Tubbservatory Round-Up – Tools and Resources for Your MSP
Each week Richard throws a spotlight on five resources Managed Service Providers (MSPs) that business owners should take note of in the IT industry. The Tubbservatory is a weekly video broadcast featuring useful articles, podcasts, and events that bring value to IT business owners. 
Tubbservatory Round-Up #8 – August 2022 is a collection of all of the Tubbservatory broadcasts made in August. It’s edited together for you to watch at your convenience. The items are summarised below, with links to the resources mentioned in the video.
This month’s topics include Cybersecurity, business partnerships, sector investment, and getting referrals.
Tubbservatory Round-Up #8 August 2022 Video
Tubbservatory Round-Up #8: August – Week 1
#1 BT to Expand its Digital Workforce by 2,800 New Employees
In this fascinating article for Computerworld Charlotte Trueman reports that BT has announced that it’s expanding its digital workforce by an additional 2,800 employees over the next two years, increasing their headcount to a total of 6,400 between the UK and India.
Part of these new hires will come from a diverse range of entry-level talent. By partnering with organisations such as Code First: Girls and 10,000 Black Interns, they will focus on apprentices, graduates, women returners and those looking to change careers.
The roles will span the areas of:
- Product management
- Software and cloud engineering
- Digital design
- AI and machine learning
- Agile delivery
#2 Breaking the Glass Ceiling – What it’s Like for a Woman in Tech
Now we all want to strive for an industry that celebrates and promotes diversity.
In this interview for SuperOps’ Superpod series, Tracy Pound, Chair of the Board of Directors for CompTIA and MD of Maximity talks about why the MSP and IT industries need more women founders and employees.
She also shares her thoughts on starting and scaling an MSP business, the opportunities in cybersecurity and the power of networking.
#3 Why a Zero Trust Approach Isn’t ‘Too Paranoid’
Is a Zero-Trust approach to cybersecurity ‘Too Paranoid’?
Howard M. Cohen from ModernMSP takes this common preconception and defends the case for anticipating the worst from cybercriminals.
Where CIOs once trusted anyone who had access past the ‘perimeter fence’, Zero-Trust robustly challenges transactions inside the firewall too.
This new way of managing security does not discriminate, and offers a lot more peace of mind throughout your business.
#4 Four Timely Trends in Low-Voltage Cabling
Low-voltage cabling may not be a glamorous topic, but it’s one of the most essential types of work, field engineers have to do.
Field Nation’s Wael Mohammed explores the four trends in today’s low-voltage cabling market.
From the rising cost of cabling materials to the increased need for bandwidth.
This is something you should definitely read if your MSP provides cabling services to your clients.
#5 The Sixth Annual Physical Cyber Convergence Forum Comes to Phoenix, Arizona
The sixth annual physical cyber convergence forum took place in Phoenix, Arizona on Thursday the 18th of August.
The event also included a pre-conference data centre workshop, which took place the day before.
Lots of great speakers were at the event. Among them were:
- Lester Godsey, CISO of Maricopa County
- Joshua Liberman, President of Net Sciences Inc.
Tubbservatory Round-Up #8: August – Week 2
#1 Your Clients are Cyber Protected, but are You?
MSPs are great at selling security solutions, but when you’re so busy safeguarding others, you may inadvertently overlook your own defences.
For example in 2021, 28% of MSPs were damaged by a supply chain attack, and cyberattacks against MSPs increased by 67%
Partners such as Pax8 can simplify the process of purchasing security solutions.
Cybersecurity expert Mostyn Thomas shares his view in the video.
#2 10 Things You May Have Missed at CompTIA’s Channelcon 2022
After a three-year absence, CompTIA’s ChannelCon conference was once again a live event – A much-anticipated return to in-person meetings, sessions and networking time.
More than 1,000 CompTIA members attended over 30 sessions and visited more than 150 booths in the Technology Vendor Fair in downtown Chicago.
This event also celebrated CompTIA’s presence across the globe with communities around the world with Benelux, UK&I & Australia/New Zealand all taking part in the celebrations and hosting meetings.
If you couldn’t attend this year, or even if you did, this article gives us 10 highlights from the event.
#3 Gozynta – An Data Integration Tool That Works for You
Here is a new tool we’ve come across this week!
Gozynta connects your systems together to make sure you enter your data once, and it “goes into” all the systems that it should.
Unnecessary data entry often leads to mistakes, which leads to issues in customer service and finance – so if you’re using a tool such as ConnectWise Manage or QuickBooks Online, then this is a tool that should pay for itself in no time at all.
Gozynta.. Goes.. into.. Get it?
#4 Cybersecurity, Recruitment, and Growth: Advice from 3 Managed Service Providers
How are other Managed Service Providers tackling Cybersecurity, Recruitment, and Growth?
James Steel, MSP Community Champion from Linode recently interviewed three well-established MSPs talking about the challenges they face around these at the most recent CompTIA Community meeting.
Missed the event? Don’t worry, James has complied all the top tips for you to read, including:
- Walking away if you need to
- Leaning on vendors
- Selling your culture, and
- Charging your worth
If you want to see how others are facing up to similar challenges, you should definitely check out James’ report.
Also, check out our take on the panel James hosted, here.
#5 Welling MSP BTCC Meetup with Tom Ingram at Brands Hatch
Are you a motorsport fan? Then this one is for you!
Daniel Welling from Welling MSP is hosting an event where MSPs and motorsports collide! Happening on Fri, 7 October 2022 this is a unique opportunity exclusively for MSPs and partner-approved guests to learn, network and have some fun at the same time!
The day will consist of educational partner sessions, garage & car tours, an interview and Q&A with driver Tom Ingram, networking opportunities and more.
Plus there’s a chance to WIN one of 6 x Pairs of Saturday Qualifying EXCELR8 team VIP hospitality Passes.
Tubbservatory Round-Up #8: August – Week 3
#1 What is Chain-Free Backup? Do I Need it to Manage My IT Environment?
What is a chain-free backup? And is it something you need to manage your IT environments?
That’s the question Doron Ben Cohen of Atera asks, as he goes on to explain the benefits of a chain-free backup solution.
Where full backups are the most secure in a chain-based system, they can be expensive due to the amount of space they need.
Using the chain-free method, the data is stored in virtualized blocks, meaning a lot less storage space is required and the blocks are much easier to isolate if any corruption occurs.
#2 Karl Palachuk’s Five Hot Tips to Get Great Referrals
One of the best ways to market yourself to other people is through a ringing endorsement from someone you’ve provided excellent service to previously.
In his latest video, MSP legend, Karl Palachuk, explains that ‘just asking for referrals’ is not the way to go, and instead presents five tips on how to get a review that accurately presents what you do and how you deliver it.
Because you don’t want people to hire you for the wrong reasons.
#3 From Promise to Profit: How MSPs Can Make Money in AI and IoT
With Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things amongst the biggest opportunities in IT today, CompTIA’s Khali Henderson and Greg Plum present this great YouTube series: From Promise to Profit.
Here they explore popular use cases for both technologies, with guest experts’ guidance in how to implement them into an MSP business model.
These videos are well worth a look if smart solutions like these are a niche you’re looking to break into for your MSP.
#4 Don’t Turn Your Vacation into a Vacation from Cybersecurity
With summer in full swing, we need to be mindful that while we’re taking a break from it all, we shouldn’t be letting our guard down for cyber criminals.
In this article for Barracuda MSP‘s SmarterMSP, Kevin Williams highlights some important do’s and don’ts including;
- Avoiding airport wi-fi hotspots
- Using privacy screens in public areas, and
- Setting up temporary travel accounts
#5 Ex-Youth Footballers Kick-Start Cyber Careers
With as few as 0.5% of aspiring young footballers ever making it as professional players, one sports consultancy spotted an opportunity to help train and develop those that don’t make the cut, for a career in cybersecurity, which they called Cyber Stars.
Phoenix, Sport and Media Group enlisted a number of firms to help, including Hack The Box, Surecloud and BluescreenIT.
To help deliver a scheme that goes beyond cyber certification, and helps them take their first steps into the world of cybersecurity.
The inaugural class graduated last month in a ceremony hosted by Liverpool Football Club.
Tubbservatory Round-Up #8: August – Week 4
#1 CompTIA Partner Experience Trends 2022
CompTIA’s latest research study on partner experience trends for 2022 was shared at their latest communities around the world event this month.
We heard that in the last two years, half of channel firms have dropped a vendor due to poor partner experience (PX) practices. But what are the priorities for MSPs of a partner relationship?
Training was a big key takeaway from the study with partners ranking training high on the list of items they value in vendor relationships. Not only are partners looking to vendors and distributors for help with technical training but also the fundamentals of business operations, financials, sales, and marketing.
Read the full research report to see how other areas of partner experience rank.
#2 Uptime Solutions Partnership Cheat Sheet
Talking of partners and partner relationships, Uptime Solutions explain “a trusted partner would be one that attaches mutual respect, accountability, and success to a relationship”.
They have put together this cheat sheet to help you work out whether your partnerships truly are, partnerships.
Are they helping to steady the ship? Are the communication lines open, What does onboarding process look like?
#3 Growing MFA Use Spurs ‘Pass-The-Cookie’ Attacks
The exploitation of stolen session cookies by cyber criminals is once again back on the agenda, thanks to the growing popularity of multifactor authentication tools, reports Alex Scroxton, Security Editor at Computer Weekly.
The approach of using stolen session cookies to bypass multifactor authentication (MFA) protections and gain access to key systems has increased massively in recent months, according to intelligence published by Sophos with criminals using a more highly targeted and precise approach to cookie stealing than seen previously.
#4 3 Clear Steps to Enhance Your MSP Cybersecurity Offerings in 2022
With new threats every day, as a technology partner, you’re under increasing pressure to enhance your cybersecurity services.
You need to stay ahead of the curve and protect your clients from ever-increasing cyber threats.
Zomentum has put together 3 steps to follow to quickly improve and effectively enhance your cybersecurity offerings, putting you in a better position to meet your client’s needs in the coming year.
#5 Millionaire Mastermind Event Comes to Omaha on September 29th and 30th
On September 29 & 30, the CEO of Kernan Consulting, James Kernan is hosting an action-packed Millionaire Mastermind Event. This event will be happening LIVE in Omaha but there are limited seats available virtually!
This business conference is two days of content delivered by industry experts. With content on Leadership and Success, Sales and Marketing, Financial, Solution Selling, Industry Best Practices and Trends, and much more!
This is a great chance to work ON your business and not IN it!
Links to the Resources Mentioned in this Round-Up
From Week 1
- BT to Expand its Digital Workforce by 2,800 New Employees
- Breaking the Glass Ceiling – What it’s Like for a Woman in Tech
- Why a Zero Trust Approach Isn’t ‘Too Paranoid’
- Four Timely Trends in Low-Voltage Cabling
- The Sixth Annual Physical Cyber Convergence Forum Come to Phoenix, Arizona
Mentioned in Week 2
- Your Clients are Cyber Protected, but are You?
- 10 Things You May Have Missed at CompTIA’s Channelcon 2022
- Gozynta – A Data Integration Tool that Works for You
- Cybersecurity, Recruitment and Growth: Advice from 3 Managed Service Providers
- Welling MSP BTCC Meetup with Tom Ingram at Brands Hatch
Week 3
- What is Chain-Free Backup? Do I Need it to Manage My IT Environment?
- Karl Palachuk’s Five Hot Tips to Get Great Referrals
- From Promise to Profit: How MSPs Can Make Money in AI and IoT
- Don’t Turn Your Vacation into a Vacation from Cybersecurity
- Ex-Youth Footballers Kick-Start Cyber Careers
And Week 4
- CompTIA Partner Experience Trends 2022
- Uptime Solutions Partnership Cheat Sheet
- Growing MFA Use Spurs ‘Pass-The-Cookie’ Attacks
- 3 Clear Steps to Enhance Your MSP Cybersecurity Offerings in 2022
- Millionaire Mastermind Event Comes to Omaha on September 29th and 30th
How You Can Help
So, that’s all from the Tubbservatory Round-Up #8 – August 2022!
There is often so much to catch up on, we don’t always see the important things. Have you recently discovered a useful tool or resource that Richard might be interested in?
If you have, then please let us know in the comments.
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I'm the MSP Community Manager for Tubblog. A small business owner, technical writer and blogger, with 15 years experience in corporate IT. I frequently attend MSP peer groups and create content relevant to IT service providers and business owners.
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