Analytics/Analysis

Harry Brelsford interviews Mark Alayev, the founder of Thread, about his background and the company's vision. Alayev shares his journey from an MSP intern to building Thread, emphasizing the concept of "service magic" which aims to enhance customer experiences and efficiency for MSPs. Thread recently introduced voice AI and service intelligence to streamline administrative tasks, allowing technicians to focus on human interactions. Harry draws parallels between Thread's innovative approach and his own experiences at Microsoft, highlighting the importance of counterculture thinking and strong points of view in driving technological change.

When you reach complete taking at looksy at the wonderful affirmation and accolades from SMB MSP community leader Karl Palachuck, I encourage you to reflect on how we built a thriving grass roots community that is very rate these days. The motion we engaged in has built life long relationships where we have laughed, cried, hugged and even fought over 20 plus years. 

Michael George discussed the evolution and future of Syncro, a company he joined in early 2024. Syncro aims to create a world-class RMM and PSA combined platform, leveraging the significant market share of Microsoft in the small to medium business sector. George highlighted the upcoming announcement of a new product category at the Kaseya conference, focusing on simplifying IT stacks and enhancing security. He emphasized the importance of AI in cybersecurity and the need for MSPs to stay ahead of evolving threats. George also mentioned Syncro's presence in Austin, Texas, and his personal experiences living between Boston and Naples, Florida.

Harry Brelsford interviews Oguo Atuanya, Corporate Vice President of Vendor Experience at PAX8, following the PAX Sait conference in Denver. Atuanya discusses PAX8's strategy to shift towards outcome-based solutions for SMBs through MSPs, emphasizing the importance of complete portfolios and leveraging AI to improve productivity and security. Atuanya brings 22 years of experience from Microsoft, where he managed go-to-market channels for SMBs in the Americas.

At the recent Px8 Beyond 2025 event, I found a few moments to meet with Carolyn April, Vice President, Research and Market Intelligence at GTIA (formerly CompTIA). She gave me the following advanced insights into her latest research on SMB Tech Buying Tech Trends. Her work is ongoing and her final research will be released at the GTIA ChannelCon event in Nashville in late July (join me!)

Let’s get started with SMB fun facts and then the top five takeaways.

Time keeps marching onward and speaking only for myself, I have a sense of urgency to get more sh*t done sooner rather than later.

In October 2024, well-known community leader Chris Wiser hosted a three day quarterly conference in San Antonio, TX. Living nearby in the Austin-area, I attended to gathering and was impressed with ‘dat thang.

On the second day, the mid-day keynote speaker was entrepreneur and author Dan Martell featuring his book “Buy Back Your Time” and heck, afterwards we all received a signed copy and a grip-and-greet pic with Martell.

I dove into this book head first and got myself headstrong to make changes for 2025.

With 2025 in full swing, take a deep breath, assess and appreciate the gifts you have. It’s also an opportunity to appreciate others (even if they are different from you).

Case in point is my life-long friendship starting in Alaska with award winning and accomplished writer Charles Wohlforth. Who woulda thunk it that we’d both grow up and dance with wolves in Alaska and words. But we took two different pathways. Charles has made a career of non-fiction writing books for major publishers on a range of topics from outer space destinations that mankind could some day colonize to a book on whales and super computers. Words flow easily for this chap and his services are in-demand such as collaboration and coaching. You should track him via his site and sign-up for his newsletter at

Welcome to 2025! I'm in more conversations with our ecosystem about what's ahead is nearly everyone is talking about future plans. Fellow SMB SBS geek shares what he as done to invoke personal and professioal change over the past decade. And there it a wee bit of humor tossed in to looks at vendor swag from yesteryear. Let's get started!

Richard Kenyon

Harry Brelsford catches up with Richard Kenyon in Albuquerque, New Mexico, discussing Richard's move from Michigan 10 years ago for a better climate and to be closer to family. Richard's wife, also a tech enthusiast, works as a project manager at Meta's data warehouse in Las Lunas.

On the surface my Christmas tree, admittedly a work in progress, has very little to teach about Customer Relationship Management (CRM), But get into the branches (not the weeds LOL) and this tree is the meaning of life with respect to starting, owning and operating a business in the Small and Medium Business (SMB) space. Read on. 

This week I had the pleasure of providing the first of a series of training sessions for my colleagues at the Well Done Foundation not-for-profit (NFP) on utilizing the new Microsoft Dynamics CRM instance. At its core,

Harry Brelsford and Paralee Walls discuss the Connect 2024 event, highlighting Paralee's company's success in the previous year's startup pitch competition. Paralee emphasizes the importance of integrating chat solutions for better customer service experiences, contrasting traditional ticketing systems. She shares her background in public school education and how transitioning to tech marketing is similar to teaching. They discuss the cognitive benefits of learning a foreign language, with Paralee noting that she dreams in Spanish. Paralee describes her company's marketing strategies at the event, including a "rage room" for venting business frustrations and a solutions booth. They also talk about the benefits of providing exceptional service experiences, exemplified by their party bus service for attendees.

Long-time readers will recall that we have always support Small Business Saturday that falls after the US Thanksgiving (started 2010). This year it’s November 30th. Here are a few ways you can participate.

Go Buy Something (Anything) from a Small Business! 

I love shopping on Small Business Saturday. Last year I picked up some sauces from a small business in the cute tourist town of Wimberley, TX in the hill country outside Austin. And I’ll hit the elephant in the room head on folks. Yes - buying a drink (wine, beer even Vodka count when you visit a local diner. Snap a pic and post it in our SBS group on FB (join HERE) 

Host a Reception at Your Business Location

Harry Brelsford and Dux Raymond Sy discussed the IT Nation Connect 2024 event, noting 4,500 on-site attendees and 205,000 online. Dux, Chief Brand Officer at AvePoint, highlighted AvePoint's role in data security, governance, and resiliency, emphasizing their 21-year history and 4,000 global partners. They discussed the importance of preparing for AI tools like Copilot by ensuring data hygiene and security. Dux noted that AvePoint's FedRAMP and GCC high certifications are crucial for federal market MSPs. They also touched on the challenges and opportunities in the SMB space, stressing the need for early adoption and recurring services.