043: Synology DS1513+ vs. Mac mini Server: Return of the Jerry

Recorded live March 25, 2014

We are pleased to be joined this week by Ryan Grimes of HoosierMac Consulting.  Ryan has been a longtime user of Synology products and has been writing a series of blog posts comparing Synology network attached storage devices to the Mac mini Server.

Thanks to our exclusive sponsor this week, Smile Software.  Smile makes great products for Mac and iOS, including our favorite time-saver, TextExpander.

Topics:

- Ryan’s comparison of Mac mini w/Thunderbolt RAID storage vs. Synology 1513+: Part 1 & Part 2

- How to set up CrashPlan Cloud Backup headless on a Synology NAS

- CloudStation

- Plex

- complications from Apple changing default connection method for Mac servers to SMB when using Bonjour

- MineCraft server

- DHCP, DNS, VPN services

- Surveillance Station

- how to find the "Performa 600" among Synology’s huge product lineup

- live demo of DSM 5.0

- cleaning up after non-certified fly-by-nights (“Anger Work”)

- Brett Terpstra's blog post on automating dynamic date math in TextExpander

042: Managed Services Roundtable with Allen Hancock, Luis Giraldo, and Kevin Ginger, Part 2

Recorded March 2, 2014

Sponsored by MoonClerk

This is part two of a special two-part Managed Services roundtable feature six members of the Apple Consultants Network, discussing the benefits of a Managed Services pricing model and how to transition a traditional hourly-billing consultancy into offering Managed Services.

Thanks to our brand new sponsor, MoonClerk – an easy and inexpensive way to collect recurring payments for your subscription services.

Thanks also to our special guests for this roundtable:

Allen Hancock, The Orchard Solutions and Watchman Monitoring
Luis Giraldo, Ook Enterprises and MonkeyBox
Kevin Ginger, kGinger Consulting

Topics:

- offering clients "self service" options through CasperSuite or RobotCloud

- building a "book of service" to work toward an exit plan for your consultancy; building something of value; getting acquired

- the benefits of talking about your service offerings to get comfortable pitching them to clients

- the fact is, servers should be managed proactively to ensure reliability, and Managed Services is a natural way to provide proactive services, billed automatically on a monthly basis consistent with the way services are rendered

- with Mission Critical services, the consultant takes on a psychological burden to ensure that the services keep working; Managed Services makes it equitable for the consultant

Resources:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/acn-alumni

http://watchmanmonitoring.com/acn-benefit

https://www.watchmanmonitoring.com/sample-agreement/

http://mhelpdesk.com/better-way-to-inform-customers-about-how-they-are-being-billed/

http://community.watchmanmonitoring.com

http://mac-msp.com

Value-Based Fees by Alan Weiss

Small Biz Thoughts by Karl W. Palachuk

Tools:

- Watchman Monitoring

- MonkeyBox

- MoonClerk

- ZenDesk

- mHelpDesk

- TeamViewer

- Support menu by Forget Computers

- RobotCloud

- Casper Suite

- Backup Minder

041: Managed Services Roundtable with Allen Hancock, Luis Giraldo, and Kevin Ginger, Part 1

Recorded March 2, 2014

Sponsored by MoonClerk

This is part one of a special two-part Managed Services roundtable feature six members of the Apple Consultants Network, discussing the benefits of a Managed Services pricing model and how to transition a traditional hourly-billing consultancy into offering Managed Services.

Thanks to our brand new sponsor, MoonClerk – an easy and inexpensive way to collect recurring payments for your subscription services.

Thanks also to our special guests for this roundtable:
Allen Hancock, The Orchard Solutions and Watchman Monitoring
Luis Giraldo, Ook Enterprises and MonkeyBox
Kevin Ginger, kGinger Consulting

Topics:

- using half-day and full-day rates to discourage "tire-kickers" and very infrequent break-fix clients, helping to position Managed Services as a better alternative

- should a Managed Services Provider include Help Desk services? end-user training? value-adds vs. just keeping the systems running

- transitioning from "one-man-show" to managed services consultancy; see also: CCP 013: Easing into Managed Services with Allen Hancock and 010: Managed Services discussion with Luis Giraldo

- developing systems for consistency, standardization to improve efficiency

- Quantifying the Value of Managed Services blog post by Luis

- "first 15 minutes free for $_/mo" is a good first step; relieves burden bulk hours

- business clients are more efficient billing-wise, and from the perspective of delivering value

- residential clients are higher-maintenance, higher-touch, more-demanding, and less efficient

- yet, Allen points out that residential clients can be more satisfying to work with, and when charging hourly it doesn't matter because they all pay the same rate

- enforcing the use of a help desk ticketing system

- user training: why should users use your ticketing system?

- reminding clients to restart

Memorable lines:

- "Hourly billing breeds inefficiency." – Luis (see also: "how hourly billing is the scum of the Earth" in 010: Managed Services discussion with Luis Giraldo)

"All inclusive billing breeds efficiency." – Luis

"We hate spending time tracking time." – Luis

"Allen, is there any way to wire that support menu to a restart command?" – Joe
"And we don't need to save, right?" – Allen
"If they call, their call can be directed to voicemail if they haven't restarted." – Joe
"Spoken like a true 'break/fix man'." – Luis

040: Remote Support Workflows and Coverage when Traveling

Recorded live March 4, 2014

Topics:

- Rumpus FTP server

- Device Enrollment Program; there goes 15 minutes billable/device… leaving more time for client face-time?

- remote support and workflows for being away from the office, either at a conference or on holiday

- Wi-Fi quality in hotels when traveling

- timing vacations as extended weekends instead of full weeks to minimize downtime

- teaming up with local consultants for backup coverage; filtering incoming requests in your absence

- away messages and advance notice for clients; why shake the hornet's nest?

- SendLater plugin

- going off the grid for a day... or nine… I took nine.

- subcontractor rates; professional courtesies

- SIMporium.com

- representing the contracting company, or generically Apple, or explaining the coverage arrangement between the consultants to the client

- sharing secure notes with trusted partner consultants; e.g. MonkeyBox.com

- monitoring client machines with Watchman Monitoring

- the importance of comprehensive documentation

Followup:

- re: episode 039: when enabling (Legacy) FileVault on 10.6 and prior, there's an option to "use secure erase" when deleting the old home folder after it's been migrated to the encrypted disk image

039: Goto Fail

Recorded live February 25, 2014

Exclusive sponsor this week: Smile, makers of TextExpander and the PDFpen Family, which includes PDFpen for Mac, PDFpen for iPad, PDFpen for iPhone, and PDFpen Scan+. PDFpen makes it easy to go mobile with PDFpen on your Mac, iPad, and iPhone. You can have PDFpen’s editing power on all your devices. PDFpen Scan+, the newest member of the PDFpen Family, lets you add scanning and OCR to your mobile toolkit. PDFpenPro offers extra PDF power on the Mac, including interactive form creation, creating PDFs from websites, and editing tables of contents. Visit smilesoftware.com/restart for details and a brief video introduction to the PDFpen Family.

Topics:

- Joe asks and answers: what is the "J" that appears in some emails? (J is a smiley face in the WingDings font)

- Joe wonders why some people include an extra "P" at the bottom of some emails, i.e. "P Please consider the environment before printing this email" (the P is supposed to be a nice forest scene in the WebDings font)

- Jerry reports being able to receive email using Mail.app in Mavericks version 10.9.2.

- Apple's Goto Fail SSL bug: strategies for proactively notifying clients; timing of updates; test your system at gotofail.com

- Sam's Mavericks 101 class "aha moments"

- Sam recommends Revise IT training app by Amsys

- security concerns about Target Disk Mode and resetpassword utility on Recovery partition

- Jerry, Sam, and our live listeners offer Joe some ideas about what to do when Time Capsule fills up

- Joe offers a tip: temporarily "promote" clients to VIP in order to receive notifications when they email you back about something pertinent, for example when coordinating a time to meet, or if you want to know immediately when a client confirms you should proceed with some work

038: Weather Permitting

Recorded live February 18, 2014

Topics:

- Jerry receives a call from the brother of Samantha West

- Joe recommends the SanDisk Extreme 64 GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive for diagnostic drives because it's extremely fast and reliable; SanDisk finally announced a fast 128 GB version: SanDisk Extreme PRO® USB 3.0 Flash Drive; some non-spammy reviews from Tom's Hardware and The Wirecutter

- use FileWave Lightning to automate creating our diagnostic partitions?

- Sam recommends the Skooba Design Cable Stable DLX, originally recommended by Ryan Powell in the chat

- Sam explores TeenSafe for iOS security and parental controls; see also OpenDNS, Intego Family Protector, and Spector