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Job Title: Contributing Editor, MSP Mentor/The Var Guy

Charles Cooper 1

Charles Cooper is an award-winning freelance author who writes about business and technology. During his 30-plus year career, he has worked as an executive editor at several leading tech publications including CNET, ZDNet, PC Week and Computer Shopper.

Recent articles by Charles Cooper 1

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Cultivating Prospects One Question at a Time

Cultivating Prospects, One Question at a Time

Old school habits die hard but simply pitching a prospect with speeds, feeds and a price tag doesn’t work the way it once did. More than ever, solutions providers are being challenged to craft meaningful pitches around customer needs. And that means asking the right questions—a lot of them.

How To Make An Informed Buyer Your Best Friend, Not Your Foe

Thanks to the internet, buyers now know your strengths, weaknesses and selling points. So don’t think you can still win business with a hard sales pitch. You can, however, open doors if you become part of the buyer’s trusted circle. Here’s how.

Progress Update: Converting to a Managed Services Model

There’s ample incentive for resellers to make the change; some 73 percent of the managed services providers surveyed by CompTIA late last year reported that their services were profitable. But it takes no small amount of effort to move a legacy business to a new operations model.

Time to give marketing more respect? Good Idea

If you’re still treating marketing as an afterthought, you’re likely courting trouble. A fresh marketing strategy is just as crucial to a reseller’s business as is a strong sales and engineering plan.

Why IoT is Going to Matter—a lot—to the Channel

Billions of connected, intelligent devices are entering the business mainstream as part of a collective phenomenon known as the Internet of Things (IoT). Many of these devices are connecting over networks for the first time, communicating with the headquarters as well as with other connected “things.”

IoT and the Cloud: What to Watch Out For

IT needs to consider the implications of how to best secure devices that are often left unsecured- and prevent breaches that could endanger data stored on the cloud. Here’s where things can get tricky.

Don’t Let Dollars and Cents Cloud Your Thinking

Cost cutting often leads the list of benefits that companies want to reap by moving to the cloud. But there’s also the bigger picture where MSPs can help potential clients understand the transformative aspects of cloud computing.

The Promise and Peril Around Cloud Storage Security

Greater cloud usage has opened up a myriad of business possibilities. But MSPs shouldn’t hesitate to get preachy about preaching the basics when it comes to securing the processing and storage of customer data in the cloud.

Don’t Get Caught Unprepared to Meet the Cloud

Many IT decision makers face a dilemma: Even as they plan major cloud deployments, their organizations still remain unprepared to handle the transition. Here’s where MSPs can lend their expertise to help guide companies for a successful digital transformation.

Why CIOs are Finally the Clouds Biggest Boosters

Why CIOs are Finally the Cloud’s Biggest Boosters

Resistance has melted away and CIOs are on board, pushing the cloud as a way to transform their infrastructure away from traditional datacenters. And there’s a role for MSPs to play.

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