In Scope: The IT Services Podcast

What’s the best way to scale a business? Jacob Martin is back for another episode of In Scope to share how MSPs can successfully scale. Jacob’s experience in leadership roles has taught him a lot, and he’s eager to share that with others. The three G’s are key to growing a business that is smart and strategic. Listen to In Scope and learn about them!

Jacob Martin recently became the VP of Sales and Marketing for ScopeStack. As a former employee at an MSP, he’s brought and seen a new perspective to selling services. Jon and Jacob sit down to discuss the importance of having a solid product paired with a rock-solid foundation. Hear how ScopeStack is expanding its team, and what that means for its services.

Jonathan Philipsen, EVP of Cloud Strategy at Thrive, has been in the MSP space for a while now, and he’s noticing a shift. Work-from-anywhere businesses put a strain on employee retention and increased the need for cybersecurity services. ChatGPT is sweeping across the industry and forcing the question: are employees still necessary? Jon and Jonathan leave no stone unturned in this episode to discuss advantageous moves for MSPs, the moral dilemma of AI, and the many routes you can take with multi-cloud environments.

VARs and the distribution process have changed a lot over the past 20 years. When Cisco used to dominate the industry, it was easier to be an expert in the field. Now there are all kinds of systems available, so many companies decided to outsource. But service objectives remained the same: how do we solve this problem? Jon goes screen-to-screen with the VP of Solution Development at Telamon, Greg Richey, to discuss the impact of Digital Transformation, striking the balance between expertise and outsourcing, and scaling your ecosystem.

The services industry is not immune from evolution. As we try to provide more and more value for clients while growing our own teams, it means the definition of “services” is always changing. Heck, it’s changed a ton even since 2020 with the rise of packaged offerings and an emphasis on recurring revenue. We had Chris Ward, Vice President at DEft, talk us through what he thinks the future of services looks like. Check it out!

Todd Kane has spent the last decade helping MSPs and VARs deliver higher value to their clients while bringing their turnover down and skyrocketing their team morale. He talks Jon through the science of selling services while managing a team that performs at a high level. This episode is a great resource for anyone in a management level role at an MSP or VAR looking to sharpen their approach.

Back by popular demand: the Director of Academy at Pax8, James Davis, returns to In Scope to discuss the Digital Transformation of scoping. Not only has this changed the way presales folks and engineers do their job—it’s upended all aspects of I.T. work. Join Jon and James as they break down the trend of transformational projects, the questions you should be asking your clients, and how they adapted their businesses to grow during this innovative time.

James Davis is the Director of Academy at Pax8, a global leader in cloud solutions. He joins Jon from Down Under to talk about arguably the most critical business function of any MSP or VAR (and something Jon knows quite well): scoping. They dive into all the inefficiencies of improper scoping and really quick fixes. They also share a few examples of just how significant an inefficient scoping process can be. Tune in to rethink the way you scope!

Dennis Manfra is the VP of Technical Services at IE, and he’s joining Jon to talk pricing. We know, it’s not the sexiest topic, but that doesn’t mean it’s not incredibly important. Dennis and Jon talk through two approaches to pricing: T&M and Fixed pricing. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, but they also send a message to your client and your team. Learn more about these approaches and when each one is best to use!

How do you make the handoff from presales to post-sales? Jesse White of Katalyst explains why this is a critical question and how to handle it.