Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

In a 2019 Top Trends Transforming Network Operations survey, 34% of networking pros identified improving network agility as their top business goal for the year. The stat isn’t surprising. “Network agility” is considered the future of networking, but the term itself has become a bit of a buzzword. Everyone’s talking about it, but no one can agree on its definition. So what does network agility actually mean? We surfed the web and analyzed what (almost) everyone has to say.

It’s a story we often hear from our partners: A client calls and their network’s down, so our partner logs into Auvik, pinpoints the problem, and gets them back up in no time. Everyone’s happy. But your client shouldn’t have to make that first call. And if you’re using Auvik to its full potential, they likely won’t have to. Turning Auvik on when a client reports a major problem doesn’t make full use of Auvik’s power. For that, it needs to be on all the time.

As the managed services market becomes increasingly competitive, you’re likely looking for ways to boost your MSP’s productivity and efficiency. You’ve already got a stellar PSA, RMM, and network management tool, but you need something more. You need something like a TED Talk… or six… to inspire fresh ideas and make your MSP the best it can be. That’s why we surfed the web and found six seriously awesome speakers to bring you a new perspective on your business.

It’s a question the Auvik support team receives often: “What’s the difference between packet errors, packet discards, and packet loss?” And if you’ve ever typed that sentence—or any other variation—into Google, you’ll know it’s a tricky answer to find. Until now. Before we break down the three packet terms, let’s first look at packets themselves.

More than half of workers across all industries say they’ve experienced job burnout this year, and when you zone in on tech, the number jumps to 60%. It’s so common the World Health Organization has recognized it as an occupational phenomenon. Symptoms of burnout start off small, with employees experiencing reduced efficiency and energy, lowered levels of motivation, reduced job satisfaction, decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, poor workplace morale, and increased turnover.

Today, 94% of enterprises use a cloud service in some capacity, and by 2020, 83% of entire enterprise workloads will be stored in the cloud. For MSPs, this presents a huge challenge: The network—and a strong internet connection—is now your clients’ lifeline to everything their employees use and need to get things done. 100% uptime is now more than an expectation—it’s mandatory.

Let’s be honest: Network management is a big responsibility. It includes monitoring and controlling a computer network to ensure all of its resources—both hardware and software—are in good shape and are being used productively. And if you’re not a network expert (or don’t have one on your payroll), that probably sounds pretty intimidating. But there’s no time like the present to tackle the topic of network management head on.

Thomas Edison once said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” That statement couldn’t be further from the truth—but there is an opportunity that MSPs are missing in the Wi-Fi market. If you think about the Wi-Fi market today, it’s an incredibly well-known and mature solution category, where most vendors offer highly similar products that provide a very similar set of capabilities.

One of the common pieces of advice I hear given to managed service providers (MSPs) is to “go narrow”—find a niche and become a specialist. This is generally sound advice. Specialization typically means your MSP faces less competition and becomes much easier to find in an otherwise crowded marketplace. But finding an area to specialize in is easier said than done. So how do you find a great niche for your MSP?

If tech support had a motto, it’d be reminiscent of Rule #4 of the Auvik Way: Even when it’s not your fault, it’s your problem. But sometimes, there are problems so bad you wouldn’t want to deal with them. We’ve rounded up 17 examples from the r/techsupportgore subreddit that are sure to send a palm to your face and a shiver down your spine: Plugging in your USB receiver with a hammer for that flush mounted look. from r/techsupportgore Good luck getting that one out.