šŸ”’ Patreon Special

IT Pros: exclusive shows await you on Patreon, focusing on the more challenging aspects of running your practice and working with clients and employees.


546: No Thyme for Reindeer Games

-Command Control Power has created an anonymous rates and plans survey. You can also learn more at our MacAdmins Slack channel. This will be a great way to better understand where your current rates, plans, and software stack stand in comparison with your fellow consultants. The survey can be filled out anonymously by anyone, regardless of Patreon status. We will discuss the results of this survey on an upcoming Patreon show. However, if you decide to participate in the survey, you can provide a contact email to receive results as well. We look forward to hearing from you!

Topics:

-Sam received an unprompted positive email from a customer.

-Jerry talks about a recent client loss.

-Joe is growing tired of clients that donā€™t engage on a regular basis and then need immediate help.

-Legacy clients that have personal contact information is still a danger zone. We need to learn to set boundaries.

-AirTags are on sale for the holidays.

-Joe recommends the KeySmart Smart Card as an AirTag alternative.

-He has also been dealing with bad or faulty ThunderBolt cables.

-We talk Instagram hacks and security processes of Meta

-Jerry has a client with an internal IT department that was a little too eager about Apple security updates that were not relevant to them.

-Dealing with the latest model specific macOS updates is a challenge with tools like Nudge.

544: Interview With Adam Burg - Owner Of CALSO Technologies LLC

Topics:

-This week we welcome Adam Burg, founder of CALSO Technologies and Command Control Power Patreon sponsor.

-Adam shares the story of his consulting career.

-CALSO is an acronym for the members of his family.

-Partnering with key vendors made it simpler to manage his clients.

-They manage clients as small as 2 up to 50 users.

-MDM, email backup & archiving are key components to his MSP stack.

-The MacAdmins Slack is a major source of help. Adam can be found as MacDadmin.

-Adam hosts the Los Angeles Mac Admins Meetup.

-Adamā€™s kids love the Command Control Power theme songs.

-ā€œThereā€™s no substitute for being thereā€. -Joe Saponare

-Adam talks about his team, including his wife, who is a co-owner, and a contractor/employee that he relies on heavily.

-Taking a job can sometimes mean you need to rely on others that have the expertise to get the job done.

-Adam talks about traveling with the family on work trips, and finding time to get away on hikes.

542: Turn Off Driver Assist: A Mac-nificent Way to Personalize Your Driving Experience

Topics:

-Jerry has a client with an Acrobat Pro issue that heā€™s seen before.

-Clients that Google answers try to offer their own advice.

-Some people expect things for free.

-Even with car features, some tracking features bother users.

-Jerry is thrilled to have Nudge working in Addigy for managing macOS software updates.

-Jerry sees an odd message that says ā€œFailed to personalize the software updateā€.

-In general, software updates still seems to require third party options to work smoothly.

-The difficulty when clients misconstrue something you told themā€¦

-Joe shares some thoughts on the latest Apple hardware and his client needs.

-Both Jerry & Joe have the new iPhone 15 and they provide their feedback.

-If you are selling your old iPhone, The Scripting OS X newsletter references some good advice from Apple about purchasing a used iPhone.

538: Welcome All Pings

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Topics:

-The Andy Esposito story from an ACEs conference event long ago is the gift that keeps on giving.

-Jerry gives a shout out to our friends at TidBITS Content Network.

-Dave Hamilton of Mac Geek Gab mentioned blazing fast ThunderBolt cables from Leirui. Available on Amazon.

-Joe has some personal experience with Nudge and AppleScript automation from macsudo.com.

-Joe wants to do some follow up on all the automations within Addigyā€¦when he has time.

-Sam made a mistake deploying Nudge and found out the result the hard way.

-The power of beta testers is crucial. A small group of tech savvy employees that can vet your deployments.

-Sam has some experience with UniFiā€™s Cloud Controller and shares some of what he has learned.

-Ryan Grimes gave Joe some tips on keeping tabs on UniFi alerts using Uptime Robot.

-LTE backup ISP options are critical when another ISP isnā€™t available for a business.