Big Red Media - April 2021

Big Red Media - April 2021

IT CHANNEL INS IDER

KASEYA’S MATT SOLOMON ON A CHANGING WORLD

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TIME TO GET BACK TO BUSINESS

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GO LIVE WITH BIGREDVIRTUAL

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April 2021 | Volume 2

A Big Red Media Production

Upcoming Channel Events

Letter From The Editor

Big Red Rodeo - IT Sales And Marketing Boot Camp

When: May 11–14, 2021 Where: Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, FL RobinsBigSeminar.com

Producers Club Meetings

When: Q2 - July 15–17, 2021 Q3 - Oct. 7–9, 2021 Where: Cool Springs Marriott, Franklin, TN RobinsProducersClub.com

Spring is here, COVID-19 rates are declining, and nearly ev- eryone is itching to get back to live, in-person events (concerts, sporting events, and IT channel shows!). And with our 14th annual IT Sales And Marketing Boot Camp coming up in just over a month (May 11–14) in Orlando, FL, there’s no better time to start growing and blossoming again in the MSP channel! It wasn’t that long ago that Matt Solomon, the feature story in this month’s issue, was brand-new to the channel and brand-new to our annual Boot Camp. During that first Boot Camp show he attended, Matt came away with a huge appre- ciation for the power of a large, focused MSP show … he came away with literally hundreds of new partners at that first Boot Camp. And I know from firsthand conversations with him that his first Boot Camp dramatically changed the trajectory of ID Agent within the MSP space. They took that momentum and never looked back! As of the time that I’m writing this (early March 2021), we have over 1,000 MSPs registered to attend this year’s Boot Camp (over 600 in person and 500-plus registered to attend virtually). We anticipate that we’ll end up having over 1,000 in person and 2,000-plus watching virtually this year. This year’s event will be a return to live, large MSP in-person shows and the introduction of what you’re going to see as the “new nor- mal” in the industry — true “hybrid” live events with a fully in- teractive virtual experience (thanks to our virtual/hybrid event platform, Big Red Virtual) that blends together all attendees, speakers, and vendors, wherever they are throughout the world. Here’s hoping I’ll be seeing you in person (or virtually) at this year’s event!

Fall IT Sales And Marketing Roadshow

When & Where: Sept. 8–9, 2021 | Washington, DC

Sept. 28–29, 2021| Dallas, TX Oct. 21–22, 2021| Newark, NJ Oct. 28–29, 2021| Chicago, IL Nov. 2–3, 2021| Las Vegas, NV Nov. 17–18, 2021| LIVE Virtual Roadshow! BigRedMedia.com/events/roadshow/

GlueX 2021: Xpedition MSP

VIRTUAL NOW 100%

MAY 4 - 5

When: May 4–5, 2021 Where: 100% Virtual Gluex.co

Jeff Johnson Executive Director, Big Red Media

For a complete list of channel events, visit MSPSuccessMagazine.com/channel-events

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Big Red Media | A Robin Robins Company

It’s Time To Get Back To Business

In-Person Events Returning This Spring

will be a lot more spread out. Instead of 8–10 people at a table in the main ball- room, you’ll see more like 4–5. Booths won’t be pushed together, so you’ll have a little more room to breathe, and you can expect between 50%–100% more space in general. I’ve noticed that when I’m in a space for a 1,000-person event, it’s actually what would have been in a 2,000-person space 18 months ago. It’s cheaper than it used to be to travel — our flights from Nashville to Orlando cost half what they would have before, and the hotels are $100 cheaper per night. This is good for your business AND for the attendees at large events. It’s more affordable to get out of the office these days, and that means they’ve got more money to spend on you! Of course, for those who are still uncomfortable with the laws, protocols, and safety measures the travel indus- tries have in place, our Orlando Boot Camp event in May will have a virtual component as well. We don’t want anybody to miss out completely. But I can tell you right now, this business is driven by in-person interactions, even if you are both wearing masks! If you’ve been waiting for the right time to come back to events, there’s no time like the present, and things are getting better every week. If you want to learn more about our Orlando event, sign up to attend, or check out the prospectus, visit RobinsBigSeminar.com/sponsor. Together, we’re going to get back to business and the in-person events we all know and love.

making the rounds. Hotels, airlines, and other event-based industries have got their safety and comfort protocols down to a science. That makes sense; it’s been in their best interests to do so, but it’s something a lot of people haven’t thought about. From every employee masked up to the way they’re cleaning private and public spaces, I haven’t felt uncomfortable about my safety at any channel event in a very long time. You’ll see remotes in plastic bags, shields at public food lines, and even new high- tech filters in airplanes that scrub all the air in the cabin every few minutes. At the same time, in-person doesn’t mean impersonal. You won’t need to hide behind a plastic encased booth (un- less you want to) because there’s more room these days than ever. At events like our mid-May Boot Camp in Orlando, you can expect a lot more real estate for the same price. Hotel space is dirt cheap right now, which means instead of cramming everyone together, things

A few years ago, I never would have thought I’d need to remind channel companies that their business is driven by in-person, face-to-face interactions with prospects. Similarly, those interac- tions are critical to continuing to build existing client relationships. And since February 2020, there have been very few good-sized channel events, which means that MSP vendors have sorely been missing out. Ladies and gentle- men, it’s time to get back to busi- ness — to the in-person events we all know and love. Technology Marketing Toolkit has been one of the few companies that did any in-person events last year. In fact, we’ve had 11 events since June 2020, which was just a few months after the start of the pandemic. Those events ranged in attendance from 20 people to 125 and left me with a few big takeaways. First — and most important — we’re not at the beginning of this thing any- more, and I don’t just mean the vaccines

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IT Channel Rock Star Profile

Kaseya’s Matt Solomon Talks Security, Streamlining, And Standing Out From The Crowd More Relevant Than Ever

T he first morning that Matt Solomon, the vice president of business development at Kaseya, spent at the 2017 Robin Robins IT Sales And Marketing Boot Camp, he ate breakfast at least three times. “There were just too many great tables to sit at,” he says. “I got up, cleared my plate, and then saw some- one else from the channel I wanted to talk with who was just sitting down!” At the time, Matt was still relatively new to the channel; in more recent years, he’s done the same thing but for different reasons. “Now, I just feel like I know most of the vendors and so it’s sitting down to catch up with other road evangelists like me.” Matt was at that first breakfast as the head of sales for ID Agent, at that time a pioneer in the dark web monitoring space within the MSP industry, and is now part of the Kaseya family of products. But even though the MSP space was relatively new to him, he was just doing the same thing he’d always done in business and sales: “I’m always asking, are there new markets we can grow in? And if so, how can we stand out from the pack when we do?” he says. At that time, MSPs represented a largely untapped market, at least for ID Agent and Matt, who was the compa- ny’s second employee after the com-

when Matt and Kevin were connected with Robin Robins and Technology Marketing Toolkit. After a short phone call to discuss their product, Robin was 100% certain they were on to some- thing and their solution would be huge in the MSP space. Shortly thereafter, Matt and Kevin found themselves in front of a room of 40 MSP leaders during a focus-group session at one of Robin’s quarterly Producers Club peer group meetings. The MSPs in that initial focus group were fired up about the solution and itching to get it in the hands of their clients. This product was revolutionary for the industry! And with that … ID Agent and dark web monitoring as a service in the MSP industry were born. It wasn’t too long after that when an invitation from Robin to that year’s IT Sales And Marketing Boot Camp ap- peared in Matt’s inbox. And that’s how he ended up eating three breakfasts a day all weekend long. Matt quickly learned what worked and what didn’t in the MSP space and also found the people whose jobs seemed like the most fun. “I joked to Kevin that I wanted to be the ‘Rob Rae’ of ID Agent,” he says, referencing Datto’s own road evangelist (and the subject of last month’s profile in this space). The new client base and Matt’s own marketing instincts paid dividends. “By the time we were ac-

pany’s founder, Kevin Lancaster. That makes it pretty funny to hear him say today, “Without our MSP partners, ID Agent is nothing. ID Agent started with our ability to see what corporations had been exposed to on the dark web,” Matt recalls. “They were our clientele, and most of them were Fortune 500 companies.” This was before public >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8

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