Ask Maria von Trapp from the Sound of Music what her favourite things are, and she’ll quickly rattle off a list including, raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens and even brown paper packages tied up with strings. But over the years if you’ve ever asked me what my favourite things are (to Automate), I’ve often struggled to give an answer. The problem is, there is so much to choose from and where do you begin?

The Patch Management Engine (PME) in N-able N-sight RMM has been updated! I cannot stress how excited I am for granular patching. With the ever-changing security landscape in today’s world, we need more control over patching than ever. In this blog, I will quickly review the PME updates and give some quick-hit best practices that have served me well in the real world.

At N-able’s recent Empower partner event in Prague, we took the opportunity to ask some Cove Data Protection users what they actually think about the product. Naturally, we were pleased to hear so many positive comments, but we also found that their reasons for choosing Cove varied, as did the capabilities they value most. Here’s a little sample.

As N-able Head Nerds we are continually looking for ways our partners can better support their end-users. So it’s hugely beneficial for us to visit with our partners when we can to see all the different approaches they take in supporting their customers. On a recent trip to South Africa, Marc-Andre Tanguay visited First Technology KZN in Durban. Whilst there the team showed Marc-Andre the custom BSOD monitor they had built to detect if a machine had suffered the dreaded Blue Screen of Death.

Earlier this month at N-able’s Empower partner event in Prague, I sat down with Head Nerd Stefanie Hammond, to discuss co-managed IT services and N-able’s recently released Co-managed Digital Playbook for MSPs. Whether you’re new to co-managed or looking build on existing offerings, the playbook provides guidance to MSPs on how to build, price, market, and sell co-managed IT services.

Back in January, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an advisory notice specifically talking about RMM providers being targeted by cybercriminals. We’ve known that as a group we’ve been a target for a few years, with the bad guys continuing to look at the RMM solution providers as a route into small businesses, because there are still dollars to be made there.

I’m hearing a lot of talk around the industry about M&A slowing down. However, the reality I’m seeing is that while the initial landgrab may well have blown over, the change in the cost of borrowing is forcing MSPs that are looking to grow by acquisition to think much more strategically. Instead of doing multiple acquisitions in a year, these companies and their PE backers are doing a smaller number of very strategic, larger acquisitions.