Twins Talk Tech Leadership

Episode 57: The Power of Partnerships and Diversity

Community, strategic partnerships and embracing diversity can lead to incredible growth. International tech veteran and visionary leader Per Werngren lends his experience from building a successful international organization and from his time leading the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners - IAMCP. Idenxt is a leading hosting provider, powered by Microsoft.Highlights include:Global expansion and impact of the IAMCP community.His widely adopted P2P Maturity Model.Diversity of backgrounds is an advantage to any organization.Be willing to acknowledge that you are a guest and foster curiosity.Must lead by example, empower leaders and embrace inclusion.Working with governments and the importance of smaller companies having their voices heard.Trends and the spirit of giving.Book Who moved the cheeseBook: ‘Moments of Truth’To learn more about Per and his work, connect with him on LinkedIn, visit idenxt.com and accelerator.one/

Episode 56: Deploy with Award Winning DNS Speed

What would being able to deploy a fast and reliable DNS Filtering Solution look like for your organization? What does Formula One have in connection with the award winning speed of DNSFilter? Steve Staden, Senior Director, Product Management at DNSFilter dives into more than just how you can provide your company with content filtering and threat protection against malware and phishing campaigns across all networks and environments.Some of the featured highlights:Machine Learning and DNS Security.What makes DNSFilter so special including their low false positive rate.The drive to be responsive and remain visible and transparent while continuing to “raise the bar.” Their ‘Faster Together’ official partnership with Andretti Autosport.The conferences and shows we can expect to see Steve and his team in 2024.What type of podcast programs he listens to in addition to our own Twins Talk Tech Leadership program.Connect with Steve on LinkedIn and visit dnsfilter.com to learn more. Steve is also sharing a great resource: CIS checklist and the Annual security report.https://explore.dnsfilter.com/hubfs/DNSFilter%20CIS%20Controls%20Checklist.pdf

Episode 55: AI and Hyperautomation

Raghu Ram Bongula, Chief Technology Officer at ConnectWise joins us to share his leadership journey and provide a glimpse of his work with AI and Hyperautomation within the MSP space. ConnectWise is an industry leading IT software, services, resources, and community for the tech sector. Some of the highlights include:His approach to meeting the growing needs of the MSP community.Start with knowing your audience, identify the problem you want to solve and then work backwards while accepting feedback.Fast fail approach to develop and release better products.Stages in Development include: Prescriptive, Predictive and DescriptiveConnectWise Sidekick, an AI assisted tool for managed service providers, designed to enhance efficiency and ingenuity.To learn more about Raghu and the exciting work they are doing at ConnectWise, visit connectwise.com/ and connectwise.com/blog for articles, resources and new tech insights.

Episode 54: What’s Better Than a Great Mind? Try 9

Passion and vision make for a fantastic story about an organization shaking up the sector as they do their part to become the sought out solution partner for managed solution providers, their engineers and service technicians. CEO Robert Isaacs of Nine Minds touches on the potential impact of artificial intelligence and how his organization addresses fatigue and frustrations faced by MSPs when it comes to the management of ticketing, achieving efficiency, increasing profitability and driving organizational morale. Highlights include:Branding and foundation of Nine Minds.Alga as a tool to streamline processes, create efficiencies, reducing burden while opening the minds of talented technicians. Nine Minds outlook for 2024 and beyond.Lessons learned leading a startup.Empower your MSP while delivering better service to your clients by partnering with Nine Minds. To learn more about Robert and Nine Minds, connect via LinkedIn and visit nineminds.comDownload this amazing resource, a downloadable White paper covering how AI may be the ultimate key to alleviating common IT support challenges: www.nineminds.com/whitepaper

Episode 53: Mindset of Working On & Not In

A New Year brings incredible optimism and an expectation for greater success and growth. You’ve likely met with your leadership teams and have identified opportunities, but goals and roles have to be refined and clearly defined. You cannot wear every hat as this takes away from establishing and executing the strategic vision of your organization. CEO of TruNorth Dynamics, Ole Gjerde shares the importance of successfully shifting the mindset from working in your business to working on your business. TruNorth Dynamics is a leading provider of Microsoft Dynamics solutions, providing solutions and improving efficiencies for SMBs.Some of the highlights:TruNorth Dynamics branding.Pros and challenges of embracing a remote model.Tips to go from working in to working on, including delegation and a culture of creativity. Hire great people and let them 'make magic happen.'Leadership and development include training, coaching and mentoring with clear expectations and a level of accountability. 'It's coach up or coach out'Insight into some of his goals for 2024.Connect with Ole on LinkedIn and visit trunorthdynamics.com/

Episode 52: Growth Nuggets & a Call to be an Evangelist

We are privileged to speak with and learn from incredible leaders. What a bonus when we are able to share those voices with our listeners. We invited one such leader to lend from his experience of working with driven leaders and from building successful organizations. Andrew Montz is a Vistage Chair and the Founder & CEO of as1, helping technology service companies accelerate revenue, scale and improve organizational culture, where teams learn to build and lead as 1 team. Some of the highlights include: Lessons learned from scaling multiple tech services companies.Why he enjoys the challenge of the ‘constant changing of technology and constant puzzle of business growth.’Building leadership teams and their ability to execute and finish the vision.Andrew believes in 'mission driven leadership' and becoming an evangelist with your customers and/or shareholders.His role as a Vistage chair.Andrew’s recommended books. To learn more about Andrew and his work, connect with him on LinkedIn and visit as1.team/

Episode 51: Going Beyond the QBR

QBRs are invaluable investments that support MSPs and their mission to keep clients informed and treated like a true partner in the development and execution of a strategic technology roadmap. With the advancement of tech, AI and hybrid models, it becomes more imperative that CIOs and CISOs have resources to champion their efforts. Brian Doyle, Co-founder and CEO of vCIOToolbox shares about the evolution of account management and about the importance of community. vCIOToolbox is a trusted partner to MSPs providing an account management and advisory SaaS platform for Account Managers, vCIOs, vCISOs, and Technology Leaders.Some of the highlights include:The framework of vCIOToolbox and how they help MSPs drive strategic outcomes.Their experience from being a PitchIT Finalist and participant in the 16-week accelerator program created by ConnectWise.The strength and support of the community. ‘Your competition could also be your collaborators when you build an ecosystem of trust.'MSP Business School podcast and vCIOToolbox University.To learn more about Brian, connect with him on LinkedIn, follow the MSP Business School podcast and visit vciotoolbox.com

Episode 50: Talk Vulnerabilities

When was the last conversation you had about vulnerabilities and how to best position your organization against cyber attacks? These conversations may not be comfortable, but they need to happen. Matthew Koenig, VP, Channel Sales at Nodeware® by IGI CyberLabs shares his thoughts on the importance of addressing and identifying vulnerabilities. Nodeware provides vulnerability scanning with complete and continuous visibility of your network and its assets. Some of the highlights:Tips for MSPs including having a proven sales methodology, asking questions and ‘selling the outcome.’ Matthew says that he will ask 'why me and why now'?'If you have to sell on price, walk away.'Impact from PitchITMatthew is also offering a 15-min consultation to any MSP with questions about vulnerability testing and the cybersecurity landscape. Also follow Matthew on LinkedIn and visit nodeware.com

Episode 49: Marketing & Speaking in the Tech Sector

How you navigate technology, marketing and public speaking can make all the difference for professionals and organizations looking to stay relevant and experience incredible success. Kelly Stone serves as the Chief Marketing Officer at Channel Program; a sourcing and optimization network for MSPs. Some of the highlights from this episode include:The value of storytelling.Recap of IT Nation 2023.Marketing Trends including the impact of AI.Channel Program’s NaviStack offering to empower MSPs to visualize and communicate with their vendor ecosystem.IronMans, public speaking and worthy causes. Find Kelly on LinkedIn, reach out if you are looking for a keynote speaker and visit https://channelprogram.com/ to learn more about the community and about tools and resources for MSPs. Also, register for access to NaviStack by visiting https://channelprogram.com/navistack

Episode 48: Intentionally Radical

What does it mean to be intentionally radical? What are you willing to do that may seem extreme to your competitors? Are you willing to put it all on the line for your clients? Radical with innovationRadical with being customer centricRadical with organizational cultureBeing intentionally radical is at the core of Thread, a platform empowering MSPs to deliver service right where the end user is. Katie Vreeland, Head of Marketing with Thread joins us to share about:Her marketing leadership journey.Winning PitchIT Accelerator competition.Thread corporate culture & mission.Who she would like to be mentored by.Marketing outlook in the sector. To learn more about Katie, connect with her on LinkedIn, visit getthread.com/ and be sure to click the ‘Book a Demo’ button on the main page.