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By Claudio Garcia – Contributing Writer,

For years, predictive analytics has been used for assessing project risk, detecting fraud and even predicting Super Bowl winners (although the computers fell short this year). Predictive analytics has also made a large impact on the ability for marketing organizations to predict demand, personalize content and increase conversion.

This is a Zen master piece. Over time in the SMB Nation community life cycle, my efforts to impart and embed knowledge and analysis in the community often take different twists and turns. At times I revert back to my base where I type out keystroke procedures like my first 10+ Windows Server/Small Business Server books.

Casey Chin

Consumer debt, credit card debt, and personal loan debt are at all-time highs. Meanwhile, investors who purchase debt for cents on the dollar and then try to collect the whole amount, and the collection agencies they hire, are getting increasingly aggressive. One in four consumers contacted by debt collectors feels threatened, and most consumers say the calls persist even after requests to stop, according to a 2017 study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

In the past, people sometimes couldn’t find proper data to support their analysis. After entering the Big Data age, our world is full of data, lack of data for many businesses isn’t a problem anymore; Instead, there is often too much information available for people to find the answers for their business questions.

In this segment on Northwest Digital News, we discuss five cool tools that are no cost or low cost to take your business sales and marketing to the next level. The key is to “just do it” as its both easy and hard. Easy to actually use the tools. Hard in that most people are either busy or lazy and don’t want to do it or don’t’ want to work hard.

I caught a few moments with well-known MSP business coach and speaker Manuel Palachuk at the recent CompTIA ChannelCon 2018 conference in Washington DC. A frequent guest at leading industry events, Palachuk shared his background and his roadmap in this interview that I conducted. His basic philosophy is starting with culture to get to the next level. His niches include agile service delivery.

By: Bernard Marr

At the recent CompTIA ChannelCon18 conference in Washington DC, I interview first timer John Cooper about his career change from being a security guard (18+ years) to becoming a Managed Services Provider (MSP). He's tapped into one of the things CompTIA does best: workforce training. As you'll see int he interview, he was dazed and amazed by the conference content and networking opportunities. It's how the game is played. 

Hey everyone – nothing like the dog days of summer to reflect on new money makers and booty shakers! At the recent CompTIA ChannelCon 2018 conference in Washington DC, I caught up with Robert Cooper, the general manager for Wildix. His firm is an established European unified communications ISV and is just entering the US market. He imparts both wisdom from his current position plus his body of work in the technology sector over the years.

We are community! Across the years, we’ve shared beers and tears. We’ve celebrated and supported each other on these trips around the sun. Now is one of those times. Recently community leader and Office Depot MSP program executive Michelle McBain  announced that she is having open heart surgery this coming week.

Michelle and her husband Jay (an analyst at Forrester) have been tireless supporters of the community. Michelle has been a strong advocate for women in technology and a cheerleader

Machine Learning is an Artificial Intelligence technology that allows computers to learn without having been explicitly programmed for that purpose. To learn and grow, however, computers need data to analyze and to train on. In fact, Big Data is the essence of Machine Learning, and Machine Learning is the technology that makes full use of the potential of Big Data.

What is Machine Learning?

If Machine Learning is not new, its precise definition remains confusing for many people.

By Fabrice Martin

Marketing directors can’t make decisions in a vacuum. They need information about their customers, their channels and all the touchpoints that help them to connect with each other. How can they deliver what the customer wants unless they can see through the customer’s lens?

Customer interactions with a brand are