358: Corona Downtime

Topics:

-There is a lull that Joe sees over the last two weeks so he explores an option to offer Watchman Monitoring for his clients free of charge

-Jerry goes in depth into his strategy and changes in his process with tools like Watchman Monitoring

-Another idea was to change the name of his service, originally called MacWorks Monitoring, to MacWorks Alerts in an effort to make it more friendly to the user.

-After a new newsletter and free options for the newly minted service, he received very little response from his clients.

-The group at Command Control power wish the group at TidBITS a happy 30th anniversary!  They have provided invaluable information to us and fellow Apple consultants.  If you aren’t already a member of the TidBITS Content Network, consider becoming a member: https://tidbits.com/membership/benefits/

-As Joe asks Sam how his monthly clients have responded, he brings up one particular client that not only was behind on payment, but had their internet service cutoff due to non payment.

-Jerry notes that you cannot lean on anyone to sell anything new during this time. 

-Sam also adds that it would be good to check on some of your clients on a personal level.  Not everyone gets through this as well as others.

-Sam wants to know what people are doing to help their mental and physical health since this can be stressful in many ways

-Each of the hosts reveal what they do to keep themselves moving.  Sometimes you need to take your mind off of work, even if business is slow. 

-Reallocating newly available time is another concept that we are all needing to grapple with.

-Sam has been working on certifications for the Certified Wireless Network Professional: https://lms.cwnp.com

-Another item he has been working on is revamping his MSP documentation and moving away from the “magic number” and itemizing services as well as signing up for more partner programs.

-What are you working on these days?  CCP wants to know!

357: Interview WIth Chad Keith Of Atlas Solutions

Topics:

-Chad Keith of Atlas Solutions joins the show

-Chad originally called his company “Behind The Mac” but decided to change the name to work well with Apple Business Manager and the Apple Consultants Network

-A listener since the early days of the show, he shares how moved to a monthly services model and hearing fellow consultants was very encouraging.

-At one time, Apple had run a ‘Behind the Mac’ ad campaign: https://9to5mac.com/2018/06/14/apple-behind-the-mac-ad-campaign/

-Chad discusses how it did not take much convincing for most of his clients to move to the MSP model, explaining how the even keeled billing approach appealed to them.

-Calculating monthly pricing for new clients can be difficult and needs ongoing attention

-Having mentors that have been through this is key to developing a plan for pricing

-With clients reaching out, defining a point of contact will help streamline requests

-In the current climate, Chad discusses how his business has been affected with support and travel

-He also talks about how local businesses and communities are affected by COVID-19

-If you haven’t seen John Krasinski’s “Some Good News” broadcasts, you are missing out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5pgG1M_h_U

-Joe shares some ideas for contactless food distribution

-Jerry goes to get pizza dough for the family and quickly changes his mind after seeing the conditions

-A short discussion brews about the loans available from the Small Business Association: https://www.sba.gov/page/coronavirus-covid-19-small-business-guidance-loan-resources

-The healthcare industry has changed through all of this and technology has been making more possible while keeping our healthcare workers safer

-Chad Keith has a podcast of his own called “Overcoming Average” http://overcomingaverage.libsyn.com

-Link Tree is where Chad has all his available contact and social media information: http://linktr.ee/atlascarolina

356: The Mean Sister

Topics:

-Jerry starts a roundtable discussion about accessing remote computers using TeamViewer

-MDM has some answers but not everything is automated: https://community.teamviewer.com/t5/Knowledge-Base/How-to-control-a-Mac-running-macOS-10-14-or-higher/ta-p/44699

-Joe talks about burning technical capital when working with a new client

-Some of these situations remind Sam about an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGXWjyGP4KY

-Jerry & Joe don’t let Sam off the hook when attempting to clarify questions related to rogue MDM enrollment

-Nit wit, numbskull, imbecile - great descriptions for certain types of clients

-Joe uses the term “inelegant” to describe allowing remote access & MDM enrollment

-Moving away from the remote discussion, Sam decides to spin his own yarn about a Windows based client that caused a lot of grief for him and his team

-A good relationship can quickly turn uncomfortable when a problem is not resolvable in short order

-This problem manifested itself as slow internet speeds

-Sam finds multipe unmanaged switches hidden underneath desks

-Focusing on the ISP, they decide to switch to the backup ISP as the first priority and the cable ISP as the failover.  But the problems only get more complicated from there

-Both Joe & Jerry hone in on weather related issues with relation to Optimum Online and external lines

-What was the resolution?  Listen to find out!

355: Spreading The Love With Watchman Monitoring

Topics:

-Sam was on a Zoom conference with family and it could only be described as mayhem

-Jerry has a gripe about LinkedIn

-Command+Q and remote sessions

-Support call experience surveys set Jerry off

-Take out precautions as well as any other outside contact is discussed

-Joe wanted to know if Sam received responses from his newslette

-Sam has concerns about clients that may choose to suspend services, especially as his automated monthly invoices go out.

-Although it’s been discussed before Joe starts a dialogue about installing Watchman Monitoring in situations even when clients are not paying for ongoing services

-Jerry wonders about the value that clients may comprehend in something like Watchman Monitoring since it often times runs in the background

-Jerry’s not looking for trouble

-A client facing report is on Jerry’s wish list

-Sam gives Joe a shout out for a couple of scripts in Addigy that adjust Watchman Monitoring settings like Time Machine alerts (https://prod.addigy.com/#/macmanage/community/scripts/5ce312c25ff0a156d5654c24) and root capacity warnings (https://prod.addigy.com/#/macmanage/community/scripts/5ce3121c5ff0a156d55446b0)

-Watchman can now gather the correct age of a Mac computer since they had to make changes after Apple began randomizing serial numbers

-With users working from home, how are backups being handled?

-Joe recommends this G-Tech portable drive: 
https://www.amazon.com/G-Technology-G-Drive-Mobile-Portable-External/dp/B07DK2LPDD/?tag=cmdctrlpwr-20

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354: This Is Not Snake Oil

Topics:

-Jerry talks of how business has slowed down for him since all of the recent events have occurred

-Joe has been busy setting up remote access for corporate clients and he hasn’t felt an impact as of yet

-Sam starts to broach the subject of maintaining security on home computers

-One of Sam’s client laid off 95% of their workforce 

-Projects have been put on hold

-How long will the shelter in place for the New York area last?

-An office move that Sam had referenced in the last episode is still going to move forward under special circumstances.  An HCS tech will arrive on site when nobody else is in the office in order to connect equipment.

-Jerry has retail clients that are cutting prices due to the times

-Could we learn something from retailers slashing prices?

-Jerry reminds us that we are relying on supplies from other countries like China, which could cause delays even if we do want to start projects.

-Sam ordered a new MacBook Air

-Simply asking is an approach that Joe says could speak a discussion for moving on work

-Jerry inquires about “Sam’s buddy” with the restaurant, who is surviving with curb side pick ups and delivery

-One of Jerry’s clients receives a very well done phishing scam that does a redirect through Microsoft One Drive.  Thankfully they caught it in time.  Jerry was surprised as to how casual the compromised vendor was about it.

-As the topic of newsletter and reaching out comes back up, Joe has some thoughts of dark web scanning and phishing tests.  Sam has some ideas of reaching out just with information as opposed to a marketing pitch, followed up by individual calls to the client.

-Some of our fellow consultants like Michael Thomsen of Origin 84 and Tim Nyberg of The Mac Guys have contributed to the show with some of their ideas for contacting clients

353: Interview With Adam Engst Of the TidBITS Content Network

Topics:

-Thank you to all of our newest Patreon sponsors:
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-We welcome Adam Engst from TidBITS back to the show!

-Adam comes in to discuss the current times and finding ways to adapt your work life to this new environment

-Things have moved quickly in a short amount of time

-Joe actually headed out west shortly before many of the recent events and had to self quarantine

-Drive through testing for COVID-19 is available but not in all areas

-Adam describes how hard it has been to concentrate on work lately

-This has also affected his local runner’s club events

-Adam’s never had an office and life working from home has been normal for him.  But for others, it’s not the norm and it presents its challenges.

-Another unexpected part of this, as Jerry & Sam have experienced, is working with children at home, who have their own work to accomplish.

-It is important to take breaks!

-Sam has a client move to complete that may not be able to shift dates.  He is trying to figure out how to deal with that.

-If you do go out, it is advised to change your clothes.  But as Adam mentions from an emergency responder, it matters how you take those items off.

-Joe has hardware labor to complete and is contemplating various methods of exchanging equipment, like “dead drops”.

-Take Control Books has a new free book called “Working From Home Temporarily” by Glenn Fleishman: https://www.takecontrolbooks.com/working-from-home/

-Adam’s son attends Cornell University and they, along with other colleges and universities, have their own situations to deal with

-Restaurants are another industry that is taking a major hit and some have shut down operations preemptively since they cannot afford to lose that much business

-Currently, IT consultancies are in demand to support clients with remote support and home office setup.  But how long will that last if businesses do not have the money to move forward?

-A discussion brews about newsletters and what we should be said and how much should you push services

-Adam has been pondering what the theme of April’s TidBITS Content Newsletter (https://tcn.tidbits.com) should be.  Working remotely will be a prime focus

-Some advice from Adam: Offer something new to your clients if possible

-An amazing product that Adam recommends is called Otter: https://otter.ai - which offers real time transcription and can integrate with a service like Zoom.  

-Do your research and get information from verified locations like World Health Organization, CDC, Johns Hopkins University: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

-It’s nice to see people and neighbors offering to help those that may not be able to get their own supplies for one reason or another

-Adam wraps up with some excellent tips about how other countries have dealt with this and what we can do

-In tech news, Apple released new products, including the new MacBook Air!  This is discussed on the TidBITS site: https://tidbits.com/2020/03/18/new-macbook-air-features-magic-keyboard-and-lower-price/

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