learned in the past 24 hours (rather than simply hope this gets documented in a knowledge base)
• Ask for help (rather than wait for a busy colleague to have a “spare moment”)
• Offer help and support for their colleagues
• Build a stronger personal and professional relationship with their colleagues

The bottom line is that a daily huddle should help your team get things done more efficiently, more effectively, and more quickly.

You’ll solve problems more easily, and your service desk team will work together as an actual team, not simply a collection of individuals working on their own priorities.

If your service desk team can’t make five minutes to do that each day, then you’ve got a more serious problem.

The structure of a daily huddle

Huddles are best done in person but if your staff are off-site, they can use their cellphone to dial in and join the meeting. Again, if your engineers can’t spare five minutes in a day, then you have a massive internal issue and need to seriously reconsider how much work your engineers are taking on. Making time is typically a choice.

To ensure the huddle sticks to its allotted time, I recommend you hold the meeting standing up. Nothing motivates people to be concise more than being on their feet.

The agenda of a daily huddle should be the same every day. It consists of three items:

1. What’s up?
2. Daily metrics
3. Where are you stuck?

Each attendee should spend a few seconds (think less than 30) to share what they’ve got going on at the moment. This is really valuable becomes it enables your team to spot opportunities, highlight conflicts, and serve your clients better.

The daily metrics portion should help the team keep a finger on the pulse of how they’re performing. Key performance indicators are different for every business, but for a service desk, I recommend focusing on open tickets, the average time to resolution, and tickets that have exceeded service level agreement or goals.

Finally, asking each member of the team where they’re stuck is a powerful way to bring your team together to handle challenges as a group. All too often, engineers will work in isolation rather than ask for help. Working as a team builds camaraderie and saves your business money.

Remember to keep the huddle on track. The problem-solving stage should be brief. No in-depth explanations are required (or wanted). Instead, focus on communicating information.

Daily huddles for other departments

Of course, the keen minds reading this will be asking the question, If a daily huddle works for a service desk team, does it work for other teams too?

Absolutely! I recommend a daily huddle for all teams within an MSP business, from HR to finance to project management (especially project management).

The executive or senior management team within an MSP can also hugely benefit from a daily huddle. It helps uncover true priorities, rather than having senior staff working in silos.

Of course, the rhythm within your own business might lend itself to a weekly huddle for a certain department. For executives, perhaps it’s a brief daily huddle plus a longer, more in-depth huddle once a month to tackle bigger strategy challenges.

Use a huddle however it benefits your team and your business. But don’t lose sight of the benefits of the huddle. They aren’t meetings for the sake of meetings. They’re scheduled events with an agenda and a specific goal: to share information and bring your team closer together.

The best five minutes you’ll ever invest

Every (and I do mean every) successful IT business I’ve ever worked with has had some form of daily huddle built into its routine.

The MSP business who are growing fastest, do so because they realize they need to have a rhythm to their growth, and a daily huddle helps provide this rhythm.

Don’t fall into the trap of being busy fools, making excuses for why you can’t spare five minutes in a day. The daily huddle may well be the best five minutes you ever invest.

The post Huddle Up! How 5 Minutes a Day Can Improve Your MSP’s Efficiency appeared first on Auvik Networks.

When network hardware vendors issue device recalls, field notices, or security alerts, the implication can be massive for MSPs.

Take the 2017 clock signal issue, for example. That huge recall of Intel microchips was a large-scale vulnerability for tons of devices—and meant MSPs had to figure out which devices were affected on which client sites.

After frustration with his other software, Jason Whitehurst, the cofounder and vCIO of NoctisIT, says Auvik was the first place he looked for specific device information to check for the clock signal flaw.

“The traditional RMM tool, generally, is either incapable of doing it or the rule sets are so complex that it’s difficult to do. Whereas I have found that Auvik has much more easily been able to present that information to me.”

Auvik automatically logs and reports on device up time

And Cisco, for example, needed very specific information from MSPs to accept recalled devices. Robinson Roca, the lead network engineer and cloud architect at BBH Solutions, says, “The way Cisco identified what devices were affected were by certain numbers and letters within the serial number. They also needed to know how long the device had been up.”

If he didn’t have the Auvik inventory data to discover which clients were vulnerable, Roca would have had to go through their purchases orders and massive spreadsheets to figure out which serial numbers met the criteria and where each device was located.”

That process would have required a high-level network engineer to remotely tunnel into client sites, the logistics team to look into the purchase history for clients, and service reps to call clients to gather additional information. With so many hands on deck, that would have been a very expensive, manual issue to resolve.

But with Auvik, Roca had only to tap a single, less expensive technician to find the affected devices:

“Before we had Auvik, multiple resources had to do different tasks to solve a problem. Now, I can have one person log into Auvik and—without having to log into a single piece of equipment—get serial numbers and other details I need. I may not have to have a network engineer dig into that. I can push off tasks to other engineers that are a lesser cost. So, we save time and money.”

Roca was also able to expedite the return merchandise authorization (RMA) process with Cisco. “Auvik was a really easy way of providing the detail that I needed to start a huge RMA process across multiple clients. Auvik was monitoring up time, and I had the serial numbers that were affected. [In cases like the clock signal flaw], I can start RMA processes ridiculously faster, and I’m able to hit more of my clients easier.”

James Fodor, service desk manager at Access One, says in addition to finding affected devices more easily, Auvik helps him proactively prevent hardware or software vulnerabilities from affecting client devices in the future—which cements the value of his business.

“To go to a client and say ‘We’re experiencing these problems across a number of our other clients, so we’re going to put a fix in on your machine before it even becomes a problem.’ That’s unbelievably invaluable to our clients and is something that will keep them as our clients forever.”

It’s all part of owning the network.

The post Auvik Use Case #6: Identifying Vulnerable Devices From Vendor Recalls and Security Notices appeared first on Auvik Networks.

How well does the team within your managed solution provider business communicate? How much would you say the service desk team in your MSP talks to one another?

For most MSPs, communication between members of a service desk team relies on the updates that are typed into a ticket, the casual conversations between taking support calls, and perhaps the occasional tap on the shoulder between engineers for specific issues.

While this communication is good, the challenge is that there’a a wealth of knowledge and real-time information that isn’t communicated between your team—and your clients are suffering as a result.

One way to ensure this information is shared effectively is through a daily huddle.

What’s a daily huddle?

I first became aware of the concept of daily huddles after reading Verne Harnish’s celebrated book Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Harnish says that “to make more than just a lot of noise in your business, you’ve got to have a rhythm.” At the heart of this rhythm is a daily meeting with a specific agenda.

Harnish refers to this meeting as a huddle, in a similar way that an American football team will briefly huddle together before tackling a big game play.

Your daily huddle should be something that’s scheduled and has a specific agenda. When I say scheduled, I don’t mean “We’ll try to get together at 9 a.m. each day.” That’s a hope, not a scheduled meeting.

A scheduled meeting is something that’s on the calendar, mandatory to attend, and treated as an important part of the day—not lip-service to the idea of team building.

The benefits of a daily huddle

At this point, I hear a lot of MSPs tell me it would be “impossible” to find time for their service desk team to get together. Some engineers are in the office. Some are on client sites. All of them are too busy actually doing their jobs to spend any time in meetings.

Normally I’d agree. Meetings can be a colossal waste of time. However, a famous quote (often incorrectly attributed to Abraham Lincoln) springs to mind here: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

The daily huddle will save you time.

The daily huddle is an investment of time to enable your team to support clients more effectively. It’s not a talking shop. It’s a short (think 5 minutes) gathering of engineers with a specific purpose (the agenda).

The benefits of a daily huddle are that it enables your entire team to:

• Be aware of what their colleagues are working on (rather than hope they chat about this casually)
• Share what they’re working on
• Share what they’ve learned in the past 24 hours (rather than simply hope this gets documented in a knowledge base)
• Ask for help (rather than wait for a busy colleague to have a “spare moment”)
• Offer help and support for their colleagues
• Build a stronger personal and professional relationship with their colleagues

The bottom line is that a daily huddle should help your team get things done more efficiently, more effectively, and more quickly.

You’ll solve problems more easily, and your service desk team will work together as an actual team, not simply a collection of individuals working on their own priorities.

If your service desk team can’t make five minutes to do that each day, then you’ve got a more serious problem.

The structure of a daily huddle

Huddles are best done in person but if your staff are off-site, they can use their cellphone to dial in and join the meeting. Again, if your engineers can’t spare five minutes in a day, then you have a massive internal issue and need to seriously reconsider how much work your engineers are taking on. Making time is typically a choice.

To ensure the huddle sticks to its allotted time, I recommend you hold the meeting standing up. Nothing motivates people to be concise more than being on their feet.

The agenda of a daily huddle should be the same every day. It consists of three items:

1. What’s up?
2. Daily metrics
3. Where are you stuck?

Each attendee should spend a few seconds (think less than 30) to share what they’ve got going on at the moment. This is really valuable becomes it enables your team to spot opportunities, highlight conflicts, and serve your clients better.

The daily metrics portion should help the team keep a finger on the pulse of how they’re performing. Key performance indicators are different for every business, but for a service desk, I recommend focusing on open tickets, the average time to resolution, and tickets that have exceeded service level agreement or goals.

Finally, asking each member of the team where they’re stuck is a powerful way to bring your team together to handle challenges as a group. All too often, engineers will work in isolation rather than ask for help. Working as a team builds camaraderie and saves your business money.

Remember to keep the huddle on track. The problem-solving stage should be brief. No in-depth explanations are required (or wanted). Instead, focus on communicating information.

Daily huddles for other departments

Of course, the keen minds reading this will be asking the question, If a daily huddle works for a service desk team, does it work for other teams too?

Absolutely! I recommend a daily huddle for all teams within an MSP business, from HR to finance to project management (especially project management).

The executive or senior management team within an MSP can also hugely benefit from a daily huddle. It helps uncover true priorities, rather than having senior staff working in silos.

Of course, the rhythm within your own business might lend itself to a weekly huddle for a certain department. For executives, perhaps it’s a brief daily huddle plus a longer, more in-depth huddle once a month to tackle bigger strategy challenges.

Use a huddle however it benefits your team and your business. But don’t lose sight of the benefits of the huddle. They aren’t meetings for the sake of meetings. They’re scheduled events with an agenda and a specific goal: to share information and bring your team closer together.

The best five minutes you’ll ever invest

Every (and I do mean every) successful IT business I’ve ever worked with has had some form of daily huddle built into its routine.

The MSP business who are growing fastest, do so because they realize they need to have a rhythm to their growth, and a daily huddle helps provide this rhythm.

Don’t fall into the trap of being busy fools, making excuses for why you can’t spare five minutes in a day. The daily huddle may well be the best five minutes you ever invest.

The post Huddle Up! How 5 Minutes a Day Can Improve Your MSP’s Efficiency appeared first on Auvik Networks.

There are serious differences between smaller business and enterprise wireless environments. At the same time, defining “enterprise” can be tricky.

For where we’re going in this piece, enterprise equals big as measured by client device counts and diversity, complicated when it comes to security, and critical when it comes to uptime and stability.

That gets the conversation started in the right place. Now let’s get into the major areas to address when building an enterprise Wi-Fi system.

It starts with policy and operational goals

IT history is filled with stories of folly about purchasing the wrong “solution” or buying into some vendor’s do-all promise without really understanding what was actually needed for a given situation.

To me, any network implementation has to be grounded in organizational goals and policy. And those goals and policy have to be endorsed by the C-level folks. Otherwise your team and any in-house tech staff are not reading from the same sheet of music as the organizational administration and conflict is inevitable.

Make sure everyone with a stake has a clear understanding of what the WLAN actually needs to do—no making it up as you roll out.

Furthermore, well-formulated policy will often reveal other parts of the network that need to be integrated. Security and monitoring policies will drive a big part of the WLAN configuration and can identify where things like RADIUS servers, credential stores, firewalls, and network management systems come into play.

Then you collect requirements

You’re still not ready to go do wireless things. Understanding policy and organizational goals gets you harmonized with the rest of the IT framework, but you can’t take on design and deployment tasks without gathering WLAN requirements.

How many devices will be used in different areas of the WLAN? What types of devices? What applications will they use? How many SSIDs will be in use, and what’s the topology for each as they make their way into the LAN? What growth factor do you allow for, given that whatever you are about to create likely has to last some number of years? What impact do aesthetic concerns have on how and where you can deploy access points?

You may not be able to neatly answer every question when it comes to requirements, but you absolutely have to take your best documented shot at it by talking with as many key stakeholders as possible.

Requirements combine with policy and goals to give the basis for design. Skip any of these and you’re asking for serious trouble when the WLAN is finally lit up.

You’re ready for design and infrastructure

With key inputs defined for the design process for each space you have to cover, you can get busy.

Assuming that multiple rooms and spaces (and even buildings and outdoor areas) are in play, enterprise Wi-Fi needs solid design that comes from professional-grade tools like Ekahau Site Survey, iBwave Wi-Fi, or AirMagnet Survey and Planner in skilled hands.

If you have the resources on your team, you’re fortunate. Otherwise, consider subcontracting to a wireless specialist to develop a design that fulfills the requirements defined earlier in the project.

For building out the infrastructure, give each component in the path from the access point to the internet edge the respect it deserves. Cabling also needs to be installed professionally, with each run certified for performance.

Switches that provide Power over Ethernet should be matched to the APs in use for power delivery. (Old switches on new APs can be a PoE disaster).

And nothing makes a good WLAN feel bad to end users like poorly deployed DHCP services, too-tight firewall rules, or an undersized ISP connection.

You might be installing a “wireless network,” but you can’t ignore the rest of the network environment as you do.

Now it’s time to verify

This is a step where corners are frequently cut to the detriment of the overall WLAN performance.

It’s not enough to simply have an access point at every location the design calls for. Access points generally have multiple radios, each capable of a range of channel and power settings.

If you use auto RF features, the algorithms that adjust the RF environment don’t always get things right. I’ve seen power way too high or ridiculously low, and have also seen an entire floor’s worth of APs on the same channel because auto RF got something wrong.

You’ve put a lot of time into getting the WLAN to this point. It’s worth the time to “walk it out” and do a verification survey, again with professional-quality tools.

On a new WLAN, you’re not just looking for signal coverage. You’re also exercising authentication servers, network and application performance, and security rules while making sure the RF environment is optimized.

Store the results and use them as a baseline reference for future troubleshooting.

Don’t forget monitoring

We have lift-off! The Wi-Fi environment has been deployed and tested. The wireless side of the enterprise has been integrated properly with the wired side and core services, and lots of users are making use of the new resource as they go about their work.

Mission accomplished, yes? Well, not quite.

Minimally, anything that qualifies as a building block to the WLAN needs to be monitored for uptime. We’re talking about access points, controllers (if applicable), switches, UPS systems, routers, authentication and DNS/DHCP servers, and everything else in the enterprise mix.

In an established enterprise, a lot of the monitoring is probably already in place—but Wi-Fi can be a different animal.

My own enterprise WLAN deployment is so dense that we don’t alert on every AP that goes down, especially after hours. But we can see down APs in a full-time dashboard. We also make extensive use of syslog for troubleshooting everything from DHCP issues to user authentication problems.

Parting thoughts

We’ve obviously greatly condensed the actual steps required to bring an enterprise WLAN to life, and to then keep its users happy.

At the same time, the basic workflow laid out here has served my own hundreds of thousands of wireless users well through the years. I can’t over-emphasize the importance of the upfront, non-technical aspects of doing Wi-Fi.

One other important fact to remember is this: If you’ve built a solid Wi-Fi environment, have faith in it when the occasional problem hits. I’ve found that well over 90% of all “Wi-Fi” problems are actually client issues—problematic drivers, configuration issues, botched credentials—in my enterprise WLAN spaces.

Having confidence in good network design and implementation lets you focus time and attention on the real problems to get clients back into service quicker.

The post Enterprise WLAN 101: The Basics of Big Wi-Fi appeared first on Auvik Networks.

The sprint to the end of the year can be crazy for MSPs—new maintenance templates have to be made, calendars and expenses need to be updated in the PSA, and everyone has to mentally prepare for the in-laws to visit.

Don’t let the Most Hectic Time of the Year affect your bottom line or the health of your team. These nine gadgets will help boost personal productivity, reduce stress, and eliminate distractions so you can help everyone stay focused and productive.

1. Stress-release bracelets to get through the day cortisol-free

These bracelets use subtle vibrations to change how your body reacts to stressful situations. Encourage coworkers to wear them ahead of budget planning meetings or when they trek to the mall on Dec 24 for last-minute shopping. / $250

2. A fidget toy that doesn’t annoy your coworkers

These magnetic balls look super satisfying to fiddle with. It’s also a great gift if you have a coworker who drives you crazy by constantly squeezing a squeaky stress ball or twirling a fidget spinner. You know that grinding sound the spinner makes? No more. / $24

3. A swear-word coloring book for when a client is driving you crazy

If you have to deal with imperfect clients during end-of-year review meetings, this grownup coloring book can be an outlet for your team’s frustration afterward, and get them back to their calm, cool, and collected selves. / $6

4. Solar-powered phone charger so you can stay connected when visiting clients

One of the worst feelings any employee encounters is knowing their phone is going to die, especially if they’re on the road. Eliminate this worry by giving them the gift of a reliable power source. / $47

5. A posture corrector to avoid computer-induced hunchback

Spending hours working at a desk can cause back pain, leading employees to subconsciously hunch. Help your colleagues maintain their posture with this affordable gadget. / $20

6. Noise-cancelling headphones that won’t die during the workday

Does someone on your team get perturbed by noise—and short battery life? These headphones cancel out all sorts of distracting sounds and maintain their charge for 24 hours. They also have a microphone for ultimate multitasking. / $270

7. A smart notebook to prevent losing your thoughts as well as your notebook

If someone on your team is forgetful, keeping track of important items like planners, notebooks, and pens can be a stressful task. Give them the gift of a notebook that automatically transfers their notes to the cloud so they rest easy if they forget it on the train. / $27

8. A smart button that reduces distractions while working

This little button does it all: It acts as a do not disturb sign, blocks distracting apps from bugging you while you work, and lets you know when you need a break. If there’s someone on your team who needs reminders to eat food and drink water, this is the solution. / $59

9. Reduce end-of-day eye pain with blue light filtering glasses

Eye headaches are the worst. Help your team keep their eyes healthy and pain-free with these glasses that filter blue light from computer screens. They’ll probably be less grouchy about having to fill out their timesheets—again. / $15-35

The post 9 Gifts for Your Stressed-Out MSP Colleagues appeared first on Auvik Networks.

Another year is in the books. In 2018, Auvik published 50 blog posts—each one packed with what we hope is rich content to help you manage networks or build your MSP business efficiently and profitably. Which pieces hit home? These were our top 10 blog posts, as measured by traffic. Thanks for reading!

The post The Top 10 Auvik Blog Posts of 2018 appeared first on Auvik Networks.

A new year means an opportunity to start fresh. Whether you’re determined to succeed in a new service desk manager job or you’re looking to improve your game in an existing role, it’s always good to get some tips from those who’ve been there and done that.

Here are eight tips from experienced service desk managers to help you make the most of your fresh start and flourish at your MSP.

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Deep dive into client information

“When starting as a service manager for an MSP, one of the biggest favors you can do for yourself is to spend time becoming familiar with your client base, being aware of common issues, as well as being familiar with any third-party applications. Client familiarity goes a long way, and knowing things like the email host, ISP, and network setup can cut troubleshooting time drastically and build a more positive relationship with the client.”

Jason Cooley
Support Services Manager, Tech Experts

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Delegate technical work

“As a new leader, it’s sometimes hard to resist involvement with every technical issue your team faces, but your team will never grow or challenge themselves if you work the issues for them. Give them the tools to be successful by meeting regularly to get feedback and ask questions about projects and roadblocks. Set small weekly goals with your team and celebrate their victories—a genuine thank-you works wonders.”

Chris Warnick
Service Desk Manager, Vision Computer Solutions

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Don’t “fix” processes you aren’t used to

“You may witness a process that makes no sense and you’ll be inclined to fix it. Resist this urge, as it may have deep organizational roots going back to the early days. There’s usually a reason for everything, though it might make little sense seeing it for the first time. Ask questions about it—maybe the process you thought was ‘broken’ really isn’t, and you can instead focus on more urgent matters.”

Justin Folkerts
VP Infrastructure Services, Supra ITS

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Start with why

“Always start with why. You need to understand the current reality of the organization before making changes. You don’t know what you don’t know, and when you come into an established structure you need to first understand it before you begin to leverage the knowledge you had coming in. Often the real value is combining aspects of the established approach with insights from a new team member.”

Kevin Wolthuis
Operations Manager, Macatawa Technologies

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Focus on KPIs

“Figure out what the most important KPIs are for your team to focus on, and use a tool like BrightGauge to start daily and weekly check-ins on those metrics. Explain why they’re important to get your team to buy into the number. And have fun while you are doing it—slow and steady will have the biggest impact!”

Erick Anderson
Remote Services Manager, The Purple Guys

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Keep an open mind

“Every MSP is different—everything from the tools and utilities they use, to the vendors they work with, and most importantly their procedures and standards. The secret is to have humility. There’s a Buddhist principle called shoshin, or ‘the beginner’s mindset,’ which emphasizes the need to be open-minded and ready to learn.”

Iain McMullen
Technology Associate, Birmingham Consulting Inc.

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Don’t overlook small clients

“Don’t get too focused on big clients. Small clients need technology just as much as big clients, and they’ll be loyal to you for helping their business grow. Leadership begins at the top. Set the best example for your techs and show them how to deliver unparalleled customer service, and watch them take your example and run with it.”

Mark Connelly
IT Service Manager, Pavlov Media

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Learn your team’s quirks

“Learn your techs’ strengths, weakness, their habits, and their little quirks. The better you learn them, the better you’ll do, and in turn the company will do better. And submit your ideas in the company format. I was in the military and that’s what we would tell everyone that was new to the base, and it applies to MSPs as well: Learn the policies since they’re there for a reason.”

Chris Wilson
CEO, 1080 Titan Technologies

The post Do These Things in Your First 30 Days as an MSP Service Desk Manager appeared first on Auvik Networks.

I regularly speak with managed service providers (MSPs) and one of the biggest challenges I hear them share is selling the concept of managed services to prospects.

Many small and medium-sized businesses have yet to move past the concept of break-fix—only paying an IT company to fix things when they break. They don’t fully appreciate the value of the proactive approach that is managed services.

But I’m seeing an increasing number of European MSPs who are winning managed services clients—by not leading the sales conversation with managed services.

Instead, they’re leading the sales conversation by talking about cybersecurity. It’s a lead that any MSP worldwide can follow.

GDPR and the importance of cybersecurity to small businesses

I saw this shift in sales focus for European MSPs happen in the lead-up to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into effect. Love it or loathe it, GDPR has raised awareness of cybersecurity in a way that few other initiatives have.

Cybersecurity has always been important, and the financial implications for small businesses who’ve been breached have always been immense. But in the past, many businesses, especially smaller ones, simply shrugged off the possibility of attack with an “it will never happen to me” attitude. GDPR has changed that.

GDPR has helped shift cybersecurity from a “nice to have” option for small businesses to a “must-do” act of regulatory compliance. If ignored, GDPR can cost these businesses huge fines.

Even so, many SMBs are treating GDPR compliance as a tickbox exercise, something they can bring an external consultant in to help them achieve and then dust their hands.

Of course, MSPs know that GDPR compliance isn’t a one and done project at all. The smarter MSPs I’ve observed have used the door opened by GDPR to talk with their prospects about ongoing cybersecurity as part of a managed services offering.

Managed services and cybersecurity

Many of the things that will help a business become GDPR compliant are the fundamentals of good cybersecurity. Protecting the personal data of clients, employees, and suppliers isn’t achieved by any single action but by making sure:

• Internal data is secure (permissions)
• Data shared externally is shared securely (encryption)
• Internal networks are kept safe from intruders (firewalls, web filtering)
• and much more besides

I’ve seen a number of forward-thinking MSPs advertise their GDPR compliance services to small businesses as a packaged solution.

A compliance project is a lot easier to sell than managed services. The business has an immediate problem (becoming GDPR compliant) and the MSP is offering a defined solution (typically an audit).

As part of the project, the MSP can bring the client’s IT infrastructure up to date with better firewalls, encryption software, web filters, and so on. This is not dissimilar to the upgrade work that many new managed service clients are required to sign up for before an MSP will start supporting them.

At the end of the project, the business is considered GDPR compliant—at that point in time. Of course, the MSP then turns the conversation to ongoing compliance with questions such as:

• Employees come and go. How is the business going to ensure internal data security is maintained at all times?
• Web filtering and firewalls prevent many external attacks, but how is the business going to deal with an intrusion when (not if) it happens?
• If internal data is lost due to a breach, what backup and disaster recovery options does the business have?

Over the course of the compliance project, the customers will have slowly become aware that IT pervades every part of their business. They’re reliant on IT. It’s not a “nice to have,” it’s essential—and it needs ongoing maintenance.

And so the conversation between the business and MSP turns to managed services. It’s a conversation that, prior to the GDPR compliance project, the prospect didn’t want to have.

In this scenario, I’ve talked about how European-based MSPs are talking to their prospects and clients about GDPR. But in every geographical location around the world, there are regulatory compliance challenges.

No matter where your MSP is located, helping companies comply with relevant statutes gives you an opportunity to start a conversation about managed services. Will you use it?

The post Using Cybersecurity as an MSP Sales Tool appeared first on Auvik Networks.