Jobs’ Leadership Style

Based upon what we consider the traits of a good leader, it’s easily apparent from this book that Steve Jobs left a lot to be desired when it came to his motivational style with his employees, business partners, family members – just about anyone he came into contact with. This certainly made working for, having a relationship with or negotiating against him extremely challenging, and certainly had a negative impact on him in many ways.

Vision and Determination

One thing that cannot be disputed is Jobs’ drive and desire to achieve the perfection of artistic simplicity and function in all of the projects and products he was involved in producing. Throughout his career, Jobs’ single-mindedness around the concept of a closed system containing all of the proprietary hardware and software needed to completely control the user experience is the stuff of much controversy. While the PC industry was being designed around compatibility and the ability to support any third-party chipsets, boards, peripherals and software, Jobs remained steadfast in his resolve to remain proprietary in every aspect of his systems and products, thereby guaranteeing user experience outcomes.

With this vision and resolve, he saw Apple become the most highly valued technology company in history by the time he died in 2011.

Lessons

Whatever your personal opinions of Steve Jobs the man (and I have my own), there is an important lesson to be realized by reflecting on some of his core beliefs.

Jobs bet against the industry when he decided not to go the “PC-compatible” route, instead eschewing this movement in order to simplify his product offerings and control every aspect of the user experience. This created millions of incredibly loyal, satisfied customers for Apple.

How would your business be different if you simplified your product offerings to include everything your clients needed (and I mean everything), and delivered them via two or three Managed Services plans, and were fanatical about your clients and their users’ service experience?

Something tells me that you would have incredibly loyal, satisfied clients too…

Learn how to increase client satisfaction by improving your operational and service delivery efficiencies and transforming your business to a true consultative business partner and advisor at our Orange County, CA Boot Camp on February 16th and 17th. Learn more at www.mspu.us/bootcamps.

Register for our Orange County, CA Boot Camp by clicking here!

Businesses large and small have to manage risk. They invest in risk-reduction measures, including fire sprinklers, alarm systems, security cameras, and employee training programs.  The remaining risk is transferred through insurance.

What is the single biggest risk businesses face?  It is not fire. It is not break-ins, shoplifting, or other traditional crimes.  It is not floods or other natural disasters.

For the past two years, the biggest risk faced by businesses is……..Cybercrime.

Cybercrime has become more profitable than the illegal drug trade.

Who are the criminals? They are not just casual hackers or “script kiddies”. Cybercrime is perpetrated by highly organized and very well-funded criminal organizations. These are the same criminal organizations that rob banks, run illegal gambling operations and smuggle illegal weapons. Smart criminals go where the money is. The word “cybercrime” suggests something less nefarious than extortion or drug trafficking. That is unfortunate, because cybercrime is as ugly and malicious as it gets. Lives are ruined and companies are put out of business by cybercrime.

Who is helping your clients understand the risks?  Who is helping them understand the importance of investing in security?  If you don’t talk to your clients about security, who will?

As “business consultants” and “trusted advisors”, managed service providers have an obligation to their clients to identify and manage business risks.

Even the most effective preventative measures cannot eliminate all risk.  Despite investments in fire prevention and suppression measures, fires do occur. Few businesses could survive the catastrophic losses associated with a fire, so they transfer the remaining risk through fire insurance.  What about the greatest risk businesses face – cybercrime? Are our clients covered for those losses?  In a future article, we will discuss ways to transfer the risks associated with cybercrime through cyber-insurance.

Email: dhouseknecht@watsec.com or Call 1-304-906-2184.

The competition for cloud supremacy is here. How will your managed service business compare when the big boys start influencing your clients and prospects on the benefits of cloud services?

One thing is for sure; the cloud is not going anywhere. It is the new norm for business, large and small. Unlike the dot com bust of the early 2000s, we have stable infrastructure and protocols to ensure that cloud-based services perform well.

There are a few simple activities that the standard MSP can do to compete head-to-head with vendors, larger MSPs and even the cable companies who will make their voices heard in the cloud market.

Many of us hold a valuable position with our clients that none of the larger firms enjoy -the luxury of holding the position of the trusted IT advisor. We are the resource that many businesses turn towards for day-to-day advice.

Can we use this to our advantage when it comes to introducing cloud services to our clients?

If our clients trust us, why would they not trust our opinion on what solutions will work best for their business? Of course they would.

It is our job to introduce and be available to answer questions our clients have on cloud solutions.

What can your MSP do right now to beat the big boys to the punch?

• Get in front of your clients today! This is the most important activity your MSP can do.  Always offer your time to meet with your clients. Forget about just waiting for QBR time. You need to be available when your clients need you the most. Pick up the phone today and call your clients. Take them to lunch, buy them coffee or arrange a formal meeting to talk about cloud solutions.
• Call your Chamber of Commerce and volunteer your time to talk about cloud solutions. There are many small business owners out there that are searching for someone intelligent enough to share what should be in the cloud and what shouldn’t.  This must be you and your MSP.
• Use your company newsletter. Your company newsletter is a tool to help introduce clients to new technologies and solutions available to help their businesses. This is why your company newsletter must contain information about the cloud.
• Start a blog. Start a company blog that focuses on cloud solutions. Use this blog to demonstrate your thought leadership and position yourself as the industry expert when it comes to helping small businesses with the right technology advice. Plus, a great blog is an awesome SEO tool.

Now is the time for your managed services business to become the thought leader and the industry expert in your chosen vertical or target market. You have to act now. You cannot sit on the sidelines and expect the world to find you.  It takes action and hard work. Are you prepared to make a difference and win your share of the cloud market?

SIMPLY CLICK HERE TO ATTEND! 

You’ll need to log in with your MSP University credentials, or create a Free Basic Membership to view live!

CLICK HERE FOR OUR VIRTUAL AGENDA 

Here is Live Streaming Schedule for the MSPU Boot Camp Friday December 9th  (all times are PST):

• 7:00AM PST “How Managed Services Providers Determine Their Total Cost of Service Delivery and Margins”
• 7:45AM PST “Sales and Sales Engineering as a Team”
• 8:15AM PST “ATS Presentation”
• 8:45AM PST “Cloud Expert Panel”
• 10:00AM PST “Creating Your Inside Marketing Plan For Lead Generation Success”
• 10:40AM PST “How to Conduct Quarterly Business Reviews as a Trusted Advisor”
• 12:15PM PST “How to Configure Your PSA Solution to Maximize its Effectiveness in Portal Ticket Creation, Incident Workflow, Alerting and Escalation”
• 12:45PM PST “Maximizing the Effectiveness of Your Managed Services Agreements”
• 1:15PM PST “How to Effectively On-Board New Managed Services Clients”
• 1:50PM PST “From Start-Up to Successful MSP in 5 Easy Steps”
• 2:20PM PST “Certificate of Completion Awards”

See you in Los Angeles…Virtually!

SIMPLY CLICK HERE TO ATTEND! 

You’ll need to log in with your MSP University credentials, or create a Free Basic Membership to view live!

CLICK HERE FOR OUR VIRTUAL AGENDA 

Here is Live Streaming Schedule for the MSPU Boot Camp Thursday December 8th  (all times are PST):

• 7:00AM PST “51 Step Marketing/Sales Process, 47 Step Website Development Process and 37 Step Telecom Process”
• 7:30AM PST ”Business Continuity Planning”
• 8:00AM PST ”Win More Business by Offering Profitable and Reliable Disaster Recovery, Data Protection, System Migration and Email Archiving Services in the Cloud”
• 8:45AM PST ”Structuring Your Organization for Successful Growth”
• 9:25AM PST ”Creating Win-Win Sales Compensation Plans and Hiring Sales Staff”
• 10:05AM PST ”The Business Case for Cloud Computing Services”
• 10:50AM PST ”Service Delivery Expert Panel”
• 12:50PM PST ”Building a Solid MSP Foundation”
• 1:20PM PST ”4 Crucial Areas for MSP Marketing Success”
• 1:50PM PST ”How to Make Money and Integrate Cloud Services Like Office 365″
• 2:25PM PST ”Forecasting Potential Annuity Revenue from Transitioning Existing Clients to Managed Services”
• 2:55PM PST ”Developing Effective KPIs to Measure and Improve Business Outcomes”
• 3:25PM PST ”Partnering With and Managing Vendors and Fulfillment Partners”
• 4:05PM PST ”How to Grow Your Business in 30 Days With an MSP University SWOT Engagement” ”

See you in Los Angeles…Virtually!

You’ll need to log in with your MSP University credentials, or create a Free Basic Membership to view live!

CLICK HERE FOR OUR VIRTUAL AGENDA 

Here is Live Streaming Schedule for the MSPU Boot Camp Wednesday December 7th  (all times are PST):

• 7:00AM PST ”MSP University Bootcamp Introductions”
• 7:45AM PST ”Pricing Your IT Services for Profit”
• 8:35AM PST ”DISC, PTSI and SSI Behavioral Profiles for Hiring Right the First Time”
• 9:45AM PST ”The Secrets to Successfully Adding Telecom to Your Portfolio”
• 10:20AM PST ”Leveraging Systems, Processes and Tools to Benefit Staff, Management and Owners”
• 10:55AM PST ”The Intel Hybrid Cloud Server”
• 12:45PM PST ”Maximize Recurring Revenues Through Value Pricing”
• 1:45PM PST ”How to Forecast Realistic Annual Gross Sales”
• 2:45PM PST ”Growth by Acquisition as a Strategy: For Buyers and Sellers”
• 4:00PM PST ”Using the Client Solution Roadmap & Profitability Matrix to Increase Sales Immediately”

See you in Los Angeles…Virtually!

Last month we determined how to calculate the full burden for our billable employees. So how do MSPs take this formula and determine the profitability of their service desk? Let’s work through this together. The first step to determining your Service Desk’s profitability is to understand how to calculate the full burden of your billable staff (see last month’s SPC International Magazine). Once you understand this, it is actually pretty simple to calculate profitability of your service desk and its staff.

Let’s say you have 25 Managed Services Agreements averaging $3,000 each for a gross invoice amount of $75,000 per month.

Next let’s assume you have 3 service desk technicians whose full hourly burden is $132.31/hr.

Finally let’s estimate that for the last billable month, your service desk technicians spent 150 hours managing service desk requests and proactively patching, updating and optimizing your clients’ endpoints.

Let’s summarize:

• Monthly Managed Services Billing = $75,000
• Service Desk Full Hourly Burden (3 x $132.31/hr) = $396.93/hr.
• Hours of service delivered last billable month = 150

Now let’s do the math. Multiply the hours of service delivered during the last billable month by your service desk’s full hourly burden to determine your full labor burden for the service desk for the month:

150 x $396.93 = $59,539.50

Now determine your margin. Perform a quick calculation to discover that $75,000 is 25.97% greater than $59,539.50, so you’ve made an ok, if not terrific margin:

Margin = 25.97%

If this is your true profit from your service desk, you’ve got some work to do in reducing costs and increasing efficiencies, as best-in-class MSPs are realizing upwards of 70% margin on their deliverables!

The Sales Engineer’s purpose is to accelerate sales velocity, and they should only be introduced into a client engagement when this opportunity exists, otherwise they may actually impede the sales process.

The Sales Engineer participates in the service provider’s sales, scoping and proposal creation processes, and works with the provider’s Account Managers, Sales Professionals, Engineers, Project Managers, Manufacturers, Vendors and Distributors to fulfill their role and responsibilities, in addition to interfacing with clients and their Vendors.

The Sales Engineer is the buffer between Sales and Engineering, and is one of the keys to project profitability. A Sales Engineer not only helps educate and train the provider’s Sales staff in setting appropriate expectations regarding the benefits of technology solutions with their prospects and clients, but is also instrumental in working with vendors and partners in order to design appropriate solutions to meet client needs and putting together Scopes of Work and Proposals and assisting in the Project Plan creation process.

The Objective of Sales Engineering

The objective of Sales Engineering is to create effective proposals by understanding client needs, the environmental state of their infrastructure, their Account Manager’s or Sales Professional’s objectives and timelines for Proposal delivery. With the appropriate information, the Sales Engineer can accurately scope the best solution for the client.

The Sales Engineer’s purpose is to accelerate sales velocity, and they should only be introduced into a client engagement when this opportunity exists, otherwise they may actually impede the sales process. When the Sales Engineer is utilized ineffectively, the most common outcome is to add unnecessary cost to the sales engagement.

The five phases of the Sales Engineering process include Discovery, Design, Proposal Creation, Review and Presentation.

The Discovery Phase

During the Discovery Phase, the Sales Engineer collects all of the information required to design a Scope of Work to meet the client’s needs that takes into consideration factors such as the environmental state of the existing infrastructure, the provider’s sales objectives and the client’s budget and timeline.

The Sales Engineer will review the results of the client’s Business Needs Analysis and Technology Assessment already conducted by the provider’s Sales and Engineering teams, or participate in this information gathering process directly. In addition, they will meet with their Sales and Engineering resources to ask clarifying questions to insure accurate scoping of the solution. Based upon the complexity of the proposed solution or other factors, the Sales Engineer may meet with the prospect or client during a follow-on appointment with their Sales Professional.

Design Phase

Once the Sales Engineer feels that they understand the prospect’s or client’s needs completely, and has all of the information required in order to scope the solution, they can move from the discovery to the design phase of the project. The Sales Engineer will work with the provider’s manufacturers, vendors, distributors and fulfillment partners in order to design the best solution that meets the established criteria and determine the costs and timelines to deliver it.

Proposal Creation Phase

Once the Design Phase is completed, the Sales Engineer can create the formal Proposal for the client.  The most effective Proposals include at a minimum a title page, table of contents, introduction, provider’s company biography, overview of the client’s existing environment and the pains they are experiencing, before and after network drawings as applicable, work scope, summary, specifics/ requirements/ exclusions, investment amount and acceptance signature block.

Review Phase

Once the proposal has been created, the Sales Engineer meets with the Sales Professional and goes over the proposal with them in detail to insure it meets the Sales Professional’s objectives.

Review Phase 

After the Sales Professional has been briefed on and approves the Proposal; and based upon the complexity of the solution, the Sales Engineer may become involved in the final presentation of the proposed solution to the prospect. Their intimate understanding of all facets of the solution they have designed makes them an invaluable asset in many client presentations.

The amount you should budget for marketing should be determined in part by your organizations’ annual gross revenue. The average solution provider will allocate 3-5% of their annual gross revenue towards marketing, while Best in Class solution providers will allocate 8-10%. If you are going to outsource your marketing efforts, consider investing no more than 5% of your annual gross revenue, as you will want to leave wiggle room for your own internal marketing initiatives as they come up.

Developing a Client Solutions Roadmap for Existing Clients

Once you’ve determined your marketing budget, allocate a portion of it to attract new clients, and a portion to develop new business within your existing client base. A client solutions roadmap is a great way to uncover these new opportunities with your existing clients.

Create a spreadsheet that lists all of your services and solutions across the top row. Then list the clients you have ever performed service for in the first column on the left side of the sheet. Match the services across the top row with the clients in the left column and color the corresponding cells green or red, based upon whether or not the client has purchased that service or solution from you (green = yes, red=no).

This will provide you a quick and easy way to visualize how much opportunity there is to market your services to your existing client base. Just look at all of the red cells and develop a marketing campaign and sales process for one primarily “red” service or solution at a time.

The next step is to engage with each one of your clients until they say yes or no to that particular service or solution. Once you have exhausted the list for one “red” solution, move on to marketing the next one. Repeat this process one solution at a time until each of your existing clients has been presented each and every one of your products and services.

This exercise is an excellent way to jump-start your marketing efforts, as your most immediate ROI will typically be realized from within your existing relationships, rather than from a cold market. When determining which solutions to market first, identify the low-hanging fruit in your solution stack that is easy for you to market and sell based on its value proposition, need and appeal. Next, focus the delivery of your marketing campaigns first to your “A” clients, then “B” clients, and finally “C” customers to accelerate your marketing ROI.

Choosing the Right Solutions to Go To Market with For New Clients

When determining your solutions to go to market with for new clients, you should consider a few important points.

1. Initial Appeal and Need – The solution not only has to have good market potential, but also must serve as a great “foot in the door” solution that will influence a prospect to engage with you. Remember, a prospect has no idea of the depth of your technical expertise or how well you deliver support and service until they sign up as your client.
2. Suitability and Low Barrier to Entry – Look for solutions that complement a prospect’s existing IT environment and do not require a significant investment. Most prospects prefer not to get “married on the first date,” so your first proposed solution should be one that does not require a deep relationship in order to close. This also makes it easy for new sales professionals to begin generating sales more quickly because you can narrow the focus of their training to selling those solutions first, then over time them ramp them up to selling your other deliverables. This will make it easier for them to go back to the clients they have already sold the entry solution to, and close them on additional services.
3. Plan for the next Solution Quickly – A good strategy for getting this done is to visit your clients regularly. A great way to grow the relationship with your clients and their staff is to bring along bagels or donuts for the users when you visit. Your client’s staff is a great resource for providing information about their current IT environment and pain. This information can be used to your advantage in discussions with the decision maker as tie-down points when discussing additional service and solution opportunities with them.

Join us for Part 3 of this series next month: Developing and Leveraging an Effective Website for Marketing and Lead Generation

Alongside a number of key partners who together play an increased role in the transformation of the channel, especially as cloud and utility-based computing continues to gain traction in the marketplace, opportunity has never been greater for solution providers to succeed.

Ingram Micro and the Channel Transformation Alliance 

Ingram Micro has spearheaded the creation of the Channel Transformation Alliance; a consortium of best-of-breed educators, trainers, consultants and vendors focused on providing IT solution providers the resources and guidance they will need in order to achieve business transformation.

The Channel Transformation alliance’s goal is to help providers adapt, evolve, and improve in order to develop more sophisticated business approaches, more mature financial management practices and more rigorous internal operational processes through education, training and vendor relations.

Our Interview 

During our meeting, Beal discussed the IT industry at large, the solution provider community, and his vision of channel transformation and Ingram Micro’s role in it.

SPC International: We’ve been hearing a lot about Channel Transformation lately. Can you share with us your thoughts on just what Channel Transformation is?

Jason Beal:  Channel Transformation is really represented, really this large effort that the IT Industry has right now because of the transformation around the end user’s appetite and consumption of technology. In the past, businesses would simply purchase the technology, and those purchase decisions were very much based upon what we say, “speeds and feeds” or features and functionality.

Nowadays, as IT is becoming 1) much more of let’s say a utility, but 2) much more of a competitive advantage, that’s forcing the local solution provider, what we call the trusted advisor, to be much more knowledgeable about the end user’s business, their competitive advantage, how their customers want to grow or expand geographically. 

As such, that puts really different pressures on the local solution provider. They need to understand the end user’s budget, their preferences, their needs and then be able to position solutions accordingly. The transformation is really this change from an internal business model perspective within the reseller and their external go to market strategy of how they’re going to address those changing needs and those changing consumption habits of their customers.

SPC International:  Why did you start with this Channel Transformation initiative, other than the obvious?

Jason Beal:  Ingram Micro is there to help the channel, right?  We help our vendors by creating channels, recruiting resellers, enabling those resellers and helping them brand and bring their technologies to market.

On the other end of the supply chain, we’re there to help our reseller partners identify new business opportunities, extract costs and grow more profitably. As such, we saw a need to help the solution providers make this transition from being either primarily product resale organizations or break/fix service companies transition to more proactive and service-centric models, help them move to monthly recurring or annuity-based sales and support models.

A lot of partners asked for our help, we understand their business very well and it’s our role to help them make that transition. That’s why we saw the need for Channel Transformation.

SPC International:  So a paradigm shift is now well underway where today’s business IT investments and purchases are now made with the mindset that technology is more of a utility.  This utility mindset allows solutions that are now well within the reach of even the smallest of companies through cloud computing, even though those same solutions were once only designed for enterprise corporations.  What options does the Channel have, really in adopting some Cloud technology for their practice because that seems to be a big initiative for the next couple of years.

Jason Beal:  One of the biggest value propositions of the Cloud is that truly you can bring enterprise-sized technology to the SMB without the enterprise-sized price tag. So for instance, a few years ago small businesses may not have been able to afford a CRM package when they needed to buy let’s say some expensive licensing and servers and technical account managers and configure a CRM solution.

They may not have been able to afford a true unified communication solution if they needed to buy those bits and pieces independently and the hardware and the software onsite. Nowadays with some Cloud-based solutions, whether it’s Cloud-based, UCS, hosted CRM, the average business can afford those now on a price per user per month and the reseller community can afford then to deliver those technologies to the end users.

So that’s what we see, Cloud, there are many green-field opportunities for the resellers to expand their business within their current customer base by adding those Cloud Solutions.

Ingram Micro has 31 years of experience working and partnering with solution providers to understand their business needs. Together with other members of the Channel Transformation Alliance, Ingram Micro is dedicated to being not just a resource, but a partner in their ascension into the Cloud and on into the future, assisting them in transformation as a new IT-as-a-Service provider.

Learn more about the Channel Transformation Alliance at www.channeltransformation.com.

Before any successful sales engagement can begin, there are many important pieces of information that can be gathered before any client interaction takes place.  The preparation phase is the first step in the seven step sales process and requires a client-centric mentality. Strategic preparation; when conducted properly, will allow the Sales Professional to gather the necessary information to conduct a valuable Warm Up (Step 2 of the Seven Step Sales Process) and instill a sense of professionalism during the first client appointment and increase the chances of building customer rapport.

There are numerous methodologies in the area of strategic preparation. Keeping prospects’ challenges and issues in mind; instead of the solutions that the Sales Professional is interested in selling, is the first paradigm shift that needs occur, and is the underlying foundation for successful strategic preparation. This shift in approach and mentality will set the stage for searching for valuable information that can be used to bond with prospects and connect proposed solutions to more specific pain points that they may find valuable.

Examples of the tactical execution of Strategic Preparation by a Sales Professional include:

• Entering a Prospects’ name and company name into an Internet search engine and researching any recent news or social media affiliations found. This tactic will allow the Sales Professional to get a better understanding of what activities or organizations the Prospect and their organization may be involved in.
• Researching the Prospect Company’s Website. In the “About us” or “History” section of the website there may be valuable information that could give clues about the core value system of the company. The Website may also provide information on multiple locations and the names of the Decision Maker(s).
• Researching the Prospect’s Vertical for any recent news or new or existing Regulatory or Compliance requirements. The Sales Professional should also research any specific line of business applications or business processes used by the Prospect to determine potential pain points that can be used for discussion to build a perception of competence in understanding the Prospect’s business. This strategy will open the door for The Sales Professional to ask more valuable questions later in the Qualifying Phase (Step 3 of the Seven Step Sales Process).
• Create a repository of the Prospect’s potential business challenges (Issues) and at least 10 Implications for each of these issues on other areas of their business. This will allow the Sales Professional to ask deeper questions during the Qualifying Step of the Sales process and escalate the sense of urgency for the Prospect to make a buying decision by increasing the number of reasons a Prospect would want to move forward with the proposed solution.

Strategic preparation is the first crucial step in developing distinction and separation between a typical Sales Person and an effective Sales Professional. This step will allow the Sales Professional to develop a Trusted Advisor relationship with their Prospects and Clients. While Strategic Preparation alone will not Close a Prospect, it will provide the foundation for; and increase the chances of, conducting a successful sales engagement.

Join us for Part 3 of this series next month: Step 2 of the 7 Step Sales Process: The Warm-Up.

Are you interested in improving your organization’s effectiveness in the following areas?:

• Partnerships with Telecom Companies
• Proven Methods of Selling Managed Services
• Saving Money on Liability Insurance
• Insurance-as-a-Service

As a valued member of MSP University we exclusively invite you to join our Live Webinar Training sessions led by our very own MSP University experts as well as top industry leaders.

We know how important your business is to you and we are here to provide you with the information and training you need to succeed.

Please register for any or all of the following valuable sessions.

Wednesday, November 30th
(11am PST)
How to Build a MSSP Offering with a Security Appliance
Presented by Rose Ryan of Fortinet

Register Here

Thursday, December 1st
(9am PST)
2011 Year End Organization Challenge!
Presented by Liza Magcale of eLiaise

Register Here

Click Here to Register Now!

State of the Industry Webcast: Leveraging Freemium Tools to Grow Your MSP Practice

When: Tuesday, November 29th at 10am PST/1pm EST

Please join MSP University as we host N-able CEO Gavin Garbutt for a discussion on Tools designed to reduce your cost of Managed Services delivery while maximizing your efficiencies.

Gavin will share details on how N-able’s Freemium offer helps accelerate your journey to becoming an Elite MSP.

Special Bonus!

All attendees will also receive MSP University’s new Best Practices Guide “Pricing and Positioning Cloud Computing Services“. 

Click Here to Register Now!

So just what is Thanksgiving Day?

While Thanksgiving Day is not unique to the United States – I mean, Canada, Liberia, Norfolk Island, and Puerto Rico all observe it – Thanksgiving in America holds a very special place in the hearts of most Americans. Every year without fail, on the fourth Thursday of November, we all sit down with family to relieve the memories of good times and bad and to give thanks that we are survivors.

Here’s how the story goes for the  U.S. observance. The origination goes all the way back to 1621 when the pilgrims stopped to celebrate a good harvest in Plymouth, Massachusetts. While not everyone agrees that this is the official start of Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., most of us stand fast in our belief that this was the official start. The Founding Fathers (you know, political leaders and statesmen who took part in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence) started the tradition with a presidential proclamation that made Thanksgiving Day one of the more popular holidays of the year.

Just think of the meals that were presented at the “First Thanksgiving” — The event that Americans commonly call the “First Thanksgiving” — collected as a way to give thanks to God for guiding them safely to the New World. The table literally was filled with delectables (and not so delectable) that included fish (cod, eels and bass); Shellfish (clams, lobster and mussels); wild fowl, venison, and lots of fruits, grains and vegetables that were said to have fed 13 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans.

Nowadays, our feast consists more of turkey, ham, rock cornish game hens, duck; mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, bean casserole; loads of vegetables; stuffing; gravy and biscuits; and loads of pie (pumpkin, apple, mincemeat) — so much that it’s highly likely that you just might fall asleep during the football games to sleep it all off. (Heaven forbid!)

Thanksgiving Day is a time for being grateful for what you have and not what you don’t have and to spend time with your families. So what about you? What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Written by Solution Providers just like you and unlike any other magazine, this new cutting-edge digital video publication will keep you informed as to best practices for I.T. Business Improvement and Transformation to help you succeed in growing your practice.

Viewable on all PCs, laptops and mobile devices such as Smartphones, Tablets, iPhones and IPads, SPC International Magazine will keep you informed whether you’re in the office or on the go.

November’s Issue Features: 

• Transformation: Business Information Solutions
• Beta Buzz: The Channel Transformation Alliance
• The Pulse: Interview with Jason Beal of Ingram Micro EMEA
• Rewind: MSP University’s Miami, FL Boot Camp
• Sales Feed: Step 1 of the 7 Step Sales Process – Strategic Preparation
• Marketing Feed: Establishing a Marketing Budget for Maximum ROI
• Service Delivery Feed: The Sales Engineering Process
• Operations Feed: How to Determine the Profitability of Your Service Desk
• Solutions Feed: Storm Clouds On The Horizon, How Will You Compete?
• The Stream: What Upcoming Changes Should Solution Providers Be Aware Of?
• Sponsor Spotlight: What is the Biggest Risk Businesses Face?

Click here to view previous issues!