585: Interview With Ben Greiner founder of Forget Computers, Apple champion and growth advisor at Addigy

Join us as we welcome back Ben Greiner, founder of Forget Computers and Apple champion and growth advisor at Addigy. In this engaging discussion, Ben reflects on his over 20-year journey in the Apple MSP world, the evolving landscape of IT management, and his role at Addigy. Ben shares insights on the integration of Apple-focused services into larger Windows-managed environments, the importance of compliance, and how Apple's advanced tools are setting new standards in the industry. This episode is filled with invaluable tips for MSPs looking to expand their Apple service offerings and successfully navigate the merger and acquisition landscape.

The hosts reflect on the 10 years in between Ben’s appearances.

Ross Matsuda, another CCP guest, also worked for Forget Computers.

Early on, Ben created Robot Cloud. This has since morphed into Vision Bot at Ntiva.

Ben talks about adapting to client needs.

Ben advises to look at the management tools that only focus on Apple products like Jamf, Kandji, and Addigy.

We get into how Ben switched from Jamf to Addigy.

Switching MDMs was harder than switching communication tools.

Most small MSPs are under one million in revenue a year.

Ben talks about how the 10,000 Small Business program by Goldman Sachs helped his business grow.

Forget Computers was acquired by Ntiva. Ben takes us down that road.

Apple vs Windows Support - it is difficult for Windows MSPs to make the shift to support the Apple platform.

Standardizing Apple Device Management

Proactive vs Reactive Device Enrollment

Ben works with existing customers to help them grow with Addigy.

Ben brings up the shift to Declarative Device Management

Compliance Standards and Challenges - is Windows really better built for business than Apple? Or has that paradigm shifted?

Jerry wants to know more about the 1Password acquisition on Kolide.

What is the future of Device Management and Security?

You can find Ben Greiner on LinkedIn.

Patreon Show - 572: Exploring Legacy Software, CGNAT Challenges, and AI's Impact on Privacy

In this patron-only episode of Command Control Power, the hosts reflect on past conferences, such as Lightspeed in Montreal, and the challenges of utilizing the Lightspeed software for consulting businesses. The conversation shifts to Unifi network monitoring setups and the unique complications presented by Carrier Grade NAT (CGNAT) on residential ISP connections. The hosts discuss potential security and monitoring solutions for modern clients, including Unifi's professional phone support and Wattbox. Finally, the episode examines the growing concerns around AI voice cloning, its potential for misuse, and ideas for safeguarding privacy in a digital age.

520: My Precious

Topics:

-Jerry takes issue with the way Joe & Sam covet their calendars.

-Each of us either use Calendly or Harmonizely.

-We discuss the latest in Apple certifications and listing on the ACN locator.

-The two courses and exams are Apple Device Support and Deployment & Management.

-All of us are intrigued with Apple Messages for Business. Cost seems to be a barrier for entry.

-You can have SMS hosted by a different company than you use for voice.

465: Deeper Down The Rabbit Hole

Topics:

-Joe has an update on using his new Synology with Synlogy Central Management System. After digging around with notifications, he was frustrated. Thanks to Dan Monge of Mac IT Pros for the tip to look at the client Synology notifications as there is an additional CMS column.

-PsiMac charges a monthly service fee for network management.

-“Don’t be afraid to charge the client” -Jerry Zigmont

-A pesky client calls Jerry multiple times as he racking up his Smith.ai bill.

-Someone that needed help and Joe spent some time diagnosing, decides to try and migrate data on her 10 year old computer on her own.

-Jerry expresses concerns about working with customers that have 10 year old equipment and the risks that come with it.

-For new clients, Joe standardizes on getting a system report from Watchman Monitoring.

-PSA - BackBlaze keeps your historical data for only 30 days by default.

-Keeping old hardware for cost saving reasons can end up costing people in the end as the labor to upgrade can be extended due to aging equipment.

-Joe brings up finding better ways to manage automatic updates across different hardware/software.

-UniFi updates seem to handle rolling updates well.

428: Easing into Managed Services with Allen Hancock

Topics:

This week’s episode of Command Control Power will be a patron only feature. You can find this episode if you are a supporter of Command Control Power on Patreon. You can also click on the Support link in the menu above. If you are not yet a supporter, feel free to sign up! We think you will enjoy hearing it. Let us know your feedback if you do. In the meantime, enjoy a highlight from an older episode.

321: Green Acres

Topics:

-Special thanks to Puelle Design in Portland, Maine for hosting Joe's mobile recording studio this week.

-Joe is in the Northeast! He is visiting family for some milestones before heading on the road again

-Jerry is in the midst of a move to a new home and new headquarters of MacWorks.  He calls it the reverse Green Acres.

-After having a car mishap, Jerry discovers CarPlay in his rental car

-A recurring theme for our show has been value based billing and, of course managed services plans.  Joe & Jerry share ideas about their formulas for monthly billing.  Ideas like billing per user or per device, preset hours per month, and services used are among the topics of discussion.

-Prepaid discounts are an enticing way for clients to buy in to ongoing services.  “Monthly check-ins” are also something that clients seem to be drawn to.

-Do you install Watchman Monitoring on client devices for free as a “loss leader” or break even point?  What happens if you end the relationship?

-Jerry has a couple of funny client anecdotes with his classic impersonations

-He also has his fair share of gripes

-Joe's client had an issue in Calendar on her Mac: "The server responded with an error. There is insufficient storage space for "event title" in "calendar name" in account "iCloud". The choices were Try Again, Ignore, or Revert to Server. He removed a calendar she didn't need that only had a few events on it, and it solved the problem. Then we added a few tests, and she seemed to hit the limit again. We then moved a calendar with a lot of events to a local On My Mac calendar for archival purposes, and instructed the client to move needed events back onto a calendar on the server. Hasn't happened since.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202158

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