IT Business Podcast Episodes

There’s always another ticket, another emergency, and another reason to put yourself last. I’ve learned that the work never ends, but the time we have for ourselves and our families isn’t something we can keep pushing off. With Movember here, I’m challenging my fellow MSP owners and IT professionals to think about their personal continuity plan, not just their business continuity plan. The takeaway is simple: taking care of yourself isn’t letting your business down. It’s recognizing that being t...

I’ve been buying more 2.5-gig switches lately, and another MSP asked me a fair question: Why? That sent me down a bigger rabbit hole about what we’re actually solving when we upgrade a client’s network. I’m flying solo for this conversation, sharing where I’m using Ubiquiti switches, why I still put 10G connections on servers and Synology storage, and where plain old gigabit still does the job. The takeaway is purpose. Faster ports can make sense for shared storage, database traffic, backups, a...

I don’t do websites, so my first reaction to the PHP security headlines was that this probably wasn’t my problem. Then clients started asking what they needed to worry about, and I had to give them an honest answer: I didn’t know yet, but I would find out. This solo conversation follows the questions that sent me digging into vendor notices, client systems, and the applications connected to their Microsoft 365 environments. Between the PHP concerns and the ConnectWise cloud backup incident disc...

Are we moving clients to the cloud because it makes sense, or because we decided servers were supposed to disappear? My friend Tom Wyant of Wyant Computers in Traverse City, Michigan, joins me for an honest conversation about on-prem servers, Active Directory, and the applications that keep both relevant. Tom supports clients using a mix of local infrastructure and cloud services, so this isn’t a debate about picking a side. It’s about figuring out what actually works. We talk through recurring...

You don’t need to overhaul your MSP to start getting value from AI. You need to find one task your team is tired of repeating. Meredith Payne returns to the show at TD SYNNEX Inspire in Greenville to talk about her work leading digital growth and customer success, what’s changing inside Partner First, and how MSPs can put automation to work without making everything more complicated. I ask Meredith where smaller providers should start, whether human help is sticking around, and how to know if...

Before you buy another AI tool or help a client deploy agents, take a hard look at the environment supporting them. Recording from Greenville, South Carolina, I talk with Joseph Vlajcic about what happens when businesses chase individual AI use cases without considering how those systems will work together. We discuss why disappointing returns can come from more than choosing the wrong tool. Sometimes the surrounding infrastructure needs attention first. Joseph walks through AI running in the d...

Saving money on AI does not mean much if you are still using it the wrong way. That was one of my biggest takeaways from TD SYNNEX Inspire in Greenville, South Carolina. Erick Simpson joins me to unpack the announcements that caught our attention, including FinOps Fusion and Agent Bridge. We discuss the potential to better understand AI spending, reduce manual work around quoting and ordering, and spot client opportunities that get buried when we are busy putting out fires. I also explain why I ...

Recurring revenue is nice. Recurring profitability is what pays the bills. I sat down with Augie Staab, Director of MSP Sales at TD SYNNEX, at Inspire in Greenville, South Carolina, to talk about the difference. We dug into cybersecurity stack standardization, what makes a vendor offering truly useful to MSPs, and why letting every customer pick a different tool can undermine your business. Augie also explained how TD SYNNEX’s dedicated MSP sales team and new MSP ARC program aim to help partners...

Using fewer AI tokens doesn’t automatically mean you’re saving money. I sat down with Andre Van der Post, Vice President of Cloud Solutions at TD SYNNEX, at Inspire in Greenville, South Carolina, to talk about FinOps Fusion and what it takes to manage AI spending beyond the token count. We get into infrastructure costs, poorly written prompts, governance, and the opportunity for MSPs to help clients make smarter decisions. Andre also gets honest about what’s still being built. The takeaway: m...

Dr. Lorne Lavine, better known as The Digital Dentist, joined me to talk about building an IT business that serves one vertical and serves it well. Before becoming an MSP owner, Lorne practiced periodontics, which gave him a real advantage when he started helping dental offices with technology, software decisions, networks, HIPAA, and cybersecurity. We talked about how he grew through credibility, referrals, writing, speaking, and staying focused on dentists instead of trying to support every k...

Charlotte Conroy from Recent Communications joins me for a straight conversation about UCaaS, cloud communications, and why MSPs should stop treating phones like the thing they would rather avoid. Her company works alongside MSPs to help clients move from aging phone systems to supported, reliable communications without turning every phone issue into an internal help desk problem. We talk about competing on value instead of price, the reality of copper-line shutdowns, legacy phone systems tha...

Lucas Dowd and Kevin Townsend, co-founders of Catalyst Shift, join me to talk about a problem just about every MSP knows too well: the data you need to run the business is scattered across your PSA, RMM, CRM, email, accounting, and other tools. The result is too much manual digging, too many disconnected reports, and not enough time in front of the customer having the conversations that actually matter. We talk about their idea of a business operating layer that brings those systems together, l...

I sat down with Andy Syrewicze from Proofpoint MSP Platform to talk about a problem every MSP runs into: Microsoft 365 security looks simple until you start managing it across real client environments. Andy explains how Proofpoint 365 Total Protection, the MSP platform formerly known as Hornetsecurity, brings together email security, Microsoft 365 backup, security awareness training, permission management, DMARC, and tenant standardization. The big takeaway is that security cannot stop at ema...

I sat down with Dave Sobel to talk about why too many MSPs are leaving AI out of their websites, client conversations, and service offerings. We dig into AI governance, shadow AI, Microsoft Copilot, and why simply asking better questions can create real business opportunities. AI is everywhere. It is at every conference, in every vendor presentation, and in every customer conversation. Yet Dave’s research found that 68% of roughly 3,600 MSP websites do not mention AI at all. That means a lot ...

I had a great conversation with Alex and Mariana of MyPCFriends Cybersecurity, a husband-and-wife MSP team based in Kissimmee, Florida. Their story starts with Alex’s computer engineering and break-fix work in Venezuela, continues through the challenges of rebuilding in the United States, and arrives at a business that is more intentional about managed services, cybersecurity, compliance, and serving the right clients. They are now focused on financial services and insurance organizations, with ...

Tom Bull of Two River Computer joins me for a practical conversation about building an MSP around trust, community, and the work clients actually need. Tom shares how his business grew from computer repair and consulting into managed IT, residential technology, Wi-Fi, smart-home projects, and cybersecurity, all while serving smaller businesses that larger MSPs often overlook. We talk about referral relationships, local visibility, Google reviews, and why listening to the customer can matter more...

Sean Lardo, better known around the channel as Mr. IT Nation, joined me for a special conversation following the announcement of the IT Nation PitchIT 2026 finalists: Lemhi, Synthreo, and Blacksmith InfoSec. After a 16-week competitive cohort built around coaching, refinement, and practice, these three companies are now preparing to take the stage at IT Nation Connect Global in Orlando. === Chapters 00:23 PitchIT 2026 Finalists Announcement 01:47 Meet Sean Lardo of IT Nation 03:07 Behind the...

I am catching up on the latest NSITSP activity from August, and there was a lot worth paying attention to. From election and governance updates to advocacy around AI, cybersecurity, right-to-repair, and data centers, I wanted to bring these conversations to the podcast because they affect the business environment MSPs are working in every day. What stood out most to me is that the IT industry needs more than good technicians and great tools. We need people who are willing to get involved, educa...

I talk about why every business owner should be able to access the technology their IT company manages, even if they change providers tomorrow. If they cannot access it, do not know who owns it, or cannot recover it, that is more than an IT problem. It is a business-continuity problem.

I’m talking with Christopher Miller of ATB Technologies about what happens when a major client walks out the door, and why the recovery starts with honest numbers, stronger client relationships, and a real plan. For MSP owners, this is a practical reminder that growth is not just about winning new business. It is about keeping the right clients, protecting your team, and knowing where your business is too exposed.

Chris Miller’s path from sales outsider to MSP co-owner is a real reminder that growth takes more than referrals and good intentions. We talk about building a repeatable sales process, getting clear on your ideal customer, and learning enough about each other’s worlds for sales and technical teams to work together.

I sat down with Brian Weiss from iTech to talk about the messy parts of running an MSP right now: vendor dependency, overlapping tools, AI adoption, and customers who expect us to have every answer. This is a practical conversation about protecting your roadmap while helping clients move forward responsibly.

Not every new tool deserves a migration, and not every prospect is the right client. Cameron shares how SquarePlanIT is weighing AI, PSA and RMM changes, community marketing, and client fit without losing focus on what already works.

Mike Glasman built his MSP while keeping his day job, then designed the business from day one so clients would rely on a help desk and team instead of one owner’s cell phone. We talk about using enterprise experience to stand out, choosing tools based on the real problem, and protecting both your clients and your lifestyle.