Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services Insights

Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services Insights

In 10 minutes daily, The Business of Tech delivers the latest IT services and MSP-focused news and commentary. Curated to stories that matter with commentary answering 'Why Do We Care?', channel veteran Dave Sobel brings you up to speed and provides resources to go deeper. With insights and analysis, this focused podcast focuses on the knowledge you need to be effective, profitable, and relevant.
Silent Disqualification Risks Rise as UK Platforms and US Buyers Automate MSP Selection
Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services InsightsSeptember 11, 2026
2051
00:12:2811.51 MB

Silent Disqualification Risks Rise as UK Platforms and US Buyers Automate MSP Selection

The episode reveals a structural shift toward eligibility thresholds and silent disqualification in the managed services sector, driven primarily by large vendors and regulatory buyers. Companies now establish non-negotiable numerical thresholds—such as cloud revenue minimums or cryptography certifi...

Sharon Florentine on Why Most SMBs Deploy AI Without Budgets or Governance
Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services InsightsSeptember 10, 2026
2050
00:11:3210.69 MB

Sharon Florentine on Why Most SMBs Deploy AI Without Budgets or Governance

The episode highlights a pronounced governance gap in how small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) tools and services. New research from GTIA, discussed by Sharon Florentine, identifies that while AI use has become nearly universal among SMB end customers of IT...

DMARC Adoption Exposes Organizational Gaps: Controls Exist but Go Unused
Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services InsightsSeptember 09, 2026
2049
00:12:4411.75 MB

DMARC Adoption Exposes Organizational Gaps: Controls Exist but Go Unused

In this episode, it is focused on the accelerating pace of cybersecurity threats and defenses, with both attackers and defenders now leveraging similar AI-driven tools. A key theme that emerged was the diminishing gap between identifying a vulnerability and its potential exploitation, raising the st...

Slide’s Flexible Contracts: Balancing Client Retention and Revenue Risk - Carlson Choi
Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services InsightsSeptember 08, 2026
2048
00:21:3619.88 MB

Slide’s Flexible Contracts: Balancing Client Retention and Revenue Risk - Carlson Choi

A central structural shift discussed is the growing pressure on margins and operational risk, driven by the competing models of vendor platform integration versus modular, best-in-breed solutions for managed service providers. Slide, a backup and disaster recovery vendor with roughly 1,000 partners,...

Syncro’s AI Shift: How Model Costs and Adoption Create New Separation Among MSPs
Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services InsightsSeptember 07, 2026
2046
00:23:4121.8 MB

Syncro’s AI Shift: How Model Costs and Adoption Create New Separation Among MSPs

The episode details a structural shift toward increased automation and integration of AI layers within managed services platforms, raising questions of risk management, transparency, and economic models. Syncro’s integration with Anthropic’s AI, positioned as a native connector in the Anthropic ecos...

Accountability Shifts to Deployers as EU Sets Timelines for AI and Security Incidents
Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services InsightsSeptember 04, 2026
2047
00:12:5711.94 MB

Accountability Shifts to Deployers as EU Sets Timelines for AI and Security Incidents

A structural shift in regulatory accountability now places incident notification and liability directly on the operators or deployers of AI-powered and software tools, rather than on technology vendors or model developers. This mechanism is made explicit by the requirements of the EU’s Cyber Resilie...

Greg Jones: How Vendor Policy Shifts and AI Automation Are Changing MSP Growth Strategy
Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services InsightsSeptember 03, 2026
2044
00:22:2620.65 MB

Greg Jones: How Vendor Policy Shifts and AI Automation Are Changing MSP Growth Strategy

The episode highlights a structural shift in the MSP sector characterized by consolidation at the top and fragmentation at the low end, driven by a rise in niche MSPs entering the market and ongoing acquisitions by larger providers. This shift is outlined in discussion of industry data sourced from ...

Adoption, Not Hardware: Voya Financial Shows AI Value Comes From Training, Not Tools
Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services InsightsSeptember 02, 2026
2045
00:14:3413.5 MB

Adoption, Not Hardware: Voya Financial Shows AI Value Comes From Training, Not Tools

A disconnect between technical capability and end-user adoption is driving current decision-making in AI and infrastructure among managed service providers and IT leaders. While companies like Broadcom, Perplexity, Apple, and NVIDIA are introducing hardware and platforms for on-premises and local AI...

AI Results in Service Agreements: Why Providers Hold Uncovered Liability
Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services InsightsSeptember 01, 2026
2043
00:14:0913.11 MB

AI Results in Service Agreements: Why Providers Hold Uncovered Liability

A structural transfer of liability and risk is reshaping industry engagement models, with outcome-based contracting increasing across service agreements. This shift is being driven by buyer demands for accountability in technology solutions, notably in artificial intelligence deployments, and is ill...

When AI Outpaces Humans: Jason Kemsley on What Happens to MSP Roles as Automation Advances

When AI Outpaces Humans: Jason Kemsley on What Happens to MSP Roles as Automation Advances

The episode reveals a structural shift away from indiscriminate adoption of AI tools toward targeted deployment based on business needs within the MSP sector. According to Uptime Global, a channel-only outsourcing provider, premature or hype-driven implementation of AI frequently results in incomple...

Hollie Whittles on Why Incomplete AI Governance Leaves MSPs Vulnerable to Data Liability

Hollie Whittles on Why Incomplete AI Governance Leaves MSPs Vulnerable to Data Liability

A growing gap between artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and effective data governance is reshaping the operational landscape for managed service providers (MSPs) and IT service providers. Industry data cited by GTIA’s Data and AI Interest Group indicates that while 97% of providers have adopted ...

“Pricing Not Disclosed” Becomes a Risk as AI Screens MSPs Out of Deals

“Pricing Not Disclosed” Becomes a Risk as AI Screens MSPs Out of Deals

The episode centers on a structural shift driven by the falling cost of AI-assisted insight extraction and its impact on how buyers assess technology providers. Referencing companies such as OpenAI and Google, as well as research from the AI Revenue Institute and Gartner, Dave Sobel highlights how l...

Per-User Pricing Under Strain: Rich Freeman Explains the AI Impact for MSP Operators

Per-User Pricing Under Strain: Rich Freeman Explains the AI Impact for MSP Operators

The central structural shift discussed is the repricing and erosion of the MSP business model as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation impact service delivery, pricing models, and margin structures. Analysis referenced recent polling and reporting, including the Omnia poll of 22,000 MSP partne...

When AI Operates with User Credentials: Accountability Gaps at N-able and Beyond

When AI Operates with User Credentials: Accountability Gaps at N-able and Beyond

A persistent governance gap is evident in current IT operations, as credential management and authorization checks fail to keep pace with increased automation and AI integration. This is visible in incidents involving major vendors such as N-able (through Passportal), Anthropic’s Claude, AI-based re...

Readiness vs Reliability: Most AI Gains in MSPs Absorbed by Existing Workloads

Readiness vs Reliability: Most AI Gains in MSPs Absorbed by Existing Workloads

The core structural shift highlighted is the disconnect between service reliability gains from AI automation and readiness for strategic change among IT service providers and their clients. Reports from SolarWinds, Corsica Technologies, and Deloitte reveal that AI is delivering measurable productivi...

ThreatCaptain Gen 4 Unbundles Pricing: Brad Powell Explains Impact for MSP Growth Strategies

ThreatCaptain Gen 4 Unbundles Pricing: Brad Powell Explains Impact for MSP Growth Strategies

The core structural shift addressed in this episode centers on the unbundling and modularization of vendor platforms in the MSP technology market. This shift is exemplified by ThreatCaptain’s launch of its Gen 4 product, which transitions from an all-encompassing platform to discrete modules aligned...

Ben Morrell on How Unified Security Platforms Shift MSP Operational Risk and Staff Needs

Ben Morrell on How Unified Security Platforms Shift MSP Operational Risk and Staff Needs

The episode highlights the structural shift toward platform consolidation in security services, illustrated by Coro’s unified security platform and its positioning for lean IT teams and MSPs. The mechanism involves the bundling of diverse security tools—email protection, endpoint detection and respo...

Vendor Tiering Locks Out Small Partners: Anurag Agrawal on Allocation, Not Capability

Vendor Tiering Locks Out Small Partners: Anurag Agrawal on Allocation, Not Capability

The episode identifies a structural shift within the IT services market, highlighting a bifurcation between two distinct economic models in the channel: the advisory economy, paid upfront for transformation and integration, and the operational economy, paid on the backend for managed outcomes and re...

AI Watermarks and the End of Document Trust

AI Watermarks and the End of Document Trust

The dominant structural shift explored is the erosion of document-based differentiation for MSPs and IT service providers, driven by advances in generative AI, regulatory mandates, and automation of AI detection and content creation processes. Regulatory requirements such as the EU AI Act are compel...

AI-Driven Vulnerabilities and Bonded Licenses: Why Permission Is the Hidden Business Risk

AI-Driven Vulnerabilities and Bonded Licenses: Why Permission Is the Hidden Business Risk

The episode reveals a structural shift toward permission-based operational models, where access and capability are not determined by technical proficiency alone but by explicit, revocable permissions from state or corporate authorities. This model is illustrated by the recent U.S. federal initiative...