320: Ya Gotta Monitor The Monitoring

Topics:

-Jerry follows up with Joe about clients with monthly plans and miscommunications that can occur

-Sam has a story to share about how something related to this occurred to him and he had to rectify this with the client

-Using Daylite, Sam now has checks and balances in place to make sure alerts are functioning.  He does this by using the Forms feature for checklists

-Jerry also has a similar story to share with a Gmail account that needed security features adjusted.  He also discusses the need to “monitor the monitoring”

-VMs need monitoring too!  Joe talks about using Watchman Monitoring on virtual machines

-Joe wants an easy ability to view external displays via tools like Watchman Monitoring or Addigy.  It would help when creating specs for a computer upgrade.

-Joe continues on his wish list of items to include like mouse battery alerts, applications opened over time, etc.

-PSA from Jerry about upgrades.  All consultants with Windows 7 computers should look at upgrading to Windows 10 by January of 2020

-Another tip is an app from Saint Claire Software called Go64.  This will alerts you about apps that are not 64-bit and not ready for macOS 10.15 Catalina
https://www.stclairsoft.com/Go64/index.html

-Joe tries to make sense of names listed in ALL CAPS

-Sam is put out by a client that shortens all names to one letter initials

-What’s worse is people that text Jerry with computer issues and only their number is displayed

-Clients that frustrate us make us rethink the relationship.  Joe may have more patience than Jerry in that regard.

-Google Chrome’s messaging language is still a source of annoyance for Joe

-Always coming back to password management, we discuss phishing attempts in conjunction with old passwords

319: We All Have Some Value Based Billing In Our Soul

Topics:

-As much as we love Ubiquiti, Jerry has an axe to grind on this week’s show with regards to Cloud Keys

-Joe addresses the details of the issue based on his own experiences with Cloud Key power failures and the mongo database that Ubiquiti uses

-Specifically with the first generation Cloud Keys, Joe’s solution was to add power instead of relying on POE. This has been addressed with the newest generation, which now has a battery backup.
https://store.ui.com/products/unifi-cloudkey-gen2-plus

-Jerry doesn’t stop there. He has another saga dealing with a Ubiquiti install

-A strong case for an off-site controller that Richard Wingfield brought up is updating a singular controller as opposed to each cloud key at client sites 

-Circling back to value based billing, the crew reflects how they have already been using it in some respects and how to implement it properly in the future. As Jerry said, “We all have value based billing in our soul”. 

-Sam’s concern with this method is that there is no formula to calculate jobs

-Calculating monthly costs for monitoring & managing network devices leads us down the MSP path. How to bill appropriately? Do you require it? What’s not included? Questions that must be addressed when proposing services like this. 

318: Interview With Tim Nyberg Of The MacGuys+ - Value Based Billing

Topics:

-From the days of the Apple II, Tim Nyberg was known as “The Mac Guy” in his college days because he could confidently fix any Apple computer. Tim kept the name, opened The MacGuys+ in 1991 and today he and his team are still obsessed with Macs and Apple technology. 

-Tim talks about his history from typing papers for fellow students, to a job at Kinkos, and eventually landing back in Minneapolis to build his current business. 

-Tim has a brick and mortar location that serves a purpose for walk in traffic and repairs. 

-Having a location has its challenges but provides opportunity and space to perform some large scale tasks 

-As Tim’s business has seen changes over the years, Jerry notes that the tools that he uses has allowed him to work more efficiently

-Tim starts to see himself being more of the business end of the company and transitioning from the technical end of the company. He is on his way to obtaining his MBA. 

-There are some clients that have been around for 20 years who want nothing to do with managed services 

-Value based billing is a concept that Tim has been presenting to his clients. Part of this is setting expectations with the customer and making them realize what the value of the work is. 

-As Jerry asks for a practical example, Tim talks about value based billing in projects like Synology setups, Wi-Fi roll outs where the value of expertise and padded time for potential pitfalls are covered as a part of the cost. 

-If projects go more smoothly than expected, it provides opportunity to offer a discount to the customer.

-One book that provided good information on this topic was "Value-Based Fees" By Alan Weiss

-It is important to express to the customer what your value is. Less important than total hours on an invoice is the details of all the work performed. 

-Like many of us, Tim leverages the TidBITS Content Network and a variety of social media tools to provide content to his customers. 

317: Working On & Working In

Topics:

-Joe kicks off the show bringing up leisure time and time management 

-Working ON the business vs working IN the business

-A challenge for Sam is meeting interruptions that occur when clients reach out. Not just for him but for his staff

-Sam may be on the lookout for a new hire but does he look for an admin or a tech?

-The CCP crew are very appreciative of the collective audience and their feedback/advice

-“This is not for everyone”. Sam comes to the realization that running a business isn’t something everyone can handle. 

-A continual question for Sam is taking on Windows clients. 

-Joe explores marketing new services to current clients as a method of increasing revenue. For instance, offering Ubiquiti installations for clients in need of upgraded Wi-Fi. 

-QuickTime screen recording to the rescue for Sam as he tries to see a message that quickly disappears on his screen

-Joe has some follow up to how he sets up his clients with individual Ubiquiti UniFi controllers. While Sam is moving to a central controller, specific logins per client is something they agree on. 

-Cloud Key stability has plagued all of us. After some research, Joe has dug up information about the Mongo database and how it is prone to failure during a power loss. To combat this, Joe discusses his backup power plan for the Cloud Key. 

-After a recent discussion with Christopher Stout on Episode 311, Sam is looking to setup a closed system like UniFi, Synology Surveillance Station or Security Spy

-Sam learns some interesting details from a SonicWALL vendor about true throughput 

-Friend of the show, Weldon Dodd points out a great write up by Rich Trouton on his site, Derflounder. It’s an interesting piece about enabling Touch ID for sudo commands.

316: Wi-Fi On A Stick

Special Thanks To Our VIP Sponsors!

Topics:

-Sam has a first run working with the ”Wi-Fi on a stick” method of mapping out Wi-Fi. He uses a product from wifistand.com and NetSpot to create a map":
https://wifistand.com

-Joe brings up a great tool called Magic Plan to create floor plans on iOS:
https://www.magicplan.app/en/

-The nanoHD is a particular Ubiquiti model that same used and likes to deploy

-Joe warns of things to be aware of when scouting out an environment for Wi-Fi

-Another new monthly service that Sam is offering is hosting a UniFi controller in his environment to manage firmware updates and alerts. Joe weighs the responsibilities that comes with such an offering.

-Joe throws Sam a curve ball explaining how he has a singular login for his clients

-Another issue in the long line of networking troubles that Sam has experienced: finding incompatibility between a SonicWall and WAN connection at a NYC client. The fix? A dumb switch!

-That story rings a bell for Joe who has a similar story to tell about a Zywall and WAN connection that turned out to be a multi pronged problem.

Thanks to our Patreon Sponsors!

315: The Skeleton Just Popped Up!

Topics:

-Jerry has a “non-technical” gripe about health bowls he wants to share

-Drink every time Joe says açaí

-To bring it back to technology, Jerry has issues with the motivational announcements on the Nike Run app

-Client perceptions and marketing terms often are deceiving

-clients that won’t spend money are nothing new. But Joe & Jerry dive deeper into the disfunctional relationships that persist through time.

-The “computer friend” is a red flag

-A potential customer approaches Jerry about doing project work or “cost plus” work before establishing an ongoing relationship

-A move to G Suite ends up being a challenge for Jerry as he gets bounced around support.

-Joe flips the conversation to show when clients can be correct and prove us wrong

-A shoutout to TidBITS Content Network (https://tcn.tidbits.com)

and all that they provide to us on a regular basis, as well as the bonus material during Apple announcements

-Joe compares directing a client to your blog to explain something as a customized “Let Me Google That For You”

-Sam wishes he was a part of the conversation as Jerry & Joe have a good ole’ fashioned gripe session about client habits

-“Oh no the skeleton popped up” - One of Joe’s clients saw Apple's branding for WWDC on apple.com and thought it was a result of her recent hacking, calling it a skeleton