Blog

The Small and Medium Business (SMB) space was shaken about a month ago when Forrester’s Jay McBain shared that his research showed approximately 70% of the SMB managed services provider (MSP) field is seeking change in the way of an exit (retirement, getting acquired, getting a job). I believe this reflects the ongoing maturity of the MSP market.

Enter ARG, a quasi-investment and technology entity

Long time SMB technology player Rob Leon has reemerged in the South Florida area working with a larger MSP. His day job is to focus on helping small businesses do better with technology. But there is more to Rob than meets the eye.

More goodness from our telephony community member SoundLine! We return for more wisdom from CEO Barrett Adams. This is a serious conversation about money! We hit is head-on about how MSPs can make money with a Unified Communications (UC) and telephony attach.

An MSP with a new venture - fits right into our MSP-to-ISV coverage pillar! Ramey Bell is a Pacific Northwest tech/sales/marketing entrepreneur who has extended his managed services provider business

I catch up with a busy Pat Hurley, Vice President and General Manager/Americas at Acronis and we discuss baseball, F1 racing and a new October 2019 conference (Acronis Cyber Protection Summit) plus much more. 

Late this week I was speaking with thought leader and analyst Howard Cohen (contributor at Redmond Channel Partner magazine) on a catch-up call and he shared how his scope of coverage has expanded to include Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). I proffered that the momentum at Microsoft itself has been to make ISVs the “flavor of the month” often at the expense of its SMB partners. It’s all about getting the love.

By Stacy West, Vice President, Marketing, SolarWinds MSP

Long before social media became a cultural phenomenon, it was simply a platform for connecting people who shared similar interests or common experiences. Fast-forward to today and social media still serves as a connector, but it has also become a valuable business tool.

TIDWIT is focused on digital interconnectivity of ecosystems. They are working with some of the largest brands: Microsoft, Accenture, CenturyLink…and some of the smallest. Simply stated, it’s a partner digital ecosystem that connects partners together in the ISV’s partner program.   

Whew – what a whirlwind mega conference South-by-Southwest (SxSW) is! Over 300,000 people attended over ten days in what I consider a top ten conference in the world. SxSW was it all.

At the recent Ingram Cloud X conference, I made “Women in Technology” a pillar coverage area. There are important reasons for this – Ingram Micro has made it a solid pre-day session at it’s spring show. And more research is coming out that speaks towards the “Middle School cliff”

TechTuesday broadcast live from Ingram Cloud X in San Diego, CA today with a conference overview and hooks to Northwest companies.

Right here right now I’m happy to reveal that my 21^st book is ahead of schedule and will be released next week at SxSW in Austin, TX. It’s my first book after a ten-year recharge and I’m fired up! Things have changed, and SMB Nation has led the transformation parade – this book reflects all that and more.