TubbTalk 142: AI, The Future of Managed Services and Pax8 for MSPs: What You Need to Know
In this episode, I speak to Phylip Morgan, the Chief Revenue Officer at Pax8. A cloud marketplace, they believe that the distribution market and the whole channel is fragmented, and somebody needs to unite and bring it together. This will be essential for the future of managed services.
An Interview With Phylip Morgan
Why Data is Like Oil
In recent years, there’s been a data explosion, and businesses are constantly measuring analytics. So, Phylip explains: “Just as the discovery of oil changed the world, data will transform it too.
“It’s the new currency that’s creating huge shifts. And at Pax8 we work with data to give our clients vision and visibility through their cloud ecosystem. It’s gathered from the RMM and PSA, from mobile usage and more.”
Pax8 aggregate the data for their clients and refine it into useful information. That’s things like customer buying habits, gap analysis and market behaviour. The client can then use this for regular review and planning sessions, which is really valuable.
Why Data Sharing Doesn’t Affect Your Competitive Advantage
In the modern world, everybody is giving their data away every day. So all they can do is find ways to safeguard themselves. And the best option, Phylip says, is to make sure the data you give away is shared with trusted partners:
“Because if you’re using a free product, ultimately you are that product. So we make it quite clear that when we use our customers’ data, we’ll give it back to them as insights. We won’t sell it to a third party and we won’t do anything else with it.
“Let’s be honest – this is a journey and we’re all working out the best way to do things. But the market can decide whether or not they’re happy with data sharing. At Pax8, it all comes down to trust, and we want our clients to feel confident in how we handle their data.”
The Pax8 Approach to Community
Phylip says he’s a big fan of The Go Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann (also a Team Tubb favourite!). “He talks about being a servant leader, which is about approaching the market with a ‘how can I help’ mentality. It’s the opposite of having a ‘me first’ view.
“And that’s the way we do it at Pax8. Our founder and CEO, John Street, is the epitome of a servant leader. So we all take our cue from him. And remember that humans aren’t logical, whether they like it or not.
“There’s an emotional level to us which is both IQ and EQ. So the heart drives the head, which drives the hands that do the leadership. And a servant leader uses those hands to support and nurture their employees. Pax8 is all about team players.”
Pax8 Beyond and the Future of Live Events
The ‘Beyond’ event is Pax8’s flagship event. Phylip says it’s a great way to get closer to their customers and better understand their businesses. “Those insights help us to help them to grow, to be more operationally efficient, and manage risk better.
“Rob Ray, CVP of Community and Ecosystems, wants to take ‘Beyond’ around the world. So as well as the Colorado event, we’re going to host in EMEA too. For us, and for all event organisers, conferences like Beyond are essential for community and enablement.
“We’re careful to make sure that there’s a mix of speakers, so it’s not all vendor focused. We also aim to give educational opportunities, because that really helps with MSP growth. That should be a key part in events in future.”
The Pax8 Culture
How does Pax8 attract the best and brightest minds in the tech world? Through their culture, Phylip explains. “Because culture is everything. Peter Drucker said ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’. And yet so many business owners ‘skip breakfast.’
“Why do they do that? If culture is so important, why don’t they prioritise it? For Pax8, the customer is first. Because without them, we don’t have a business. So the best decision for us is to have the most motivated workforce in order to serve the customers better.
“We have the best community leader, channel leader and marketing people. So we need to hire the best talent. We explain what we do, and for whatever reason it resonates with employees. They operate with integrity, honesty and trust, so our clients trust us too.”
What AI Means for the MSP Sector
AI is one of the three jump curves that MSPs should be aware of (the others are security and voice technology). MSPs need to consider AI in terms of what it means for their customers, who could be in any industry.
“My prediction is that Microsoft CoPilot will be a game-changer. It’s an AI assistant, which is really helpful. Firstly, unlike ChatGPT, the data you give it is contained. It can’t go anywhere else, or be used to help the AI get smarter.
“Secondly, CoPilot is going to help massively with productivity. It sits alongside all the other tools you’re using and can take over the more mundane tasks. So it can give you a meeting summary, identify action points and carry out research. All of those are game-changers.”
How to Connect With Phylip Morgan
- Pax8
- Follow Pax8 on Twitter
- Like Pax8 on Facebook
- Follow Pax8 on LinkedIn
- Connect with Phylip on LinkedIn
- Follow Phylip on Twitter
- Email Phylip
How to Connect With Me
- Subscribe to TubbTalk RSS feed
- Subscribe, rate and review TubbTalk in iTunes
- Subscribe and rate TubbTalk on Spotify
- Follow TubbTalk on iHeartRadio
- Follow @tubblog on Twitter
Mentioned in This Episode
- Pax8 Beyond
- The Tech Tribe
- CompTIA
- Book: Bob Burg:
- Speaker and author Patrick Lencioni on YouTube
- Speaker and management consultant Peter Drucker
- Blog: The Culture Creation Canvas: Assess Your Company Culture Visually
- AI tool: Chat GPT
- Microsoft AI assistant: CoPilot
- AI web chat: Bing Chat Enterprise
- Interview with James Marshall at Microsoft Ignite
- Cloud solutions provider: Wirehive (acquired by Pax8)
- Book: David Allen:
- SBSC Northwest Group run by Robert Gibbons
- Church founder: Bill Hybels
- Calon Church
- Leadership consultant: Ken Blanchard
- Global Leadership Summit
- Podcast interview (Chloe Cameron, Pax8): How to Break Down Barriers so Women in IT Succeed
- Podcast interview (Mostyn Thomas, Pax8): The Best Cybersecurity Resources for MSPs you Need to be Aware of
- Podcast interview (Daisy Pike, Pax8): How Microsoft Clause 6B will impact MSPs and Continuity and what to do
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Richard Tubb is one of the best-known experts within the global IT Managed Service Provider (MSP) community. He launched and sold his own MSP business before creating a leading MSP media and consultancy practice. Richard helps IT business owner’s take back control by freeing up their time and building a business that can run without them. He’s the author of the book “The IT Business Owner’s Survival Guide” and writer of the award-winning blog www.tubblog.co.uk
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