Business Speak

Mike Hanauer, a consultant specializing in MSPs, discussed his recent activities, including his role as Chief Revenue Officer at Total and the relaunch of his consulting firm, Green Lake. He focuses on interim leadership for MSPs and post-acquisition integration, emphasizing the importance of retention and proper pricing and packaging. Harry Brelsford, a board member of a community private equity group, shared his experiences with post-acquisition integration and the resilience of the MSP sector. They both highlighted the critical role of MSPs in protecting small and medium businesses, especially during economic uncertainties.

Harry Brelsford and Peter Kujawa discussed the IT Nation Global Connect 2025 event, highlighting its success in venue, content, and food. Peter detailed the Service Leadership benchmarking reports, including the annual profitability report and the new compensation benchmarking report. He emphasized the importance of primary research and accurate data. Peter also outlined his expanded role, including running Service Leadership and managing IT Nation events. The conversation covered the event's focus on AI and practical applications, positive feedback on event changes, and ConnectWise's focus on platform delivery and AI integration. Peter concluded with plans for upcoming Evolve meetings in Portugal.

What’s Your Side Hustle?

Some of us are loud and proud about having a side hustle. Others are shy and don’t promote this hidden jewel. And finally there are those that are side hustle celibate among us LOL! 

In this goofy economy where opportunities are being reimagined every day for reasons ranging from A.I. to global economic protectionism, it’s prudent to revisit your business portfolio. Should you expand your market participation to incorporate a side-hustle or three?

Dan King, from Clever Path IT in Wyoming, discussed his company's recent acquisition, transforming from K2 Technologies (not the skis lol) to a much broader mission, aiming to establish a platform in the Northwest United States. They focus on a diversified client base, including healthcare, accountants, attorneys, architects, and engineers. King emphasized the importance of adapting to technological changes, such as AI, and the ongoing consolidation in the industry. He also mentioned their participation in IT Nation and the Evolve event, highlighting the significance of these gatherings for MSPs. King plans to attend Channel Con again in July 2026 and the Right of Boom conference in February 2026.

We’ve seen this movie before in the small and medium business (SMB) managed service provider (MSP) community: economic anxiety based on emotion. One example? The 2007-2009 Great Recession financial crisis. But here’s the deal, as you will see below, the data doesn’t lie and the short story above the pay line is that MSPs anticipate growth in 2026. We’re essentially a counter cyclical niche in the technology economic segment. Hopefully by the end of this report, rational behaviors will defy those 3am scary panic attacks. 

Harry Brelsford, at Channel con in Nashville, interviews Carrie Erwin, National Sales Manager of ImageStar, a wholesale distributor of IT business hardware, including print consumables, scanning software, AV equipment, and computers. ImageStar, based in Middletown, Connecticut, with a warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee, has been in business for 35 years. Carrie discusses the impact of tariffs on pricing and the shift in the market towards diversification, particularly in the print industry, as businesses adapt to the end of Windows 10 and the rise of Windows 11. She also mentions Dynabook's new channel partner program for MSPs.