{"id":45895,"date":"2023-05-25T14:44:57","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T13:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/?p=45895"},"modified":"2023-05-25T14:46:08","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T13:46:08","slug":"empower-prague-a-nerds-eye-view-paul-kelly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/empower-prague-a-nerds-eye-view-paul-kelly","title":{"rendered":"Empower Prague\u2014A Nerd\u2019s Eye View: Paul Kelly"},"content":{"rendered":"

This was the first Empower that I have attended in person since 2018. I\u2019d been looking forward to it ever since it was announced, and it certainly didn\u2019t disappoint. I always find Empowers to be hugely insightful, and I invariably end up returning to the (home) office reinvigorated and full of fresh new ideas. If I were to write about everything I took from Empower, it might just be my first novel, so instead I\u2019m going to touch on a few key points from different sessions across the whole event.<\/span><\/p>\n

Co-managed, a huge opportunity<\/span><\/h2>\n

Prior to the launch party on Tuesday, I had the pleasure in assisting Stefanie Hammond host the Co-managed IT Services boot camp, this for me is a very interesting subject, I believe it to potentially be a huge opportunity for those MSP\u2019s that can establish themselves in this market. If I ever was to leave N‑able and setup my own business, this would be the area I would target to build my business around. Hopefully some of our attendees at the boot camp will be inspired to do this, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Harnessing change <\/span><\/h2>\n

Our first full day of content kicked off on Wednesday and after the initial welcomes and community updates from Hannes Kamleitner and David Weeks, N‑able CEO John Pagliuca took to the stage.\u00a0 I always find John fascinating to listen to and he touch on three key points that I thought were particularly interesting:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cWhat got you here, won\u2019t get you there\u201d<\/strong>
    \n<\/span>John himself will admit he took this quote from Robert Wilburn\u2019s presentation, but it\u2019s one that really struck a chord with me. Throughout my years at N‑able<\/span><\/a>, I\u2019ve spoken to many partners and prospects. Many of these businesses have achieved a level of success by taking an approach and sticking with it, but those businesses that adapt and change their approach over time will take their business to the next level. This quote sums that up perfectly and would make a great tag line for our next Empower.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. \u201cInnovation isn\u2019t slowing down\u201d<\/strong>
    \nThe tools available to our partners today are ever-changing, for us as a company it\u2019s important that we continue to be a market leader in supplying our partners with new, advanced solutions to best position our partners to support their clients. Equally it\u2019s key that our partners embrace these new solutions so that they don\u2019t get stuck in the mindset of \u201cif it\u2019s not broke don\u2019t fix it\u201d.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Change is opportunity<\/strong>
    \nThrough Mergers and Aquations, MSPs are becoming bigger organisations, allowing them to expand their market beyond the typical SME sector. With a shortage of talent in the IT industry, MSPs are now best positioned to offer co-managed services into mid-market and Enterprise level clients.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Managing cloud complexities<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Following John, our N‑able CTO Mike Adler took to the stage to discuss AI\u2019s view into the future of N‑able\u2019s products<\/span><\/a>. Mike took the quirky approached of using the most talked about AI tool at the moment ChatGPT to engage the audience with cloud management, and why it\u2019s going to be a key component of every MSPs service offering moving forward. The other element of Mike\u2019s presentation that certainly had the entire audience sit up in their seats, was when he showed the upcoming integration of ChatGPT into N‑central and how it could be used to generate PowerShell scripts on demand. A brilliant example of how these emerging technologies are going to enhance the solutions we use today.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The changing face of bad actors<\/span><\/h2>\n

    My highlight from the last Empower I attended back in 2018, was the brilliant keynote speech from Skype co-creator Jonas Kjellberg, so I was really looking forward to listening to Keren Elazari. I think a good keynote should be interesting, engaging, thought provoking and funny and Keren\u2019s was all these and much more.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

    Keren opened my eyes to how the bad actors work and how they too are embracing new technologies to enhance their malicious activities, like using automation to improve their infection vectors. But the one phrase Keren used which I know I will from this day forward always associate with this keynote was \u2018Exploit Wednesday\u2019. Despite the odd hiccup with a patch or two over the years, I\u2019ve always seen Microsoft Patch Tuesday to be a positive thing. It\u2019s the day we find out what patches are being released to address the vulnerabilities detected in the software we use on a daily basis, but it\u2019s also the day that these vulnerabilities are announced to the world setting up the bad actors to exploit these vulnerabilities. As I continue to deliver boot camps and write blogs on patch management<\/span><\/a>, I know forever more I\u2019ll use the term \u2018Exploit Wednesday\u2019 to hammer home why patch management is such a critical component in your layer security approach to protecting your end users.<\/span><\/p>\n

    N‑able: more than just a vendor<\/span><\/h2>\n

    A key element of Empower is not only hearing what our organisation has to say but hearing what our partners have to say too. During our Chief Customer Officer Kevin Bury\u2019s presentation, we heard from N‑able partner James Hawker CEO of Bluecube Technology Solutions, the quote that really stood out for me was: \u201cWe made the mistake of viewing N‑able as just a vendor\u201d. They felt they knew how they wanted to implement the solutions but weren\u2019t getting what they wanted and were ready to look elsewhere. That was the point they started to work with N‑able and this partnership has strengthened ever since. Throughout my time as a Sales Engineer here at N‑able, I\u2019ve always told prospects that working with N‑able is a partnership, we want to help you be successful because your success feeds into our success.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

    If you just take one thing away from this blog, ask yourself: \u201cWhat kind of relationship do you have with N‑able?\u201d If you find yourself answering \u201cvendor\/customer relationship\u201d, then you need to reach out to us so we can build up that partnership and enjoy greater success together.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Wednesday afternoon was full of breakout sessions with something for everyone in attendance with peer-led sessions, roadmaps, business transformation sessions, and plenty of discussions around Mergers and Acquisitions.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

    The feedback from attendees was hugely positive. Here are some of my favorite quotes:<\/span><\/p>\n