SMB eMail Defense Service

As promised, I've put together an SMB (Small Medium Business) package for email defense for less than $3.00/Mo/User for all our small business friends/fans. If you're a small business or know of someone who's a business owner, please let them know that I can help.

One of the biggest problems I hear about from small businesses is the never ending battle to protect email communications from spam, viruses and other threats that can be draining on your limited IT resources.

Businesses that rely on efficient and reliable email communications can turn to MNIT for help at an extremely cost effective rate that will free up those resources, relieve the pain and get you back to being productive again.

For more information give me a shout (651-319-4030 x105), email me ( jsarzoza@MNITconsulting.co

m ) or send me a FB message and I will get you all the details so that you can make an informed decision.

And for you home/individual users, we can help you too so please feel free to contact me at any time.

Thanks again and, keep an eye out for more specials this month.

John Sarzoza
President
MNIT Consulting, LLC

SMB Tip #1

Starting a Small Business? One of the many things that need to be considered is a phone system. Well, consider a virtual PBX. I did....I went with VoiceNation a couple of years ago and am still with them. It's an extremely cost effective way to get a phone number, an 800 line, voice mail, vMail to eMail features, auto-attendant, and all the other cool feature that a PBX offers without the up-front costs associated with a full blown PBX. They even have answering services and other vital services should you need that as well. So remember, if you're looking to keep start-up costs down but need all the functionality of a PBX, go with a virtual PBX solution from VoiceNation...and tell 'em I sent ya.

Junk Mail Still Causing Pains

Number One "Break Fix" Call Last Month = eMail SPAM and Viruses. We'll be putting together a May Special very soon so, stay tuned!

The 10,000 ft View

So,,,,,what sets us apart from the “other” guys? What make us so special? Let’s explore shall we?

Ok, now for the 10,000 foot view: Well, for the “average” client there first is a need. Every business (big or small) has some pain points, needs, goals, etc etc…but where do we come in?

Usually, there are technology related issues that need to be addressed/resolved. These can be anything from slow workstations, unreliable emails issues, network problems, backup failures, SPAM complaints or whatever. Sometimes, there are bigger problems such as server failures, virus and trojan infections, connectivity failures leading to downtime and lost revenues. And even other times there can be huge problems like outages and disaster recovery failures leading to extended downtime, failure to meet payroll and the inability to serve customers. The bottom line, there’s usually a problem that needs to be resolved immediately.

That’s where we come in. From a technology perspective, my team can resolve just about any technical problems you may have. Servers, networks, workstations, printers, telecom, security cameras, whatever…end of the road? Not so fast.

The goal is (and always will be) to move you from a reactive state to a proactive state. That’s what managed services is all about. And of course, these days my biggest competitors are trying to commoditize managed services (and have been for a couple of years now) but will fail miserably for a number of reasons….more on that in a future post.

So what about business consulting? Businesses today need to become more efficient at what they do (operationally speaking), increase their visibility (to potential customers), generate additional revenue (sales) and, do it quicker with fewer resources.

Well, as a CIO for hire (sounds better than a consultant wouldn’t you agree?) with a solid background in accounting and finance, business operations, sales and marketing and of course technology I bring a fresh set of eyes and a unique perspective to the table to help develop business plans, processes, introduce new and compelling strategies and tactics that will benefit the bottom line. And don’t freak out you small business owners out there, you CAN afford me.

Ok, we done yet? Yeah, I guess....more in a bit.

The 30,000 FT View

So, what is it that I do and how can I help? I will go into each area (Business Consulting, Technology Consulting and Managed Services) of what I do more specifically in a future post but for now, for the sake of this article, let’s do a 30,000 foot overview.

Basically, I provide business and technology consulting services as well as world-class managed IT services to my clients for a small fee. Ok, so what the heck does that mean? It means, that MNIT (pronounced minute by the way and NOT mint) Consulting will help you fix your technical issues, help solve your business problems, and will do it in a more reliable, timely, and cost effect manner then the “other guys”.

So is that it? Yup, that’s it. Told ya it’d be a 30,000 foot view….can’t see much can ya?

Don't Ask / Don't Tell

Recently I sent an email to a friend of mine to let him know of a new service offering (and offered my assistance) and experienced what most MSP’s (Managed Service Providers) and consultants experience all the time…that dreaded “oh you just want to replace me” or “you just want my job” type of push back.

It got me thinking about why people are so fearful of me…at first anyway.

I won’t go into specific details about today’s experience but will attempt to address the larger, overall fear that some have when it comes to IT “consulting” firms, educate you on what it is we do, and why you should consider taking time to hang out with me.

First off, let me just say (to the unknowing) that I’m passionate about business, technology and helping other people out (ie: consulting). That’s why I’ve been doing what I do for so long. Second, it’s not about me…it’s all about YOU. Third (and the reason for this post), if you never ask for help, you’ll never get it.

Ever since I left the workforce to do my own thing (and started up my own consulting firm), I’ve always had a problem getting meetings with IT Managers and Directors. C-Level execs, small business owners and even office mangers offer much less resistance and are usually willing to see me to discuss their options.

But not IT managers…I’ve heard just about every push back to consulting that there is. And still I’m shocked every time I hear them... I got it under control, I don’t need your help, we can’t afford help, and one of my personal favs, “you people” are useless.

So, what’s the fear? Where does it come from?

Well for most of them the initial reaction to my call, email or letter is one of job replacement. I know this now after years of being a consultant and talking to my clients that are actually IT managers. But, no matter how I change my pitch/delivery the fear is always that I’m there to take over their job or worse, to replace them altogether.

BUT, nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve been a CIO, IT Director, IT Manager and trust me, I don’t want their job. What I want is simple… to help them keep their job, make their lives easier and to make THEM (not me) the rock star. If I do my job, they will be seen by the company as, INDISPENSABLE.

So, how can I help them? Easy….by taking off their plates, anything and everything that “prevents” them from doing their job. Tech support is a good example.

Say a company with 40 employees has an IT manager (we’ll call her Gail) and she is tasked with “everything” IT related. She does absolutely everything. She works 12-14 hour days, is on call after hours and can never take a day off…and don’t even think about a vacation.

And to make things worse, she’s now being asked to put in even more time (weekends) and to start contributing to business meetings by researching and making technology recommendations for individual departments. This is not good and her family life is suffering because of it.

Her passion however is really with networks and IT “management” and not “tech support” or even “server administration”. And at this rate, she’d need to hire 3 people just to keep on top of everything…one to handle technical support calls, one to manage and maintain the servers and one to take care of all the misc tasks like general desktop maintenance etc…

Well, with the economy the way it is, and the fact that the company can’t afford to hire 3 more people, she’ll just have to make more sacrifices and do more with less. Right? Not at all….we can help (for less than the cost of hiring one FTE) by taking over server related tasks, desktop support and any other tasks that slow her down and keep her from growing, monitoring, managing and maintaining that network she loves so much.

Not only that, but now she has a team (which SHE manages by the way) that she can work with and if she wants to take a day off or go on vacation, she can. Plus, with all the free time she now has, she can focus some of that time on researching new technologies that could help the company grow and generate additional revenue.

And her 14 hour days are a thing of the past too. Now she gets to spend more time with her husband and 3 kids.

So that’s just one example of how we can help. Don’t Ask / Don’t Tell? Yeah, if she wouldn’t have asked for the help, she wouldn’t have received it. And if she wouldn't have given me the time of day (when I called), I couldn’t have told her of all the different ways I could “help” her out.

So, can I help YOU out? You'll never know unless you ask. Call us today at 651-319-4030

Business Consulting

Well, I knew this would be the case...that it'd be months before I even got to this whole blogging thing. O-well, I don't have any followers/subscribers yet anyway so I guess I'm ok for now. But, I am gonna start doing this on a regular basis so, let's get started.

I have noticed a trend here [recently] with my IT consulting practice. More and more I'm getting requests to help clients with every day business consulting in the areas of general business strategy, sales and marketing efforts and accounting and finance assistance.

So I'm gonna take a chance and add this service to my "bag-o-tricks". As you know (or maybe you dont) my background is in business, accounting and finance, and technology. So, given the slow down in the economy and an overall slow down in IT services, I'm going to add Business Consulting as a Service (BCASS)...hmmm or maybe CASS...??.......gotta work on the name.

Typically, I've given this "service" away for free because my clients either sign up as a managed services client or hire us to do specific project work and as part of every day discussions we always end up talking about their specific industry, revenue generation, marketing efforts, accounting and finance issues, social networking, etc etc etc....

Now, I have clients (and even some non-client referrals) calling me wanting to get together just to talk "business".....usually they call asking to "pick my brain" over coffee or lunch. So far in the last two weeks I've had one law firm, one marketing firm, a print shop, a painting sub-contractor, and a couple of independant technology consultants wanting to get together to simply discuss business development.

So now I'm focused on puting together a "managed services" type of business consulting "package" for small to medium sized businesses (SMB) and we'll see how that is received.

In the mean time, I'll continue to update this blog (on a regualr basis) with my progress and if you'd like to learn more and or chat about how I can help YOU and your team, please feel free to contact me at any time.

Have a great day everyone!

John Sarzoza Jr.

President

MNIT Consulting, LLC

(651) 319-4030 x105

jsarzoza@MNITconsulting.com