The Killing IT Podcast
IT authors and entrepreneurs Ryan Morris, Karl Palachuk, and Dave Sobel provide commentary on the changing world of technology opportunities and emerging tech. We want to expand the discussion from the SMB IT channel to all things tech - with one eye on the future and the other on profits. Join us!
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Episode 83 - Fragmented Health Data, Right to Repair, and Dying Industries
10/27/2020
Episode 83 - Fragmented Health Data, Right to Repair, and Dying Industries
Topic 1: Fragmented Health Data and Covid. With HIPAA and other privacy laws have complicated the sharing of healthcare data that might be useful in fighting the virus. We look at that as well as general observations about the industry. Related Link: Topic 2: Right to Repair is on the Ballot in Massachusetts. We've covered right to repair before. Once perspective, of course, is you - the potential repairer. On the other end of the fight are some of the largest and most successful companies in the world. As always, the world is a complicated place. Related Link: Topic 3: Life after the pandemic: Industries that won’t make it. Great click-bait, right? Here's a great article, speculating about which industries will not survive this pandemic/recession. We don't agree across the board (shocking, we know). ----- Sponsor Memo: PC Matic — Endpoint Security built on a zero trust philosophy, allowing only trusted applications and blocking all the rest. Light weight, simple to deploy, easy to manage, find out about PC Matic's unique lead sharing program for MSPs backed by a prime-time national TV campaign. Together, we bring advanced security solutions combined with more than sales enablement . . . we bring actual leads. Find out more about PC Matic by visiting . :-)
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Episode 82 - Universal Connectivity, Digital Transformation, and the Smart Office
10/20/2020
Episode 82 - Universal Connectivity, Digital Transformation, and the Smart Office
After spending 49 minutes "warming up," we hit the record button. This turned out to be a particularly timely episode. Topic 1: How close are we to universal connectivity? And what does that mean, actually? In addition to searching for parity between work vs. home, and school vs. home, we are also looking at rural vs. urban. Related Link: Topic 2: Strategies for transformation (and why they fail). Ryan's favorite topic - digital transformation. There's a lot of talk these days of how Covid is increasing digital transformation. But if it's too slow, there are other issues as well. Links: - - Topic 3: Life after the pandemic - Smart offices How much will your office really look different when the pandemic is over. We are not in universal agreement on this. Links: - - :-)
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Episode 81 - Remote Report Card, Total Connectivity, and Tech Budgets
10/13/2020
Episode 81 - Remote Report Card, Total Connectivity, and Tech Budgets
No awards this week . . . but we have a sponsor! ----- Topic 1: Remote work versus distributed work We all "went remote" all of a sudden. Did we do it right? The fact that you can go remote does not mean that you maintained culture, and all the good things about your business. We discuss - of course. Related links: Topic 2: Have we not thought big enough about the connected world? We have "some" cool, futuristic technology, but we don't yet have the totally-connected, always-on access we were hoping for. Now that glowing vision of the future is coming into focus . . . brought to you by Huawei. We love the vision. Just wondering if we can get it from someone else. Link: Topic 3: Return of “Life after Covid” - Post-COVID CIOs are looking at budget increases. IDG say, "Innovating with a reduced budget will become a high priority for tech leaders as the economy returns to health finds major annual CIO survey." But, at the same time, large companies are enjoying an increase in technology spending. MSPs are absolutely in a position to provide this kind of strategic advice to their customers, and they need to have that kind of insight in order to be relevant in the current planning / guessing phase. Link: -- -- -- Sponsor Note: The MSP event of the year is back. This time, it’s virtual and free to attend! Sherweb's Accelerate 2020 offers a comprehensive online program to help you gear up for the future of managed services. Industry experts will deliver thought leadership sessions and hands-on workshops on sales, marketing, financials, strategic business planning and customer engagement. Also available will be 1:1 meetings and fun virtual networking. Want to stay relevant in a disrupted world? Join us from anywhere on October 21st and 22nd. Registration is open at . :-)
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Episode 80 - Changing RMM Tools, Building the Stack, and the OS Environment
10/06/2020
Episode 80 - Changing RMM Tools, Building the Stack, and the OS Environment
Big Thank You to CrossBeam for including us on their list of top-12 pocasts! See the details at “The 12 Best Partnership and Business Development Podcasts (So Far)“ Topic 1: Microsoft gets into the RMM tool space. We explore the gap between the products being offered by vendors and where the market is going. We used to build machines. Now we build stacks of tools and services. We continue to evolve, and the environment in which we operate continues to involve. What is the channel takeaway? Tune in. Topic 2: The transparency of technology and how that progresses through maturity stages. How much of an expert do you need to be? Or, more precisely, how deep do you need to go with the technology vs. understanding enough to solve client problems? Clients just want the solution. You need to be competent, but you don't need to explain all the details to them. Related Link: Topic 3: As various companies move into "our" space, how does this affect the services we're already offering. Again, with Microsoft and others: How do they fit into the solution where I already have other solutions? And a related question is: Do these "new" players play well with others? -- -- -- Sponsor note: Acronis invites you to the Acronis Global Cyber Summit, this is the premier event dedicated to connecting the IT channel and IT pros with actionable insights, solutions, and strategies for effective cyber protection. Bringing together service providers, value-added-resellers, CIOs, and ISVs, the Summit is the world's largest gathering of thought leaders and industry experts sharing insights and advances in the field of cyber protection. Featuring a long list of speakers, sign up for free at . You’ll even be able to catch Dave doing “why do we care” online. See you there. :-)
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Episode 79 - Dark Web Arrests, Underwater Servers Update, and Microsoft RMM
09/29/2020
Episode 79 - Dark Web Arrests, Underwater Servers Update, and Microsoft RMM
Thanks to Sherweb for sponsoring this episode! (Details below.) Topic 1: 179 Arrested in Massive Global Dark Web Takedown "Operation Disruptor" is an unprecedented international law enforcement effort, stemming from last year’s seizure of a popular underground bazaar called Wall Street Market. This more than a US-centric law enforcement effort since the dark side of the Internet is international. So, this was a major, successful, multi-national undertaking. Clearly, this is something you should be talking to you clients about. They don't need the details, of course, but they need to know that the threat is real! Topic 2: Microsoft’s underwater server experiment resurfaces after two years. Turns out, dunking data centers is a great idea! About 1/8th as many failures, compared to data center up here with oxygen and temperature variations. It's also a good test for data centers in space or on other planets. Next up: Placing data centers offshore . . . near you. Topic 3: Microsoft Lighthouse: An RMM. We tackle this straight on. Does the new MS Lighthouse with MSP dashboard compete with you? Or is it simply competing for your attention and money? Announcement: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/small-and-medium-business-blog/announcing-microsoft-365-lighthouse-for-managed-service/ba-p/1698181 Note, also that T-Mobile is offering Microsoft 365 and support services. And HP is offering managed services . . . And Lenovo is offering managed services . . . Should you be afraid? Energized? Should your clients be warned about these changes? We discuss from many different angles. ----- Today's Sponsor is Sherweb's Accelerate 2020: The MSP event of the year is back. This time, it’s virtual and free to attend! Sherweb's Accelerate 2020 offers a comprehensive online program to help you gear up for the future of managed services. Industry experts will deliver thought leadership sessions and hands-on workshops on sales, marketing, financials, strategic business planning and customer engagement. Also available will be 1:1 meetings and fun virtual networking. Want to stay relevant in a disrupted world? Join us from anywhere on October 21st and 22nd. Registration is open at . :-)
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Episode 78 - Disrupting higher ed, expanding broadband, and Section 230 revisited
09/22/2020
Episode 78 - Disrupting higher ed, expanding broadband, and Section 230 revisited
Topic 1: Google disrupting Higher Ed. Should be jump on this boat? Education is overdue for disruption, but is this the right approach? And what’s up with CompTIA? Where we move away from 4-year degree and toward certifications, it rubs up against our industry very much. Another factor, of course, is the cost of higher ed. And, just to add one more factor: There's more knowledge to be had than is humanly possible to have. Topic 2: Should we make broadband a national effort? First off: It seems embarrassing that we are discussing this in the United States! Read this and come back: Karl harkens back to his experience in Australia over the last few years. The potential here is amazing, for IT Service Providers (not just Amazon and Microsoft). There are many, many ramifications for this. If nothing else, increased connectivity means more potential buyers for all services (for all - not must Apple and Facebook). Your feedback welcome! Topic 3: Section 230, revisited. Censorship. Regulation. Publishing. Responsibility. This one covers it all! When both parties agree on something, you know there's a problem. All of this stuff can help you start ongoing conversations with your clients. You just have to figure out where to start. -- -- -- Sponsor note: Acronis invites you to the Acronis Global Cyber Summit, this is the premier event dedicated to connecting the IT channel and IT pros with actionable insights, solutions, and strategies for effective cyber protection. Bringing together service providers, value-added-resellers, CIOs, and ISVs, the Summit is the world's largest gathering of thought leaders and industry experts sharing insights and advances in the field of cyber protection. Featuring a long list of speakers, sign up for free at . – you’ll even be able to catch Dave doing “why do we care” online. See you there. :-)
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Episode 77 - Smart Devices in Court Evidence and Bitcoin Electricity Usage
09/15/2020
Episode 77 - Smart Devices in Court Evidence and Bitcoin Electricity Usage
Topic 1: Are all your smart devices going to be used in evidence against you? Follow up on the topic of having an AI app get you out of a ticket. Between your cloud-stored camera footage and device recordings, police might be able to be used to defend you . . . or convict you. We discuss several sides of this emerging technology, including the integrity of the data as well as our right against self-incrimination. Alexa, Play My Alibi: The Smart Home Gets Taken to Court Link: Topic 2: Tech companies want to get you back to your office 35% of companies have no timeline for getting back to work. But, some very big tech companies are helping you start to move in that direction. But, at the same time, those big companies aren't headed back to their offices! Link: Topic 3: Making money from electricity instead of Bitcoin. Huh? Recently, power prices in Taxes popped over $200 per megawatt-hour. One company, Layer1, stopped mining Bitcoin for 30 minutes and reaped returns of 700%. This highlights an ongoing issue of the true costs of bitcoin. Link: :-)
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KIT Episode 76: Service Leadership Report, Apple's New Privacy Policy, and More
09/08/2020
KIT Episode 76: Service Leadership Report, Apple's New Privacy Policy, and More
We have a sponsor today: PC Matic — Endpoint Security built on a zero trust philosophy, allowing only trusted applications and blocking all the rest. Light weight, simple to deploy, easy to manage, find out about PC Matic's unique lead sharing program for MSPs backed by a prime-time national TV campaign. Together, we bring advanced security solutions combined with more than sales enablement … we bring actual leads. Find out more about PC Matic by visiting Topic 1: Discussion of Service Leadership Mid-Year numbers Paul Dippell reports on how MSPs are thriving (or surviving) during the recession. We discuss the report. Links: Topic 2: Apple's new “privacy policy” is challenged by Facebook and others. Is it really just a ploy to to manipulate ads without allowing other platforms to do the same? We discuss. Topic 3: Life after the pandemic - Automation and Anti-Immigrant Fears. This is a continuing theme throughout history. Workers always fear that technology will displace them. And, to the extent that companies turn to immigrants, there is historical fear that jobs will be lost to immigrants as well. We discuss: Is it time to rethink how we talk about it? :-)
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Episode 75 - Emerging Technology, Epic v. Apple (again), and SaaS Management
09/01/2020
Episode 75 - Emerging Technology, Epic v. Apple (again), and SaaS Management
Episode 75 !!! It may not be a big event for you, but we feel great about producing seventy-five episodes of The Killing IT Podcast. Thank you for all your support, and for spreading the word. Topic 1: Retrospective on Changing/Emerging Technology We started the podcast with a lot of excitement around new (emerging) technologies. So, we thought this episode is a great opportunity to give our updated opinions on some of these technologies. We mention some of the highlights of CompTIA's revised "Top 10 Emerging Technologies" report. We have a few that we think are not quite ready for the list, and even one sleeper. Related Link: Topic 2: Update - Epic vs. Apple - week two As Ryan describes it, the judge played Solomon and split the baby on this one. An interesting development on the legal front re: Epic v Apple. The best line: the current predicament (for Epic) is largely self-inflicted. Channel strategy is voluntary, and when a vendor chooses to introduce competition or conflict, channel partners are free to opt out. As always, it’s vital to remember that vendors do not own their channels, they must influence channel partners to choose to be in visit with them. Related Link: Topic 3: Life after Pandemic - SaaS management Yay! A new thing we all have to pay attention to. :-) A new "class" of service is now available. In fact, in one week, two companies announced that they are releasing a service: SaaS management. We explain what that is, and give a few introductory thoughts. The companies are: Augmentt and SaaS Alert -- -- -- Feedback welcome! :-)
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Episode 74 - AI Legal Assistance; Fortnite vs. Apple; The New Gartner Hype Cycle
08/25/2020
Episode 74 - AI Legal Assistance; Fortnite vs. Apple; The New Gartner Hype Cycle
NOT episode 75. Stay tuned next week. Topic 1: - AI legal assistance. Not ready to defend you in a criminal trial, but might get you out of a traffic ticket! Link: Topic 2: - Apple v Epic/Fortnite If you haven't seen the video, please do yourself a favor and watch. Video: Fortnite takes on Apple . . . and the original Apple 1984 Links: Topic 3: - Life after the pandemic - The New Gartner Hype Cycle Do we think this is what the world will look like? Link: :-)
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Episode 73 - B2B Sales Forecast, Government Regulations, and the Nature of Contract Work
08/18/2020
Episode 73 - B2B Sales Forecast, Government Regulations, and the Nature of Contract Work
This week's sponsor: PC Matic Endpoint Security built on a zero trust philosophy, allowing only trusted applications and blocking all the rest. Light weight, simple to deploy, easy to manage, find out about PC Matic's unique lead sharing program for MSPs backed by a prime time national TV campaign. Together, we bring advanced security solutions combined with more than sales enablement … we bring actual leads. Find out more about PC Matic by visiting Topic 1: - What's the B2B plan for sales after the pandemic? Here are a few different perspectives. We discuss these as well as recovery timing. After all, increased sales will start at some point: You need a plan! Post-COVID-19 strategy planning has begun at 43% of companies, while 38% of CIOs said their organizations continue to grapple with the effects of the pandemic, and plan to turn to recovery soon. How CIO’s view things: Topic 2: - What do the moves of government regulators mean? AG’s at the top: Or what it will mean for smaller companies? (Registration fees!) Facebook's July 2020 Civil Rights Audit: Topic 3: - Life after the pandemic - Changes in workers? This is a really good practical exercise in the debate around working from home vs. in the office. Hybrid work leads to hybrid legal definitions - and no one is prepared to address those different status types in their current model. Obviously the question in California is far from finished, but this is a really good step forward. The gig economy is a great idea, but companies have twisted the concept to abuse workers rather than create flexibility and it’s good to see some sanity introduced to the model. Note: While we were recording, the judge ruled against the extension we discuss. :-)
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Episode 72 - Micro-Management, Chinese Sanctions, and Trifurcation of the Web
08/11/2020
Episode 72 - Micro-Management, Chinese Sanctions, and Trifurcation of the Web
Topic 1: Micro-Management 2020 How are managers doing in the world all-remote work? In particular, how are remote managers doing? We continue the discussion of whether we'll really go back to the office when all this is over. One element to watch: Not all managers trust employees and believe they can be effective without true hands-on management. We cover a few stats and give our impressions of the world ahead. Links: Topic 2: Sanctions against Chinese companies will have echoes inside the world of technology. As Chinese companies are sanctioned for human rights violations, our supply chain is affected. On top of that, these sactions lead to other forces in the world of online collaboration and the global inter-connected Internet. Sub-topics include human rights, cyber crime, overall regulation, and having the virtual world become the "real" world. Links: Topic 3: TikTok and Bifurcation of the Internet; and maybe Trifurcation, etc. Life after the Pandemic . . . What does TikTok mean? And does it matter whether it's owned by a U.S. company, in an inter-connected global Internet? Is TikTok any worse than Google, Facebook, Amazon, and other "western" countries just because the data goes to China vs. San Jose? :-)
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Episode 71 - Big Tech Businesses and College Evaluations
08/04/2020
Episode 71 - Big Tech Businesses and College Evaluations
Topic 1: The "Big Four" IT buisinesses grilled by Congress. Will there be any real aftermath to these hearings, or is this all just political showmanship? CEOs from Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google were grilled by Congress. We discuss what this might mean (or not). Sample Link: Topic 2: SolarWinds abdicates RMM. SolarWinds has announced that they're just going to use the Microsoft tools to manage patch management. Is this simply "opting out" of the RMM game, or a smart move acknowledging that Microsoft does it better. What does this mean to you as a SolarWinds user? And does it affect you if you use something else? And is there any long-term effect on the industry generally? We discuss. Link: Topic 3: Life after Covid: College Life Expectancy How will colleges survive in the long term, and how is this affected by the Covid? Scott Galloway had a great blog post - with a great graphic. He looks at how colleges will emerge from this strange time. Check out the comments as well. Love the graphic :-)
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Episode 70 - VC Funding, Crypto Currency, and Splinternet
07/28/2020
Episode 70 - VC Funding, Crypto Currency, and Splinternet
Topic 1: Tech VC funding down and moving sideways (not up) due to the pandemic. Funding for new ventures is being affected by the recession and the circumstances surrounding the pandemic. The change in money makes sense, but the response to social distancing is a new factor the venture capitalists haven't dealt with before. Related Link: Topic 2: Embracing Crypto Currency Bitcoin might not be taking over the world, but some very big financial outfits are building their own crypto currencies. We talk about what's really going on here (embracing blockchain), and more. Plus, of course, our commentary. Favorite quote: "Money is nothing but alphanumeric data and it would become alphanumeric data not in paper form, but in a form of arranged electrons and photons," Related Link: Topic 3: Life after Covid: The four Internets. Maybe five. We've talked before about the Splinternet - dividing the Internet between the U.S.-centric and China-centric models. This article proposes two more model: Euro-centric and India-Centric. Each has unique challenges, limitations, and opportunities. . . . On top of that, consider the emerging Quantum Internet, base on U.S.-centric Quantum computing initiatives. Related Links: Your feedback is welcome! :-)
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Episode 69 - EU Privacy, Twitter Hack, Ethical Explorer Pack, and the Future
07/21/2020
Episode 69 - EU Privacy, Twitter Hack, Ethical Explorer Pack, and the Future
Another fun show! Please give us your feedback. And share it if you love it! We start with a couple of major stories and finish with an eye on the future. Topic 1: EU says their privacy laws are not being enforced appropriately in the U.S. To make that point, a random group of hackers broke into a series of Twitter accounts. Question one: Are we doing enough to protect data privacy? Question two: Is it possible to get this right? Can you, as a solution provider, actually do a decent job to protect your clients? Links: Topic 2: “Ethical Explorer Pack” for developers. This is a cool offspring from the "Ethical OS" project. Basically, programmers wanna program. They want to create cool programs, games, and so forth. And sometimes they accidentally produce unintended consequences related to ethics and human interaction. In the best of worlds, this might have to do with blind spots. But sometimes the bias is built into the data and the processes themselves. Basically, this is an attempt to open developer's view of the world. At a minimum, keeping an eye on ethics is good for everyone. Link: Topic 3: Thinking about the quote from William Gibson: “The future is already here; It’s just not widely distributed.” As we look at all the "Covid" related changes, there's lots of speculation about how much of the change will stay. We start with the question, how much of the change we’re seeing is not new at all? A great example is Zoom. Many of us have been using Zoom and similar tools for more than a decade. What's "new" to one group is not new to everyone. Some of this is just cutting edge technology that’s just in the right place at the right time. Some is established technology that has just been waiting for an opportunity to shine. But perhaps most of it is very well established technology that has been proven in niches and is suddenly visible to a wider audience. We touch a bit on all of our favorite topics: RMM, remote tech support, food delivery apps, AI, etc. -- -- -- That's it for this week. Please give us a like, thumbs up, or whatever other goodness you can. Comments and questions welcome. :-)
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Episode 68 - AI Fights Covid on Mass Transit and Makes Deep Fakes Easier
07/14/2020
Episode 68 - AI Fights Covid on Mass Transit and Makes Deep Fakes Easier
Topic 1: AI - Take One: Fighting Covid on mass transit In Barcelona's subway system, AI is helping regulate airflows to fight the spread of Covid. Of course, that has implications for other diseases and other mass transit. We discuss what this means for you. Links: Topic 2: AI - Take Two: Creating Fake Journalists to Write Fake Editorials This is the kind of weirdness most of us weren't expecting from Artificial Intelligence. Now, on top of fake picture, fake profiles, and even fake videos, we now have entirely made-up background stories and profiles, with all the details. This affects many things, including, potentially, your client's reputation management. And, of course, the possibilities for phishing and related attacks is almost unbelievable. Links: Topic 3: Life after the Pandemic . . . Social Media Responsibility Once again, we look into the self regulation of social media. In the new again . . . Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and more. :-)
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Episode 67 - Regulations, Face-Changing Technology, and Social Media
07/07/2020
Episode 67 - Regulations, Face-Changing Technology, and Social Media
Topic 1: Regulations are real in Louisiana. Now moving to a city and state near you. Also, check out the new page on Facebook: (MSP Regulation and Legislation). Topic 2:Face-changing technology . . . with a nod to what this means for facial recognition. And maybe a quick discussion of Pandora’s box. Can we keep the genie in the bottle? Related Link: Topic 3: Life after the Pandemic . . . Revisit Social Media trying to figure out if (how much) they should limit content ? Of course we have opinions!
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Episode 66 - Limiting AI, Apples Buys an RMM, and more
06/30/2020
Episode 66 - Limiting AI, Apples Buys an RMM, and more
Topic 1: Limit AI Research before it happens? Wired reports that an AI algorithm that "predicts" criminality based on a facial recognition is drawing ire. Meanwhile, some AI experts are calling to stop this line of research altogether. Topic 2: Apple buys an RMM . . . Will this affect us? (and Dave notes his predictions along these lines). Note also Amazon’s new use of the term "managed service " with regard to their Honeycode project. Described online as a "managed service" you can buy. See . . . Topic 3: Life after the Pandemic . . . Will we actually get to attend anything in October? We discuss probabilities . . . and have some differences of opinion. :-)
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Episode 65 - Future Freelancing, MSP Benchmarks, and Future Agile
06/23/2020
Episode 65 - Future Freelancing, MSP Benchmarks, and Future Agile
Our sponsor today is PC Matic - Thank you! More info at -- -- -- Topic 1: Coming boom for freelancers? Part of the rhythm of the economy is that economic downturns result in new opportunities. This time, the question is, will this help independent IT consultants? Note: When decision makers are looking for special skills, they would rather hire an outside source rather than train someone in-house - even if cost is not a factor. Related Link: Topic 2: IT Glue released their 2020 Global MSP Benchmarks. A few notes. Around half (51%) of MSPs saw monthly revenue decreases as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, more than a quarter (29%) of MSPs saw their accounts receivable increase, showing more clients could not meet contract deadlines to pay for services. This survey did show a jump of prioritization of cybersecurity, from 27% of respondents in Feb to more than 50% in May. Old priorities were wiped away, replaced not only by cyber security but with customer churn, price pressure, and a second lockdown. Link: Topic 3: Life After the Pandemic . . . Increases in "Agile." We look at the business of the IT channel in the post-quarantine world … specifically how channel partners need to adapt the way they plan and operate, and how they engage their vendor partners. Things look like they're going to be a lot more Agile. If you're not in project management, you're still going to have to learn the terminology of PM very soon. Related Link: :-)
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Episode 64: Facial Recognition, the New Normal, and the 4-Day Work Week
06/16/2020
Episode 64: Facial Recognition, the New Normal, and the 4-Day Work Week
Special Note: This week's podcast is brought to you by our friends at Third Tier. For more information, visit . Topic 1: IBM and Amazon get out of facial recognition Major companies are backing away from developing and working with facial recognition technology. Issues include both the racial bias and the fact that they are working with police agencies. And then there was another shoe that dropped on the facial recognition topic. Other, older, related links: Topic 2: Let's Ban the term “New Normal” Everything changes all the time. We discuss whether the term "new normal" is actually useful at all. Hint: In a tech-centric world, this term just isn't very useful. We welcome your comments and feedback. Topic 3: Life after the pandemic -- The 4-Day Work Week This is a thread we’ve touched on in terms of the way people will work after the pandemic . . . but with more specific details and recommendations. Here's a recent article from a Canadian writer. :-)
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Episode 63 - Facebook Shops, Lobbying Efforts, and Current Events
06/11/2020
Episode 63 - Facebook Shops, Lobbying Efforts, and Current Events
Topic 1: Facebook Shops Will you (should you) set up a shop on Facebook? We give our perspective. Related Link: Topic 2: Lobbying by and for the IT Community Should we be lobbying on behalf of the IT Community? What does that look like? We discuss some of the major issues and what we think the (near) future might look like. Who should speak for us? Topic 3: How will we be affected by the current events and unrest, once the dust settles. Again, just our opinion. But we feel that we need to say something. Your feedback is always welcome! :-)
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Episode 62: Classrooms, Chromebooks, and Connectivity
06/02/2020
Episode 62: Classrooms, Chromebooks, and Connectivity
We have a bit of a theme going through all three of today's topics: Education. Topic 1: Google Classrooms - too meager? In case you haven't seen it, here is "Google Classroom." Google Classroom is super low tech. Is it too low tech? How much tech is needed in order to serve the education market? We discuss design, technology, and intended purposes. Of course this discussion touches on the topic of access to high speed Internet. More and more, true Internet access is becoming a requirement for education. Old link, but we all downloaded it before it became hard to find: Our saved version: Topic 2: HP Refresh / HP LIFE / Google Chrome books / the growing Digital divide HP has a great program to help get laptops (or desktop computers) into the hands of 1.5 billion students without computers. The HP Refresh software does a military wipe of the hard drive and then installs a Chrome operating system with a Zoom agent. We discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with bringing this basic technology to all the folks across the U.S. and the world. HP Refresh = Topic 3: Life after Pandemic - Classrooms and Connectivity We agree that the digital divide is real. And we think it might be getting wider. Again, we examine opportunities in the emerging environment. :-)
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Episode 61: LIVE Podcast - Burrito Delivery, Emerging Tech, and Your Favorite Accelerant
05/28/2020
Episode 61: LIVE Podcast - Burrito Delivery, Emerging Tech, and Your Favorite Accelerant
Recorded LIVE at the SMB Online Conference! (Conference attendees can see and listen to all four topics in the Conference downloads area.) Topic 1: Where do we stand on burrito delivery? Update on our year-old bet: Will your pizza (or burrito) be delivered first by flying drone or driverless car/robot? Well, that driverless car might have lots of fees attached (see New York Times). And of course industry news is hard to separate from "pandemic" news right now, but workforce slowdowns will affect the pace of technology adoption. Relevant links: Topic 2: Emerging Technology and Digital Transformation (Dave’s pet peeve) Wherein we explore the state of all this change in our industry. Are we there yet? Link: Topic 3: Life After the Pandemic How much will the IT consultant’s business go back to the old normal? Roundtable discussion. Karl says our definition of the network will be changed forever. :-)
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Episode 60: AI and VR in the Pandemic - and Spying on Employees from Now On
05/19/2020
Episode 60: AI and VR in the Pandemic - and Spying on Employees from Now On
Happy "Diamond" anniversary - 60 episodes! Topic 1: Are we breaking artificial intelligence? In this era of "pandemic," our behaviors are different from normal. That can be confusing for AI. In fact, it points out some of the weaknesses of AI data gathering, and how the models can wander off in the wrong direction. Topic 2: What happened with VR? This newsletter articles from Axios asks the question: Did Virtual Reality miss its big opportunity in this era of changing technology? And we ask . . . If not this time, should we be ready for the next opportunity? Or will VR's time to enter the mainstream never come? Topic 3: Technology after the Pandemic - Spying on Employees. Employers have used technology to keep track of employees for a long time. Now we're taking that to new heights. What lessons will we learn from spying on employees during the new work-from-home movement? Great quote: “... the new office life is likely to become a pulsating den of surveillance.”
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Episode 59: Facial Recognition, Facebooks's Supreme Court, and Sales After the Pandemic
05/12/2020
Episode 59: Facial Recognition, Facebooks's Supreme Court, and Sales After the Pandemic
Please check out our new “Killing IT Reading List” - at . Promo: Join us at the SMB Online Conference May 19-20. As a bonus, we're doing a "Killing IT Live" session. Check it out at . Topic 1: The Next Evolution of Facial Recognition - good and bad Makers of facial-recognition technology are trying to figure out how to adapt to a world in which people cover their faces to avoid spreading disease. Scouring social media and other apps for facial recognition database. Is this legal? Ethical? Also - finding children who have been victims of crimes. Sounds good, but also has some drawbacks. Links: How Well Can Algorithms Recognize Your Masked Face? Topic 2: The Facebook “Supreme Court” Facebook announces a board beyond Mark Z. to determine what is acceptable on their platform. Self regulation takes a different spin when you get to appoint the board that governs you - in hopes that governments won't. An interesting take-away for the previous two topics: Government regulation and self-regulation are important factors. You need to engage in these discussion with your clients. Topic 3: Technology after the Pandemic - The Small Business Sales process What will change after we get to leave our houses? Some things won't go back. In addition, many people are now comfortable doing a totally-online sales pitch. Others are eager to get back to the way things were. We add our perspective. . . . This episode brought to you by Bob's Metal Bending Shop . . . :-)
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Episode 58: Virtual Events, Economic Speculation, and Office Space after the Pandemic
05/05/2020
Episode 58: Virtual Events, Economic Speculation, and Office Space after the Pandemic
Check out the “Killing IT Reading List” at . Topic 1: Virtual Events -- what you want to see A different kind of discussion here. Would you rather rush out from quarantine to a channel-focused event, or maybe a sporting event, a social event, or even a concert? We are still waiting for a "killer app" for online events. Topic 2: The Economy Where are we? Note: Wild speculation ahead! We are clearly on our our way to recession. How soon will we start to move out of it? How paralyzed are you by the statistics? What are the implications for business when there is so much uncertainty? In the previous topic we talked about the specifics of dealing with this regarding conference events. What about the rest of our economic interactions? And the big question: What is the best approach for your business to take to guarantee survival in this environment? Topic 3: Technology after the Pandemic - Office space after the Pandemic You have to dig a bit . . . but there’s a mention of voice-activated elevators. Dave’s favorite interface! Related Link: -- -- -- AD spot: As you all see too frequently, ransomware continues to bypass antivirus and malware protection, and backups will only help you clean up the mess, that is if they aren’t wiped out during the attack. CryptoStopper is specifically designed to add a layer of protection beyond antivirus and anti-malware by detecting and stopping actively running ransomware on a network in less than a second. It uses bait files to detect and stop ransomware, and runs parallel to, and as part of your current security stack. Add CryptoStopper as protection to an unavoidable threat, differentiating your service offering and allowing you to secure your customers and their trust. For more information or to get a 4-month free trial, visit :-)
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Episode 57: Amazon CX, IT Communication, and Blockchain in the Grocery Store
04/28/2020
Episode 57: Amazon CX, IT Communication, and Blockchain in the Grocery Store
Topic 1: CX Rules - Amazon makes it a little more difficult to buy - so you won’t be disappointed. Amazon has made several subtle changes in response to the current economic environment. Specifically, their delivery times and inventory are no longer as reliable as they used to be. One example: They have reduced the “people also bought this” option so they are not automatically pushing items that might be out of stock or take longer to fulfill. They are also pushing Kindle versions of books, which never go out of stock. The goal is to minimize bad Customer Experience and maximize the positive Customer Experiences they can. Their assumption is that people are keeping track of who serves them well and who disappoints them during these unusual economic times. Related Link: Topic 2: Good Communication is critical in these unusual times. Here we highlight a disagreement between an IT department and the people they serve. IT is more critical than ever to every organization - and they need to learn how to work with people! Links: The School Board tried to blame IT… and IT struck back and got their letter in the WaPo: Topic 3: Technology after the Pandemic - Cutting edge technologies to help keep the food chain safe. IT - and blockchain in particular - will change the way we keep food safe. Key quote: “Gartner predicts that 20% of the Top 10 grocers worldwide will be using blockchain by 2025 to improve food safety and traceability by creating a secure ledger documenting its production, quality and freshness.” Link: :-)
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Episode 56: A Community Rant, Plus Notes on Education and the Role of Robots
04/21/2020
Episode 56: A Community Rant, Plus Notes on Education and the Role of Robots
Topic 1: Community Rant - Helping your clients with finances. We cannot believe that there are "experts" recommending that you lower your rates, forgive debts, and be the financial support for your clients in the rough times ahead! Just because someone bought time on a webinar does not mean that you should be taking their advice. There are ways to cut costs by offering different services. Please do not create a "loss leader" service in a recession! Cash remains king. Please do not simply charge less and give the same level of service: That breaks the value chain. Topic 2: Education and Online Learning - How much opportunity is here? Sending all the student home has made clear that there are systemic problems with "universal" online education. Many students do not have the Internet connectivity or resources to simply switch to online education. In addition, there are lots of teachers who have never used online tools to deliver education. And if all the colleges go online, they will compete in ways they have never competed before. Yes, there's "opportunity" here, but the world is more complicated than that simple statement implies. Topic 3: Technology after the pandemic - Robots Welcome to take some jobs We were struck by the article below on how robots are being accepted instead of feared, at least in one specific example. There have been commentaries for years about the fear of robots taking jobs. But in this strange pandemic context, we're finding that robots are welcome to do certain jobs that humans aren't interested in doing. Link: :-)
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Episode 55: Our Channel Boost, Setting Prices, and Cities after the Pandemic
04/14/2020
Episode 55: Our Channel Boost, Setting Prices, and Cities after the Pandemic
We start with a nerdy technology catch-up. Topic 1: The Channel Gets a Boost We all know that there's been a spike in spending as the first response to the big stay-at-home orders. So most tech companies have seen a good influx of cash. We recommend that you consider this a short-term boost. CRN thinks it will be a longer term up-tick. We discuss. Related Link: Topic 2: Should you lower rates in response to economic downturn? (No. Here’s why.) We agree that this is definitely NOT the time to lower your rates. Raise value, but don't lower rates. Create new offerings, if you need to, but always be strategic about it. When you rely on recurring revenue, dropping rates is a critical error because it echoes across the months ahead! Topic 3: Technology after the pandemic - Changes to cities Once everyone moved "home" in response to the pandemic, some of them may not go back to the office. How extensive will this be? Many people will go back to business as usual, but we also think there will be a lot of permanent changes. This includes restaurants, commercial offices, and many of your clients. Feedback welcome! :-)
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Episode 54: 3D Printing To the Rescue; Selling Today; and Telemedicine
04/07/2020
Episode 54: 3D Printing To the Rescue; Selling Today; and Telemedicine
Intro chit-chat is all about baseball and getting back to "normal." Topic 1: 3D Printing Comes to the Rescue We had earlier said that 3D printing was no longer interesting. Well, now it's interesting again! Several groups have grown up around the use of 3D masks and spare parts in response to the current virus problems. Once you start following these links, you'll certainly find more. Links: Topic 2: Is it Okay to Start Selling to Clients? (Short answer: yes.) Yes, of course - but don't be a jerk about it. Your clients need you. And they need you now. And they will need you for the duration of the "social distancing." A few people are saying that it's bad form to be marketing and selling right now. We take a different perspective: If you are selling the right thing to help clients and make their business better, then they will be grateful that you helped them in their time of need. Related Link: Topic 3: Life After Pandemic - Telemedicine: Come with us now . . . to the future. When all this hub-bub is over, how will the future world be changed by things we are doing in the middle of this unique point in history. Today we look at changes in telemedicine that we think will last forever. Link: and always keep an eye on . . . The Medical Futurist: Stock mentioned (this is not an endorsement): TDOC. :-)
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