It really does feel like a very long time indeed since we've been able to entertain the idea of getting together at an IT event (or even wanted to!). We're in the privileged position where this now looks like it will be possible, and I can't think of any better event to mark our own return to meeting with real-life 3D people again, than the annual CompTIA conference held this year in Liverpool St, London.

Zen Software's Managing Director, James Steel recently joined CompTIA's Tracy Pound to share his insights and tips on how MSPs can improve their success with marketing.

Tracy is founder and Managing Director of Maximity, a UK-based technology solution provider and chairwoman of the CompTIA board of directors.

As the Covid-19 pandemic hit, there was a big shift in marketing across lots of industries, but especially within the technology and MSP market.

James and Tracy discuss how the need for remote working and the reliance on managed services and solution providers tipped overnight and the opportunities that came about for MSPs and the buyer's journey.

Despite the many advances in digital communication, email still reigns supreme as the bedrock of most business interactions. Although numerous communication platforms like Microsoft Teams and Slack have grown in importance, email remains the most popular and efficient way to communicate for your SMB customers.

There's good reason for this of course - email chains and archives allow us to easily organise and keep track of the back-and-forth flow of conversation. Headers and subjects allow for quickly searchable keywords, and important document attachments can be easily retrieved through a cursory examination of the inbox.

As a managed service provider (MSP) or managed security service provider (MSSP), keeping the companies you're working with safe from cyber threats is your absolute bread and butter. It's at the core of what you do. It’s your responsibility to keep up to speed with the latest threats, to wade through the sea of stats, opinions, materials and demos for new tech that the vendors (and distributors like us!) send your way, and to make the important decisions on behalf of your clients. You've no doubt been doing this for years, but recently there's been a concerning plot twist.

As the trusted IT provider for your clients, one of the 'perks' of your job is that you’re the defacto go-to authority for all manner of (sometimes fairly dry) topics. Email retention policy quite possibly ranks high on the 'dry' scale, but it’s a topic both you and (and they!) really do need to be aware of. The mailboxes of your customers are rapidly growing treasure troves of useful, important and sensitive information, and that will continue to be the case for years to come. This makes them ticking time bombs if not cared for in the right way.

In case you missed the news, as of 1 July 2021, Exclaimer Mail Archiver has been discontinued. But what does this mean for you and your customers? There'll be continued support for Exclaimer Mail Archiver up to September 30, 2022, but if your customers aren't yet ready to give up the many benefits of an independent email archiving solution, you'll need to be discussing migration to a better alternative.

A recent update for BackupAssist Classic v11.1 has now been released which includes an improvement to the Exchange Granular Restore module along with a whole host of other enhancements and fixes. If you're working with customers using BackupAssist to protect their on-premise Exchange installations,  you'll be pleased to know BackupAssist have now improved their Microsoft Exchange Granular Restore module which includes support for Exchange 2019 up to CU9 and 2016 up to CU20.

From important information about ongoing deals to sensitive HR records and beyond, email archiving is the ideal way to keep the contents of mailboxes safe but still accessible. It's also an easy way as an IT provider to bolster the standard email backup strategy you put in place for your customers.

 

 

In version 13.1 of MailStore Server and MailStore Service Provider Edition, we see a focus from the development team in two key areas - security and hassle-free management.

Let's take a look at the highlights...