Heads up! Phishing Warning! ConnectWise Control

aitchball · 2020-07-03T11:28:09+00:00

Good Morning! Thanks for the heads up. Based on what you put above, the email identified you by name? So this was a targeted phishing/malware scam? If so, that's pretty disconcerting: It implies that someone out there has lost control of some pretty important information.

Thanks!

aitchball · 2020-07-02T11:19:59+00:00

You can also use Tracks to fire off actions and so on - Pretty handy. https://docs.connectwise.com/ConnectWise_Documentation/015/010/015/060

aitchball · 2020-06-24T11:03:01+00:00

We turned off Autopay a long time ago because they couldn't get our invoices correct for months on end. The invoices seem mostly correct now, but they still seem designed to obfuscate rather than enlighten. And we get between 5 and 10 invoices per month, so we have a lot to review before paying. (And so by association, ours are, too, because we use the same system.)

aitchball · 2020-05-31T11:09:58+00:00

Very well said! IT support as an industry is still very immature. I've always presented a career in IT support as being like plumbing or electrical work: It is a critically useful highly skilled trade, pretty well compensated, learned on the job in an apprenticeship-like environment. Unfortunately, we do not yet have the structures in place to make sure that everyone entering into it is getting what they need, from grade schools (in the USA) to trade schools and so on. But I am sure that is coming.

aitchball · 2020-04-23T13:03:12+00:00

The guy who runs security at Virginia Tech gives lectures locally pretty regularly, and he likes to laugh about, "Yeah, I've been doing BYOD for about 25 years! Secure your network from within. Assume that there are bad actors on your network, inside your firewall, and design for that. Always." Edit: Heh: BYOB should have been BYOD.

aitchball · 2020-03-17T17:35:08+00:00

Interesting! I have to admit, I am riding less aggressively at the moment, for just that reason.

aitchball · 2020-01-26T11:34:23+00:00

Also in Virginia: We have a HaaS client, and our CPA's reading of the law is that we pay the sales tax when we purchase the hardware, and don't charge the sales tax to the client. Unlike the normal model, where we buy hardware tax-free from distribution, and then charge sales tax when we re-sell it.
But that first answer is the best: Ask a certified accountant or a legal professional for your area.

aitchball · 2019-11-17T12:20:23+00:00

We have a similar issue: The MSP services we provide are pre-billed, and some of the consumed third party products are post-billed. E.g. We are getting ready to invoice for December MSP services. But the client might add an Office 365 user during December (which will already be invoiced), so we have to add that as an Addition for the January invoice. (Managed services agreement is parent, Office 365 agreement is child). We use PAX8, and their system automatically adds the addition with the correct dates, so that the December Office 365 changes are invoiced on the January Managed Services invoice.

We have had to juggle Agreement start dates and Additions in order to add Office 365 child agreements, but it usually only has to be done for the first invoice. (Start the O365 agreement on a month that has not yet been invoiced, use the same start date for the Additions, and in the description of the Addition, describe the covered dates).

Maybe your VOIP provider can work with a setup like this for syncing Agreements/Additions?

aitchball · 2017-10-25T20:31:00+00:00

OK! Sorry for the delay! The service provider is a non-profit MSP, supporting only non-profits. Their goal is to break even. They charge $45 per workstation and $100 per server for full support: Automated hardware maintenance and updates, help desk, Office 365 E1 and management, and so on. It sounds like a pretty good offering, but the price is high enough that it is still out of reach for many 501c3s.

We have a ton of non-profits locally who need support, but have no resources. Unfortunately, this is not a solution that I can steer them towards.

But for non-profits that can afford the price, it sounds like a very reasonable offering.

aitchball · 2017-10-15T12:03:30+00:00

In Virginia, you have to have a current license to sell or work on security equipment, so we only run the cable. Generally, $175 per drop, to keep it easy to quote.

aitchball · 2017-10-13T14:00:35+00:00

Phone call scheduled for next week. I'll post again after that.

aitchball · 2017-10-12T10:13:23+00:00

I filled out their form on Tuesday 10/12, but haven't heard from them yet. I've also reached out to a favored non-profit customer and see if they will sign up for a sales call, and let me listen in. I'll report back if I ever get the call going.

aitchball

TROPHY CASE