Synology has been a go‑to for a lot of us because of price, reliability, and that rich app ecosystem, but the recent changes around Active Insight, drive “compatibility,” and DSM 7.4’s storage efficiency are raising serious questions for MSPs. In this episode, I share what I’m seeing in production, how client quotes balloon when you go “all Synology,” and why these policy decisions feel less like engineering and more like a cash grab that erodes trust with partners. From there, I pivot into some...
Jun 25, 2026•55 min
I’m live at Pax8 Beyond 2026 in Salt Lake City with Acronis Channel Chief Officer Alex Ruslyakov, breaking down how Acronis is protecting GenAI, simplifying MSP operations, and helping partners scale smarter. We talk AI security, automation, CyberFrame, and a new partner program that bakes business growth tools right into the Acronis platform. From there, we zoom out to the bigger Acronis platform strategy: automation, agentic AI, third‑party integrations, and a unified console designed to cut t...
Jun 24, 2026•19 min
I caught up with David Meister from Check Point live at Pax8 Beyond to dig into what they’ve really been building for MSPs the last few years. You probably know them from Avanan on the email side, but David walks me through how Check Point has pulled together Avanan, Perimeter 81, Cyberint, and the Lakera AI security acquisition into a single, multi‑tenant MSP platform with consumption‑based billing, no minimums, and no lock‑ins. === Chapters 00:19 MSP AI Security Launch 02:03 Expanding Check Po...
Jun 23, 2026•21 min
ConnectWise has been talking platform for years, but David Raissipour explains what’s actually changed in the last 18 months and why MSPs should care now. We dig into how the former ASIO stack has been refocused and rebranded as the ConnectWise platform, with a single data layer, unified services, and an AI and automation layer that sits across PSA, RMM, ScreenConnect, documentation, and security. David breaks down how ConnectWise approached their agentic platform, why they quietly rolled out a ...
Jun 23, 2026•33 min
Megan shares her journey from running a 30-person agency to shifting into Pisces Growth Consulting after a cancer diagnosis forced her to rethink what kind of business and life she actually wanted. She talks candidly about the difference between building a business versus just monetizing a skill, the trap of being an “accidental business owner,” and why many MSPs are trying to replace themselves in all the wrong places. We get into the “lead gen fallacy” and why “I just need more leads” is usual...
Jun 19, 2026•48 min
Nick Ross joins me live from Pax8 Beyond in Salt Lake City to walk through how Cloud Capsule is changing the way MSPs handle Microsoft 365 security and compliance. We get into the pain of running traditional assessments, chasing Secure Score, and trying to map CIS and other frameworks across hundreds or even thousands of tenants without burning out your team or living in PowerShell all day. Nick explains how Cloud Capsule was born from those real MSP struggles, and how they’re now scanning tenan...
Jun 19, 2026•17 min
The pace of change in the AI market continues to accelerate, and few people have a better view of the MSP ecosystem than Rob Rae. During our conversation at Pax8 Beyond 2026, we discussed how AI has evolved from strategy discussions into implementation, execution, and measurable business outcomes. Rob shared his thoughts on MSPs creating their own AI solutions, the importance of governance and compliance, and why the industry is still in the early stages of figuring out what works. We also revis...
Jun 18, 2026•33 min
Pax8 is planting a flag around the “managed intelligence provider” idea, and this episode unpacks how that changes the story you tell clients about AI, data, and business outcomes. I walk through what I heard in Salt Lake City, from the new AI agent store and marketplace updates to how Pax8 wants to help you go from playing with AI internally to delivering real, billable outcomes for customers. I also have some fun with conference life: a honest rundown of the swag that worked, the swag that abs...
Jun 18, 2026•38 min
Tim and I talk about a problem every MSP owner knows too well: ideas and insights piling up in notebooks, chats, and AI prompts that never actually turn into content, leads, or sales conversations. Tim walks through how he built a centralized “source of truth” for his learning, plugged in multiple AI models, and layered on workflows for agencies, MSPs, and solopreneurs to turn all that raw thinking into structured, publishable content. We get into how Golden Iris helps you define your brand voic...
Jun 16, 2026•37 min
Hanging out with Robin Robins in this episode felt less like a marketing chat and more like a reality check for MSP owners who are tired, stressed, and still not getting the growth they want. Robin has been in MSP marketing since 2002, and she’s seen everything from break-fix shops turning into 8 million dollar firms with strong EBITDA, to owners still stuck in the same place decades later because they undercharge, give away work for free, and abdicate marketing to agencies who only implement ta...
Jun 15, 2026•44 min
Andrew Hartman knows what it's like to wake up at 4:25 a.m. in a cold sweat, already behind before the day starts. As a former fractional COO of an MSP in Orange County, he watched stress destroy his health, relationships, and peace until he built Time Boss, a framework that's helped 95% of participants experience more peace and reclaim five hours per week. What stuck with me was his "time is cash, not credit" philosophy because we MSPs keep swiping that time credit card without knowing if we ha...
Jun 15, 2026•33 min
This one is a fun mix of money, mindset, and real‑world scars from inside MSP financials. I sit down with Rayanne Buchianico, who’s spent decades inside your QuickBooks, PSA, pricing, and procurement, and who just graduated from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. We use one of her client stories about an AI rollout to show why features and benefits don’t sell on their own, and why your client has to actually feel the problem before they’ll part with a dollar. Rayanne explains how...
Jun 01, 2026•38 min
Let’s be honest, most of us as MSPs are still faking it when it comes to credential management, with passwords scattered across browser managers, Excel, Google Docs, old ticket notes, and that one tech who “just knows” where everything lives. In this conversation with Passpack CEO Chris Skipworth, we unpack the real mess behind password sprawl, painful offboarding, and ghost access for ex employees, and why that puts you one incident away from explaining to a client how someone walked in the dig...
May 29, 2026•38 min
I brought Tim Fitzpatrick from Rialto Marketing back because too many MSPs keep telling me the same thing: “We tried marketing, it doesn’t work.” Tim breaks that thinking apart and explains why most of us don’t have a lead problem, we have a strategy problem. We dig into why “strategy before tactics” is the real fuel for your marketing engine, how to get specific about your ideal clients, and why your generic website hero section is quietly sending good prospects to your competitors. We also tal...
May 28, 2026•44 min
Tonight I kicked back and pulled together everything I’ve learned so far from this Money, Marketing, and Growth series, and I didn’t hold back on how it applies to my own MSP world. I walk through five big pillars that kept coming up from folks like Laura Johns, Colin Knox, Nate Freedman, Dave Scott, Dori Spade, Tim Fitzpatrick, and Lisa Shorr: fix your foundation before you spend, close more from the pipeline you already have, protect your margins before you chase growth, use AI to support exec...
May 28, 2026•42 min
Sitting at ACES in cold Minneapolis, I pulled Justin Maxwell aside after his wealth session because the room literally shifted once he started making us write down real numbers for the life we actually want. Justin has a teacher’s gift for taking the scary, foggy “money ball” in our heads and breaking it into clear targets, simple math, and real choices that don’t make you feel sleazy or like you’re selling out your values. We dig into the biggest fear most of us have, which isn’t taxes or marke...
May 27, 2026•24 min
I brought back my friend Dori Spade, founder of Call to Action, to talk about something most MSPs quietly struggle with: you spend money on marketing, hire a sales rep or two, and still only close a few deals a year. Dori walks me through how she has helped MSPs move from the industry standard 25 percent close rate up to 70 percent by closing what she calls the “trust gap” that prospects feel when every provider sounds the same. We talk about turning around a struggling acquisition region that w...
May 26, 2026•37 min
I grabbed Richard Wingfield at ACES Conference in Minneapolis to talk about something every MSP and IT consultant secretly worries about: how do you actually get out of the business without it collapsing or ticking off your best clients. Richard has been running Envision Design out of Houston since the early 90s, starting as a Mac‑only consultant when you could “throw a rock and hit a Windows guy,” then shifting into a cross‑platform MSP as iPhones and iPads forced everyone to live in mixed envi...
May 22, 2026•25 min
I brought back my friend Dave Scott from Scott Growth Strategies to poke the bear a little and talk about why so many MSPs feel stuck, even when they’re working their tails off. Dave lives right in the middle of that problem as a fractional CMO/CRO for MSPs and B2B firms that have hit a growth ceiling, and he does not sugarcoat the reality that a lot of us are fantastic engineers and pretty rough business owners. We dig into the difference between being an “idea-heavy” entrepreneur and a discipl...
May 21, 2026•1 hr 3 min
I am still here at ACES in Minneapolis, and this segment with Allen Edwards really hits home for any MSP owner who hides behind tickets and wonders why the pipeline feels dry. Allen talks about treating networking as a skill, not a personality trait, and walks through how he made a room full of techs actually stand up and practice real conversations instead of just listening to another slide deck. The big idea is simple, if you want more opportunities, you need to be present in the room, ask bet...
May 20, 2026•16 min
Referrals are slowing down, phones are too quiet, and every vendor swears they have the magic funnel that will fix your pipeline—for a nice monthly fee, of course. Meanwhile, most MSP websites are still glorified digital business cards, and when a real prospect does reach out, that inquiry can sit in an inbox long enough for them to sign with another provider before you even know they exist. In this episode, I sit down with Nate Freedman from Tech Pro Marketing and MSP Sites to talk about what a...
May 19, 2026•44 min
I caught Melanie Curtis at ACES 2026 in Minneapolis after her keynote, and this conversation goes way beyond “what does skydiving have to do with tech?” Melanie walks through how she went from traditional corporate track to professional skydiver, coach, and full‑time keynote speaker, and how that journey reshaped how she thinks about fear, risk, and reaching the edges of our potential. We dig into what it really takes to prepare for a world record jump: years of skill‑building, coaching, repetit...
May 19, 2026•20 min
Recorded on‑site at the Elliott Park Hotel during ACES 2026, this conversation kicks off with a quick behind‑the‑scenes look at the venue, the vibe, and why this Apple‑centric event cares more about P&L than power users. I walk through how ACES is structured as a business‑first conference for Apple IT providers, covering topics like pricing, marketing, HR, scaling, and work‑life balance, with zero tool pitches from the stage and everything bundled into a focused two‑day experience. Then I ca...
May 18, 2026•18 min
Most of us put huge effort into our tech stack and very little into how our team actually shows up in front of clients. In this conversation with MSP owner, branding coach, and author Lisa Shorr, we talk about why a “solid stack” is not enough if your clients experience you as slow, unresponsive, or robotic. We dig into real stories from the field, including a law firm that fired their IT provider for being “not responsive,” and how simple shifts in communication, presence, and expectations can ...
May 11, 2026•45 min
I brought Colin back on because he’s one of the few people in our space who’s actually lived it all: tech, MSP owner, and now multiple vendor exits. We walk through how the “simple” stuff like billing reconciliation quietly drains profit from MSPs, with the average million‑dollar shop leaving a shocking amount of money on the table because they aren’t tracking seats, renewals, or vendor price hikes closely enough. Colin breaks down how Gradient’s Managed Billing Reconciliation works in practice ...
May 08, 2026•47 min
Laura walks me through her “Know, Grow, Scale” framework and how most MSPs are trying to jump straight to lead gen while their business is still “root bound” at the foundation level. We talk about diagnostics, digital health, differentiation, and why your website, offers, and content have to actually say something meaningful before you ever expect your marketing to convert. We also get into mindset: the difference between a 500K MSP and a 5M+ MSP, and what it really means to be “growth ready” as...
May 08, 2026•41 min
Chapters 01:08 Welcome to the IT Business Podcast 05:47 Cloud Hosting Exploration 19:41 Upcoming Conferences and Events 20:53 Acronis Event Announcement 23:43 Rant Warning: Caution Ahead 27:47 Family and Business Challenges 33:44 Vendor Relationships and Fairness 39:40 Navigating Vendor Changes 43:40 Industry Dynamics and Perspectives 52:16 Conclusion and Future Content This one starts with a straightforward need: move a single line‑of‑business app into the cloud without spinning up a quarter‑ra...
May 07, 2026•53 min
Most of us have helped clients “call the carrier” or work with a master agent to bring in a circuit, grab a small commission, and move on. Brian flips that script and shows how MSPs can own the relationship by bringing a bulk fiber circuit into the building, carving it up, and billing each tenant under our own brand—while still leveraging master agents and existing carrier relationships. Instead of letting AT&T, Comcast, or Verizon lock in a 10-year deal and toss a small one-time check to th...
Apr 30, 2026•1 hr 1 min
If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to keep a show going for a thousand episodes while still running tickets, projects, and staff, this one pulls back the curtain. I talk with Matt Rainey, Lalo Nuñez, Martin Obando, and Dawn Sizer about how Podnutz Pro started as a way to teach desktop techs the server side of the house, and how that spirit of “learn out loud” carried into the IT Business Podcast. We revisit the early days of computer repair, WRT54G routers, Windows Server 2003, and A+‑era har...
Apr 27, 2026•1 hr 33 min
This conversation with Brian Weiss starts with Copilot, but it quickly becomes an honest look at how unprepared most of us are for AI inside client environments. I talk about being just like my customers—dabbling in random AI tools—while Brian lays out what it actually takes to make Copilot useful: modern workplace, SharePoint/OneDrive, sane file structures, and real governance instead of “S: drive chaos.” We also get into the reality that Copilot isn’t just “another ChatGPT,” it’s an ecosystem ...
Apr 24, 2026•50 min
