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Will N-Able Customers Stay Through Acquisition?
Big news in the MSP world today as well-known industry remote monitoring and management (RMM) player, N-Able, announced in a press release, that it is being acquired by SolarWinds for $120M. It would appear, from the press release that SolarWinds is looking to enhance its already robust product line to gain more traction in [...]
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Turning Unhappy Customers into Loyal Customers
As we all know there are some customers that will just never be pleased. No matter what you do or how you treat them there will always be an issue. In some rare cases walking away from a customer is necessary, but firing a customer should always be the absolute last resort. There are a [...]
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Why Done for You Services Makes Sense
Running and growing a business for SMB IT providers can be tough. It’s hard to know when to hire more people, how to keep them working, and how to keep a steady flow of revenue coming in. More and more vendors are introducing “done for you services.” These services allow MSP’s and IT companies to [...]
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Are You an Electronics Hoarder?
Got a stockpile of old computer, networking gear, components, and other gear taking up precious space in your office? If you are like most you probably do. Being it’s just about the end of spring, a little spring-cleaning might be in order, either that or an intervention. There are number of ways you can [...]
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Sometimes you just have to go for it
Most successful business owners and entrepreneurs got that way by working hard and taking lots of risks. “Sometimes you just have to go for it,” is a saying I have heard over the years from a number of these success stories. It seems to be true, as you hear the stories of how so many [...]
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Intel Hybrid Cloud Partners Left Out to Dry
MSP’s and IT companies often find comfort in large vendor products and solutions. For some it is name recognition, while others it’s that happy feeling they get knowing the company has been in business for many years. Intel is one of those companies that gives you the warm and fuzzies every time they attend [...]
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Do Small Businesses Still need Servers?
As more and more software manufacturers and Line of Business application vendors move to software as a service models, the need for on-premise servers would seem to become less necessary. As an IT salesman for many years, the number one sale I made was for networked servers. This single device allowed offices to share files, [...]
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Answer your Phone!
It should be no surprise that there are two ways new customers are likely to reach out to you. This will be in the form of an email, or in the form of a telephone call. It may however be a surprise that the latter, a telephone call is still very much a popular means [...]
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To Be Honest With You…
So there’s this thing that has gone around in sales training for some time that condemns the use of the phrase “to be honest with you” and boldly accuses anyone of using that phrase as being a liar. This has been a tough notion for me to swallow given that in so many conversations, the [...]
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Are Canned Responses Good or Bad for Business?
Canned or automatically generated responses are one of the most common ways that businesses introduce automation into their process. For customers this practice has become expected, however it can also lead to frustration. A canned response can be described as a general response that is sent out based on an action. One of the [...]
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Following in the Footsteps of Success…
From the time we were brought onto this earth, we have been learning, or “following in someone’s footsteps.” All of the basics and building blocks when you are small come from your parents or loved ones. For many, the key to personal or business success is continuing this path of learning by example. How [...]
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Is Dell Preparing to Take Over the IT Space?
Dell has been making a lot of interesting moves lately and all of its moves point to a big shift in focus for the former hardware company. The latest in a long list of moves is the acquisition of enterprise cloud management company, Enstratius. According to the Enstratius website, they provide a suite of [...]
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SMB Nation Conference Back at The Microsoft Campus
The SMB Nation Spring Conference 2013, now in its seventh season, is back on the Microsoft Campus in Redmond, Washington. The event, which kicks off tomorrow, has an agenda that is clearly focused on integrating cloud and mobility into the MSP business model. Sessions include “Why you should become a CSP (Cloud Services Provider),” [...]
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Is a Business Coach Worth It?
The IT industry, like many other industries, has a good number of business coaches and consultants ready to help you reach your goals. As individuals, each one has their own expertise and take on how to run, foster, and grow a business. A business coach much like a sports coach, can provide specified training, [...]
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Is Social Media Activity Good for Business?
Social Media if used correctly can be a tremendous tool for engaging with customers and building relationships. At the same time, it can also be a productivity burden and potential business threat if not managed and monitored properly. Many companies have implemented new social media policies to curb employee productivity issues and to get [...]
