It’s been a while since I posted on here, so I thought as we are approaching the end of 2020 I thought it would be nice to reflect on what a great year it’s been.
Oh - It hasn't has it? - It really hasn't...
2020 has been a pretty terrible year and I don’t need to tell you why. However, let’s look for the positives, if there are any.
It started, as is traditional, in January. I remember writing down what I planned to get done this year, so x number or Parkruns, y number of weekend breaks etc. It was great, I was super confident that 2020 would be one of the best.
I also remember deciding that I’d look to start a new role in the spring. If you’ve been paying attention you would remember that I left Datto in November of 2019 to take a break, a break from the travel, but more of that later.
So, I began to start looking around. During this time I did a few events here and there, I remember doing a Mentori event with Fiona Challis and Techdata and the final event I attended was the CompTIA UK Business of Technology Meeting in Manchester. This was the meeting where we were all aware of Covid a little. We were all elbow bumping and becoming great at hand-washing, but we didn’t really know what was going to come next.
I won’t bore you with what did come next, we are all living though it still, so I thought I’d try to pick out some highlights of 2020..
I joined MYKI
This is certainly the highlight of the year*. I joined in April which in the UK was peak lockdown 1.0, or the lockdown as we called it then. This didn’t seem to matter though and in some ways helped as it enabled me to concentrate on a few things without the distraction of events. It did mean though that after leaving Datto to cut down on travel I was permanently tied to my home office desk. This is not what I intended at all.
The team at MYKI is like no other I’ve worked with, I think the term that best describes them is “Small but perfectly formed” - Everyone is so helpful all the time.
Product-wise I think I joined at the right time, MYKI for MSPs launched in October 2019 and it’s really gaining momentum now with each month usually breaking the record for the number of new partners.
We have done some work to expand distribution and we now are represented in France, Australia and the Nordic countries with more to follow in 2021 - I just look forward to going to meet these new distributors so much.
There is so much more to tell you about what is coming next at MYKI, but I don’t want to steal their thunder.
The Datto IPO
I see the successful Datto IPO as a victory for the entire MSP community. Obviously as I’m no longer employed by Datto I didn’t get involved in the IPO from an employee point of view, but I did invest a small amount of my hard earned money into it.
I think it demonstrates that the MSP model and all the work we are putting into it as MSPs, Vendors, Industry Groups etc are really starting to give positive results to the SMBs we generally serve.
I will certainly keep an eye on the progress of Datto and I suspect there will be other IPOs or large trade deals in 2021.
CompTIA UK Executive Council
My time on the UK Executive Council is coming to an end sadly. I'd like to point out it's because my two year stint is over and not because I've been exposed as a charlatan and fraud by my fellow members. I've had a great time being a member and hopefully we have helped move the needle a little.
It goes without saying I will continue to engage with CompTIA as I think it's a great asset for our community - I look forward to seeing what they do next.
I won an award
There are lots of awards handed out in the MSP Community, but I was really pleased to receive the CompTIA EMEA Community Champion award this year. Maybe they were just saying I'm really old or maybe they were saying I have added a little to the channel over the years. I'd prefer the latter, but would take the former of course.
The Channel Really Shone
Remember all the conversations you had with your customers about moving to the cloud, flexible home working and security? Yes, the ones in 2019 where they decided not to proceed.
Then the calls came in during the spring and early summer saying - We are sending our staff home, can you make it happen?
And boy, did you make it happen - The MSPs around the world delivered in weeks and months what would have taken years before. If there is one good thing that has come out of this then it’s we are significantly further down the line when it comes to secure digital flexible working than we were at the start of the year.
So, I guess that’s it for 2020. The best thing I can say to it is “Good Riddance” - I am sure that 2021 will prove to be much better. With the vaccination roll out started in the UK and around the world I am cautiously optimistic that we will at least have some events to attend next year.
I’ve certainly missed them and missed chatting to you all at the bar…
Have a great Christmas and New Year and I’ll see you on the other side…
* For me, not necessarily for them.