Jim Hamilton Posts

On December 17th, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful heavier than air flight, launching the aviation age and giving the world a glimpse of what was to come. Many aviation pioneers would quickly follow the Wright brothers in a “race” to best the previous record, whether the marker was time in the air, speed, distance or one of the many other categories.Charles Lindbergh became the first pilot to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic on May 20th, 1927. Just a year later, Ame ...

Charles Dickens’ seasonal classic, “A Christmas Carol”, endures not because it blends so well with our own celebrations, but because of the truth it instills in our souls at this hectic and indulgent time of year. Far from the glitz and excess that has come to characterize the Christmas season, the story focuses on one man’s life journey. As those of you familiar with the story know, while he has material wealth beyond imagination, Ebenezer Scrooge is emotionally impoverished and heading to cert ...

Service abuse and warranty fraud (hereafter referred to simply as “warranty fraud”) has been a hot topic in our CompTIA services communities as well as within the industry at large over the past year. And well it should be; recent research by PwC estimates that the cost to the industry is between 3 to 5 percent of revenue. We have all been touched in one way or another by warranty fraud. It’s a pervasive industry problem that, much like shoplifting, can inflate the cost of goods and services to ...

 There has been no shortage of examples of high profile online personal data leaks over the last few years. From TJX’s stolen credit card information to AOL’s exposure of consumers’ personal surfing habits, the stakes are high for both consumers and businesses when it comes to protecting our online privacy. Yet at the same time, the connections proved through the Internet and the associated speed of technology development make the World Wide Web the wild west of innov ...

In my late teens, I had the opportunity to travel with a friend to visit his family in Greece. The Greeks I met were friendly but curious about my origins and would often ask (translated by my Greek-speaking friend) if I was American. I would smile and respond “no, I’m Canadian.” Most of them would smile politely and move on but, on one occasion, a man stopped dead in his tracks and exclaimed, “Canadian, American: what’s the difference?” After I took the time to explain that Canada and the US we ...

Note: This is an addendum to the eight blog entries in which I examine managed services best practices identified in the CompTIA MSP Partners 2010 market research.My favorite baseball team was and always will be the Montreal Expos. They had heart. With one of the lowest payrolls in major league baseball, they had to be smart, where other teams could simply spend. They were quirky – where else in major league baseball was it 99 meters to the right field fence and you could buy a chien chaud (lite ...

Note: This is the eighth of eight blog entries in which I examine managed services best practices identified in the CompTIA MSP Partners 2010 market research.What is your most valuable asset? No, I’m not talking about your winning smile or superior intelligence… but the asset that is most import to your business success. Here’s a hint to what I’m looking for: I once worked for a CEO who told me “I’d rather lose a good customer than a good employee.” His point was simple; a good employee is more ...

Note: This is the seventh of eight blog entries in which I examine managed services best practices identified in the CompTIA MSP Partners 2010 market research.Henry Ford once quipped “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black”. In a world of “half-caf skim latte – hold the foam”, the industrialist’s quote may seem like a quaint memory of years gone past—but it is actually an insightful observation on business. It speaks to the importance of repeatability, ...

Note: This is the sixth of eight blog entries in which I examine managed services best practices identified in the CompTIA MSP Partners 2010 market research.We’ve all heard the expression “it takes money to take money” and tacitly nod our head in agreement; best in class MSPs don’t simply concur, they pull out their wallets and invest in building a world class services practice. Our 2010 research clearly shows that the most successful MSPs spend more of their top line revenue (as a percentage) o ...

Note: This is the fifth of eight blog entries in which I examine managed services best practices identified in the CompTIA MSP Partners 2010 market research.I have met some very good negotiators in my day, but the very best I have encountered are children. Considering that they have almost nothing to bargain with and occupy a position of little power, kids have an innate ability to negotiate and ultimately get what they want. My teenagers are masters at working mom and dad (and if necessary, gra ...