385: Demand Throttle = Hide The Button

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Topics:

-Jerry purchased a blood oximeter for better accuracy in checking for signs of Coronavirus

-Sam decides to try and test a client that requires a negative COVID test. He is surprised by the result.

-iPhone 12 was recently announced and Jerry fumes as Joe & Sam decide on which model and color to purchase.

-The Peeves corner begins. Jerry is frustrated by Accessibility and Remote Apple Events.

-Also relevant to Accessibility, Joe has some serious issues working with Dictation, especially in conjunction with Citrix.

-Sam’s peeve has to do with UniFi and the way they seem to purposely hide the link to “Start a Live Chat”. Seemingly because they are overwhelmed.

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384: Interview With Jon Brown, founder & CEO of Grove Technologies

Topics:

-This week we welcome Jon Brown of Grove Technologies and VIP sponsor of Command Control Power!

-Jon takes us through his path of leaving a 9-to-5 job and starting a consultancy to fill a visible void.

-Grove Technologies started by focusing on organizations that had internal IT and could use supplemental support.

-Joe knows the feeling of not being able to take time off when you are a team of one.

-Grove Technologies is currently a team of 3 full time people and additional 1099 contractors.

-A problem we know all too well - customers reaching out to Jon personally. He turned to Apple Business Chat.

-Joe & Jon swap stories about taking over another consultancy’s business/client list.

-Their sweet spot of size of client is between 5 and 25 users.

-When transitioning a new client away from a PC MSP, it started them down a path of a partnership acquisition opportunity.

-Jon is very forthcoming about the talks about selling his company.

-He also reelizes his bookkeeping practices and business hygiene wasn’t where he wanted them to be.

-Once presented with a business valuation, he ultimately decided to continue building his business. He also learned a few key things that they were looking for.

-We learn about the EBITDA method of a business valuation.

-We discuss the race to the bottom that seems to be the model of PC MSPs. 

-Jon talks about needing to contribute to the community in order to be able to reap the benefits of that community. 

-Part of a value of a company is how much clients rely on the actual person selling. 

-Jon also discusses an opportunity to join forces with fellow Apple consultancies. 

-After the acquisition didn’t move forward, Jon was approached about an “acqui-hire”. 

-Sam proposes joining forces in CT and become Command Control Power Consulting. 

383: If You’re Chuckling, You’re Not Getting It

Topics:

-Sam had an incident with salted spoons that will come back to haunt him someday. 

-Quick Tips! Get your quick tips! Sam discusses converting the typical HEIC photo format when sites cannot understand that extension. 

-Joe’s process for device setup and consistency is helping him in planning for future employees. 

-Documentation is key. Not only for your staff, but for clients to see your professionalism. 

-We get a peek into Jerry’s origins as an Apple consultant. 

-Letting clients know that you have a plan or standard procedures gives them a sense of ease.

-Joe uses tools like Text Expander for his check lists. 

-Photos libraries are dark and mysterious. 

-Duplicate Annihilator and Power Photos are  recommended de-duplicator apps for Photos. 

-Do your clients know the difference between kilobytes, megabytes, and gigabytes?

382: I love The Little Fish!

Topics:

-The hosts provide an update on COVID in the state of Connecticut and with their respective businesses.

-Joe has to make decision for his staff from another part of the country.

-The weather will definitely have an impact on things as people move indoors.

-Jerry has more close interactions with clients and he shares his thoughts on his comfort level.

-Joe is looking for an app that can provide a safety rating based on current COVID data. 

-Sam is happy with TeamViewer for iOS but Joe & Jerry are less enthused. 

-Jerry loves the fish that leads a user through steps for Full Disk Access in Carbon Copy Cloner.  Sam is clueless. 

-Jerry has jumped from the TeamViewer ship and moved to Splashtop. One of his gripes had to do with speed and clipboard issues. 

-TeamViewer advertisements are infuriating. 

-Working with Surveillance Station, Jerry has a heck of a time with cameras. The issue was related to the H.265 codec. 

-Joe is finally ditching CrashPlan PROe. 

-Microsoft pro tip from Joe...or is it?

381: Apple Pay?

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Topics:

-Jerry recalls an amusing call into his smith.ai service. 

-Is it Apple Pay, Apple Cash, Apple Card, or “paying with a credit card inside your watch”?

-“We have one more season before 2020 is hindsight” -Joe Saponare

-Joe wants to know how each of our businesses are doing. 

-Joe considers network projects. 

-Some A/V projects can get extremely costly. Are we in the wrong business?

-There is more of a wow factor with A/V installations whereas Wi-Fi is supposed to just work. 

-Safari Password Suggestion creates conversation with end users about security. 

-PsiMac has developed good verbiage and documentation regarding passwords, iCloud Keychain, and overall security. 

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380: Go 5Ghz Or Go Home

Topics:

-Sam worked on a job to replace an entire Ruckus installation with Ubiquiti UniFi APs.  Not surprisingly, the cost was a lot lower for UniFi.

-He decided to initially only use the 5GHz frequency since 2.4GHz has few options for channels and many other devices operate on that frequency.

-Jerry grills Sam on his decisions for the UniFi installation.

-Sam explains how he made adjustments by creating different WLAN groups in the UniFi controller.

-Joe reminds us of a PSA Jerry put out to the group in relation to the latest UniFi controller version and the issues it was causing.

-While on the topic of UniFi, Joe revisits a job he did with outdoor Mesh Pro access points and outdoor waterproof electric outlets.

-Pro tip! Take photos of your work to show future clients what your company is capable off.

-Another Pro Tip! Don’t use hidden SSIDs. They do not offer any security benefit and can also cause a device to use more power.

-While on a job with a WatchGuard firewall, Jerry describes how he uses MAC addresses to allow staff devices to bypass content filters. However, a new feature of iOS 14 is MAC address randomization. This could have completely sent his work into a tailspin but fortunately he found his answer quickly. He was able to relay the changes necessary to staff: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211227

-Sam finds that app age restrictions in MDM affects the ability to deploy a browser like Google Chrome, since it technically has the ability to access inappropriate websites.

-Jerry wants to know Sam’s method for competing in the PC market.

“I make the mistakes so you don’t have to” - Jerry Zigmont

“He spun a good yarn until the very end” - Joe Saponare

“I do not enjoy supporting PC clients….at all” - Sam Valencia