Don’t Be the Single Point of Failure (EP 1071)

I had a great conversation with Mike Glasman, president of Vitalpoints IT Services in Los Angeles, because he came into the MSP world from a path many of us did not take. Mike spent years in channel and enterprise technology sales, working around major vendors and large solution providers before he became an MSP owner. That background taught him how to get in front of customers, ask better questions, evaluate vendors, and build credibility around difficult technical problems, even though he does not position himself as the person who has to fix every ticket.

What really stood out to me was Mike’s insistence that the owner cannot be the single point of failure. He outsourced help desk work from the beginning, built a bench of people he could call on for specialized projects, and trained clients to use the support process instead of calling him directly. We also get into the realities of growing on the side, the high cost of client acquisition, one-year agreements, avoiding unnecessary tool commitments, and why your standard stack still needs room for exceptions when a client has an unusual backup, Wi-Fi, Mac, or large-data problem

=== Chapters

• 00:33 Meet Mike Glasman of Vitalpoints IT Services
• 01:44 From Technology Sales to MSP Ownership
• 03:06 Why Mike Skipped the MSP Franchise Model
• 05:56 Growing an MSP While Keeping a Day Job
• 09:26 Vitalpoints Services and Enterprise Sales Experience
• 11:16 Wi-Fi Expertise and Solving Difficult Client Environments
• 15:55 Vendor Management and Avoiding Trade Show Follow-Up
• 19:00 24/7 Support, Outsourcing, and MSP Contracts
• 23:02 Going Full Time and the Cost of Client Acquisition
• 30:22 Backup Strategy for Large Data Environments
• 36:06 Building an MSP That Does Not Depend on You
• 40:49 Why the Owner Cannot Be the Single Point of Failure

=== Guests: Mike Glasman

• Website: https://www.vitalpoints.net/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelglasman

=== Resources / Companies / Products / Books / Podcasts

• Datto ALTO: https://www.datto.com/products/alto/
• Druva: https://www.druva.com/
• Veeam Backup & Replication: https://www.veeam.com/products/veeam-data-platform/backup-recovery.html
• Dell PowerProtect Data Domain: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/storage-servers-and-networking-for-business/sf/powerprotect-data-domain
• Pax8: https://www.pax8.com/
• RUCKUS Networks: https://www.ruckusnetworks.com/
• Cisco: https://www.cisco.com/
• Aruba Networking
• Website: https://www.arubanetworks.com/
• APC by Schneider Electric: https://www.apc.com/
• Autotask: https://www.kaseya.com/products/autotask-psa/
• Kaseya: https://www.kaseya.com/
• CDW: https://www.cdw.com/
• SHI International: https://www.shi.com/
• Insight: https://www.insight.com/

=== SPONSORS: 

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• Travel Partner: TruGrid: https://www.itbusinesspodcast.com/trugrid
• Digital Partner, Designer Ready: http://itbusinesspodcast.com/designerready

=== SHOW MUSIC: 

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=== Connect with Uncle Marv

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🎙 Host: Marvin Bee
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