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The Business of Tech Podcast
My Daily Podcast, The Business of Tech. 5 minutes of news and comments, asking “Why Do We Care?” for IT services companies
Vendors are rewriting the rules on MSPs faster than anyone can track — pricing, partner programs, liability, and now AI. Business of Tech is the daily MSP news briefing that tells you what changed and what it means for your business.
Every weekday, channel veteran Dave Sobel picks the MSP and IT services news that actually moves your margins, contracts, and risk, and answers the one question that matters: Why do we care? No vendor cheerleading and no press-release rewrites — independent analysis for managed service providers, IT services leaders, and the vendors who sell to them.
Short daily episodes keep you current in about 15 minutes. Longer interviews go deep with MSP owners, investors, analysts, and channel executives on where the managed services market is heading.
What this MSP podcast covers:
• AI for MSPs — AI pricing and consumption billing, AI liability and governance, and AI agents in the service desk
• MSP pricing and profitability — per-user vs. usage-based pricing, margins, service agreements, and vendor rebates
• MSP M&A and private equity — acquisitions, roll-ups, valuations, and what consolidation means for independent MSPs
• MSP vendors and partner programs — Microsoft, Kaseya, ConnectWise, N-able, Pax8, and how channel programs shift risk onto providers
• MSP cybersecurity and liability — cyber insurance, compliance, regulation, and the security-stack decisions that expose a managed service provider
• MSP operations — automation, PSA and RMM, hiring, and the operational maturity that separates growing MSPs from stalled ones
Questions we answer:
• How should an MSP price AI services when vendors move to consumption billing?
• Who carries the liability when AI acts inside a client environment?
• What does private equity consolidation mean for MSP valuations?
• Which vendor partner program changes quietly cut MSP margins?
• What do insurers and regulators now expect from managed service providers?
Business of Tech is produced by MSP Radio, the independent media company for the managed services and IT channel community. Hosted by Dave Sobel, MSP industry analyst and longtime channel veteran. Written versions of every episode, with full source links, at businessof.tech.
The episode highlights a persistent governance gap in how MSPs extend trust and standing access to third-party vendors within client environments. Key mechanisms such as Microsoft’s partner consent process and delegated credentials mean clients rarely have visibility or control over which vendors or tools their MSPs connect to their systems. Incidents involving N-able, ConnectWise, and MSP Process demonstrate how these invisible dependencies increase client exposure without their explicit approval.
Recent breaches illustrate the risk: ConnectWise Cloud Backup affected over 2,300 MSP partners, with Huntress noting suspicious activity in nearly 1,000 accounts and 300 confirmed intrusions. Similarly, MSP Process lost app secrets and tokens enabling attackers to access client tenants without user logon or multifactor authentication, according to incident responders. These weaknesses allow unauthorized, persistent access and often leave both vendors and clients unable to fully audit data exposure after an incident.
Supporting evidence further underscores the governance issue: Only 42% of North American providers enable multifactor authentication for most client systems, per GTIA. While some vendors, like Microsoft with its default subprocessor notifications, provide clarity about new data access, most MSP-integrated tools lack equivalent transparency. Efforts to move toward user-controlled authorization models remain limited and largely untested across the industry.
For MSPs and IT leaders, these dynamics underscore the need to clearly document all vendors with standing access, secure explicit client approval, and establish notification procedures for changes. Building and maintaining such inventories from client tenants, not memory, will become increasingly important for accountability, contract clarity, and meeting customer and insurer expectations.
00:00 The Door the MSP Installed
03:59 Consent the Client Never Gave
06:38 Who Gets to See the Keys
10:47 Why Do We Care?
Supported by:
About Business of Tech: The daily MSP news and analysis podcast for managed service providers and IT services leaders. Host Dave Sobel covers AI for MSPs, MSP pricing and profitability, MSP M&A and private equity, vendor partner programs, MSP cybersecurity and liability, and MSP operations — and answers the question every story raises: Why do we care? Produced by MSP Radio.
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