Secure Connections

With the launch of Bing’s new AI and the release of ChatGPT 4, the technology paradigm shift is gaining even more speed. Julian talks with VP of cybersecurity at Trend Micro, Greg Young about securing environments in todays landscape.

Julian catches up with Andy Syrewicze, Technical Evangelist at Hornet Security to talk AI threats today and how you can also use this to secure your environments. With the rapidly evolving bad actors its critical, we don’t rest on our laurels and adapt even faster.

Julian sits down with Pinpoint Search Group, Managing Partner, Mark Sasson to discuss industry trends and what we have been seeing with recent layoffs in technology. The mindset and objectives of companies coming out of the pandemic and in some cases reversing course on directions taken over the past three years. What are growing start ups doing to develop their company cultures to attract candidates and always be recruiting top talent in all areas of the business.

The launch of ChatGPT and other AI platforms coming online has moved us truly into the Wild West of cybersecurity. Julian has a very sobering conversation with Patrick Harr, CEO at SlashNext about bad actors are turning these tools against us. Patrick explains that we need AI to combat and secure against these rapidly advancing AI threats.

In case you missed it, back in December Julian sat down with Jay McBain, Chief Analyst with Canalys to discuss the tectonic shift that has begun in the IT industry. With talk of a recession on the horizon in 2023, how will this affect IT Service Providers? Will technology pull us through like it did in 2008? Jay tells us, opportunities are abound in 2023 and he looks forward to many success stories in the coming year! Join us in Phoenix February 16 & 17 to learn how you can get ahead of the shift and drive business success in 2023 and beyond! Reserve your spot today as space is limited! For the original post on E-Channel News and summary from Julian visit Here

As 2022 comes to a close, Julian has a sobering ‘State of the Nation’ chat with Matt Lee, Senior Director of Security and Compliance with Pax8. We’ve come a long way which Matt describes as a cybersecurity renaissance; however we have a long way to go. What’s ahead for 2023 and where do we, as an industry need to focus in order to succeed?

Julian is joined by Technology Leader and IT Channel Veteran, Juan Fernandez, Co-Founder and CEO at MSP Growth Coalition and Channel Chief at HacWare. Juan gives us his three keys to success in evolving your IT Services business in today’s crazy cybersecurity landscape. Some great stories and examples from when he built his MSP business and made the shift to MSSP. You can catch up with Juan at our upcoming Cybersecurity Expo in Phoenix, February 16 & 17. Reserve your spot today at https://iotssa.com/cybersecurity-expo-phoenix/ Connect with Juan on LinkedIN and check out what he is doing now at HacWare.

There is still some fear out there about implementing Zero Trust environments and what exactly that means for SMB customers. Julian pulls back the curtain with Threatlocker, CEO Danny Jenkins about what exactly a Zero Trust solution looks like. You simply can’t secure what you can’t control and it really can be a seamless solution.  Danny gives some great examples and stories from the field where Zero Trust has hardened an environment and protects against active attacks on a regular basis. For more information on Threatlocker or to schedule a free demo you can visit them in our Security Solutions Showcase or by going to https://www.threatlocker.com/ and click on Book Demo.

Julian changes gears from cybersecurity this week to take a deep dive into the vendor partner relationship with Desmond Russell, Chief Partnership Officer at Partner Elevate. Desmond unpacks the challenges both sides face in this B-B relationship with his 3 main hurdles. Lack of Confidence Flat Engagement Unpredictable Performance   By better understanding both sides of the partnership, Desmond gives some great insights for MSPs to more effectively grow and strengthen vendor relationships in order to achieve the ultimate goal of a mutually beneficial partnership in order to drive results and growth. #MSP #ITChannel #bettertogether #IoTSSA

Julian has a sobering conversation with Dark Cubed, Founder, Vince Crisler and High Wire Networks, CTO, David Barton about the depths of vulnerabilities we face today with more and more reliance on API and APP usage. Vince tells us ‘If you don’t know, you can’t do anything…Understand the infrastructure’. Start up innovation and speed to market with functionality has created holes where data isn’t properly sanitized…Data in Apps and APIs isn’t protected the same way or with as much vigor as network data. David explains ‘Real time pushing and pulling of data we didn’t have 10 years ago’. Check your apps with this tool Vince mentions https://exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/ Keep this conversation going with Dark3 and High Wire Networks next week at our Cybersecurity Expo in Lancaster, PA October 26 & 27 – Reserve your spot today by visiting https://www.iotssa.com/cybersecurity-expo-pennsylvania/

Cisco go all in with the IT Channel supporting MSPs and the SMB market. Julian talks with Provider Elevate, Leader of Global MSP for Cisco, Michelle Ragusa-McBain and Business Development Manager, Fenil Kacharia on the current state of cybersecurity and the IT Channel. Michelle tells us that a recent survey showed, only 50% of IT Service Providers are properly insured against a cyber attack/event. This tells us that we have a long way to go getting the market up to speed and out in front of the bad guy. The journey from MSP to MSSP, post pandemic, every company is now a tech company – they require, networking, IoT, collaboration and security to keep their businesses running. Keep this conversation going with Cisco at our upcoming Cybersecurity Expo in Lancaster, PA October 26 & 27 – Reserve your spot today by visiting https://www.iotssa.com/cybersecurity-expo-pennsylvania/

From musician to IT Exec, Luis Giraldo, CXO at ScalePad takes a deep dive with Julian into growing an MSP into a thriving business. Luis has built and sold two IT Services businesses, worked on the vendor side of the equation and now defines himself as an MSP Advocate. All while still finding time to tour with Shakira for 6 months playing keyboards! Luis talks about the nuances between loving tech and loving helping people with tech. Its all about creating an effective customer experience and focusing on the areas to scale and grow your business from the beginning and integrating into your company culture. Some excellent ideas and tips in this episode so be ready to take a few notes. You can connect with Luis through LinkedIN or email him directly at luis.giraldo@scalepad.com   

Julian catches up with David Corlette, VP of Product Management with Vipre to talk the evolution of EDR and what Vipre are doing to make it easy for channel partners to implement and manage. With the implementation of Machine Learning and AI, EDR solutions continue to get more and more robust in their protection.

Andy Anderson, Co-Founder and CEO at Datastream Cyber Insurance sits down with Julian to discuss leveraging cyber insurance to secure both you and your customers. One size certainly doesn’t fit all and a risk assessment is needed for each individual customer environment. For more information about Datastream you can visit and connect with them in our Security Solutions Showcase or visit their website here You can also catch up with Andy at our upcoming Cybersecurity Expo in Lancaster, PA October 26 & 27 where he will be speaking about making Cyber Insurance work for you and your customers. Reserve your spot today and keep the conversation going.

MSP vs. MSSP and what does that look like for IT Service Providers? The fact is that cybersecurity must be part of all service contracts in today’s environment. Scott Barlow, VP of Global MSP at Sophos joins Ryan to discuss leveraging vendor relationships in order to effectively service and secure your clients. Scott shares a staggering Gartner stat ‘96% of Cloud Breaches are due to misconfiguration’. Leveraging vendor expertise and tools to close up these gaps while also growing your business is critical to success for IT Service Providers with limited resources. Using a great Hockey analogy, he tells us ‘Go to where the puck is going to be, not where it is’. Scott also has an affinity for building back yard hockey rinks…we got a shot of the 21/22 rink, however he wasn’t as giving when we asked for a picture of the broken nose and two black eyes!

With so much focus around cybersecurity over the past few years and looking ahead to escalating threats in 2022 and beyond, its easy to lose focus on how Managed Security fits into our current stack. The evolution of the IT Service Provider began with Break Fix, then to a recurring revenue model with Managed Services and now Managed Security. What is the mindset of our customers and how do they view IT Services? Luis Giraldo, CXO at ScalePad, talks with Ryan about shared responsibilities with customers and growing along side them. Luis see’s the next logical step over the next few years as continued evolution into a trusted business advisor and partner. They give us some great insights and ideas around making this evolution by looking at it from the client’s perspective. Taking periodic 10,000 foot views of your business and offerings are critical to growth and long term success. They give us a fresh perspective in this episode which all IT Service Providers will interpret a little differently depending on where they are in the evolution, however great ideas that apply to us all.  

Brian Sherman, Sr. Communications Specialist with Commcentric, pays us a visit for a guest podcast with new IoTSSA member Michelle Ragusa-McBain, Global Channel Evangelist with Cisco to discuss the power of community. Michelle continues to be a strong advocate for advancing women in technology and mentoring both men and women to excel and succeed in this industry. She gives us lots of resources to check out in this edition, however encourages you to check out the Cisco Elevate Community and some great presentations from their last virtual event. Check it out here

Ryan talks with Guillaume Boisvert, Director of Product Innovation at Sherweb about tackling the HR Challenge for IT Service Providers. Finding cybersecurity talent is at the top of the list for MSPs trying to scale their business. Guillaume tells us that adding headcount is not necessarily the answer…Objectives can be accomplished by balancing out job functions, training from within or adding new tools to make you more efficient. To learn more about Office Protect by Sherweb and to connect with Guillaume you can find him on linkedin and their website at https://www.sherweb.com/

Cybersecurity in 2022 looks to be an even hotter button than years past. Cybercriminals are becoming more persistent and devious than ever…This needs to be top of mind with business this year and moving forward. Ryan catches up with Amelia Paro, Business Development Manager with ID Agent to discuss the Sales Conversation and breaking through the SMB. ‘Tell a story to sell without selling’, Amelia tells us. Move the needle by invoking an emotional response from your prospects.

Brad Gross, Technology Legal Expert, looks into the crystal ball with Ryan to discuss what lies ahead for IT Service Providers in 2022 and beyond. High points that are going to affect providers and how these can affect services and your business moving forward. Microsoft NCE Pricing Implied Fiduciary Duties Co-Managed Services Quoting Software Regulations (From Cyber Insurance Companies) Always very valuable information from Brad and a great perspective from customers perspective and what MSPs need to do in order to effectively manage expectations. You can contact Brad at info@bradleygross.com or check out his Podcast, sorry, Bradcast…at technologybradcast.com Please Note: There are a few mentions in this episode of our upcoming Cybersecurity Expo in Phoenix. As we’re sure you’re already aware, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has meant that it’s now vital to limit social contact and avoid gathering. For that reason, out of an abundance of caution, we’ve made the difficult decision to postpone our Live In Person Cybersecurity Expo in Phoenix to September 14 & 15, 2022. While we know this is disappointing, we hope you can understand the steps we’re taking to help keep our staff and attendees safe. What happens next? All registered attendees will be contacted by Robin Miller in the coming week so that she can facilitate moving your registration to the new September dates. For those who have not yet registered, great news…we will be announcing in the coming week our next live in person event at the end of March this year. We are finalizing locations and dates as we speak…stay tuned!