Earlier this week I spoke with Dan Haurey, president of a 21-employee MSP company called Exigent Technologies, which is based in Mount Arlington, NJ. Like many companies and residents in Haurey’s area, he was without power and his business (and many employees’ homes) was flooded out following the super storm that hit the East Coast on Monday evening on October 29.  Continue Reading..

I hear it all the time from integrators and VARs: "IP cameras are too expensive for my customers." If you're only comparing the cost of one camera to another, that might be true. But as an integrator, you know that one piece of equipment does not make a total solution. This definitely holds true in the video surveillance world.  Continue Reading..

Just a quick post today to share the below comment by the RSPA in response to the buzz surrounding business practices in the payment processing industry. I'm happy to stimulate the conversation with this blog and will continue to participate in any way I can to help move this issue forward.  Continue Reading..

Hurricane Sandy pummeled the East Coast recently, leaving millions without power and causing severe damage to homes and office buildings. As horrible as this super storm has been, such adversities have a way of revealing the heroes among us. John Motazedi, CEO of SNC Squared Technology Group and Hands That Give are just two examples.  Continue Reading..

Today we began the week-long process of wrapping up our December issue. As part of the issue, we're including a special report on the topic of where retailers plan to focus their IT budgets in 2013. The data came from a survey that our sister publication conducts with its retailer audience each year.  Continue Reading..

I had a phone call this morning with ETA (Electronic Transaction Association) CEO Jason Oxman to get his response on my previous articles questioning the "dirtiness" of the processing industry. For those who don't know, the ETA is to the payments industry as the RSPA is to retail industry. So basically, I was talking to the right guy.  Continue Reading..

I just got back from N-able's Partner Conference, which was held in Montreal last week. One of the conference highlights for me was CEO Gavin Garbutt's keynote speech. He shared the results from N-able's extensive research conducted earlier this year, involving feedback from 1,800 IT service providers throughout the United States and Canada. Following are a few points that got my attention.   Continue Reading..

It's easy to look at certain recurring revenue opportunities and think that they just aren't worth you time. Sign one customer up for [insert product here] and you might be earning a few pennies per transaction. Is this really worth your time, particularly since you're so busy?  Continue Reading..

In a previous article, I pondered the "dirty" nature of the payment processing industry and received a lot of hate mail for my words. Even though my article was more of me wondering aloud than making definitive statements, some in the processing industry acted like I called their baby ugly.  Continue Reading..

Do shed the mindset that you're just a provider of ECRs or POS terminals. Your customers have business problems that you can solve if you look beyond the checkout area. Step up and become a true trusted advisor.  Continue Reading..