SMB Nation | SMB IT Professionals
The Place to Start-up and Start Over!
It's just good business. It's in our DNA to help as we're able.
It all started at the SMB Nation 2005 Fall Conference where we launched a WW Small Business Server (SBS) tour and raised relief funds for those impacted by the late 2004 Southeast Asia Tsunami. We gifted the fund at the end of the tour in a small moment in Bangkok
Actually, Karl Palachuk and I have more in common than not. We both recently published blogs on MSP events.
My blog that was part of a recent newsletter to you focused on highly successful MSPs attending no events per year to focus on growing their MSP business. You can revisit my blog HERE.
Karl respectively took a different approach to this conversation. His contribution spoke to the “rest of us” and what’s practical for the true SMB MSP in our space. Here is an excerpt followed by the link to read the complete blog!
How Many Events Should You Attend?
This is a commentary on an article my friend Harry Brelsford posted in his recent newsletter. Harry notes that there appears to be an inverse relationship between attending too many conferences and being financially successful in this industry.
We’ve quickly turned the corner on 2024 and are sprinting towards 2025. What better time to reflect on what remains for the next several months. I’ll take a stab at it!
1. Industry Consolidations – Both on the vendor and MSP sides, I’m seeing continued consolidations.
That’s not a surprise with the number of cybersecurity vendors entering the SMB MSP space has accelerated. Need proof? Just survey the aisles at large MSP events you like to attend. Admittedly, many of those cybersecurity vendors are “one and done” logos but you’d be surprised with the M&A activity occurring in the background. Heck some times I wonder if folks created ISVs just to be acquired.
On the MSP front, as many in our space are aging out and private equity is circling the wagons to prey upon MSPs, you are seeing folks thinking getting acquired is looking pretty darn tootin good. Just had a cup of coffee with an MSP
At the recent IT Nation 2023 event in Orlando, both William Toll and Amy Luby took a few minutes away on a busy expo floor to answer my one question. What is Seceon? With two powerhouses like Toll and Luby joining the team, somethings up and I wanted to get to the bottom of it! Please watch this interesting pod cast! And be sure to give a little love with a like and a comment. ;)
If you are a living and breathing MSP, you couldn’t miss the recent news on ConnectWise. Let’s start with the acquisition.
SkyKick and Axcient
I knew the founders of SkyKick (Evan and Todd) when they worked on the SMB team at Microsoft and the broke out to start SkyKick in the early part of the 2000-teens.
Harry Brelsford and Rob Rae discussed the three pillars of MSP success: community, education, and innovation. They emphasized the importance of these pillars in helping MSPs grow their businesses, with a focus on Pax8's investment in the Pax8 Academy and their use of AI and industry best practices. Later, Harry Brelsford and Rob Rae discussed the significance of community in the MSP space, with Rob Rae high lighting the growth of the MSP community and the number of attendees at the conference.
Recently my team reached out to over 500 Managed Service Providers (MSPs) in the Northeast US to invite them to attend our MSP Rescue Workshop in Princeton, NJ. We targeted New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
Attendee Recruitment Methodology
Our approach was very simple. Searching on simple terms like “MSP” with a geographic reference such as “New York City” or “Philadelphia” we were able to quickly compile the list of targets mentioned above. Next, we completed the “Contact Us” form on the MSP’s website to establish communication. Here is what we found: