Channel Chatter, July 17 - 24, 2024

This newsletter is in BETA, and feedback is welcomed and encouraged.? Anyone who joins in the beta will be included in the launch offer! ?The intention is to deliver a set of actionable insights into the discussions had by the community for vendors to leverage for execution. Does this deliver???

Channel Chatter is the parsing of the listening posts that the Business of Tech podcast has around the MSP community across discussion forums and groups to bring together insights and discussions that I think are worth considering.?? In considering the needs of MSPs by listening to them for the podcast, there are insights specifically for vendors serving the space to be shared.? That is this newsletter.??

All anyone really talked about was Crowdstrike. This topic dominated the conversations I was tracking.

Thematically, it was as you expect. First, confusion and discovery of what the incident was. Next, the coordination of response. Beyond that, supportive collaboration to address the issue and the mental stress of doing so. (while I will move to the end more quickly, linger here momentarily as you consider the incident. The community put competitiveness aside to address the outage.)

But the reason to move beyond the collaboration is to discuss a key element — Who picks up the remediation effort cost?

If we sold it, we fix it. If someone else sold it, we charge for it. Quite simple when you think it this way but there will be many that will think like techs or money grabbers instead of thinking it as a business

You picked the stack and your pick failed. Kinda feels in scope of support to me. I couldn’t imagine being a client trusting you and your stack and getting a bill for it and then choosing to stay with you come time for renewal.

The only ones I’m charging for are the situations where the client tried to repair it themselves and wiped the pc.

The business eats the cost of remediation. You sold the product, you support the product, you profit from the product. Larger companies with legal teams will however get major discounts for years to come. You likely won't.

You sell it you fix it. If you didn't give yourself enough margin to cover these events. You've got ammo for your account manager conversation of getting certain amounts of money covered.

Depending on the contract terms with CS you can likely get some form of credit from them for the outage.

There isn’t even a discussion. The answer, universally, is that the providers eat the outage. Crowdstrike makes a mistake. The IT community, be it the internal IT department or the outsourced one, eats the cost.

I write this newsletter for vendors. It’s the only publication I do that is intended for that audience. As such, let’s address this. Let me highlight that this is certainly good for software vendors. Letting your customers assume all of the support costs for errors is profitable.

I want to make the positive case argument for changing this dynamic. Not a moral one, a financial one.

I had this interaction on my live show on Wednesday when I asked my guest, Ryan Morris, this question. (Edited for brevity).

I?can?see?the?actual?opportunity?here?for?a?couple?of?channel?vendors. The?channel?vendor?that?says,?you?know?what,?we're?not?going?to?just?leave?you?hanging.?We're?actually?going?to?assume?some?non-zero?responsibility?in?terms?of?labor?restoration,?that?we?will?help?you?and?guarantee?at?some?level,?not?just?we?might?give?you?a?month's?credit?or?something?along?those?lines,?but?we're?actually?going?to?say,?in?the?event?of?outage,?we're?going?to?stand?with?you?with?some?warranty.?

And Ryan’s response.

You?are?100%?correct?in?that?strategy.?Think?about?it.?If?I?raise?my?expectations,?my?advice?to?the?channel?community?is?to?have?higher?expectations?of?the?vendor?partners?that?you?get?into?business?with?and?insist?that?they?demonstrate?their?quality?assurance?to?you?and?insist?that?they?convince?you?that?if?and?when?something?goes?wrong,?this?is?the?way?that?we?will?handle?it?and?we?will?make?sure?that?you?will?be?okay.?

There’s a competitive edge in offering some level of warranty. I’m no insurance expert, but insurance + software is a compelling offering, and that warranty for service outages that helps with repairs is going to be a compelling case for solution providers. Want to win more business? Assume some responsibility back and providers will come running.

Most will not do this. Most will not challenge the status quo.

And that’s the very definition of an opportunity.

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Topics of Interest

This section is a high-level summary of the major topics of discussion within the community during the time period. This gives you a sense of the questions the community is raising and what they are discussing.

Crowdstrike Incident and Reputation

1. Widespread Awareness: The Crowdstrike incident's extensive reach was highlighted, with even non-technical individuals being aware, underscoring its significant impact.
2. Historical Patterns: The current Crowdstrike CEO’s involvement in a similar incident at McAfee, leading to significant reputational damage and eventual sale of the company, was discussed as a historical pattern.

SentinelOne (S1) Vigilance Support Issues

1. Inconsistent Threat Assessments: Users reported that the same file or threat was inconsistently flagged by SentinelOne Vigilance, highlighting potential issues in threat assessment consistency.
2. Support Alternatives: Some users switched to CW MDR due to its quicker response times and effective incident management compared to SentinelOne Vigilance.

MSP Role Titles and Responsibilities

1. Title Inflation: The issue of "title inflation" where job titles do not accurately reflect the role’s responsibilities or qualifications was discussed, especially relevant in the MSP industry.
2. Role Complexity: The described role involved a mix of service offerings design, project management, automation, and testing, highlighting the multifaceted nature of some MSP roles that do not fit neatly into traditional job title categories.

Office 365 Security Measures

1. Fatigue with Security Tools: Users expressed frustration with the constant need to add more tools to their security stack, indicating potential fatigue in managing multiple security solutions.
2. Effectiveness of Blocking Specific File Types: Blocking specific file types (e.g., .one attachments) and links (e.g., Dropbox links) was noted as an effective additional technique to enhance security.

Recurring Services for MSPs

1. Analogies to Explain Value: Participants used analogies related to car maintenance and utilities to explain the necessity of recurring IT services, emphasizing proactive maintenance over reactive approaches.
2. Filtering Clients: The importance of finding clients who value and are willing to pay for MSP services was a recurring theme, suggesting that some clients are not worth the effort if they do not align with the MSP’s business model.

Product Gaps

This section is intended to highlight “gaps” that appear to exist in the market, where a specific weakness or need is highlighted in terms of product offerings. This can also include potential gaps in the market. If you wondered what MSPs “wish things did”, that’s this section.?

1. Responsive and Consistent Support Services

Gap Identified:

• Inconsistent Support: Vendors like SentinelOne and N-able have been criticized for slow response times and inconsistent support.
• Vendor Communication: Poor communication and support from vendors are significant pain points.

Product Development Opportunity:

• Create a managed services platform that prioritizes responsive and consistent support. Implement a robust support system with clear communication channels, AI-driven ticket routing, and real-time support tracking to ensure MSPs receive timely and effective assistance.

2. Simplified Licensing and Billing Management

Gap Identified:

• CSP Program Challenges: MSPs face difficulties meeting Microsoft’s CSP revenue requirements and managing direct billing.
• Billing Discrepancies: Mixed experiences with billing practices from vendors like Pax8.

Product Development Opportunity:

• Create a licensing and billing management platform tailored for MSPs. Features should include automated billing reconciliation, real-time revenue tracking, flexible billing options, and integration with various CSP programs to simplify compliance and financial management.

3. Centralized and Customizable Contract Management

Gap Identified:

• Contract Specificity Issues: Tools like Rocket Lawyer lack the specificity needed for MSP contracts.
• Modular Contract Approach: MSPs prefer a modular approach with MSAs, service agreements, and quotes.

Product Development Opportunity:

• Develop a contract management solution specifically for MSPs, offering customizable templates for MSAs, service agreements, and SOWs. Include features like e-signature integration, automated renewal reminders, and compliance tracking to streamline contract creation and management.

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Vendor Discussion

This section is designed to give you insights into who was “discussed” this week. These are vendors that were mentioned or commented upon, and not necessarily a specific set of complaints about the vendor. This may be a good opportunity to learn about a new name, or get a sense of who is in the zeitgeist.?It’s long. It’s intentionally long, to give you the firehose.

AppRiver: Mentioned as a CSP offering a referral program, allowing partners to get credit and commissions without direct billing responsibilities.

Avanan: Highlighted for its effectiveness in detecting and filtering out phishing emails.

Azure: Mentioned in context of an outage, with speculation on whether it was related to the Crowdstrike outage.

Barracuda: Used for email security and spam filtering but criticized for being ineffective. Sentiment: Negative.

BitLocker: Discussed in the context of unlocking a protected drive during remote troubleshooting.

Brad Gross: Recommended for legal services specific to MSPs but noted for being difficult to contact.

Breach Secure Now (BSN): Mentioned for its engaging small video clips and frequent content updates.

Carbon Black: Mentioned as a potential alternative to Crowdstrike.

CDW: Mentioned as an alternative source for licenses.

Cloudflare: Mentioned in context of previous outages and subsequent recovery.

Crowdstrike: Central to discussions due to a significant incident causing system failures, negatively impacting its reputation. Sentiment: Negative.

Cyber Aware: Mentioned for good local content.

Cyberguard 360: Mentioned in passing as a security solution.

CyberHoot: Easy to sell and administer, with no contracts and reasonable pricing.

Darktrace: Uses AI to analyze emails for potential threats.

Datto: Previous vendor for a user transitioning to N-Able, with users moving to other vendors due to support issues.

Defender XDR: Suggested as a superior alternative in some aspects.

Dell: Mentioned for BIOS updates and repair tools.

ESET: Mentioned as a company reaching out to offer solutions post-incident.

FortiGate: Mentioned as a potential alternative to SonicWall, though not recently evaluated by participants.

GoCardless: Initially chosen for good reviews and low transaction charges, faced setup issues but considered trying again. Sentiment: Neutral to slightly negative.

Hornetsecurity: Blocks specific file types and links to prevent phishing.

Hook Security: Offers training for Deepfakes with Breacher.ai add-on.

HP: Manufacturer of the ProBooks being set up through Autopilot into Intune, discussed in the context of removing bloatware and driver issues.

Huntress: Positive feedback on managed phishing and security awareness, good support and reasonable pricing. Sentiment: Positive.

INKY: Another email security solution mentioned for its effectiveness.

Intel NUC: Recommended for x86 architecture support.

Intune: Used for device management and preferred for MDM solutions due to customer ownership of the MDM tenant.

IronScales: Uses crowd-sourcing to identify and remove phishing emails.

IT Agree: Subscription-based contracts for MSPs but not admitted to practice law in the US.

Jamf: Involved in MDM for Apple devices, discussed in the context of difficulties in uninstallation and device management.

Kaseya: Associated with Bull Phish and noted for support and billing issues. Sentiment: Negative.

KnowBe4: Solid product with good reputation, low maintenance, and flexible license management.

LastPass: Compared to Crowdstrike for its handling of past security issues.

Lenovo: Mentioned in the context of BIOS updates.

ManageEngine: MDM solution where devices needed to be wiped to remove old agents.

Meraki: Considered as an alternative to SonicWall, deemed expensive.

Microsoft: Central to multiple discussions regarding Office 365 licenses, MFA enforcement, CSP program, and Teams audio conferencing capabilities.

N-able: Users discussed mixed experiences with N-able, including issues with support, sales tactics, and Linux support. Sentiment: Negative.

Ninjio: Positive feedback on user satisfaction.

Pax8: Used as a direct seller with mixed experiences regarding billing practices. Sentiment: Mixed.

Phin Security: Positive user engagement and CEO's active community involvement.

PhishFirewall: Easy setup and low maintenance.

ProofPoint: Advanced email protection and the need to raise a ticket for domain removal.

Rocket Lawyer: Criticized for lack of specificity in contracts for MSPs.

RustDesk: Mentioned as an alternative remote access tool.

SentinelOne (S1): Users discussed slow response times, inconsistent threat assessments, and support issues, leading to switches to alternative MDR services. Sentiment: Negative.

SoSafe: Mentioned positively in the past.

Sophos: Mentioned as a difficult-to-remove MDM solution and praised for advanced threat detection capabilities.

SolarWinds: Compared to Crowdstrike's situation, noting its previous high-profile breach.

SolutionsGranted: Provides MDR services.

Splashtop: Mentioned as a remote access tool used by participants.

Stripe: Integration option in Syncro but not suitable for a user.

SuperMicro IPMI/BMC: Out-of-Band Controllers for servers, providing remote access.

TeamViewer: Mentioned as a remote access tool.

TinyPilot: Used for remote KVM access.

Tom Fafinski: Recommended for legal services specific to MSPs.

Trumethods (TruPeer): Mentioned for understanding the MSP business model and peer group support.

uSecure: Hands-off approach, good appearance, no contracts, consumption-based pricing, and automated phishing tests.

Veeam: Mentioned as a bootable tool.

Virtus Law (Tom Fafinski): Recommended for legal services specific to MSPs.

Webroot: Mentioned but not highly favored.

WatchGuard: Mentioned with past bad experiences as an alternative to SonicWall.

WorldPay: Integration option in Syncro but not suitable for a user.

Zima Boards: Mentioned as a fun and rock-solid option for various projects.