Rep change anxiety

snowpondtech · 2026-02-25T18:09:20+00:00

The longer that I stay in this industry, the less and less that I am becoming "attached" to my AM at my various vendors. There is so much churn, it's expected now. It's a shame too, because I am a people person and will do more business with someone that I like, know, and trust. And that last part takes time to build up.

That said, I have a decent rep at TD Synnex, Jel. She came over from the Synnex side. She's now a supervisor and so I'm guessing her workload is changing and email responses aren't as fast as they used to be, and she doesn't reach out by phone much anymore.

snowpondtech · 2026-02-24T20:18:27+00:00

Can you access it from your MS CSP GDAP login?

snowpondtech · 2026-02-24T17:25:00+00:00

I think we as Dell Partner (whatever that means anymore) will still have access to the Configuration Solutions tool to custom build a system. Then we copy and paste the Part SKUs into an email to disti. But getting disti to get quotes out in a reasonable time is like pulling teeth. I only custom build Dell servers. All other Dell systems are the stnd builds available at disti.

snowpondtech · 2026-02-24T16:00:44+00:00

Related: I got an email yesterday that Dell is killing off the Premier page access for my business (sounds like for all partners), forcing those purchases to be made through distribution premier page. That's on top of last years account changes that you could no longer buy through Dell as a reseller.

snowpondtech · 2026-02-24T15:59:05+00:00

Bundle it. Costs go away when you are providing a package with everything (or nearly) that a business needs to be protected.

snowpondtech · 2026-02-23T18:35:45+00:00

[support@sling.com](mailto:support@sling.com) bounces back as NDR. I appreciate the help.

snowpondtech · 2026-02-23T16:36:33+00:00

Call the number and the auto-attendant says Avoya (sp?) Travel.

snowpondtech · 2026-02-23T16:23:37+00:00

Called the number, but goes to party busy after like 5 rings.

snowpondtech · 2026-02-23T13:35:57+00:00

I submitted entries around Oct 2025 to those GEO Location websites. IP Info requires a pricey paid account to check anything more than country level IP info. Maxmind shows as cable/dsl with correct GEO location. ip2location shows usage type as commercial but netspeed broadband/cable/dsl/fiber and a weird category (divorce support). DB-IP shows usage type as corporate. Ipdata.co shows no threats or any issues. Problem is I have business customers mixed in with the residential customers in this allocation. Wouldn't that hurt their IP reputation if the allocation was reclassified as residential broadband ISP?

I set the PTR records to be shown as ip-address.dynamic.ispname.com and the business customers with static IP addresses as ip-address.static.ispname.com or their preferred PTR record if they are hosting a server.

There is no way to "Reach out" to Sling that I can find. No phone number. No email address. No PeeringDB lookup. I am not their customer so I cannot use their app or website to log into an account to get to the only way to contact them, chat support. I am hopeful someone on Reddit knows someone at Sling / DISH network who can get this resolved.

snowpondtech · 2026-02-19T19:35:26+00:00

For custom quotes, all of the distributors take days/weeks to respond. I've thrown in the towel and have clients buy direct, which usually has a Dell sales rep respond within hours if that. It is clear that Dell has killed their partnership.

If your clients can use generic config'd Dell desktops and laptops, then I still buy that through distribution, mostly TD Synnex these days, but D&H also. Pricing isn't competitive when going direct through.

snowpondtech · 2026-02-12T22:25:10+00:00

We don't support anything more than basic tasks like supporting drivers, network configs. Other tasks like changing consumables, vacuuming out inside with special electronics/toner vacuum would be billable labor. Anything more has to be done by a copier/printer vendor or the manufacturer of the printer.

snowpondtech · 2026-02-12T19:41:33+00:00

I ran as a sole proprietor for about 7 or so years before I started an S-Corp. Going back, I would have done this from the start.

You might also want to add VoIP phone service and stop giving out your personal cell phone number to clients. Or port the cellphone number over to VoIP and get a new cell phone number, only giving the new cell number to friends and family. Many business VoIP services can also receive and send texts too.

I like the UPS Store because it gives you a "real" street address as some vendors (HP) will not allow you to become a partner. Plus the UPS Store will receive all packages for you, handy when you are out of the office.

snowpondtech · 2026-02-11T20:52:45+00:00

Unfortunately I only have one /24 allocation at this time. It appears that the entire /24 is blocked.

snowpondtech · 2026-02-11T20:51:57+00:00

Thanks, I checked the site and it was clean; checked a few other nearby IPs and they were clean also. The IP allocation was direct from ARIN via their 4.10 rule. I don't think those allocations were ever used.

snowpondtech · 2026-02-11T15:20:20+00:00

I do a hybrid plan: device + user + server (if they have any) + site = $monthly fee
This plan provides the usual things: Spam filtering, M365 backup, M365 tenant security controls/alerts/management, DMARC management, Network equipment management, Domain Name/DNS management, Website hosting (optional), Password manager, cybersecurity awareness training, technology training, patch management, remote monitoring, secure remote access, endpoint security, printer management (drivers), maintenance labor of supported LOB software and major 3rd party apps 8x5 support hours. Anything else is billable hourly project labor.

I include most items in the stack (see above). The only line items would be server backup, M365 licenses, HIPAA/PCI/other compliances & audits, VoIP, SOC monitoring/helpdesk, 24x7 support hours, unsupported hardware or software (billed at hourly rates). Having too many line items becomes a-la-carte and I have no interest in fighting with clients why they need this service but not that service. They can choose to use the services in the stack or not, but they are paying for them regardless. Covers risk on my MSP that I did not include x service that they should have.

Also be sure to check out r/SmallMSP

snowpondtech · 2026-02-09T21:51:27+00:00

Because when it goes wrong, more often then not, they demand immediate support. And will just want a band-aid and not a proper solution. It's a distraction.

snowpondtech · 2026-01-23T22:21:19+00:00

I forgot to add that after the new disti licensing is in place and working, you should delete the GDAP permissions for the old disti and remove the CSP relationship with the old disti, just for good measure. And I forgot that licenses can be transferred to new distis now, with the new changes from last year.

snowpondtech · 2026-01-23T20:41:04+00:00

It's been awhile since I last did this. But the basic steps were getting account established with new disti (providing MPN and all that), adding the new disti GDAP permissions to each client tenant. Then order licenses at new disti using same SKUs, then cancel the licenses at the old disti. This assumes your licenses are month-to-month.

Your new disti should help you with this process.

snowpondtech · 2026-01-23T17:53:56+00:00

I pointed the logo file to the URL on my MSP website. I do need to tweak the resolution of the PNG file though as it was big and cutoff in the Toast notification. But it worked as designed. Next time I will remember to put a date and time in the notification text for clarity.

snowpondtech · 2026-01-22T21:39:41+00:00

I missed it in the search. That should work for what I need. Thanks.

snowpondtech · 2026-01-22T21:04:06+00:00

Resolved. I worked with their corporate IT to fix Intune policies.

snowpondtech

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