SMB Nation Blog

Thursday, August 1, 2013 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT

Presented by: Steve Martin, VP of Marketing, Sonian, Troy Gerber, Senior Solutions Engineer, Sonian and Harry Brelsford, Founder and Chairman, SMB Nation, Inc.

Let’s be frank – a disaster is a disaster and often you ask – why didn’t I just do it differently?!?! There is your chance to have the “before moment” by learning about preventive care with Sonian’s e-mail archiving. Think about it. To compel prospects to embrace cloud-based email archiving, the real value of this service needs to be presented in business terms. It's not enough to tout 'cloud economics' - learn how to point to the pain in this lively webinar.

BONUS: One attendee will receive a FREE Android tablet!

Thursday, July 25, 2013 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT

Presented by: Urban Gillis, Vice President, SMB, Jabra and Harry Brelsford, Founder and Chairman, SMB Nation, Inc.

3 Megatrends that are shaping what the future of work will look like… “We just don’t need offices like we used to,” Regus founder and CEO Mark Dixon told me. “It’s an imposition on employees to ask them to drive for fifty miles to an office to use a computer and a phone. They have those where they are.”

The day will come, probably, sometime in the next few years when we’ll look back at the dizzying pace of change happening in the small to medium business market (SMB) and we’ll marvel at how we managed to keep our heads above water.

By Bob Vogel, B2 Marketing

If you’re a regular reader of this publication, and/or a member of “The Tribe,” then I’m absolutely positive that you’ve already heard about Harrybbb’s newest cause: Wiping Windows XP off the face of the Earth.

A modest goal – that means upgrading or swapping out more than 500,000 PER DAY between now and April 8, 2014 when Microsoft ends support of the ubiquitous OS.

Thursday, July 18, 2013 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT

Presented by: Josh Peterson, BeringMcKinley, Adam Bielanski, ValleyTechLogic and Harry Brelsford, SMB Nation

Sometimes we can live in a vacuum. We work in our businesses every day and rarely have time to come up for a breath. How do we know what our targets are and what they should be? Typically, we make it up for ourselves or, even worse, ignore the issue altogether and measure our success simply on whether we can make payroll.

If you’re selling cloud-based email archiving, there are a few things to keep in mind when talking to prospects about their archiving needs.  Frequently prospects will get "hung up" on the need for archiving email (isn't my backup system doing that?) and will need to understand the difference between backup and archive.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

11:00 AM - NOON PDT

Presented by: Mark Winter and Harry Brelsford

This is your chance to literally be among the first IT service providers to see the latest enhancements to the leading non-invasive IT Assessment Tool – Network Detective – including the ability to generate your own Technology Assessment Checklists, Quarterly Business Review Interview Guides, and even automated IT SWOT Analyses.

By Bob Vogel, B2Marketing

As many of you know I’ve been spending a lot of time writing about the value and importance of IT Assessments for any company that makes money providing outsourced IT services.

I’ve written about how to use IT assessments to help win new business. Why to use them prior to generating final contracts. When to use them during regular technology reviews with your clients.

But after talking to Jeff Sumner, President of TechGuides, I learned about a surprising new use that makes a heck of a lot of sense: To “keep tabs” (my words, not his) on what his techs are doing in the field with client networks.

Just last week, Osterman Research added to the voluminous commentary on Microsoft’s Office 365.  In case you have been living on a small island for the last year, Office 365 is a robust cloud-based office automation solution that combines conventional desktop productivity, email, instant messaging, telephony and content management solutions for enterprises of all sizes.  Microsoft touts the “native archiving” functionality in O365, but the Osterman report echoes the findings of other observers, who have pointed out several scenarios in which their archiving implementation may not be sufficient for certain use cases. 

Share your success stories with us and you will be rewarded!

Jabra's SMB Partner of the Month program recognizes those partners that have clearly demonstrated how the right Jabra communications devices can solve complex, mission-critical challenges for their SMB customers. We are looking for stories that showcase how you have deployed Jabra's communications solutions to your SMB customers to increase their productivity, collaboration, and success.

What's in it for you?

CenturyLink^® Private Cloud gives businesses a new highly secure and scalable, comprehensive Cloud solution. Businesses get fast, easy and affordable resources that support the entire application life cycle and IT infrastructure needs.

CenturyLink^® Private Cloud can potentially save businesses days and even weeks they normally spend on ordering and installing equipment like servers and storage. Instead, capabilities can be designed in seconds and deployed within 48 hours. The Private Cloud solution is provided by Savvis, a CenturyLink company, and offers an elegant, intuitive, drag-and-drop interface. It also supports a wide range of programming languages, OS and APIs.

With the breakthrough increase in density of server workloads and RAM, vCPU and IOPS capacity limitations, the transition to server virtualization is getting obvious. With more and more organizations virtualizing their servers, legacy agent based backup approaches are fast moving out  and virtualization focussed backup solutions with agentless backups are taking over the virtual scenario. Traditional backup solutions are realigning and adopting the agentless approach with integration through API to ease implementation and management of virtual infrastructure.

As the virtual market evolves and solutions mature, integrating the virtual environment with the cloud will be the next default step and StoreGrid Cloud, which has been offering protection for both physical servers and virtualized environments will be releasing it’s next advanced version - StoreGrid Cloud v 4.4.

“We just don’t need offices like we used to,” Regus founder and CEO Mark Dixon told me. “It’s an imposition on employees to ask them to drive for fifty miles to an office to use a computer and a phone. They have those where they are.”

As the chief executive of the world’s largest provider of flexible workspaces – as well as the largest real estate holder on earth – Dixon has a well-founded opinion on where this new world of work is taking us, what the future of “the office” holds, and what we as businesspeople should be thinking about if we’re to stay on top of this rapidly evolving socio-economic phenomenon.

Thursday, June 27, 2013 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT

Presented by: Anurag Agrawal, CEO, Techaisle and Harry Brelsford, Founder and Chairman, SMB Nation, Inc.

And you thought the NSA was good at spying! Join us as we release the results of annual SMB salary survey for SMB IT Pros. Was it a good year or bad? What does the future hold? After reviewing the core findings, including shifting demographics, attitudinal preferences and what makes you “tick” we will also chit-chat about HOW TO MAKE MORE MONEY in the coming year to improve your own salary survey results. Join Harry Brelsford and Anurag Agrawal in one of the MOST POPULAR WEBINARS of the YEAR! A must-do and don’t miss!

Thursday, June 27, 2013 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT

Presented by: Anurag Agrawal, CEO, Techaisle and Harry Brelsford, Founder and Chairman, SMB Nation, Inc.

And you thought the NSA was good at spying! Join us as we release the results of annual SMB salary survey for SMB IT Pros. Was it a good year or bad? What does the future hold?

By Bob Vogel, B2 Marketing

The conventional Managed Service Provider fee typically is based on charging $X per desktop, $Y per server, and sometimes separate monthly fees for other managed devices such as firewalls, mobile devices, etc.

Under this model, each month the MSP must reconcile, account for, confirm and document the actual number of each type of device and present an itemized bill for the client.

While this approach ensures that you get paid for all of the devices you are responsible for managing, the downside -- according to one successful MSP CEO -- is that the billing can get overly complex and the clients can start to resent the incremental escalations in the fees.

By David Hauser, Channel Director, Carbonite

In a time when data loss can lead to business bankruptcy, small businesses need a backup solution to ensure the continued protection of their most valued asset, their data. And, since cloud backup and recovery services have become more accessible and affordable than ever, there is virtually no reason not to!

We believe that it's the critical last three feet between the user and the technology platform that makes all the investment and hard work pay off. With the right suite of hands-free headsets and speakerphones; users collaborate more naturally, productivity increases, and customers are happier.

And now we are looking for dealers who are as committed to the SMB market as we are.

Introducing Jabra’s SMB Specialist Partner Program. As a Jabra SMB Specialist, you have in-depth knowledge of the unique challenges that Small and Medium sized businesses face today. You know and understand the Jabra solutions and offer specialized technical and commercial advice that meets the needs of your SMB customers.

Thursday, June 20, 2013 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT

Presented by: Chad Lindley, Senior Product Manager, Dell and Harry Brelsford, Founder and Chairman, SMB Nation, Inc.

With the recent release of Exchange 2013 and Wave 15 of Office 365, many organizations have a choice to make in the near future. The choice is to either migrate to the newest version of Exchange or migrate up to the cloud to take advantage of the functionality Office 365 (Exchange Online) has to offer. Whether you are moving from one flavor of Exchange to another or transitioning from a non-Microsoft platform, taking on any migration project is not something to jump into without preparation and knowing exactly what effect it will have on your business.

Thursday, June 13, 2013 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT

Presented by: Dave Minns, Client Services Manager, Storage Guardian and Harry Brelsford, Founder and Chairman, SMB Nation, Inc.

When disaster strikes an IT department, is it only the restore of data that is a priority? By following the checklist that will be presented in this webinar, identifying how to plan for the business' recovery planning reduces the impact of the different disaster scenarios. All participants will receive the checklist template in word document format for their business' use.

Register Here

By Bob Vogel, B2 Marketing

With every passing day, email becomes more embedded in the fabric of everyone’s communications.

It’s not just more people using email for more reasons. It’s also more systems automatically generating emails and injecting them into the mix.

I’m not just referring to spam. It’s also the plethora of legitimate robot-generated communications -- everything from out-of-office replies, to e-commerce and security confirmations, to automated system notifications.

Date: Thursday, May 23, 2013

Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT

Presented by: Steven Snyder, Technical Marketing Manager, StorageCraft and Harry Brelsford, Founder and Chairman, SMB Nation, Inc.

Minimizing the impact of downtime for your clients’ businesses is critical. We all know disaster recovery preparations can appear to be costly and time consuming. With the StorageCraft® Recover-Ability™ Solution, you can easily put a flexible disaster recovery solution in place for your clients. And, most importantly, this solution gets your clients back up and running within minutes, not days. Plus, it places the recovery process directly under your control, so you don’t have to wait for vendor help when disaster strikes.

With email data growing at a rate of 400,000 terabytes a year, email is clearly BIG Data.  Because business is being conducted in email (conversations, contracts, commitments), saving and searching this resource is coming increasingly important, as these communications are crucial to running a modern business and central when trying to solve a problem, resolve a conflict or find an answer.

Storage Guardian specializes in backing up critical data to a secure offsite location. We have a long history as an established leader in remote data backup and restoration services for any sized business – small and mid-size organizations to enterprise-wide, multiple-platform LAN computing environments.

Vembu Technologies, an innovator in the Cloud Backup and DR space, has delivered cloud based backup solutions to small and medium businesses (SMBs) worldwide through its growing partner base of over 4000 MSPs/VARs.

Vembu's StoreGrid Cloud offers an online backup and a disaster recovery platform with enterprise level capabilities like remote backup, virtualization based business continuity & disaster recovery along with productivity enhancing integrations with ConnectWise, Autotask at appropriate price points for SMBs that provide rich margin to the channel. Some of it’s unique features include:

Ooma Office is now available as an elegant solution to meet the telecom needs of the much neglected less-than-10-employee business. Ooma has leveraged its success in home phone service to offer an exceptional VoIP business solution that delivers high quality service and advanced business features that’s surprisingly easy to set up and use, and priced right for smaller businesses.

With Soluto for business you can easily manage and support PCs over the web. Designed specifically for small businesses IT and IT providers, Soluto offers a PC management tool at a disruptive price, starting at $8.33 per month for up to 10 PCs!

You’ll get:

By Bob Vogel, B2 Marketing

My friend and true IT guru, Erick Simpson, has been talking a lot recently about the value and incredible importance of IT Assessments as a strategic tool for any IT service provider, consultant or MSP.

As a marketing guy, for over a year now I’ve been beating the drum about the use of IT Assessments to generate new business.

Corvallis Technical explains how a cloud data backup and recovery service makes it easy to restore irreplaceable files for their small business clients.

In a time when data loss can lead to business bankruptcy, small businesses need a backup solution to ensure the continued protection of their most valued asset, their data. And, since cloud backup and recovery services have become more accessible and affordable than ever, there is virtually no reason not to!

Date: Thursday, May 23, 2013

Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT

Presented by: Steven Snyder, Technical Marketing Manager, StorageCraft and Harry Brelsford, Founder and Chairman, SMB Nation, Inc.

Minimizing the impact of downtime for your clients’ businesses is critical. We all know disaster recovery preparations can appear to be costly and time consuming. With the StorageCraft® Recover-Ability™ Solution, you can easily put a flexible disaster recovery solution in place for your clients. And, most importantly, this solution gets your clients back up and running within minutes, not days. Plus, it places the recovery process directly under your control, so you don’t have to wait for vendor help when disaster strikes.

By David Hauser, Carbonite

The cloud is growing – and fast! According to technology research firm Gartner, by the end of 2013, the size of the cloud computing marketing will be at $150 billion. That’s why now is the time to make sure your reseller business is set to grow with the cloud.

As the world becomes increasingly more connected through the use of laptops, tablets and smartphones, the desire to back up and access the content of these devices online has skyrocketed. Instead of using unreliable and antiquated backup methods – like CDs, zip drives and external hard drives – people are turning to the cloud for automated and affordable, secure offsite backup. Cloud backup allows users to enhance efficiencies, cut costs and most importantly, free themselves from physical devices.

Your business must comply with internal and local, state and national compliance regulations. This often means creating an email archiving plan in order to you can save important email correspondence and files, and quickly retrieve this information. Before you start archiving your emails, you must create an email archiving plan for both current and future needs.

By Bob Vogel, B2Marketing

Kurt Bullock, president of Bridge Technology Group in Tucson, told me a story the other day that blew me way. I’ll share it with you.

He was in a competitive pitch with two other local IT firms that were vying for a mid-sized doctor’s office in town.

The partner physicians and office administrator had interviewed all three firms and now it was down to the proposals. Kurt was last to go in, and walked out with a contract.

“It was like shooting ducks in a barrel,” he told me, because he knew something that neither of his competitors knew, nor did anyone in the doctor’s office:

Thursday, May 2, 2013 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT

Presented by: David Hauser, Senior Director of Channel Programs, Carbonite and Harry Brelsford, Founder and Chairman, SMB Nation, Inc.

Thursday, April 25, 2013 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT

Presented by: Chris Henley, Product Strategy Specialist, Veeam Software and Harry Brelsford, Founder and Chairman, SMB Nation, Inc.

Modern networks rely on virtualization, and the power and flexibility of virtual machines. The data that supports these VM’s has become mission critical! Join us as we discuss modern data protection with Veeam Backup & Replication and the Veeam Management Pack for VMWare. Learn about:

By Anurag Agrawal, CEO, Techaisle

Over the last two decades, the global small and midmarket businesses, SMB (1-999 employee size) market has been the growth engine for the IT industry at large. The reason is quite simply that SMBs account for more than 80 percent of businesses in any country – developed or developing. For much of those two decades, SMBs have primarily focused on building core infrastructure with the bulk of their investment allotted towards buying PCs and desktop applications such as Office, desktop publishing and other industry specific software.

Date: Thursday, April 18, 2013

Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am PDT

Presenters: Ken Gibson, Partnership Channel Manager, Kroll OnTrack and Harry Brelsford, Founder and Chairman, SMB Nation, Inc. 

Discover the best ways to prevent future data loss from happening, examine the best methods for backing up your data, and common mistakes people make when doing so. Join this live webinar to learn how your organization is impacted, and how partnering with a data recovery provider can help.

PS: One lucky webinar attendee will receive a FREE BlackBerry z10 phone! (Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery).

Register here

Learn How this Underrated Business Model Can Help Kick-Start Your MSP

By Chip Reaves, President, Bigger-Brains.com

Let’s say you’re an entrepreneur, or a soon-to-be entrepreneur, and someone makes you this offer: For a chunk of cash, and a small percentage of your ongoing revenue, they’ll give you a proven, documented business model for success in your industry. They’ll train you on how to operate your business, give you sales and marketing campaigns, negotiate discounts from key vendors, provide ongoing support, and they’ll include you in a community of like-minded entrepreneurs to collaborate with along the way—though none of them would be close enough to be a competitor.

Date: Thursday, April 11, 2013

Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am PDT

Presenters: Chris Sterbenc, Channel Chief, Gridstore and Harry Brelsford, Founder and Chairman, SMB Nation, Inc.

Discover how to overcome the challenges of backup and recovery, why monolithic storage solutions don’t work, and new storage architectures to address these challenges. You’ll learn how to protect virtual environments with Gridstore Storage Optimized for Veeam.

By Josh Peterson, Owner, Axontech and President SMBTN, and Dave Seibert, CIO, IT Innovators and VP, SMBTN.

It’s true while the proliferation of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)laptops, smartphones and tablets has surged in the last 12 months within our industry to make things more streamlined for SMBs, it has, at the same time, caused headaches for partners. With a variety of different devices available, it’s hard to keep up on all of the different operating systems and programs. Of course, the end users still scream the usual: “Just make it work!” If you haven’t encountered these requests yet, chances are high that you will shortly. In fact, according to Good Technology’s 2nd Annual State of BYOD Report, 75.5% of companies are currently supporting BYOD, 13.3% will in the next 12 months, 6.1% will at some time in the future, and only 5% have no plans to support BYOD.

By Onuora Amobi, Editor, Windows8update.com

A Comprehensive Overview of Security in Microsoft’s Newest OS

The following was excerpted from Onuora Amobi’s eBook “Windows 8 Security – A comprehensive Overview of security in Microsoft’s newest Operating System.” For more information, and to read the full eBook, go to: http://www.windows8enterprise.com/new-windows-8-ebookwindows-8-security-a-comprehensive-overview/.

By Onuora Amobi, Editor, Windows8update.com

A Comprehensive Overview of Security in Microsoft’s Newest OS

The following was excerpted from Onuora Amobi’s eBook “Windows 8 Security – A comprehensive Overview of security in Microsoft’s newest Operating System.” For more information, and to read the full eBook, go to: http://www.windows8enterprise.com/new-windows-8-ebookwindows-8-security-a-comprehensive-overview/.

Date: Thursday, April 11, 2013

Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am PDT

Presenters: Chris Sterbenc, Channel Chief, Gridstore and Harry Brelsford, Founder and Chairman, SMB Nation, Inc.

Discover how to overcome the challenges of backup and recovery, why monolithic storage solutions don’t work, and new storage architectures to address these challenges. You’ll learn how to protect virtual environments with Gridstore Storage Optimized for Veeam.

By Bob Vogel, B2 Marketing

My friend and talented colleague, Karl Palachuk, wears a lot of hats (to cover that big brain of his). And one of those hats is successful IT guru and entrepreneur.

Karl always has been an avid promoter of performing network assessments for clients and prospects alike. And he’s developed a nifty 68-point check list to use as a guide when performing your own IT assessment.

SMB Nation is proud to be an exhibitor at this year’s ChannelPro SMB Forum, running April 10, 2013 in Long Beach, CA. Stop by the SMB Nation booth to chat with Harry and discuss the SMB Channel!

This year’s ChannelPro SMB Forum features sessions on Cloud, Mobility and Hardware Trends, presented by speakers such as:  Ed Correia, Cecilia Galvin, Karl Palachuk and Dave Siebert.

Date: Thursday, April 4, 2013

Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am PDT

Presenters: Fmr. Senator John E.  Sununu, Co-Chair, inSPIRE STEM USA Coalition and Harry Brelsford, Founder and Chairman, SMB Nation, Inc.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT

Presented by: Mark Winter, VP of Sales, RapidFire Tools

Everyone seems to be jumping on the network assessment bandwagon… and it’s no wonder why. If you are in the business of providing IT services of almost any kind, it goes without saying that you need to have your finger on the pulse of your clients’ networks and IT infrastructure.

Technology innovators who helped make wireless computing and database management possible and a pioneer in franchising for the computer reseller market are the newest members of CompTIA’s IT Hall of Fame .

The 2013 inductees are Victor Hayes, the "Father of Wi-Fi,” dBASE designer C. Wayne Ratliff and Jim Ciccarelli, who helped transform the IT reseller franchise model.

Bet you didn’t know that Storage Guardian supports MS Hyper-V and VMWare environments. Well we do, so sign up to become a Storage Guardian reseller today, and starting at $50 a terabyte, we’ll show you how you can start earning hyper cash right away, even in virtual environments. The best part is, you can divide that terabyte between an unlimited number of customers.

Time wasted and frustrations created by sluggish and underperforming PCs is big drag on your clients’ resources and bank account.  Not only do they affect the office morale and productivity, they can affect the levels of loyalty and customer satisfaction your clients’ have for your execution.  In these trying economic and business environments, you need to be assured you offer solutions that can boost customer happiness and return on investment. 

By Bob Vogel, B2 Marketing

Everyone seems to be jumping on the network assessment bandwagon… and it’s no wonder why.

If you are in the business of providing IT services of almost any kind, it goes without saying that you need to have your finger on the pulse of your clients’ networks and IT infrastructure.

Whether your main relationship is consultative, or you are “down in the weeds” in a managed services contract, network assessments have an important role to play throughout the client lifecycle.

The obvious use case that most people think of is to use a non-invasive network assessment as part of a new biz pitch. Kurt Bullock, president of Bridge Technology Group, explained why:

Date: Thursday, March 28, 2013

Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am PDT

Presented by: Peter Low, Senior Business Development Representative, Kroll Ontrack, Inc.

With over 55 billion messages sent daily (not including spam), we are clearly awash in email and the importance of proper management and restoration is critical. However, there are many hidden costs associated with email management. Join this live webinar to learn about how your organization is impacted, and how software tools can help.

Register Here

By Janet Pinkerton

Are you seeking to prove your technical knowledge and skill with cloud solutions? Consider earning the CompTIA Cloud+ certification when the exam launches in the third quarter of 2013. The vendor-neutral certification is ideal for system, network and storage administrators and network engineers with 24 to 36 months of experience with cloud technologies and infrastructure.

SMB Nation is proud to be an exhibitor at this year’s ChannelPro SMB Forum, running April 10, 2013 in Long Beach, CA. Stop by the SMB Nation booth to chat with Harry and discuss the SMB Channel!

This year’s ChannelPro SMB Forum features sessions on Cloud, Mobility and Hardware Trends, presented by speakers such as:  Ed Correia, Cecilia Galvin, Karl Palachuk and Dave Siebert.

Before taking on any new VoIP implementations, the smart IT pros run a full network assessment first to be sure that the infrastructure is in place to support the added load.

In addition to checking the basics, such as the current bandwidth speed, a network assessment will also give you a useful schematic of the network set up, age and capacity of the existing assets, and even information about users, open ports and other useful bits of data.

Date: Thursday, March 21, 2013

Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am PDT

Presented by: Michael Petrelli, Senior Sales Enablement Manager, BlackBerry

This whitepaper explores the growing desire for cloud services amongst consumers, sohos and small businesses, and how Value Added Resellers must incorporate these services into their offerings in order to remain relevant in such a fast-changing technical landscape. Technology research firm Gartner predicts that by the end of 2013, the size of the cloud computing marketing will be at $150 billion. Because of this, VARs must make sure their businesses are set to grow with the cloud. Breaking into this new industry however, can be a daunting task.

Join us on Facebook to learn more about this year’s list and gala. Also, Like and Share the SMB 150 page on Facebook to be entered to instantly win one of 5 FREE BlackBerry z10s! Note: You do not have to be one of the SMB 150 to enter.

Also, be sure to join our annual SMB 150 Reveal webinar tomorrow morning at 10 am Pacific, during which we will be releasing special exclusive announcements regarding additional giveaways. 

By Mat Rayback, StorageCraft

It has become more and more apparent over the past couple of years that the term disaster recovery just isn’t cutting it anymore. The implication is that something (like your data or your infrastructure) has been lost and you need to do something to “recover” it. It’s a term that expects futility in the face of a disaster and suggests that all that’s left is to pick up the pieces.

By David Hauser, Director of Channel Programs, Carbonite

The cloud is growing – and fast! According to technology research firm Gartner, by the end of 2013, the size of the cloud computing marketing will be at $150 billion. That’s why now is the time to make sure your reseller business is set to grow with the cloud.

As the world becomes increasingly more connected through the use of laptops, tablets and smartphones, the desire to back up and access the content of these devices online has skyrocketed. Instead of using unreliable and antiquated backup methods – like CDs, zip drives and external hard drives – people are turning to the cloud for automated and affordable, secure offsite backup. Cloud backup allows users to enhance efficiencies, cut costs and most importantly, free themselves from physical devices.

Date: Thursday, March 7, 2013

Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am PST

Presenter: David Hauser, Director of Channel Programs, Carbonite

According to technology research firm Gartner, by the end of 2013, the size of the cloud computing marketing will be at $150 billion. Now’s the time to make sure your business is set to grow with the cloud! This webinar reviews how cloud services – like Carbonite Online Backup – will benefit your reseller business

Register Here

By Janet Pinkerton

Dominick Gray, president of Center City Communications in Southfield, Mich., wanted to “brush up on cloud” to better serve his clients and grow his technology services company. So, last August, he attended a day-long training session for CompTIA’s new Executive Certificate in Cloud (Foundations) at the IT trade association’s Breakaway 2012 channel training event in Las Vegas, where the program debuted.

MacTech BootCamp II is next week in Seattle on March 6th at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center. This event is specifically designed for consultants serving small-to-medium sized businesses (SMB, SOHO and even consumers), as well as techs supporting others in larger organizations. The sessions cover what many consider to be the key building blocks that any consultant or tech should know.

The all new content is different from what people saw before at MacTech BootCamp in prior years. BootCamp II topics focus on key technical building blocks for consultants and techs including:

You don’t have to be a political expert to roll up your sleeves and start advocating for your business and your industry. Just ask one of the 60-plus IT executives that attended the TechVoice D.C. Fly-In this month in Washington, D.C. Hosted by CompTIA, the Fly-In encourages IT leaders to meet face-to-face with Congressional members to promote legislation that will support growth and innovation within the IT sector.

As president of a 15-year-old managed services and consulting firm, MJ Shoer (Pictured right) knows that the quality of service delivery is one of those “make-it or break-it” success factors.

Although he started Jenaly Technology Group in the basement of his home back in 1997, his vision of building a world-class regional IT services company was quickly realized, due in part to his focus on the accountability of his people, his processes, and his systems.

By Kate Hunt, Director of Communities, CompTIA

Just a decade ago, few shared their personal information with fellow employees, customers, prospects and other business associates. Privacy was an expectation, and only those who developed deeper friendships would get a home or mobile phone number, let alone details of personal lives. Such barriers have virtually disappeared, as social networking and its instant information sharing seem to have knocked down the line between business and private communications.

In a few short months, Ooma Office makes its debut with a promise to meet the needs of the often-neglected less than 10 employee business. Ooma leverages its success in home phone service to offer an exceptional VoIP business solution that delivers high quality service and advanced business features that’s surprisingly easy to use and priced right for smaller businesses.

Combining an onsite base station with a cloud-based PBX, Ooma Office delivers features typically found in far more expensive options. Ooma Office accommodates up to five physical phone extensions by pairing the base station with its wireless DECT remote phone jacks; a novel idea that makes for fast, easy and flexible installation. A virtual receptionist with text-to-speech playback, extension dialing, music-on-hold, ring groups, and conference bridging are only a few of the many robust big business features offered by this small business newcomer.

MyOffice is the one-stop online destination for managing the Ooma Office system. It offers the ultimate in convenience allowing business owners to set up or change settings (like assign extensions or designate an alternative afterhours greeting), view call logs, or listen to voicemail from any Internet connected device.

Probably the most amazing thing about Ooma Office is how affordable it is. The starter kit, which includes a base station and two remote phone jacks, is only $249.99 (additional remote phone jacks can be purchased separately for $49.99 each). The service is a mere $19.99 per month per line, about a third the cost of other cloud-based solutions which typically charge by the user.

To find out more about Ooma Office and sign up to become a reseller, go to www.ooma.com/products/business. 

Date: Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Time: 10:00 - 11:00 am PST

Presenter: Mark Winter, VP, RapidFire Tools

An IT assessment is arguably the most important and versatile service that you, as an IT service provider, can deliver.

Your clients and prospects don't know what they don't know. And by drilling down into their computing and network environments you'll often reveal hidden issues, identify old and outdated assets, and discover new opportunities to engage.

The presentation will cover the five primary ways that a Network Assessment should be used within the context of your current service portfolio:

New IT assessment technology is now available to automate the collection of more network data through fast and non-invasive mechanisms.

RapidFire Tools, makers of the popular Network Detective IT assessment tool, have just released a brand new module for their tool that digs deep into your clients’ Exchange Servers (or Office 365 Hosted Exchange) and pulls back a complete picture of the environment.

In a few short months, Ooma Office makes its debut with a promise to meet the needs of the often-neglected less than 10 employee business. Ooma leverages its success in home phone service to offer an exceptional VoIP business solution that delivers high quality service and advanced business features that’s surprisingly easy to use and priced right for smaller businesses.

Date: Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Time: 10:00 - 11:00 am PST

Presenter: Mark Winter, VP, RapidFire Tools

An IT assessment is arguably the most important and versatile service that you, as an IT service provider, can deliver.

Your clients and prospects don't know what they don't know. And by drilling down into their computing and network environments you'll often reveal hidden issues, identify old and outdated assets, and discover new opportunities to engage.

The presentation will cover the five primary ways that a Network Assessment should be used within the context of your current service portfolio:

Building your business is important, that is why we are supporting the efforts of The ASCII Group. Local IT providers are gathering together not only to network but to learn key strategies to market and how to increase service business from proven industry trainers.

It is our pleasure to offer our valued partners VIP Guest passes (valued at $1495) to attend the upcoming ASCII Success Summit 2013 on Wednesday, February 20 - Thursday, February 21st at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott, Dana Point, CA.

Calling all Cloudies! We are currently running a survey to get your thoughts on the current cloud niche. Tell us if you are or are not selling Cloud and why!

Also, one US-based respondent will be selected to win a FREE Tablet device! 

Take the survey here

Update: This survey will close at 11:59 pm PST on Friday, February 15, 2013

In a world where technology is forever advancing, can a corporation truly afford to stay behind the rest? Times are changing, and so are the ways in which organizations conduct business in a cost effective way.

Positron Telecommunication Systems provides sophisticated VoIP equipment for SMB communications through communication service providers. Positron’s G-Series IP PBX business phone systems integrate traditional telephony networks and VoIP in a cost effective standalone solution, which is controlled and managed by an intuitive web-based management interface.

Positron’s desktop video conferencing solutions, driven by the need to be low cost, address the needs of the “everyday” video conferencing experience. Positron enables executives to set up a video conference as easily as setting up an audio conference. These fully integrated low cost video systems work with local and remote users on videophones, PC’s, tablets and smart phones.

PBX advantages include the ability to share incoming phone lines with an unlimited number of extensions.

Our value proposition: Provide high reliability solutions of exceptional value to our resellers and end-users alike:

• High-performance product line
• Feature-rich solutions
• Total low cost of ownership
• NO LICENSING FEES
• Ease of use
• Automatic phone setup
• Secure remote access capability
• Unlimited extensions
• Integrated firewall
• Unified messaging

All units come standard with Voice Mail, Auto Attendant, Carrier Grade Audio Conferencing, Point to Point Video, Find Me-Follow Me and a long list of additional features.

Established in 1970, Positron has over four decades of experience delivering mission-critical applications and over 23 years developing world leading public safety solutions for public safety (E 9-1-1) emergency services. Positron has received numerous awards and recognition for leadership, technological advancement, and achievements. Positron products are manufactured in the USA.

www.positrontelecom.com

By Janet Pinkerton

Cloud is becoming a mainstream platform for IT solutions. Are you ready to take advantage of the opportunity for your company and your career?

Moving processes and systems to cloud-based solutions requires IT personnel to gain not only new tech expertise, but also savvy critical thinking skills that enable them to understand cloud solutions’ performance, operation and risks.

Migrating email and select IT systems to the cloud was just the latest technology transition for Vandegrift Forwarding Company, a 60-year-old customs broker based in Jersey City, N. J., and it put the company’s IT staff on a major learning curve.

By Daniel Margolis

In this economy, no small- to medium-sized company should go it alone. A network of peers to share common challenges, problems and solutions with is essential for SMBs in any industry vertical, and information technology (IT) is no exception. A quick and easy way to find such a network – in any segment of IT – is to join one of CompTIA’s 10 member communities. CompTIA, a non-profit trade association advancing the global interests of IT professionals and companies, has communities built around women in IT, cloud and software as a service, security, tech support, print, mobility, managed services, unified communications and the UK channel.

As VP of Marketing for a thriving 35-person IT services company, Bruce Campbell knows a thing or two about what it takes to generate new business – and keep doing in on a regular basis for Clare Computer Solutions.

Network assessments factor heavily into his strategy and Network Detective is the tool he uses. But if you ask him, Bruce will tell you that they perform network assessments as a means to winning new clients… not just to do “an audit.”

To hear his story in his own words, click here.

One of the most respected research firms in the world is projecting the growth in cloud computing could “stall”.  Why is that?

Because there just aren’t enough qualified “Business Process Services” professionals available to help small and medium size businesses with their cloud integration.

By Brian Sherman, Founder, TechSuccess Communications

A good business attorney typically charges anywhere from $100 to more than $1,000 per hour, and while those fees don’t always fit in a solution provider’s budget, they can be good investments. Even organizations with few employees and minimal clients have to create or complete a myriad of documents each year. In addition to maintaining accurate and detailed financial records, federal and state agencies often require businesses to follow a long list of procedures to ensure that they’re in full compliance with a variety of employee and safety rules.

Date: Thursday, January 24, 2013

Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am PST

Speakers:

• Karl Palachuk, Author and Coach
• Harry Brelsford, Founder, SMB Nation, Inc.

Your business should exist to serve your life. Join Author and Coach Karl Palachuk for a step by step look at re-forming your technology business to make more money while fulfilling your personal goals.

Register Here

To say the role of IT Professionals is changing is an understatement.  Once primarily an internally focused position, the role of tomorrow’s IT Professional will be more like managing a supply chain than monitoring servers and updating software.

Think of an automobile supply chain.  Much of what goes into building a car comes from external providers.  Everything from seats and dashboards to tires and radios come from an outside supplier.  The auto manufacturer is responsible for assembling all these parts to create a car that you can simply turn the key and drive.

Businesses looking to embrace the cloud are no different.  They simply want to turn the key, put the car in drive and go.  However, there is one BIG PROBLEM…

Currently businesses are talking to cloud vendors individually.  They all want to sell their wares, however aren’t typically taking a look at the big picture.  As a result, your clients and prospects are just getting parts of what they need to succeed with a comprehensive cloud solution.

Cloud Nation not only provides detailed training to help you understand how all the pieces fit together, you get a unified platform (branded for you) that puts all those pieces on one simple menu for your clients to choose.  You become an indispensable resource AND enter the world of annuity based income -   income that keeps on coming in regardless of whether you are working or not.

Download our white paper to learn how you can become a cloud certified professional and be up and running in less than 30 days!

If you ask Ryan Leuring about the tools he uses to drive his successful Chicago-based IT Support Services business, he’ll mention the Network Detective.

After trying out this affordable network assessment tool, he decided he had to use it as an everyday part of Reachout, which provides IT support services, IT hosting, data backup, and communications services to businesses and non-profits nationwide.   

“Network Detective has helped us find the weak points for potential new clients, he said. The information it gathers is incredible.’”

In a recent note to the company that makes the Network Detective, Ryan described how he uses network assessments – not just for new business generation – but throughout the customer service lifecycle:

”Once new business is won, we use the Network Detective’s network admin report as the starting point to securing and making our client's lives easier and more productive,” he said.

“I actually look forward to client's whose report comes back with a 7 or higher (on a scale of 1-to-10… with 10 being most “at risk”) because there will be that much more of a sense of accomplishment.

“Network Detective is extremely easy to use for the amount of information it gathers!”

If you’d like to learn more, here’s a link to the RapidFire Tools site. 

Date: Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am PST

The number of small businesses embracing the cloud is expected to triple in the next three years.  MSP’s that embrace this opportunity can dramatically increase their client base while locking in long term monthly profits.  In this information packed 60 minute webinar we will explain the 7 things you must to do ensure the success of your cloud solutions practice.

Register Here

By Casey Morgan, StorageCraft

You should revise your backup and disaster recovery plan every year. Here’s a quick guide to revising for 2013:

What worked, what didn’t?

For those who saw their plan in action, hopefully the plan went well. But now it’s time to figure out what you could have done better. After the emergency, were you able to: