The Easiest Productivity Win for vCIOs?
It’s 2025, and yet, slow computers are still a problem! I’m always surprised by how often this issue comes up. At our MSP, we survey every user during the onboarding process for new clients. One of the questions we ask is simple: “Is your computer fast enough to avoid slowing you down in your daily […]
Embed PowerPoint or Google Slides Directly into Propel Live
We’re excited to announce a new feature in Propel Live: you can now embed PowerPoint and Google Slides presentations directly into your client-facing presentations. This enhancement brings even more flexibility and polish to your strategic meetings. Whether you’re rolling out a new offering, walking clients through a security awareness program, or providing quarterly updates, you […]
Why Every vCIO Should Be Surveying All Users
As vCIOs, we often spend most of our time talking to a handful of key stakeholders, including owners, department heads, and office managers. And that’s great. But if we stop there, we’re only getting a partial picture of the client’s IT reality. The real insights? They’re sitting with the users. When you survey all […]
Recommendations, Not Options!
As vCIOs, we’re often tempted to play it safe when advising clients. We outline the pros and cons, offer a few different paths, and let the client decide which way to proceed. On the surface, this seems responsible and client-centric—after all, we’re empowering them with choices, right? But here’s the truth: your clients don’t […]
Webinar – The Evolution of the vCIO
The vCIO role is shifting beyond IT infrastructure and cybersecurity towards driving client productivity. Join Simon as he shares insights on the next frontier for vCIOs: ensuring clients get the most from their technology. What we discuss: The Next Frontier for vCIOs: How the role is shifting from managing IT to enabling business productivity. Deepening […]
Be Confident in Your Stack
Too often, I see hesitation when it comes time to recommend a change in the tech stack. Whether it’s swapping out a firewall, ditching a misaligned backup platform, or recommending a different EDR, vCIOs sometimes hold back out of fear of seeming overly pushy. That hesitation is understandable, but it can also be costly. Clients […]
Paint an exciting future or be a commodity
When clients stop seeing you as strategic, you start becoming… replaceable. That’s the risk every vCIO faces when the conversation stays stuck in tickets, updates, and costs. Yes, those are important, but they’re not enough. If you’re not painting a bigger, bolder picture of what IT could do for their business, you’re not creating […]
The 3 Core Objectives of a vCIO
A vCIO should always be forward-looking, focusing on a strategic roadmap built around three core objectives: reducing risk, increasing productivity, and optimizing costs. Every recommendation, project, and conversation should connect back to these pillars. Let’s break them down: 1. Reduce Risk Cybersecurity threats, non-compliance, data loss, and downtime aren’t just IT problems; they are business […]
How Not to Onboard a vCIO
Here’s one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in our MSP, and that I see other MSPs make all the time: assigning a new vCIO to a new client. On paper, it makes sense. Your experienced vCIOs are slammed, you just brought in someone new, and hey, this new client needs a vCIO ASAP. The […]
The vCIO Money Mindset
As vCIOs, the most important thing we do is strategic planning. And to do that effectively, we have to adopt the right mindset about money. Too often, I see vCIOs hesitate to recommend solutions because they’re stuck viewing costs through a personal lens. We look at a $12,000 investment in a redundant firewall and think, […]
