• Backing up critical Workstations
• Workstation Security
• Quarterly Maintenance for Workstations
• Asset Management

The importance of Asset Management

The last of these four, Asset Management, is probably the most important to MSP’s as once you understand what assets a client has in their infrastructure, it opens up all sorts of other opportunities for you to upsell to a client including hardware upgrades, licensing compliance, and software deployment to name but three. But many IT Solution Providers who are transitioning into Managed Services struggle to capture complete client Asset Management details because most Remote Monitoring & Management (RMM) tools are aimed at MSP’s with clients who are under contract. If your client isn’t paying you for Managed Services but instead works with you on a Break/Fix basis, then most IT companies will hesitate to install an RMM agent that will incur a regular license cost for a client who they might not bill for weeks or months at a time. Many a time I’ve mused (out loud) to RMM vendors that in an ideal world, IT companies would be able to source this tool for free to enable them to quickly transition into Managed Services *without* incurring any costs.

A free Asset Management tool

So it was with interest that David Hay, Head of Partner Development at GFI Max, shared with me recently that GFI Max had heard quite enough of my incessant moaning on the subjectcommitted to offering their Workstation Agent, complete with full Asset Management features, to their clients for free. To get the full story, I asked David if he’d be happy to join me on a recorded Skype call so I could get the full details from him to share with my blog readers. Here’s the recording of our 6 minute call.

(Thanks to David for his time, and Scott at GFI Max for kindly offering to polish the video up for us).

Conclusion

So, in a nutshell:-

• A GFI Max Dashboard account is free to setup.
• You can deploy the GFI Max Workstation Agent using the “Free Asset Management” template to as many workstations as you like at no charge.
• You can turn on any additional chargeable Workstation features (such as Take Control Remote Access, Managed Anti-Virus or Workstation Monitoring) at any point in the future.

Have clients on Break/Fix? There’s now no downside to deploying the GFI Max Workstation Agent for free. You won’t be billed for it, and it’ll help you find new opportunities with the ability to turn on remote control whenever you need in the future. I applaud this move from GFI Max as a way to effectively reduce the barrier to entry of deploying an RMM tool for IT Solution Providers to zero – now the challenge is thrown down to IT companies. Get out there and make some money through Asset Management!

That’s because last week I tried experimenting with using the telephone instead of e-mail wherever appropriate.

I say “experimenting”, because it was my belief, as it’s probably your belief, that e-mail is a quick and effective method of communication. Picking up the telephone and calling somebody takes time, and much of the time we don’t have time – we just want to get things done and move onto the next thing. E-Mail is supposed to help us do that.

Is E-Mail effective?

But over the past few years I’ve come to challenge just how effective e-mail is.

As a Freelancer working with multiple clients, I have to respond to e-mails in a timely fashion.

I don’t receive a huge amount of e-mail anymore – probably 20-30 legitimate e-mails per day. This is mainly because I’ve implemented techniques in how to manage e-mail overload – filtered the spam, unsubscribed from newsletters, turned off un-necessary notifications, and so on.

However 20-30 e-mails per day at 3-4 minutes reading and responding per e-mail typically means I spend an hour to two hours each day responding to e-mails, usually in two blocks of time (once in the morning, once in the afternoon) per day so I’m not continually checking e-mail. But for every e-mail I respond to, another e-mail typically appears. E-Mail begets e-mail.

I noticed a trend. It’s not unusual for me respond to e-mails because I think it’ll shift the responsibility off my plate and onto someone else’s. But then if that person is sat in front of their e-mail, they’ll have the same idea and by the time I’ve responded to all of my current e-mails – I refresh my inbox and have as many (if not more) e-mails than I started with! E-Mail ping pong!

It’s good to talk

So last week I focused on looking for opportunities to pick up the telephone instead of using e-mail.

• When I received an e-mail asking me a question, I picked up the ‘phone and answered that question.
• When I received an e-mail inviting me to an event, I picked up the ‘phone and graciously accepted the invitation and finalised details of the event, or politely declined stating the reason I couldn’t attend.
• When I received an e-mail from somebody who I couldn’t remember actually speaking to inside the last quarter (or more), I picked up the ‘phone and caught up with them.

The results

So how did my experiment pan out?

• Firstly, whenever I picked up the telephone and spoke with someone – I felt a lot happier and typically came off the ‘phone with more energy. Some people seemed surprised to hear from me, but it was a pleasant surprise that I’d “gone to the trouble” of calling them. We chatted, we caught up. It was an enjoyable conversation!
• Secondly, my levels of incoming e-mails fell. E-Mail ping pong was noticeably reduced.
• Thirdly, the amount of time I’ve spent on responding to e-mail is about the same. So my conclusion is that typing a response to an e-mail and then getting the inevitable e-mail response back is no quicker than simply picking up the ‘phone and speaking to somebody. And with less of the benefits.

Conclusion

This is hardly a scientific experiment, and some might say it’s a lesson in stating the obvious – but how many of us respond to an e-mail when we know picking up the ‘phone would be easier?

How many of us have exchanged numerous e-mails with somebody, but not actually spoken to that person in months and months?

Don’t get me wrong – there are many cases when e-mail is a better fit than a ‘phone call. When you’re relaying detailed facts, dealing with people in different time zones, or simply working with someone who just doesn’t answer the ‘phone. But often, picking up the telephone is quicker and easier than typing out a response.

In the modern world of e-mail, SMS, Facebook messages, Twitter, Google+ and more – it’s not that we don’t have multiple options for staying in touch with people, it’s that often we don’t choose the most appropriate option – and typically that’s the good old fashioned telephone.

You might disagree, but for me – the experiment was a success because it reminded me of this fact.

What’s more, I’m going to work to keep this habit going – using the telephone instead of e-mail where appropriate.

So if you do e-mail me, don’t be surprised if you get a call in response!

Cool stuff I’ve found this week:-

• Xobni – I revisted Xobni after a couple of years of not using it. It’s come on a long way. A plug-in for Microsoft Outlook that creates a sidebar with information relevant to your e-mail contacts. You can add Social Media details, quickly search for previous e-mail threads and attachments. Powerful stuff.
• Rapportive – a free add-on for Firefox, Safari and Chrome web browsers that (similar to Xobni) adds a side-bar to GoogleMail which highlights information about your contacts. A great use of the space previously taken up by advertising! Thanks to James Kimbley at Kimbley Computer Services for the heads-up!
• Ubuntu Cloud One – a Dropbox like application from Linux company Canonical. Works on Windows, Mac, Ubuntu, iOS and Android. Sync content between devices, and stream your music collection to iPhone or Android. 5GB free.

Any cool content or tools to share with me? Contact me and I if I feature them in my blog, I’ll be sure to give you credit!

Have a great weekend!

I then tell the story of how, as a “one man band” providing Break/Fix services, I read a book that – as the old cliché goes – changed my life.

When I first read “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber, I actually thought Mr. Gerber had written the book specifically for me! After every few pages I read, I’d look up and check to see if my reactions weren’t being covertly filmed – it felt like the book described my exact situation and how to change things for the better.

Years on, I still re-read The E-Myth every year or so and whenever I start providing help for IT companies who want to grow, the first thing I do is recommend they read The E-Myth.

Simply put – in my opinion The E-Myth Revisited is the “Bible” for aspiring Managed Service Providers. MSP’s are typically owned by Technicians who have a ton of great technical knowledge and plenty of ideas of how to help people, but crucially need to make the transition from Technician to Business Owner. The E-Myth helps them to think more like a business owner and less like a Technician.

I know from experience, because it helped me make that transition myself!

I’m an avid reader and make a lot of book recommendations, but trust me when I say that this book is at the top of my list.

If you’re an MSP owner or making the transition to Managed Services and you haven’t already read it, do yourself a favour and buy The E-Myth Revisited from Amazon either in paperback form (my treasured copy is battered and with notes scribbled all over it) or in Kindle e-book format so you can take it everywhere with you.

What is CRN Partner Connect?

CRN Partner Connect brings some of the biggest vendors together in one place to exhibit and speak at an event that this year has a focus less on technology and more on business, with a number of speakers with real life case studies that can help you understand how to grow your business.

You can view the full CRN Partner Connect 2012 seminar programme, and freely register for CRN Partner Connect 2012 too.

What is the CompTIA UK Channel Community?

I’ve written about the CompTIA UK Channel Community before, but in a nutshell – the Community was formed in early 2011 following the acquisition of Technology Channels Association (TCA) by CompTIA. The community was formed in an effort to provide a platform for resellers, distributors, and vendors to focus on developing best practices, business education and resources for companies engaged in the delivery of IT services in the UK.

I was honoured to be voted in as Chair of the Community last year, and since then I hope we’ve made a difference to those who have joined the Community. Why not listen to some members opinions of the CompTIA UK Channel Community and the value they get from the meetings to understand how you might find it useful to attend.

What’s happening at the Community meeting?

We’ll be meeting for dinner following CRN Connect on the Thursday, and we have a packed agenda for the Friday meeting including presentations from members including James Blackman – Channel Manager at AMD, and Jon Clarke of Cyance on Channel Marketing, plus workshops and networking.

What’s the benefit for me to attend?

The question often asked of these type of events is always “How will I benefit from attending? What difference will it make to my business?”.

The bottom line as to why you should attend both days in Coventry is not the seminars, nor is it the presentations (which I’ve no doubt you’ll learn a lot from) – but instead it’s the people you’ll meet and the relationships you’ll build.

Be it Vendors, Partners or Peers – I know from experience that you’ll learn more from being around the people who attend these events than you could anywhere else.

That alone is worth your time out of the office.

I hope to see you in Coventry. If you’re attending – let me know and say hello!

Hotmail and Googlemail

So it was with interest that I spoke to the owner of a medium sized MSP recently who said that their policy was to out of hand dismissed any request for information they had from prospects with a “free” e-mail address – Googlemail, Hotmail, Yahoomail, etc. These e-mails – typically with requests for license pricing information – often didn’t include a business name nor telephone number to respond to.

I can understand the MSP’s thinking here. If a prospect doesn’t have a legitimate e-mail address, nor any way of getting a telephone number to call them, it’s hard to take their enquiry seriously.

Measuring the results

But the MSP owner I spoke to went on to say that their policy had recently changed. During a quiet period in the office, the owner had received a license quotation request from a Googlemail e-mail address with no telephone number or business name, but rather than delete it – he asked a junior member of staff to respond to it.

Days later, the quote came good and the MSP ended up selling a large license deal which they made an excellent mark-up from.

The MSP owner shared with me that he believed the quotation request had come from a local business owner who simply wanted to shop on price. By sending an e-mail from a throwaway Google e-mail address with no telephone number or business name attached they were avoiding any sales telephone calls, avoiding being added to a mailing list, and avoiding any of what they perceived to be “hassle”. They wanted the price, end of story.

What can be measured, can be managed

This story made me think about how MSP’s approach such enquiries. In this example, the MSP was more than compensated for the time it took to respond to the e-mail. Based on the mark-up they made on the licensing deal, even if only 1 in 10 of these types of e-mails end up in a sale, it still makes responding to the other 9 quote requests worthwhile.

So why I still stand by my statement that MSP’s shouldn’t write long, complicated sales proposals without a very strong reason why, it’s worth re-visiting those elements of your sales process that can be automated or systemised and monitored and measured for effectiveness to the point where you know it’s worthwhile to undertake them.

Once you start doing this, it’s no longer a case of “quote and hope” – instead you’re effectively using your time.

Twelve Thoughts for Friday (or whichever day you’re reading this on).

1. Reading regularly is important.
2. Don’t expect different results if you keep doing what you’ve always done.
3. If you want to be change the way you think and act, do spend time with people and communities who think and act the way you’d like to be.
4. Don’t look externally for validation, but do regularly measure your progress against your own markers.
5. Don’t compare yourself to others, especially what you see of others on Social Media. Facebook is the edited highlight reel of our lives.
6. Do finish work early today. I’ve yet to meet someone in the later years of their life who ever told me they regretted not working longer hours.
7. Do that one thing you wish you had more time to do for just one week. Don’t have time? Don’t watch Television this week.
8. Do what you love to do every day. Don’t give up until you’re doing this.
9. Do realise that you can do anything, but also realise that you can’t do everything.
10. Don’t kid yourself that Facebook is important to your success.
11. Do consider that to achieve more, you often have to do less. The key is to understanding what you need to do less of.
12. Finally – don’t keep waiting for the right moment to tell those who you love, respect and who influence you how much you appreciate them. That right moment is now. Right now. A telephone call is great, a hand-written note is good, but even an e-mail is better than not saying anything at all.

We ran some 30 minutes over on the webinar, had a lot of questions and a ton of great feedback – so much so that we’ve decided to run the webinar again to re-visit some of the topics we touched upon!

So I hope you’ll join Rich and I this Wednesday April 18th at 4pm GMT (11am EST) where we discuss Effectively Using Social Networking to build your IT business.

Free registration for the webinar is now open, but I’d encourage you to get in quickly as the webinar is in demand.

Register now for these key takeaways:

• Principles for using social networking
• ROI of social networking
• Social networking vs. social media
• Tips for Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+
• Business reasons to blog
• What are content loops and how to use them
• Third-party tools to better manage social sites
• How social networking differs from traditional business networking

Rich (@Autotask) and I (@tubblog) will also be on Twitter before, during and after the event to answer your questions – so we look forward to hearing from you!

The simple answer is to create a custom wallpaper which displays your telephone number anytime your iPad is locked.

To set this custom Lock Screen message:-

1. Create a simple picture with your lock screen message either on the iPad (using a tool such as Finger Sketch) or on your PC (I used Microsoft Word, took a screenshot and saved to my Dropbox which then synchronised to my iPad).
2. Load the image in the iPad Photos Application.
3. Pinch or expand to re-size the image to fit the iPad screen correctly.
4. From the arrow menu near the top right, select “Use as Wallpaper”
5. Select “Set Lock Screen”.

Voila! The next time you lock your iPad, you’ll have a handy custom Lock Screen enabling anyone who finds your lost iPad to quickly contact you to organise its return.

Sponsored by CompTIA, the PCR Retail Boot Camp is a new conference and expo for the UK PC and IT channel.

It is free for retailers and resellers to attend and will provide a day of conference sessions, expo showcases and networking – all designed to help dealers improve their business. Plus all dealers will go home with a free Apple TV, worth £99.

In addition, there will be a series of ‘Break-Out Sessions’ during the afternoon, one of which I’ll be leading as host is a panel discussion over “On-line Selling: Threat or Opportunity?” that I was hoping to attend, but unfortunately can’t make it. I hope you can join me!

Meanwhile, an After-Show Drinks Reception, sponsored by VIP, will provide networking opportunities to round off the day’s events.

Who Should Attend?

• PC/IT Retailers
• Resellers
• System Builders
• Online Retailers
• Multiple Retailers

The UK’s top 250 retailers and resellers are set to attend the event, and dealers can register their interest by registering here.

Who am I? Well, if you haven’t guessed already I come from a place far in the future. A place that used to be the home of the Ashes, Rugby World Cup and even once hosted the Olympic games. A place that has required me to change my spell checker to write this post.

For those of you who haven’t guessed yet, this post is now under the control of Robert Crane from Sydney Australia. My day job sees me working in my own business (CIAOPS) and at other times I too maintain a blog (supportweb.ciaops.net.au/blog) that tends to focus on SharePoint and Office 365. I was also recently awarded the title of Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for my work with Office 365.

How do you sell SharePoint into a client site?

But enough about me. If if I ask you what is the killer app or the digital age, what would your answer be? I hear some people say the iPhone, I hear others say the Internet and I even hear some say Windows Phone 7 (Really?). My answer is Search. Why? Well information is a two edged blade. The more information you have the more competitive you are right? True up to a point until you become overloaded and then more information actually reduces your competitiveness as you drown in a sea of data. Yet, by adding one simple technology, search, you can continue to collect vast amounts of information and remain competitive. Why have I taken over your RSS feed? I recently saw a video of your local hero, Andy Parkes, extolling the virtues of SharePoint and I wanted to add my two cents (or pence in your vernacular) to the discussion. SharePoint is fantastic tool but I hear many, many resellers ask ‘how can I actually sell SharePoint into a business?’. Here’s but one suggestion.

Search is big business

Think about it, when you need to find a solution to a technical issue what do you do? You search the net. Not only do you do that so does just about everyone else and this is the reason that Google is now a multi billion dollar business today. But what’s the problem with Internet search? It only looks at information outside a business. What information is generally more important to you and your business? Stuff on the Internet or stuff you have stored on your internal servers, network shares, etc.? How long do you and your employees spend looking for information they need to do their job every single day? How much time could be saved if you have an internal search engine that indexed everything inside your business? I would pretty much guarantee that you’d save at least one hour a day on average. Now multiply that out by how many people in your business and what they are paid and the savings being to add up pretty quickly. Any you know what? If you have this issue I’ll bet that all your customers have exactly the same problem.

Looking at Search Server Express

Now that smells like a business opportunity to me right? Where’s the internal search engine? How much opportunity would you think there is to go into a business and offering a plug-in ‘search device’ that would provide the same functionality as Internet search engines but across all the clients internal data, delivered through a shiny web interface? I would suspect the word you are now thinking of is ‘huge’. But how could you deliver something like that? How much would it cost you? What would you say if I told you almost nothing? Sceptical? Don’t let my strange accent fool you, ‘nothing’ means the same thing here as it does ‘down under’.

Many resellers have no idea that Microsoft provides a free product called Search Server Express that is built on SharePoint technology. Whereas traditional SharePoint or Companyweb on Small Business Server (SBS) only searches within SharePoint, Search Server Express can reach out and index not only any SharePoint data but also network shares, Exchange Public folders, web site and more. Hang on a minute, did I hear you say, network shares? Yup, network shares. The place where most people store their data.

Building Recurring Revenue

If you took a basic piece of hardware, installed an evaluation copy of Windows Server on it then installed and configured Search Server Express on it then connected it to a client’s network and had it crawl all the data what have you got? An internal search engine that has only set you back the price of some basic hardware (as the evaluation copy of Windows and Search Server are free). If you initially provide the device on a 14 day trial, what client do think is going to want it taken out after they see how much easier it makes finding their information without any impact on their network? Answer probably not very many at all. You can then continue to provide it to the client as a ‘rental’, so much per month fully maintained (following the traditional MSP model), and in less than 6 months you’ve probably paid for the hardware and the Windows Server license.

Using alongside SBS 2011

My recommendation is always to run SharePoint and Search Server Express on separate members server in a network but I understand this is not always possible. What about running Search Server Express on SBS I hear you ask. On SBS 2008 don’t even try it. Basically it will burn the server to the ground. It can be done but it takes a lot of configuration. SBS 2011 however is a different story. It is certainly much easier but does come with caveats. However, to my way of thinking Search Server Express 2010 is the missing component of SBS 2011. For those who aren’t familiar with SharePoint I recently created an eBook that covers the whole process and more. I commend that you as the most extensive documentation currently available on the subject. I have posted the basics set up procedure in my blog http://supportweb.ciaops.net.au/blog/archive/2012/03/21/search-server-express-2010-on-sbs-2011.aspx which will at least get you started if this interests you. You’ll also find information about e-book in that post as well.

Before I allow normal programming to resume I’ll just tell you that implementing something like Search Server Express in a business is only the start with SharePoint. The next step is to offer ‘digital notebooks’ using OneNote connected to SharePoint and then document check in check out, version control, shared calendar contacts, workflows and more. The list is truly endless.

Making Money from SharePoint

My parting thought for those you out there wondering how to make money in your business from SharePoint is, now that your competition has read this post what do you think they are doing?

I now return to your host Mr. Tubb and thank him for allowing my colonial accent to grace this hollowed blog and hope that he’ll invite me back some time in the future to show you how ‘digital notebooks’ with OneNote and SharePoint are another opportunity available to you that few are taking advantage of currently. Back to the cloud I go. Fare thee well.

So when Peter Kim forwarded me a copy of the Infographic “You Need More Sleep” (featured below) – it was very timely indeed.

While the Infographic is U.S. focused, the principles are the same – that many of us are not getting enough sleep and as a result our day-to-day activities suffer.

Four top tips for a good nights sleep

• Finish work well before bed-time and give yourself time to wind down from the working day. Turn off electronic devices and read a book or listen to music to relax.
• Take a Calcium Tablet with a glass of water, and a tea-spoonful of Almond Butter before bed. The Calcium (just like the traditional glass of milk) will help you sleep well and the Almond Butter will keep your blood sugar levels steady and help you awake refreshed.
• Keep a pen and pad by the bedside. If you can’t get to sleep, or wake up in the middle of the night with things on your mind – jot them down. The act of getting things out of your head and onto paper is often enough to let you go back to sleep.
• Invest in the iOS Sleep Cycle Alarm clock app for your iPhone or iPod, or a similar app for your mobile device and experiment with it to get an idea of when you should be waking up.

Created by: MedicalBillingandCodingCertification.net

A number of IT companies have since mentioned that they’d observed peculiar behaviour with Windows 7 PC’s since they had been updated, where after booting up, Windows 7 failed to load the Desktop.

While this type of update, one which seems to cause more problems than it fixes, is now rare – it causes gnashing of teeth from clients, who perceive no benefit from such patches and see them as a obstruction to getting on with their work, and naturally it causes pain for IT providers who have to deal with irritated clients.

Let’s turn off Windows Update!

But the way in which some IT companies choose to deal with this challenge scares me. Their thinking goes along the lines of “If Windows Updates are causing my client, and me, a problem then I’ll turn off Windows Updates”.

As the former owner of an MSP I’ve seen examples of this myself when winning a new client away from an incumbent IT provider. PC’s and Servers haven’t been patched for months, if not years. Widely known vulnerabilities aren’t secured. Operating Systems and Applications lag Service Pack’s behind currently supported minimums.

This approach to using the virtual Sledgehammer to crack a Walnut isn’t restricted to patching alone.

• That Line-of-Business Application doesn’t work. It requires write access to a folder on the C:\ drive, but I’m not sure which folder. I’ll grant Full access to the C:\ drive.
• This application needs a port opening on the Firewall. We’ve opened the required port, but it still doesn’t seem to be working. Let’s just put the machine in question in a DMZ.
• This employee needs access to this network folder. I can’t remember which Active Directory group I should add that user to to gain access, so I’ll give the employee’s user account full access to the folder directly.

In each case, instead of providing a best practice granular solution, the IT company is going for the quick fix. Sure, it gets the job done – but at what cost in the long-term?

So how to do Patch Management properly?

If you’re a Managed Service Provider, then you really, really need to be using an Remote Management and Monitoring (RMM) tool. For the purposes of this blog, I’m going to choose GFI Max – I used it in my own MSP, it’s easy to deploy, it’s cost effective and it does patch management very, very well. But you could also consider using a tool like Level Platforms or Centrastage to do a similar job.

With GFI Max, you deploy an agent to each workstation or server. Once deployed, you have full control over the patches you can deploy to that machine – and not just Microsoft patches, but patches from numerous 3rd Party companies too.

But this isn’t just an “on/off” switch for patches – it allows you to be much more granular in your approach. For instance, instead of automatically deploying patches you can be alerted to the fact they are available, and make a decision on whether to install those patches on a selective basis.

(BTW – GFI Max doesn’t just cover patching, it also highlights vulnerabilities. So you’re constantly being alerted to new weaknesses and how to resolve them).

If you decide to automatically install updates, then you can do so on a more granular level. For instance you could choose to install Critical updates, but not Moderate or Low level updates.

Naturally you can choose a schedule of when to install updates, and whether to reboot once those updates are applied.

Which leads us to the common question that most MSP’s are comfortable with some PC’s being rebooted automatically, but not others – for example, Servers or Mission Critical PC’s.

This is where the granular approach in GFI Max really pays dividends. You could choose to automatically reboot Workstations, but not servers. Or you can tell certain workstations to reboot, but mission critical workstations not to. The benefit of being granular in the approach is that you can deal with Workstations, Servers, Client Sites and even individual machines in a very specific manner – all the while being centrally maintained.

This granularity allows you to make choices over how you tackle patch management, not as a “one size fits all”, not as “Patches are on” or “Patches are off” – but in a sensible, intelligent way.

What if I’m a Break/Fix Provider?

If you are an aspiring Managed Service Provider, but most of your clients are still working with you on a Break/Fix basis, then Patch Management is the ideal way to help that client dip their toe into the Managed Services waters.

Let’s take the smallest of clients. One PC, works from home. You speak once a month or so when they need assistance. By installing GFI Max (or your choice of RMM tool) you can offer a secure Patch Management service. Cost to you – likely less than £1. Bill to client? Your choice. £5, £10/month?

Friends Don’t Let Friends Use WSUS!

Of course, the hard-core technicians amongst us will scoff at paying a RMM tool vendor to use their software. “You can do all this stuff for free!”.

You certainly can. You can leave Windows Update turned on automatically for free – but remember the start of this post? It doesn’t always work out for the best.

You can also use WSUS – Windows Software Update Services. It’s a free tool from Microsoft and a centralised way of managing patches. But there’s a phrase that many of us in the MSP market use – “Friends Don’t Let Friends Use WSUS”.

WSUS is fine for an internal IT department managing a single clients infrastructure. But it’s unwieldy, it’s time consuming and it’s noisy. Multiply the time you spend managing one WSUS installation by a dozen, or ten dozen clients – and as an MSP you’re wasting a lot of time and profit.

Conclusion

Turning off Windows Update as a way to solve your Patch Management headaches isn’t the answer.

You can use free tools such as WSUS to do Patch Management, but not effectively across multiple sites.

Or you can install an RMM tool and begin to realise that a Managed Service Provider looks to automate and centrally manage like Patch Management – knowing that their time is better spent undertaking tasks that clients perceive to add real value to the relationship.

Distributor Computer 2000 has been building it’s Tech Select Community for some time. I’d heard about the community before, as CRN wrote about Tech Select last year, but it wasn’t until I was introduced to Richard Evans of Computer 2000 at the recent CompTIA UK Channel Community meeting that I learnt why Tech Select might be a useful initiative for MSP’s who are looking to grow.

What is Tech Select?

Richard Evans explains

“Tech Select is a strategic initiative that bridges the gap between vendor development programmes and the needs of IT businesses. It enables you to maximise the impact of vendor investments in channel development so that you benefit directly from the time and effort you put into increasing your knowledge and taking products to market. It helps you to sharpen your competitive edge and accelerate profitable growth.”

In short, C2K’s goals for TechSelect are:-

• Closer engagement with vendors
• Sales Support
• Technical Support and training
• Help in gaining accreditations
• Marketing assistance
• Lead generation

TechSelect Partner Conference

There’s a great opportunity upcoming to learn more first hand, as the TechSelect Partner Conference is taking place on Thursday 29th March, 2012 at the Barceló Hinckley Island Hotel in Leicestershire. Free registration for the event is now open.

There are a number of presentations including:-

• Growth opportunities with Microsoft, Cisco and Symantec in 2012.
• Delivering profit and value as an MSP with Gareth Brown of SYTEC.
• Building competitive edge with Nicholas Bate – Guest speaker.
• How to grow your business with Computer 2000.

(Quite honestly it’s worth attending to see Gareth Brown alone speak, as Gareth is one of the architects of the UK Small Business IT community, a very successful MSP owner and a very engaging speaker).

I’ll be attending on the day to understand more about the community, and if you’re attending do let me know so we can say hello.

I had an opportunity to visit a TEDx event live on Saturday 10th March, 2012 when I visited TEDx Warwick taking place at the Warwick Arts Centre. Andy Parkes and I spent the full day at the conference and we were both blown away by the presenters – each interesting and inspiring in their own way.
There were a 1,000+ attendees at the venue, and the day was split into four sessions with eleven presenters, interspersed with interesting TED videos from past events.

Highlights for me were:-

• Doug Belshaw – who talked about digital literacies and the ways each of us interact with the digital world, including looking memes such as Success Kid and how they spread and are re-mixed.
• Andy Stanford-Clarke – who spoke on innovation at home and in communities, including mouse-traps that Tweet when they catch a pest, and Tweeting ferries.
• Koen Olthuis – who demonstrated ideas for floating City blocks, and City Apps.
• Kerry Kirwan – who showed us the worlds most eco-friendly Formula Three car, powered by waste Chocolate and Wine (which he’s unlikely to find much of in my house) and steered by Carrots.
• Kevin Warwick – who gave a engaging and humorous presentation on Implants and Technology, including the story of how he had a silicon chip implanted into his arm to allow him to communicate electronically with his surroundings.
• John Sterckx – who woke us from the post-lunch slump with a drumscape inspired by traditional folk rhythms. Seeing a 1,000+ people dancing in the aisles is something to behold!

If any of those summaries sound intriguing or downright bizarre, then I’d encourage you to learn more about each of the presenters – each was a fascinating and engaging story in it’s own right.

I understand that each of the talks were recorded and (quality allowing) will be posted on-line. When available, you’ll definitely enjoy viewing them.

I didn’t bother to check the speaker line up before I attended TEDx Warwick, as I wanted to be surprised and inspired by what I saw and heard. The day definitely didn’t fail to do just that and I’m looking forward to attending more TED events in the future!

I mentioned in my last blog post that I’ve been fortunate enough to be nominated to the SMB 150 this year. The SMB 150 is an annual list of the top 150 IT professionals in the worldwide Small and Medium Business IT Channel put together by SMB Nation and sponsored by Blackberry.

Here are details of how to place your vote.

But obviously, I’m not the only one who’s been nominated! I’m grateful to work in an industry with some of the finest folks you’re ever likely to meet, and I probably don’t tell half of these people how grateful I am for their work and support – so I thought I’d help shine a light on some of them here.

You can click on each of the individuals names to be taken to their voting page for the SMB 150.

The Brits

Back in 2009, I was one of only three or four Brits on the SMB 150. I’m glad to say the Brits are now represented in force!

Gareth Brown	Owner at Sytec, Gareth is one of the founders of the SMB Community in the UK and continues to be one of the most respected and generous individuals you could wish know.
Chris Timm	Chris took over the Thames Valley SBSC user group when it was failing and turned it into a thriving group again.
Paul Tomlinson	One of the UK’s most successful MSP owners at Mirus and a great contributor to the CompTIA UK Channel Community.
Susanne Dansey	Owner of Purple Cow Ideas Management and founder of the UK SMB Community, and a long-time positive influence on myself and so many others within our Channel.
Lee Evans	Owner of Vital as well as being the Vice Chair of the CompTIA UK Channel Community and a passionate advocate of raising standards in the Channel.
Mark Williams	Owner of one of London’s top MSP’s at Pensar and the HTG 11 groups member of the year.
Adam Harris	A key influencer in helping establish the CompTIA UK Channel Community in 2011 and beyond.
Andy Trish	His business, NCI Technologies, goes from strength to strength and he is consistently one of the most active community leaders in the UK.
Dave Sobel	The exiting facilitator of HTG 11 in the UK, “Mr Virtualization” and let’s face it – he’s pretty much a Brit now, right?

The Bloggers

These are the folks who regularly write to share their knowledge and experience with the rest of us, and as a fellow blogger, I appreciate their writing! If you’ve not read one of these blogs, I encourage you to check them out!

The Community Leaders

These are the people who have helped build the communities that many of us participate in and enjoy.

The Vendors

The folks who provide the tools that enable MSP’s to thrive.

MSP’s and MSP Coaches

The owners of successful MSP’s and those who coach MSP’s.

Quite a list – I hope you’ll consider voting for all those above, and that they all find their rightful place on the 2012 SMB 150 list.

If I’ve overlooked you, then I apologise, and do give me a nudge so I can make sure you get my vote.

The process of deciding the final 150 is now taking place.

• Voting. A ballot has been presented with all of the nominations. Each candidate has a photo and a biography/sales pitch/statement seeking your vote!
• Judges. SMB Nation have recruited a panel of esteemed industry judges to oversee the election. The judges input will be weighted along with the voted. This validation step insure that truly the Top 150 are selected!
• Awards dinner! Awardees and members of the public will be invited to attend an awards ceremony and dinner in Los Angles in late April 2012.

I’ve been nominated!

I’ve been fortunate enough to be nominated to the SMB 150 for the past couple of years, and have once again been nominated this year. If you’d like to place a vote for me, then here’s how you can do so.

How you can vote

• Visit www.smb150.com and click the Registration button in the top right hand corner.

• Fill in your registration details and click Create User.

• You’ll then receive an e-mail asking you to confirm your account by clicking a verification link. Click that link.
• Then, log in to the SMB 150 web-site using the new username and password you’ve created.

• Then search for the individual you’d like to vote for using the search box near the top right hand corner of the page. (My page is here).

• When you’ve found the user, click on the blue vote button and your vote will be registered!

You can vote for more than one nomination, and as there are a whole load of great nominations this year – competition will be tough for the final 150 – so make sure to vote for everyone who deserves it!

Additionally, voicemail is the most inefficient way of receiving a message. If you’re in a meeting and send a call to Voicemail, you can’t quickly glance at the message to see if it’s urgent as you could with an e-mail or SMS – you have to stop the meeting to listen to the voicemail.

Therefore, one of the most useful tools I’ve been using over the past couple of years has been the function to turn any incoming Mobile ‘Phone Voicemails into SMS text messages and e-mail.

If you’re an iPhone user, you have Visual Voicemail – but this service is not supported on all networks in the UK.

If you’re a Google Voice user in the US, you’ll be familiar with Voicemail transcription – but for us here in the UK, where Google Voice is not currently available, an alternative service is VoxSciences.

VoxSciences offer a Voice recognition technology that I’ve found to be really effective. The service works through you changing your mobile phone settings so that instead of re-directing your missed calls to your Network Carriers voicemail, you forward those calls to a geographic (01642) number provided by VoxSciences.

Callers leave you a voicemail, as usual, and shortly afterwards both you and the caller receive an SMS with a transcribed copy of the message. You’ll also receive an e-mail with a transcribed copy of the message, as well as a link to listen to the original voicemail.

If you’re not convinced, try it yourself – from your mobile phone (in the UK) ring 0203 111 22 00 and leave a message. VoxSciences will transcribe the message and send it to you as an SMS.

VoxSciences also provides a web interface so you can listen to old Voicemails and see an audit trail of who left you messages and when.

The service costs £5.00 a month, or 30 SMS messages – whichever is sooner, and VoxSciences offer a 7 day free trial.

I’ve not found another Voice-to-Text service in the UK as good as VoxSciences – but if you know of one, please feel free to let me know about it!

Never one to shy from travelling, Dave has embarked on a  series of globe trotting events as part of the “Managed Services Education & Collaboration Road Show 2012”.

The series of events comes to the UK and Ireland in March with visits to:-

• London – Hyatt Regency – Tuesday 20th March, 2012
• Manchester – Renaissance – Thursday 22nd March, 2012
• Birmingham – Warwickshire County Cricket Club – Tuesday March 27th, 2012
• Dublin – The Shelbourne Dublin – Thursday March 29th, 2012

Guest speakers will include:

• Richard Cook, Managing Director, Blue Chip Data Systems  (MSP)
• Brendan Redmond, Joint Managing Director, NSSL Limited  (MSP)
• Richard McBarnet, Managing Director, Lumina Technologies Ltd (MSP)
• Joe Marsden, Co-founder, Technical Director, SoVision (MSP)
• Simon Quicke, Editor in Chief, MicroScope
• Dave Sobel, Director of Partner Community, Level Platforms

Plus, presentations from Symantec and Autotask.

During each break there will be a mini expo where each of the listed sponsors will be on hand to demo and discuss their solutions.

Registration is complimentary, and you can register by e-mailing Jason Woods or by calling him on 0207 868 4293 and mentioning this blog.

I’ll be in attendance at the Birmingham event on Tuesday March 27th – so if you’re attending, let me know so I can say hello!

Nowadays, of course, Video Games are big business – Hollywood Movie Blockbuster like budgets are assigned to games and the market is dominated by big players. Breaking into that market is virtually impossible for the individual programmer.

The age of the App

But then along came Smartphones and with them, Apps. The Apple AppStore and Android Marketplace have hundreds of thousands of apps priced at a few pounds and under – and in many cases, free of charge. Suddenly, it’s not quite as impossible to put together a Smartphone based Video Game and make it available to the masses.

But it still takes time and money to put together such an app. Juggling developing an app with a full-time job can be a challenge, as Paul Chambers, a Brit living in New York with his new wife Zoe, found out.

Paul and Zoe have spent the evenings and weekends of the last six months, and the first six months of their marriage, developing their first game for the iPod Touch, iPad and iPhone – Islands of Diamonds.

Paul explains the project came out of an exercise on his part to learn some new software (it’s Unity 3D for those who are interested) and a mid-career, “I should do something else” crisis.

Thus, the couple founded HappyMonitor – an independent Video Game studio based in New York.

“Islands of Diamonds” asks players to guide a perfectly round coconut called Seamus through a group of thirty islands of physics puzzles in an effort to reach every last diamond before the time runs out. Paul and Zoe are on target to release the game in the Apple AppStore in early March, but this comes with another challenge – how do you get your game noticed in a sea of 100,000’s of Apps?

Crowdsourcing to raise funds

One way to raise awareness of your game as well as raise funds to help with development is the web-site KickStarter.

KickStarter is a site that provides the tools to allow creative entrepreneurs to attract micro-transactional funding with a crowd of supporters raising money for the project, and then give thanks to those supporters in the form of creative rewards for their contribution.

It’s not just Video Games that KickStarter supports. A quick browse of the KickStarter web-site shows Film, Art, Design, Food, Publishing, Music and Technology with some examples including recording a CD, putting a play together and producing a short film.

Simply put, you list your creative project on KickStarter along with a description, a video and a target funding amount. There’s no charge to list your project, and KickStarter only take a fee if you reach your target.

If you attract enough pledge money to meet your target by the deadline you’ve set, then you get the funding and away you go. If you don’t raise the right funding by the deadline, contributors keep their money.

Paul and Zoe have listed Islands of Diamonds at Kickstarter with a $3500 goal with the intention of porting their game to the Android marketplace. I’ve pledged – and many others have too. Here’s a short video from Paul and Zoe to explain more.

Quite apart from the pledges though, using KickStarter as a platform gives your app visibility. After all, without KickStarter I might not be writing this blog post talking about Islands of Diamonds!

Contributing to Islands of Diamonds

I personally love the KickStarter concept, the visibility and the leg-up it gives to many small developers like Paul and Zoe.

If you’d like to pledge to their project, visit the KickStarter page for Islands of Diamonds and if you’d like to find out more about Islands of Diamonds then you can visit the Islands of Diamonds homepage or the Islands of Diamonds Facebook Fan page. You can also find HappyMonitor on Twitter.

Good luck Paul and Zoe – I hope to see Islands of Diamonds on my HTC Sensation Android device soon!