The MSP of 2026 — with David Schwartz of Pia

The Weight MSPs Carry — with Larry Meador of MSP Well

EPISODE SUMMARY
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Larry Meador, Strategic Advisor at MSP Well, joins the show to discuss the launch of a nonprofit focused on mental health and wellness for MSPs, vendors, and the broader ...channel. The conversation explores the crushing weight MSPs carry — perpetual responsibility for client infrastructure, cybersecurity liability, staff burnout, and 24/7 pressure — and how MSP Well is creating a centralized resource hub and community to help people realize it's okay to not be okay.

TOP 5 MSP TAKEAWAYS
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✅ The "always-on" burden is eroding MSP owner and technician mental health — MSPs carry perpetual responsibility for uptime, security, and client demands that don't respect business hours. This relentless pressure, compounded by ransomware liability and cyber insurance scrutiny, creates environments where burnout isn't an anomaly — it's the default unless actively managed.

✅ Watch for burnout signals in your team before they become crises — Apathy toward tickets, failure to document resolutions, ignoring security alerts, or technicians snapping at customers are red flags. These behaviors often signal deeper burnout or personal struggles that need intervention, not just performance management.

✅ MSPs inadvertently absorbed all client accountability for IT and security — By telling clients "just focus on your business, we'll handle IT," MSPs created a dynamic where clients abdicate responsibility and MSPs shoulder 100% of the risk. This makes strategic conversations harder and increases mental load when things go wrong.

✅ Normalize mental health resources from day one, not after someone breaks — Waiting until distress is visible means you're already late. MSP Well and similar resources should be baked into onboarding, team culture, and leadership communication so help-seeking becomes routine, not a crisis response.

✅ Community and shared stories reduce stigma faster than policy ever will — The MSP channel's willingness to rally around each other during crises (Kaseya, etc.) needs to extend to mental health. When leaders share their own struggles openly, it gives permission for others to do the same and creates a culture where asking for help is a strength, not a weakness.

💬 KEY QUOTE
"It's okay to not be okay. It's okay to reach out and say, 'I need to talk to someone. I need some type of help. Maybe I don't know what the heck I need, but I know something's not right.'"

CHAPTERS
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0:00 Introduction
2:03 The weight MSPs carry — perpetual responsibility and pressure
4:37 Cybersecurity's impact on MSP mental load
6:40 Have we created a mental health crisis in the MSP industry?
8:19 The origin story of MSP Well
14:18 Recognizing burnout in yourself and your team
20:03 The Kaseya breach story and MSP mental health wake-up calls
22:57 Breaking the stigma — especially for men in the channel
26:29 Resources and how MSP Well helps MSPs and vendors
31:12 How to intervene when someone needs help but won't ask
38:20 Age, conscientiousness, and mental health awareness
42:04 Sharing stories to give others permission to struggle
47:22 How to get involved with MSP Well

#mentalhealth #MSP #ManagedServices #ITBusinessShow More

The Accidental MSP Founder - with Steven Freidkin

EPISODE SUMMARY
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Steven Freidkin, CEO of 800-person MSP Ntiva, shares how his accidental journey from middle school tinkerer to enterprise operator taught him that growth requires intentionality—not just for technology, but ...for people. From pulling back an AI deployment because the team rejected it, to realizing agency atrophies at scale, Steven reveals how slowing down, leading with "why," and embracing discomfort became the unlock for building an MSP that exists to grow people, not just provision tech.

TOP 5 MSP TAKEAWAYS
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✅ Change management beats technical perfection — Ntiva built an AI ticket assistant (Natalie) that worked flawlessly but was rejected by techs. After forming committees and including the service desk in the redesign, adoption soared—even though nothing technical changed. The lesson: people support what they help create, especially when new tools feel threatening.

✅ Agency doesn't scale by accident — What happens organically at 10 people (autonomy, ownership, everyone wearing every hat) atrophies at 100+ if you don't rebuild it intentionally. Leaders must slow down, lead with "why," and invite input—or risk a culture shift from "run through walls" to "9-to-5 checkbox mode."

✅ Your product is your people, not your stack — MSPs commoditize fast. Ntiva's competitive edge isn't ConnectWise or backup tooling—it's creating an environment where team members say, "I've learned more here in 90 days than my prior job and formal education combined." That retention and growth engine is your actual margin protector.

✅ Fire clients who won't adopt MFA (or document the risk obsessively) — When a client refuses multi-factor authentication, acknowledge your own "worry story" (they'll get hit, blame you, and leave anyway), share it vulnerably with the client, and either part ways or get signed acknowledgment. Carrying unmitigated risk for someone else's negligence is a tax on your sanity and profitability.

✅ Hire someone who's done it bigger—even if they haven't done MSP — Ntiva spun its wheels for two years on message cascading and prioritization until a new COO with enterprise experience said: "That's what OKRs are for." Don't limit yourself to MSP-only hires at the executive level—organizational scale problems have already been solved elsewhere.

💬 KEY QUOTE
"We exist to grow each other. That is why we show up every day. That is why we run through walls. This is the impact we make."

CHAPTERS
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0:01 Introduction
1:34 Natalie: The AI Assistant Teams Rejected (Until They Didn't)
4:31 Agency, Autonomy, and Why It Atrophies at Scale
7:20 The Maturity Model of MSP Culture
10:02 When Roles Narrow: Helping People Navigate Growth
15:00 Identity Shift: From Blinky Lights to Uncomfortable Growth
17:11 Collective Wisdom and the Power of Sharing Mistakes
20:39 The Error That Almost Cost a Client—and Why He Didn't Fire the Tech
25:34 Why Ntiva Exists to Grow People (Not Just Deploy Tech)
32:57 The OKR Revelation: Bringing in Outside Experience
39:20 Worrying Is a Wasted Emotion—But Acknowledge It Anyway
43:21 Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: Thoughts Become Reality
50:01 What Client Experience Actually Means (Beyond Uptime)
53:52 Unlearning the Stigma Around Mental Health

#MSP #ManagedServices #ITBusinessShow More

Is Your Ego Killing Your MSP? — with Robin Robins

EPISODE SUMMARY
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Robin Robbins, founder of Technology Marketing Toolkit, sits down to discuss why most MSPs struggle with sales and marketing — and why being "polarizing" might be the secret to ...growth. She challenges the myth that technical expertise sells itself, explains why emotion beats logic in B2B sales, and reveals how the best MSPs systematize marketing rather than chase shiny tactics.

TOP 5 MSP TAKEAWAYS
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✅ Marketing starts with who, not tactics — Most MSPs jump straight to Facebook ads or SEO without defining their ideal customer profile or value proposition. Real growth comes from knowing exactly who you serve (revenue band, psychographics, pain points) and building systems around that clarity — not chasing the latest marketing fad.

✅ Emotion and urgency drive B2B buying decisions — MSPs often try to sell with logic (tech stacks, certifications, uptime stats), but prospects don't switch providers because of features. They switch when they're scared, frustrated, or angry about their current situation. If you're not addressing pain and risk, you're not creating urgency to buy.

✅ Build repeatable systems, not one-off campaigns — The MSPs who scale treat marketing like managed services: consistent, systematized, and boring. Weekly webinars, regular nurture emails, predictable outreach cadences. You'll get tired of your own marketing long before your prospects do — that's when it's working.

✅ ICP isn't perfection, it's direction — Your ideal customer profile doesn't need to be a carbon copy. Start with your best 5-10 clients, identify the common denominators (industry, size, values, problems), and focus your message on them. Trying to sell to everyone dilutes your positioning and burns budget.

✅ AI will commoditize mediocre marketing, so lean into trust — AI lets anyone produce decent content now, which means more noise, more distrust, and higher digital marketing costs. The antidote: relationship-based marketing, referral networks, and becoming known in your local or vertical market. High-value clients don't find MSPs on Facebook — they ask their CPA or peer group.

💬 KEY QUOTE
"Timid salespeople have skinny kids. You don't need to make a prospect feel like they need a shower after talking to you, but if you're in a sales environment, your goal is to get a customer — and that means beating a competitor, overcoming objections, and sometimes challenging beliefs the prospect holds that are incorrect."

CHAPTERS
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0:00 Introduction
1:22 Personal branding and polarization in the MSP world
4:02 Why Robin is polarizing — and why that's a good thing
6:38 The professional dignity trap and the marketing spend badge of honor
8:48 Selling with urgency and emotion vs. logic
14:48 The difference between technicians and entrepreneurs
19:01 How Robin got into the MSP industry
24:44 Learning to communicate and building frameworks
30:05 The filter problem — listening to understand vs. listening to respond
34:40 Personal transformation, grit, and survival as fuel
42:20 Tribal markers, shared values, and affinity marketing
50:22 Why most MSPs don't know who their customer really is
56:00 ICP isn't about perfection — it's about patterns
1:00:05 Playing the long game: list building and market readiness
1:03:02 Consistency beats tactics every time
1:05:35 Bad marketing advice and the free assessment debate
1:10:20 AI, commoditization, and the future of trust-based marketing

#MSP #ManagedServices #ITBusinessShow More

KnowledgeOps — with Pinar Ormeci of Lexful

EPISODE SUMMARY
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Pinar Ormeci, CEO of Lexful, introduces their AI-native documentation platform built specifically for MSPs. Lexful replaces legacy documentation tools with a "knowledge ops" approach — turning static documentation into ...an active intelligence layer that technicians, CEOs, and clients can query in plain English. The platform launched this week at Ride the Boom after extensive design partner feedback.

TOP 5 MSP TAKEAWAYS
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✅ Search is fundamentally broken in legacy tools — Technicians waste 5+ minutes hunting for passwords, network diagrams, or SOPs before giving up and interrupting colleagues. Lexful's "Ask Lex" feature answers contextual questions instantly in natural language, eliminating tab-switching and reducing onboarding time from 6-8 weeks to about a week.

✅ Documentation decay kills trust and creates tribal knowledge — Documents go stale the moment they're written because manual updates never happen consistently. When techs stop trusting docs, critical IP lives only in employees' heads. Lexful's roadmap includes autonomous knowledge updates that detect gaps between what's documented and what's discussed, then self-correct.

✅ Structured data is the fuel AI agents need — 93% of MSPs say AI is fundamental to growth, but 90% cite poor data quality as the barrier. Lexful restructures existing documentation into clean, AI-ready formats that feed automation workflows and unlock new AI-driven revenue streams beyond just internal efficiency gains.

✅ MSPs can offer AI-powered self-service help centers to clients — Every Lexful license includes client access to Ask Lex, letting end-users resolve password resets and basic issues in plain English without opening tickets. MSPs control exposure levels — full co-management of documentation or read-only access — and can monetize knowledge ops as a premium service layer.

✅ CEOs and leadership gain contextual intelligence on demand — Before client QBRs or unexpected calls, leaders can query Lexful from their phone for instant context on tickets, assets, or account history without hunting down account managers. One design partner described it as "a PhD chief of staff sitting on my shoulder" for every client conversation.

💬 KEY QUOTE
"AI needs structured, clean data as fuel. Structured data is the oxygen that fuels the AI agent, the automation, the workflows. If you have unstructured text lying around across different tools, different places, in people's heads — that's not the right starting point to get into a fully automated workflow."

CHAPTERS
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0:00 Introduction
1:18 Pinar's background and journey to MSP space
3:19 What is Lexful and solving documentation pain
4:56 Building AI-native from day one
7:08 Paradigm shift: rethinking UX and feature bloat
10:35 Natural language search vs keyword search
12:57 Knowledge ops vs legacy documentation
16:02 Onboarding technicians and search pain points
18:58 Autonomous knowledge and tribal knowledge risk
21:02 Structured data as AI fuel for MSPs
23:19 Security, privacy, and trust in AI platforms
28:01 System of record vs system of action
31:41 Client access and self-service help centers
35:08 Breaking assumptions: Ask Lex for CEOs and QBRs
40:47 Behavioral shift and AI fluency

#MSP #ManagedServices #ITBusinessShow More

Mastering MSP Profitability — with Dave Wilkeson

Dave Wilkeson, CEO of MSP Advisor and former MSP owner, breaks down the psychological and operational patterns that determine whether MSPs scale or stagnate. This conversation cuts through the industry's ...obsession with standardization and best practices to reveal how growth actually happens — in the gray areas most tech-minded owners avoid. From revenue plateaus to metrics that matter, Dave explains why the decisions you make at $1M will haunt or help you at $5M.

TOP 5 MSP TAKEAWAYS
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✅ Growth happens in the gray — Most MSP owners are techies who think in black and white (fixed or broken), but the biggest leaps come from accepting ambiguity. Taking on a 100-seat client when you've never gone above 25, or letting a salesperson push you into unfamiliar territory, forces you to develop the skills and systems that drive real scale.

✅ Revenue plateaus are predictable and psychological — MSPs consistently stall at $1.5M (owner doing everything), $3.5M (need a real leadership team), and $6-8M (need middle management). The barrier isn't technical — it's the founder's unwillingness to step back, delegate, or become "the man" they originally quit working for.

✅ Utilization is the wrong metric for managed services — Pushing help desk staff to 80% utilization creates ticket flipping, deferred issues, and no capacity for incidents or growth. The real goal: low utilization with high client satisfaction, so you can absorb spikes and onboard new clients without imploding.

✅ Enterprise value thinking starts at $1M, not at exit — Every decision you make early becomes part of your company's DNA. If you're not optimizing for enterprise value from day one, you'll either leave your family with an unsellable mess or spend years undoing bad habits when you finally want to transact.

✅ Finance hygiene is the most deprioritized and most damaging gap — Most MSPs don't know their cost of goods by service line, can't separate managed services revenue from professional services, and make decisions from approximations in their PSA. Without clean P&Ls and segmented reporting, you're flying blind — and you can't scale or sell what you can't measure.

💬 KEY QUOTE
"If you don't take care of your employees, how are you going to retain them? And retention is a critical factor in the success of a managed services company. If you have high turnover, you know that usually leads to high turnover on the client side."

CHAPTERS
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0:00 Introduction
1:14 Techie vs. sales founder patterns
3:45 Breaking black-and-white thinking
7:11 Standardization vs. flexibility
9:30 ICP rigidity and gray area pricing
11:04 Understanding client mindsets
14:20 Why MSPs join peer groups
16:55 Industry echo chambers and innovation
20:02 Client advisory boards for small MSPs
22:55 When to start thinking about enterprise value
27:00 Success guilt and owner compensation
31:24 Leadership vs. management
35:08 Revenue plateaus: $1.5M, $3.5M, $6M
40:20 Finance dysfunction across growth stages
45:41 Leading vs. lagging metrics
51:03 The utilization trap on help desk teams
54:09 Metrics for a $5M MSP
56:51 Churn analysis and healthy attrition

#MSP #ManagedServices #ITBusinessShow More

Becoming a Cyber Advisor — Steven Leventhal

Steven Leventhal, CEO of Felsway Group, breaks down why cyber risk is business risk and how MSPs can evolve from break-fix technicians to trusted advisors. The conversation covers operating through ...adversity, the role of governance in AI and security, and why tabletop exercises might be the most underutilized tool in an MSP's arsenal.

TOP 5 MSP TAKEAWAYS
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✅ Stop being judge, jury, and executioner — MSPs that try to own every security function create client dependency issues and expose themselves to liability. Partner with specialized governance and compliance advisors to provide oversight while you handle operations. Clients respect clear boundaries more than grab-at-everything service models.

✅ Translate risk into business language — Don't tell the CEO there's a vulnerability on "server 123." Tell them the e-commerce platform serving their top customers is at risk. Context drives budget decisions. Your job is to inform senior leadership so they can accept or fund the fix — not make the decision for them.

✅ Adversity isn't just breaches — Loss of a key employee with undocumented processes, SaaS provider outages, or failed backups are all examples of adversity. Build resilience programs that cover crisis management, incident response, business continuity, and disaster recovery as one integrated playbook — not just backups.

✅ Tabletops build muscle memory and unlock budgets — Running tabletop exercises tests your crisis plans, surfaces gaps, and gives clients a taste of what an incident feels like. After seeing how unprepared they are to respond, the natural next question is "how do we prevent this?" — which opens the conversation for program strategy and spending.

✅ AI governance is cyber governance — If you have a mature cyber program with data governance, access controls, and enforcement tooling, you already have the foundation for AI readiness. Don't treat AI as separate — integrate it into your existing compliance and resilience framework to demonstrate value beyond guardrails.

💬 KEY QUOTE
"You don't put the brakes on a car to slow down. You put them on so you can go fast. Same thing with governance — it's not here to stop you, it's here to enable speed without going off the rails."

CHAPTERS
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0:00 Introduction
1:14 Operating through adversity in 2026
3:02 Cyber and AI readiness advisors
6:26 Human nature vs. proactive security
11:13 Should MSPs get into the security business?
17:20 The role of the vCISO vs. the MSP
21:00 Improving risk and liability conversations
24:07 AI forcing MSPs into business process consulting
32:25 Judge, jury, and executioner — the MSP dilemma
37:19 Finding the sweet spot between risk and spend
40:20 Why tabletop exercises are underutilized
48:00 Resilience is more than backups
54:12 Metrics that matter: audit outcomes and reduced exposure

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Inside Pax8: Hypergrowth, Marketplaces, and MSP Power — with Ryan Walsh

The Rise of the MIP - with Daniel Mitchell

Daniel Mitchell discusses his journey from running Alt-tech MSP to launching MIP Global, a separate managed intelligence provider focused exclusively on AI consultancy. The conversation reveals the harsh reality that ...95% of AI implementations fail, largely because businesses lack documented processes and proper user adoption strategies. Mitchell emphasizes that successful AI deployment is 80% business analysis and change management, 20% technology, requiring MSPs to develop entirely new skillsets around process mapping, stakeholder education, and behavioral change leadership.

TOP 5 MSP TAKEAWAYS
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✅ Separate AI Consulting from Traditional MSP Operations — Mitchell split MIP Global from Altech because AI work requires business analysts who can map workflows and measure task completion rates, not traditional MSP technicians. This separation prevents talent dilution, clarifies M&A positioning, and enables focused service delivery without threatening existing MSP client relationships.

✅ Education Drives Adoption and Controls AI Costs — Without proper training on specific prompts and use cases, end users will "hack words at agents" designed for specific workflows, causing token costs to spiral unpredictably while delivering zero ROI. Mitchell builds education into every engagement phase: upfront to reduce fear, during implementation to reveal process gaps, and post-deployment to ensure consistent usage of cost-budgeted prompts.

✅ Process Documentation is the Real Barrier to AI — SMBs are "single-handedly the worst at creating policy and procedure," yet you cannot build AI solutions without understanding current workflows, failure points, and desired outcomes. Two-thirds of MIP Global's projects focus on business analysis and process mapping before any AI technology gets implemented — making this consultative work fundamentally different from traditional MSP project delivery.

✅ Shadow AI Kills ROI and Client Satisfaction — If employees bypass the AI systems you implemented to use ChatGPT or other tools because they weren't properly trained or bought in, your entire value proposition collapses. Mitchell monitors user engagement metrics and trains managers to coach low-adoption employees, treating this as a managed service requiring ongoing oversight — not a one-time deployment.

✅ The Power of "No" Protects Your Success Rate — Mitchell walks away from prospects who won't commit to process documentation, employee engagement, or workflow changes because misalignment guarantees failure. Sometimes saying no causes prospects to reverse course and become ideal clients when they realize the seriousness required, but forcing deals with unprepared customers only feeds the 95% failure statistic and damages your market reputation.

💬 KEY QUOTE
"We're taking a lot of chips to the blade right now. We're learning a lot of the lessons, and we're taking a lot of the punches to the face. But it's good."

CHAPTERS
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0:00 Introduction
2:21 Genesis of MIP Global and Separating AI from MSP Operations
4:39 Why AI Requires Business Analyst Skills, Not Technician Skills
10:19 Customer Education: From Fear to Fluency
13:45 The Pain of Discovery and Building the Truth Matrix
15:17 Why SMBs Can't Do AI Without Process Documentation
19:24 Using "No" as a Qualification Tool
22:22 Education Drives User Adoption and Engagement
25:25 Prompt Engineering and Controlling Token Costs
27:15 The MIP Playbook: What's Missing from Vendor Models
30:26 ROI Measurement and the Risk of Shadow AI
34:45 Internal AI Implementation Before Client Rollout
37:40 Maximizers vs Focusers: Rethinking Utilization Metrics
42:29 Culture Alignment and the Power of Saying No
44:10 Building Your Truth Matrix Through Feedback Loops
46:42 Valuing Silence Over Constant Technology
49:45 The Biggest Challenge: Finding AI-Fluent Business Analysts

#MSP #ManagedServices #ITBusinessShow More

Future Proofing Your vCISO Practice

What Actually Moves MSP Valuation — with Hartland Ross

What is an MSP's Most Important KPI? — with Dustin Bonn

EPISODE SUMMARY
───────────────
Dustin Bonn, VP of IT Operations at Marco Technologies, argues that an MSP's most critical KPI is how early they're involved in client business decisions — not ticket volume ...or response times. He shares how Marco pivoted from transactional service delivery to strategic client engagement by embedding vCIO services into every contract, assigning leaders to client portfolios, and shifting from quarterly reviews focused on past performance to frequent forward-looking business conversations about outcomes, AI readiness, and competitive positioning.

TOP 5 MSP TAKEAWAYS
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✅ Outcomes over ticket metrics — Traditional KPIs like response time and ticket volume are commoditized. MSPs must measure how early they're consulted on business decisions and whether they're influencing technology strategy, not just fixing problems. This shift determines whether you retain clients or get shopped every renewal cycle.

✅ vCIO is now table stakes — Marco made strategic advisory (vCIO) a standard inclusion across all agreements this year, not an upsell. If you're still charging extra for quarterly business reviews or technology roadmaps, you're positioning yourself as a vendor, not a partner — and competitors will eat your lunch.

✅ Leader-to-leader relationships drive retention — Marco implemented "Connected Leadership," assigning internal leaders to specific client portfolios (30-40 accounts, industry-aligned) with requirements to meet regularly. This isn't about your techs talking to their IT manager — it's about your VP talking to their CEO about business impact, not firewall models.

✅ Profitability segmentation prevents attrition — Marco reviews most profitable, least profitable, and mid-tier clients monthly to identify where they're underserving high-value accounts. Profitable clients who don't hear from you enough will assume you're coasting — and start taking competitor calls.

✅ Clarity in service catalogs prevents scope creep — Published, detailed service catalogs that explicitly define what's included, what's not, and what's billable as a project are non-negotiable. Misalignment on scope is the #1 cause of attrition. If clients don't understand what they're paying for, someone cheaper will make it sound better.

💬 KEY QUOTE
"I fear some of the more profitable ones if we're not coming to them with a new solution or idea — our competitors are having more conversations with our clients than we are. And that's not a good thing at all."

CHAPTERS
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0:00 Introduction
1:30 The most important MSP KPI: Early involvement in business decisions
4:05 Client IT budgeting challenges and clarity gaps
6:11 Marco's pivot from break-fix to strategic outcomes
10:25 Connected Leadership: Assigning leaders to client portfolios
13:07 Client segmentation and relationship management at scale
16:01 Building an innovation team to productize new solutions
20:00 Training and enablement as part of service delivery
21:15 Leading with assessments in the sales process
24:08 Frequency vs. depth of client conversations
30:10 KPIs that actually matter: Profitability and product pull-through
36:59 Pricing for strategic engagement and reinvestment
40:36 Focus and execution: Saying no to the wrong clients
43:29 AI forcing MSPs to go deeper into client data and applications
48:11 Quarterly strategic planning replaces annual reviews
52:08 Closing thoughts on community and continuous learning

#MSP #ManagedServices #ITBusinessShow More

Operationalizing Success in the Age of AI — with Dor Eisner

Project Management Is Risk Management — with Mike Psenka of Moovila

Michael George and Kristen Costagliola of Syncro

John Pagliuca — CEO at N-able

Implementation of Your Processes and Offerings

Relationships that Last — with Ryan Grimes

Positivity in Practice — with Marissa Maldonado

Building Repeatable Processes and Offerings

Beth Leonard, COO at R3

Introducing GTIA's New CEO: Dan Wensley

The Art of Conferencing and Productivity — with Henry Timm

Leadership is Everyone's Job - with Marnie Stockman and Nick Coniglio

Setting the Foundation for a vCISO Practice

2025 State of the Channel — with Carolyn April of GTIA

2025 State of the Channel — with Carolyn April of GTIA

🔹 Guest: Carolyn April, VP of Research & Market Intelligence, GTIA https://gtia.org/
🔹 Host: Luis Giraldo, ScalePad

How will the IT channel ...evolve in 2025? In this episode of MSP Confidential, Luis Giraldo sits down with Carolyn April of GTIA to unpack the most important findings from the 2025 State of the Channel Report. With more than a decade of research behind it, this annual report reveals how MSPs are transforming, where the biggest growth opportunities lie, and why customer expectations are shifting.

This deep dive covers the trends that matter most to MSP leaders, from AI readiness and workforce shortages to online marketplaces and M&A activity. Whether planning your next service offering or simply trying to stay ahead of the curve, this episode delivers actionable insight you can’t afford to miss.

⏱️ Timestamps & Chapter Breakdown

00:00 – Welcome and Introduction
01:31 – How the State of the Channel Report Is Built
GTIA surveys 400+ channel executives across North America and other regions. Carolyn explains how the study is structured, who contributes, and what trends have emerged over 12 years.
04:11 – 2025 Growth Forecast: 9% IT Services Growth
Gartner forecasts $1.73T in global IT spending, with services leading. Carolyn discusses why MSPs are shifting from product resale to service delivery—and how this aligns with global trends.
07:31 – AI Hype vs. AI Reality
MSPs are optimistic about AI, but is that optimism rooted in revenue or just early hype? Carolyn compares the AI curve to the cloud boom and predicts a coming “year-three” reality check.
12:41 – VARs, Hybrids & the Shifting Channel Identity
Many firms still identify as resellers. Carolyn breaks down the generational divide and explains why some MSPs resist transformation while others embrace business-centric service models.
16:21 – Business Goal Execution: Small vs. Large MSPs
Execution struggles are common among smaller MSPs. Carolyn explains how company size affects the capacity for strategic planning—and why daily firefighting often slows growth.
21:41 – The #2 Concern: Workforce & Skills Gaps
Workforce challenges rank as the second biggest concern for channel firms. AI and cybersecurity require deeper skills, but many MSPs lack access to affordable talent or training strategies.
27:16 – Online Marketplaces & Commoditization
Marketplaces are now top competitors. Carolyn explains how commoditization pressures MSPs—and why outcomes-based, consultative services are key to staying relevant and profitable.
32:46 – Consulting as a Competitive Differentiator
Firms that lead with consulting—not just tools—win. Carolyn shares how strategic services, not commoditized products, help MSPs stand out in a crowded field.
37:11 – Pure Play vs. Hybrid MSPs: What’s the Right Path?
Most MSPs operate as hybrids, offering products and services. Carolyn outlines the reasons behind this and explains why moving toward pure-play models is ideal but not always practical.
41:51 – Revenue vs. Profitability Trends
Revenue may be flat, but profitability is rising. Carolyn and Luis explore how better execution, automation, and consulting services improve margins for well-run MSPs.
45:31 – AI Readiness & Customer Demand
MSPs are shifting from internal pilots to external offerings. Carolyn highlights growing client demand and urges MSPs to offer AI training and user education to unlock ROI.
51:11 – Vendor Relationships & Program Consolidation
MSPs are cutting vendor bloat and focusing on deeper, more strategic partnerships. Carolyn shares why program fatigue is real—and how fewer, better-aligned vendor relationships drive satisfaction.

☑️ Key Takeaways for MSPs
✔ Services—not hardware—are driving channel growth
✔ AI is still early, but customer demand is real
✔ Workforce shortages are hitting MSPs harder than ever
✔ Commoditization makes business outcome consulting critical
✔ Pure-play MSPs with high-value services are more profitable
✔ Strategic vendor consolidation leads to better satisfaction

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Build or Buy Marketing? — with Megan Killion

Young, Smart & in IT — with Emma Bookspan

MSPs: What the New GTIA Means for Your Business

MSPs: What the New GTIA Means for Your Business
🔹 Guest: MJ Shoer, Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA) https://gtia.org/
🔹 Host: Luis Giraldo, ScalePad

The IT channel is evolving—and so is the association ...representing it. In this episode of MSP Confidential, I sit down with MJ Shoer, a longtime industry advocate and now a key leader in the newly formed @GTIA_official (Global Technology Industry Association).

We explore what the transition from CompTIA to GTIA really means for MSPs, what prompted the shift, and why every MSP should pay attention to the new era of global advocacy and community-driven innovation.

💡 Want to stay ahead as an MSP? Use the timestamps below to jump to the sections that matter most to your business.

⏳ Timestamps & Chapter Breakdown
00:00 - Introduction: Welcome MJ Shoer & The Big Shift
Luis welcomes MJ Shoer and sets the stage for the conversation, highlighting why this CompTIA to GTIA transformation is one of the biggest shifts MSPs have seen in the channel in years.
09:30 - What is GTIA? Why Did CompTIA Change?
MJ breaks down exactly what GTIA is, how it evolved out of CompTIA’s community, and the sale of the CompTIA brand to H.I.G. Capital and Thoma Bravo means for MSPs.
18:00 - Why Every MSP Should Care About GTIA
GTIA isn’t just a rebrand—it’s a new focus on advocacy, community, and resources tailored to today’s MSPs. Learn how this shift positions GTIA to become a more powerful voice for your business.
27:00 - Funding & Financial Independence for GTIA
MJ explains how the sale of CompTIA’s certification business created a permanent endowment that funds GTIA’s mission—giving the association financial independence for future generations.
36:00 - What Stays the Same & What Changes for MSP Members
From events to community programs, MJ breaks down what MSPs can still expect from GTIA—and where new opportunities for collaboration, advocacy, and innovation will emerge.
47:16 - What’s Next: Global Advocacy, Local Impact
GTIA’s focus is global, but the impact for local MSPs is real. Learn how GTIA plans to advocate for MSP interests at government levels, foster collaboration across continents, and drive the conversation on the future of the IT channel.

Key Takeaways for MSPs
✅ GTIA is built for MSPs—focusing directly on your needs, not on certifications.
✅ Stronger advocacy for MSPs—fighting for policies that protect your business.
✅ Global community with local impact—MSPs from all over the world collaborate to solve shared challenges.
✅ Financial independence means GTIA can invest fully in member benefits and advocacy without commercial distractions.
✅ This is your chance to shape the future of the IT channel—and make your voice heard.

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The Future of Backup: Why MSPs Need a BCDR Rethink Now

The Future of Backup: Why MSPs Need a BCDR Rethink Now

🔹 Guest: Austin McChord & Michael Fass, Co-Founders of Slide (https://slide.tech/)
🔹 Host: Luis Giraldo, ScalePad

In this episode of MSP Confidential, ...co-founders Austin McChord and Michael Fass from Slide reveal why it’s time for a complete reboot of backup and disaster recovery. Discover how their fresh, cloud-native approach challenges traditional BCDR methods and what it means for MSPs today.

⏳ Timestamps & Chapter Breakdown
00:00 - Introduction
BCDR isn’t just about having backups—it’s about ensuring business resilience. Austin McChord and Michael Fass discuss why traditional backup models are outdated and why MSPs must rethink their BCDR approach today.
08:40 - The Problem with Traditional Backup
Most backup solutions in the market are 20+ years old, built for a different era. Learn why legacy BCDR is failing modern MSPs and how shifting from patchwork fixes to a fresh, cloud-native model can solve these issues.
17:10 - Building a Next-Gen BCDR Solution
Slide is rebuilding backup from scratch—not just improving what exists. Discover how they’re leveraging cloud-first architectures, AI-driven strategies, and all-flash storage to make backup faster, more reliable, and built for the next decade.
26:09 - Lessons from Scaling a 2,000-Person Company
Austin and Michael reflect on their journey from growing Datto to launching Slide. What lessons apply to today’s MSPs, and how can IT leaders build a culture of innovation, resilience, and client trust?
35:10 - Future-Proofing MSPs with AI & Cloud-Native BCDR
AI and cloud-native workloads are transforming how MSPs approach backup and disaster recovery. Learn how automation, predictive analytics, and next-gen storage solutions will define the future of BCDR.
41:53 - Final Thoughts: What’s Next for MSPs?
Backup isn’t just a safety net—it’s a strategic advantage. Austin and Michael share insights on where the MSP industry is heading, why a security-first mindset is crucial, and how MSPs can position themselves for long-term success.

Key Takeaways for MSPs
✅ Legacy BCDR solutions are outdated—next-gen approaches are faster, smarter, and cloud-first
✅ Backup is not just about recovery—it’s about resilience and business continuity
✅ MSPs need to rethink backup as a service, not a product—it’s a growth driver, not just a checkbox
✅ AI-driven, cloud-native backup will dominate the next decade—early adopters will win more business
✅ The MSP landscape is shifting—those who fail to modernize risk falling behind

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Preparing for the Win—with Tom Hermstad

The Future of MSP Success: Why Soft Skills Matter More Than Ever — with Dominic Vogel

In today’s fast-paced MSP industry, technical expertise isn’t enough—you need human leadership to build trust, retain top talent, and create high-performing teams. In this conversation, cybersecurity leadership expert Dominic Vogel ...(Vogel Cyber Leadership & Coaching - https://www.vogelleadershipcoaching.com/) shares actionable insights on how MSP leaders can transform their teams into engaging, empathetic, and client-centric professionals.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
MSPs face a challenge: balancing technical expertise with human leadership. The best IT teams aren’t just the most skilled—they’re the most trusted. But how do you build a team that’s both technically competent and client-focused?
02:31 - Balancing Technology & Human Factors
MSP teams often over-prioritize technical skills while neglecting soft skills like communication and relationship-building. Yet, the most successful MSPs create teams that clients trust—not just call when things break. Learn how to bridge this gap and develop a more business-savvy, client-centric team.
08:16 - Generational Differences & The Role of Coaching
Younger professionals expect mentorship, while seasoned IT leaders often undervalue coaching. But the best MSPs invest in leadership training, not just certifications. See how coaching and mentorship help MSPs retain talent, improve service, and strengthen client relationships.
15:46 - Leadership & Empathy
Technical problem-solving doesn’t build trust—people do. Clients expect proactive communication and relationship-driven service, not just fast fixes. Learn how empathy and leadership can turn your MSP team into a true strategic partner.
22:31 - Organizational Culture & Psychological Safety
Burnout, high turnover, and disengagement hurt your MSP business. The best teams feel psychologically safe to share concerns, ask for help, and be vulnerable. Discover how strong leadership and open communication can transform team morale and client satisfaction.
30:01 - Branding & Reputation of Technical Teams
MSPs often struggle with internal branding—IT teams are seen as reactive problem-solvers instead of trusted advisors. But your MSP’s reputation is built on perception. Learn how a small shift in communication can rebrand your team and make them an indispensable part of your client’s business.
37:46 - The Power of Kindness & Human Connection
Retention isn’t just about solving tickets quickly—it’s about building relationships. See how kindness, encouragement, and personal connection improve technician job satisfaction, client trust, and long-term MSP growth.
44:16 - Conclusion: The Future of Human Leadership in Tech
MSP leadership’s next evolution isn’t just technical troubleshooting—it’s about people, communication, and trust. Investing in leadership development and emotional intelligence isn’t just a soft skill—it’s a business growth strategy. The future of MSP success depends on how well you connect with people.Show More

Risk, Innovation & Agility in Cyber—with Alex Dow

Cultural and Leadership Shifts in Cybersecurity—with Jason Makevich

Long Live All the Mountains We Moved — with Nick Mehta

Digital Ghosts and Goblins—with Brian Miller

Turning Around an Unprofitable MSP—with Peter Kujawa

The One-and-Only Richard Tubb

Joseph Landes, CRO at Nerdio

The Pumpkin Plan for MSPs—with Shawn Walsh

Ratcheting Up Your Project Delivery—With Todd Kane

IT the Proper Way™—with Jim Smith

Building Client Value into the Tech Stack—with Karl Fulljames

The MSP Compliance Journey—with Brian Guenther, CISSP

Identity is the New Firewall — with Michael Roth of Evo Security

Special Guest: Chris Day, Founder & CEO at ScalePad

Marketing Things Part 2—with Aaron Hayes of Aabyss

Operational Mastery: Insights from MSP to Private Equity—with Josh Kotler

Succeeding in the Law Vertical — with Jim Turner

Spicy Monday Rundown — with Kyle Christensen

MSP Confidential

A weekly live stream podcast with ScalePad’s Luis Giraldo

About your host

Check out past recordings below, or on the MSP Confidential YouTube Channel

The MSP of 2026 — with David Schwartz of Pia