The constant struggle between giving end-users control without giving them the ability to blow up their machines has been the bane of Managed Services for decades now. It seems like there are a thousand ways to lock up a machine but few offer the freedom of allowing clients to do what they wish while still protecting the endpoints from harm. While working with a partner this month we started formalizing an interesting process for controlling endpoint permissions so that you don’t have to do all the admin work on your client’s machines but you can also feel safe locking down the endpoints and limiting administrator access without bothering your clients. This guide assumes that you are going to make endpoint user accounts regular users and have removed admin credentials from end-users. Kaseya’s Set Credential Command Kaseya has a built-in setting called “Set Credentials”. Set Credentials typically allows Kaseya to run…
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Mailprotector releases new MX servers with increased TLS security
For those of you that have been with us for a while and have some older domains, Mailprotector recommends updating the MX records. These new MX servers offer improved compatibility with TLS connections. The older records will continue to work in most circumstances but the new ones may help when a sender enforces TLS connections.…
How to use Kaseya to Automate Office 365 Deployments in 3 (and a half) easy steps
Office is one of the most common software packages you will find in the business world. When provisioning a new machine, Office is often one of the first tools that is installed. So when a partner came to us asking about how to make the process of installing and keeping Office up to date we…
Our Top 10 Kaseya Scripts for Daily IT Work (+2 more because we couldn’t choose)
Since the inception of Virtual Administrator there has been one guiding principle that has driven us: automation. Kaseya is all about making things easier and over the years they have built an incredibly powerful scripting engine that, when combined with other technologies like PowerShell and VB script, can do just about anything. Our “Agent Procedures”…
Automating Windows Update for Business
Download the script pack here. We are waving the white flag The year is 2009, here at Virtual Administrator we are running several on-premise Kaseya servers. These pre-date the Kaseya cloud offerings and since their on-premise servers weren’t originally designed for multi-tenancy we have a unique perk available to us: we can control Windows Updates…
Time Tracking for IT: 101
Time tracking is one of those things that everyone is expected to know but few really talk about. I saw a discussion about this pop up on reddit this week and while the discussion hasn’t had a ton of interaction just yet, I thought it might be worth to take a closer look at the…
Overcoming the Fear of Selling Managed Services – 7 Tips To Selling As a Small MSP
An MSP will not grow without customers. And customers will not buy unless you sell them on Managed Services. If you’re a small MSP you are probably wondering how to best sell your service. I have been running a professional services small business of some kind or another for decades now, and what I have…
5 Ideas On How to Train Your Customers To Email Tickets Instead of Call
Your customers want a dedicated resource to help with their technical troubles. Who wouldn’t? I can certainly appreciate wanting immediate support when I’m struggling. But as an MSPs, you need to be an expert at resource management. And two of the most expensive resources for MSPs are telephone and/or in-person support. Before I dive into…
Behind the Scenes — A Day in the Life of Virtual Administrator
Virtual Administrator is a unique animal compared to most other companies. Since we are often working as the middle-man our company is dealing with vendors and clients alike on a daily basis. Most of this occurs through our support board. I figured I’d share some (generalized) tickets that we have open right now so you…
What is “Managed Services”?
Managed Services is one of those things that IT People know about as a title but most don’t really spend the time to really grasp. Chances are, you are probably fairly competent in working with computers. Perhaps you are skilled in fixing broken machines, setting up networks, and/or security and business continuity. Managed services kind…
The Secret To Incredible Testimonials for your MSP
“Get Testimonials”, “Build Authority”, “Become an Influencer”. These silly little business quips that make their way into every startup self-help book all sound great but they leave out a difficult step in the process. You know, the part of HOW you actually do it. Usually when we write blog posts we share some technical information,…