Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Chamber Connection on Talk Radio ten eighty,
a program designed for a small business owners, aspiring entrepreneurs,
and community members who are eager to learn more about
the intricacies of running a successful business, hosted by that
dedicated staff of the Chamber of Saint Matthews. Now here's
your host for this week, Amanda Harper, Director of Member Services.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good morning everyone. This is Amanda Harper with the Chamber
of Saint Matthews. Today on the show, we are going
to be talking to you Devin Gray and Adam Elder
with the AME Group. Hi guys, Hey, Hi, thanks for
having us, Thanks for being here. I appreciate you guys
so much. So let's go ahead and get into it. So,
(00:50):
Adam tell me what you do.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
So we are a full managed service provider with a
focus on security, so we can take care of any
items that your company may have, from email security, to
firewalls to just one off projects. We can pretty much
be your IT solution.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Okay, cool, and Devin, what do you do?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
I am a strategic advisor for AME Group, so I
get to come in make sure that you guys are
completely covered with all the proper security kind of give
you an analysis, and from the time that we sign
you on until the extent of your contract, make sure
that everything is working well. We meet quarterly and I'm
(01:33):
just there as a part of your business, just like
someone that's in the office.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Great. Great, love that everybody has their IT issue. I'm
sure you guys have seen a lot of things. So
and we'll ask I'm gonna ask a couple of fun questions,
but that comes later. So sounds good. First off, I
want to know, in such a competitive field, what are
some of the ways that ame group stands out from
(01:59):
other I T providers.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
I think there's a couple key differentiators that we have.
First off is I like to tell people that we're
really in the relationship building business, but we happen to
be experts at technology. So we really focus on listening
to our clients and understanding what their pain points are
and their needs and then advising them to the solution
(02:24):
that might help them out. And then products wise, we
have a couple products that not every company can offer.
We have our own security operation center and off that
we can provide some advanced email security and log monitoring
and different things.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
All right, awesome, So your operation support center it seems
unique because I got a little bit of detail. Devinson
in a little bit of detail, So it seems a
little bit unique compared to the typical kind of customer
support model. So can you explain a little bit of that?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Sure, And I'm sure most people are familiar with calling
support and you never know who you're gonna get when
you call and support whatever vendor that is. And we
saw that in you know, twenty twenty two ish that
you know that model doesn't work for our customers. So
we really focused on advancing that model, and so we
(03:20):
created a squad's concept, so the Louisville, Lexton, and Louisiana
branches all have a squad of support people that our
customers will build that relationship with our tech support people.
And that way, when you call in, you know who
you're gonna be talking to majority of the time, So
you're not getting somebody in California or some other place.
(03:42):
You're getting that local feel.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Oh that's nice. So it's everybody everybody's local that you
would be talking to.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Right, okay, and you can get that same person say
for instance. We even use that internally as well. And
on my first day, there was an issue with some passwords.
I got to use our osc CO, which I got
it first, and I dealt with AJ. So say you
call in, you deal with AJ, you get to call
back in and say I want to talk to AJ,
and you build that relationship to where you know you're
(04:08):
going to get eighty percent of the time on that
first call, whatever your issue is is going to be resolved.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
That is very unique because I can tell you, as
a consumer of everything technology, I've definitely had my fair
share of terrible experiences on call center line. Oh yeah,
So that's awesome that it's unique and you can actually
talk to say the same person over and over. So
(04:34):
I guess my next question will be technology is changing constantly,
how do you all stay ahead and what do you
all do to help with cybersecurity threats?
Speaker 3 (04:51):
That's a great question. There are several areas of our
company that are constantly researching new security features and enhancements
because at the end of the day, security is always changing.
What it looked like last year, it looks way different
this year. And so if you don't have a vendor
or company that is helping you stay abreast to that
(05:13):
and know what's happening in that landscape, you're definitely gonna
be left behind. And we have a security operation center
with a security team that's dedicated to that portion of
our business, so we're always able to bring different ideas
to customers and advise them on what's out there and
what they have to harden their security.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Okay, cool, and so that kind of like leads into
my next question. In the IT world, human error is
something that you see a lot. I wouldn't I wouldn't
say that I've ever worked in IT, but I did
a lot of technical support before at a past job,
so I know how rough it can be. So how
(05:56):
do you all help your clients stay educated?
Speaker 3 (06:00):
So we, as Devin mentioned, we have quarterly business review
meetings with our customers, and in those meetings that's where
we do a lot of education as far as what's
out there, and then down to our support level when
you call in for support. Our technicians are constantly educating
users because our goal is to make you a better user,
(06:22):
whether it's educated on technology with your keyboard or mouse,
or educated in email security, so you know you shouldn't
click on that link or do anything with that email.
You should forward to us and let us assess it.
So our whole goal is to make sure we have
an educated user base.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Okay, and we're in spooky season right now, and it's
also cybersecurity Awareness month, and there's nothing scarier than a
cyber attack on your business. So we offer monthly ongoing
security awareness training because, like you mentioned, end users are
where they're opening up that back door. No matter how
many walls you have to get into your fortress of
solitude for your business, somebody at least the back door open.
(07:02):
It doesn't matter. So we have to educate that to
where people don't remember, don't leave that rock on that door,
to where somebody can sneak.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
In, right right, don't let everybody know where you're hidden.
Key is exactly. So earlier I was reading through some
of the paperwork that Devin sent in and it said
that you all answer the phones like your call center.
We're going to go back to that a little bit.
You all answer your phones like within the first few rings, yes,
(07:31):
which is phenomenal because sometimes you can be on hold
for hours with these companies and then eighty percent of
the issues on the first call, or like it's taking
care of on the first call. Can you all kind
of like explain a little bit more about that, like
how did you all actually get that to happen.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
I think a lot of that goes to just the
educated staff that we have. We have long term employees, ok,
that have been doing this for many years, and they
helped train up other employees, so we transfer that knowledge
between employees and so that builds up that big database
of information of user issues that they faced ten, twenty
(08:12):
thirty times over the years, and so we're able to
hit that mark of getting that issue resolved on that
first call.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Gotcha? All right, So let's let's go with this. So
you're among the top two percent of MSSP worldwide. I
don't know what that means, but what so can you
explain to me and our listeners what that is?
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (08:42):
And MSSP is just an acronym like everybody's used to
in the IT world. We lived by acronyms. Yeah, so
that just means managed security service provider. And what allows
us to have that acronym versus just a managed service
provider MSP is our security division that we have twenty
(09:06):
four hour operation center that is monitoring different products and
services for our customers. So because we have that extension,
of our business, we're able to utilize that MSSP.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
So that kind of like ties into what we were talking
about earlier with the security and all that good of stuff,
the speaky season security, that's right, right.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
We use EDR another acronym early detection response. Think of
it as your Norton or McAfee n envirus on steroids. Okay,
So those are kind of the watchdog inside your house.
It doesn't start barking until someone's broken in your window,
knocked your door down. The EDR is kind of the
(09:47):
sniper on top of your roof with scope looking out
and going, hey, there's a bad guy over here. Maybe
we should go and contain him before he even gets
to the door.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Okay. And I think that's a good example of how
the security landscape has changed through the years. You know,
anti virus, your normal McAfee and Norton, you know, it
hadn't changed over thirty years, and then about you know,
six seven years ago, EDR came out. And so that's
basically artificial intelligence on your computer that is watching how
(10:18):
you use your computer, so when something weird starts happening,
it goes into effect. Whereas anti virus is looking for
signatures from the company. So if something comes out today,
your anti virus company has to figure out a solution
to fix that and then send you the update. So
what we call is a zero day threat. They're not
(10:40):
very good at finding. The EDR solutions are good at finding.
So that's how the landscape has changed. If you only
have anti virus, you're kind of behind the curve.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
So what we're saying here is we need to come
through a company like you all and not depend on
all these antivirus things that pop up every thirty seconds.
I'm like computer at home that I had ignore. All right,
well cool, So that's the first segment. We will be
right back with Adam and Devin.
Speaker 5 (11:20):
Does your business need health insurance? The Benefits Firm is
here to help with the Saint Matthew's Chamber insurance plan.
We can help your small business with health insurance. Our
plants to the Saint Matthew's Chamber cover between two and
two and fifty employees.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
We offer high quality.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Anthem health insurance with the best statewide.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
And national networks. You do not need to wait for
your annewal.
Speaker 5 (11:39):
If you're interested, please contact me. Billy Fowler, President of
the Benefits Firm at five zero two four six eight
one six ninety four or email me at Billy at
thee Beenefits Firm dot.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Com Talk Radio ten eighty.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
All right, we are back with the Ame group. We
got Devin and Adam in the house. Hello guys, Yeah,
all right, So back at the questions. Let's go if
you could go back and redo something from the past,
what would you all do as far as like technology
(12:22):
is concerned, as far as is there something like would
you make flying cars? Would you know something like that?
Let's let's go a little goofy.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
I would say an AI that would slap an end
user before they do something nefarious by accident, because we
get so complacent as users and bad actors are getting
really slick at sending things out there. I mean everyone
has gotten that text message that says here, click on
this and it's from UPS or Amazon, right, and it
looks legit and you just bought something and you're going, okay,
(12:57):
you just click on it. There was an AI that
went whoa stop, hold on chill. That would be the
end all be all, But then we'd probably be out
of a job.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
That's true, that's true. Maybe we don't need that.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
I think I'll go a little bit off topic and
love it. I always thought i'd have the Back to
the Future, hit the button and your shoes just tighten up.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
By now I.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Had the pump, but not the button.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
That just yeah, I've never even thought about that. That's
a good one.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
They came out a special edition with Nike, but they
cost like fifteen hundred bucks. You can still buy them
on eBay, but they don't work that well. I want
the hoverboard though, that that is, yes, give me the
Back to the Future hoverboard and make me Martin.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Mfly those ones that they have now, Like I'm so
scared of it. I'm like, if I get on that,
I'm totally gonna it.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Definitely seen too many fail videos, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
I'm like, no fakes, all right. Well, as security becomes
increasingly critical, what advice would you give businesses?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
It's never too late and you're probably acting you should
have acted months ago or years ago. Customers. Unfortunately, most
customers don't focus on security. That's why we're here to
help them focus on security. And when I think the
(14:25):
misnomer is it's all too expensive and there's little We
do it in layers. There's layers you can do so
you don't have to throw the kitchen sink at a
customer of security, because security can be a black hole
spin You can spend a million dollars and still, you know,
be attacked. So we approach it in a layered format
(14:46):
to where Okay, you don't have this, let's start here
and get you protected a little bit, and then down
the road, here's the roadmap that we're coming up with.
Here's what we can do in the future.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Yeah, so many people think, oh, I don't need that cure.
I've got the antivirus and the security that came boxed
up in my laptop or my desktop.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
We talked about earlier getting good and yes, usually ignore.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
It exactly and then they're like, I'm good, and then
they get attacked and they're like, WHOA, I should have
listened to you, I should have gotten a little bit
more beefed up, and then by then it's too late.
But it's always good to be proactive, and we can
also be reactive.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Absolutely. These gammers are no joke. They are everywhere doing
all kinds of It's like there'll be people that are
on our social media page, like if you want to
be a vendor for this event, and we're like, uh,
don't do that. Do not click on anything that doesn't
come from us, specifically click here.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
To win a thousand dollars right, yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
No.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
So for organizations that are hesitant to invest in these services,
what do you say to them about the value of
proactive IT strategy.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
I think when you engage a vendor like us, again,
we help try to educate and build that relationship so
we can let you know and understand why the benefits there.
And as we again roll out our services and help
you understand that, you're going to see pretty quick value
(16:15):
in what we're telling you and advising you about. As
we roll things out.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Most people think it's going to be a light switch.
It takes you know, three six months, and then the
light switch clicks and we go, oh okay, now I
see what you were talking about.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
So what are the most common misconceptions about managed IT
and security services that you encounter.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
I think one of them we hit on was just spend.
You know, it doesn't always have to be everything all
at once. We approach things in a layer format, you know,
we get our you know, based services in there to
make sure you're supported and you have your its needs met.
But then we come back and do these review meeting
with you, the business owner, the c suite, whoever is
(17:03):
in these meetings, and again advise and build that relationship. Again,
we don't throw everything at you at once, because that's
a lot of money to throw at somebody, because it's,
like I said, can be a black hole spend of
money when you're talking about security.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
And it can be overwhelming as a customer, you know,
as as a client, you know, I don't know everything
about technology, and then you come at me with all
these s o cs and ms qts and whatever. Yeah,
and I'm like, I don't know what he's talking about.
Help me. So it's good that you all kind of
take it like nice and slow, and.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
You know, we try to use analogies a lot, and
our engineers that get in front of customers, we again
focus on education and we know that you're not an
IT expert and you're calling us for help and it
may be you know, the worst part of your day
because you're just trying to.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Get a task done, absolutely and you know.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Your day may be you know, managing the memberships and
your computer's not working. We want to be that outlet
so you get your frustration out and get you back
to work.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
You don't know what you don't know, absolutely, so you've
got to be educated. And like we said, cybersecurity is
constantly evolving. So if you're not on that cutting edge
and you just think all right, I've got it and
you go to that complacency, that's when you become most vulnerable.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Absolutely absolutely. So let's talk about this other three letter
word with your SOOC two compliance. First off, can you
explain what that is and how it benefits your clients
on a practical level.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Sure, so SoC two compliancy is an industry standard that
a lot of companies go after to be compliant, and
it allows us to work with different verticals, so whether
it's banking or different verticals. And all that does is
we get audited every year and we show what we're
doing for security and how we're doing it, and they
(19:04):
audit to make sure we're doing what we say we're doing.
So it keeps us in check to make sure that
we're not giving out passwords or we're not you know,
getting on users computers without their permission and all these
things that we say we're going to do. That's where
the SoC two compliancy comes in, so it's a it's
a great certification for us to have to show our
customers that, hey, you know we're doing what we say
(19:26):
we're doing right right, And we also do audits, so
we can go in and we use those same principles
from SoC two to make sure that things are all
tightened up and you're covered when we come in before
we even do services.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
We can come in and do that audit for you.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Very cool. So looking forward to the future, are there
any is there anything coming up, emerging technologies or anything
like that that you all are excited for.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
I think one of the most recent things that has
gotten me excited is a product that we we've rolled
out towards the end of last year. I think so
email security is the biggest thing you can address these
days because ninety one percent of all hacks and breaches
start with an email, and as AI becomes more prevalent,
(20:17):
these emails are becoming more sophisticated and look more and
more like it came from the CEO or the counting
person or whoever it may be, and so it's hard
for a user to decipher that. So one of the
products that we came up with with our security center,
was we ingest some tools into your email tenant. And
(20:40):
that's just where all your email is stored, is what
the email tenant is, and it's constantly constantly monitoring your
email tenant for all users and all emails that come in.
And so if you open up your email on your
outlook on your phone and then in five minutes from now,
we see that somebody signed into your account in California,
(21:03):
well obviously it's impossible for you to go from Lowell
to California in five minutes, so we know that's an issue.
So we stop it from happening right then and there,
block your sign in and we have an incident response
that happens with that product. And so instead, if you
don't have that, you don't know that somebody signed in
in California into your account, and so they're in your account.
(21:25):
You don't know what they're doing, so they could have
your accountant access for seven days a month. Then you
start seeing weird things. Then you contact us and we
go in and say, oh, you've been compromised. Right, we
don't know how long, but you've been compromised. So this
product is very exciting because It's something that really every
business needs to ensure that they're protected and not having
(21:49):
business email compromises.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Go cha, I mean that's awesome because I mean you
get it all the time. I would get like emails
from Josh and I'm sitting right next to me. He's like,
I need you to go buy these three gift card
and I'm like, oh, Josh, no, you know I'm doing something. Yeah,
I just joke with it, all right. So we are
almost out of time, but I do need to ask
you all one question. If you had to explain to
a five year old what you do, how would you
(22:14):
explain it.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
You know, your iPad that you like to get on
and watch YouTube videos on. We make sure that that
is working properly and it's not taking you to a
site that you don't want to see, and everything is
working fine and it doesn't break on you. And if
it does, we're going to take care of it and
get it fixed so you can start watching your YouTube
kids again.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Basic bones.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Yeah, well see I've got teenagers, So I would just
say so you can continue to use your finger to
scroll up up to make sure that keeps sparking.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Heart the real heart, the reel yeah all right. Well,
thank you guys so much for coming on the show.
We really appreciate you. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.
Great things again. Check out AM Group and today we
were talking with Devin and Adam. Thanks guys, thank you,
We got you covered
Welcome to the Chamber Connection on Talk Radio ten eighty,
a program designed for a small business owners, aspiring entrepreneurs,
and community members who are eager to learn more about
the intricacies of running a successful business, hosted by that
dedicated staff of the Chamber of Saint Matthews. Now here's
your host for this week, Amanda Harper, Director of Member Services.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good morning everyone. This is Amanda Harper with the Chamber
of Saint Matthews. Today on the show, we are going
to be talking to you Devin Gray and Adam Elder
with the AME Group. Hi guys, Hey, Hi, thanks for
having us, Thanks for being here. I appreciate you guys
so much. So let's go ahead and get into it. So,
(00:50):
Adam tell me what you do.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
So we are a full managed service provider with a
focus on security, so we can take care of any
items that your company may have, from email security, to
firewalls to just one off projects. We can pretty much
be your IT solution.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Okay, cool, and Devin, what do you do?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
I am a strategic advisor for AME Group, so I
get to come in make sure that you guys are
completely covered with all the proper security kind of give
you an analysis, and from the time that we sign
you on until the extent of your contract, make sure
that everything is working well. We meet quarterly and I'm
(01:33):
just there as a part of your business, just like
someone that's in the office.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Great. Great, love that everybody has their IT issue. I'm
sure you guys have seen a lot of things. So
and we'll ask I'm gonna ask a couple of fun questions,
but that comes later. So sounds good. First off, I
want to know, in such a competitive field, what are
some of the ways that ame group stands out from
(01:59):
other I T providers.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
I think there's a couple key differentiators that we have.
First off is I like to tell people that we're
really in the relationship building business, but we happen to
be experts at technology. So we really focus on listening
to our clients and understanding what their pain points are
and their needs and then advising them to the solution
(02:24):
that might help them out. And then products wise, we
have a couple products that not every company can offer.
We have our own security operation center and off that
we can provide some advanced email security and log monitoring
and different things.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
All right, awesome, So your operation support center it seems
unique because I got a little bit of detail. Devinson
in a little bit of detail, So it seems a
little bit unique compared to the typical kind of customer
support model. So can you explain a little bit of that?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Sure, And I'm sure most people are familiar with calling
support and you never know who you're gonna get when
you call and support whatever vendor that is. And we
saw that in you know, twenty twenty two ish that
you know that model doesn't work for our customers. So
we really focused on advancing that model, and so we
(03:20):
created a squad's concept, so the Louisville, Lexton, and Louisiana
branches all have a squad of support people that our
customers will build that relationship with our tech support people.
And that way, when you call in, you know who
you're gonna be talking to majority of the time, So
you're not getting somebody in California or some other place.
(03:42):
You're getting that local feel.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Oh that's nice. So it's everybody everybody's local that you
would be talking to.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Right, okay, and you can get that same person say
for instance. We even use that internally as well. And
on my first day, there was an issue with some passwords.
I got to use our osc CO, which I got
it first, and I dealt with AJ. So say you
call in, you deal with AJ, you get to call
back in and say I want to talk to AJ,
and you build that relationship to where you know you're
(04:08):
going to get eighty percent of the time on that
first call, whatever your issue is is going to be resolved.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
That is very unique because I can tell you, as
a consumer of everything technology, I've definitely had my fair
share of terrible experiences on call center line. Oh yeah,
So that's awesome that it's unique and you can actually
talk to say the same person over and over. So
(04:34):
I guess my next question will be technology is changing constantly,
how do you all stay ahead and what do you
all do to help with cybersecurity threats?
Speaker 3 (04:51):
That's a great question. There are several areas of our
company that are constantly researching new security features and enhancements
because at the end of the day, security is always changing.
What it looked like last year, it looks way different
this year. And so if you don't have a vendor
or company that is helping you stay abreast to that
(05:13):
and know what's happening in that landscape, you're definitely gonna
be left behind. And we have a security operation center
with a security team that's dedicated to that portion of
our business, so we're always able to bring different ideas
to customers and advise them on what's out there and
what they have to harden their security.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Okay, cool, and so that kind of like leads into
my next question. In the IT world, human error is
something that you see a lot. I wouldn't I wouldn't
say that I've ever worked in IT, but I did
a lot of technical support before at a past job,
so I know how rough it can be. So how
(05:56):
do you all help your clients stay educated?
Speaker 3 (06:00):
So we, as Devin mentioned, we have quarterly business review
meetings with our customers, and in those meetings that's where
we do a lot of education as far as what's
out there, and then down to our support level when
you call in for support. Our technicians are constantly educating
users because our goal is to make you a better user,
(06:22):
whether it's educated on technology with your keyboard or mouse,
or educated in email security, so you know you shouldn't
click on that link or do anything with that email.
You should forward to us and let us assess it.
So our whole goal is to make sure we have
an educated user base.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Okay, and we're in spooky season right now, and it's
also cybersecurity Awareness month, and there's nothing scarier than a
cyber attack on your business. So we offer monthly ongoing
security awareness training because, like you mentioned, end users are
where they're opening up that back door. No matter how
many walls you have to get into your fortress of
solitude for your business, somebody at least the back door open.
(07:02):
It doesn't matter. So we have to educate that to
where people don't remember, don't leave that rock on that door,
to where somebody can sneak.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
In, right right, don't let everybody know where you're hidden.
Key is exactly. So earlier I was reading through some
of the paperwork that Devin sent in and it said
that you all answer the phones like your call center.
We're going to go back to that a little bit.
You all answer your phones like within the first few rings, yes,
(07:31):
which is phenomenal because sometimes you can be on hold
for hours with these companies and then eighty percent of
the issues on the first call, or like it's taking
care of on the first call. Can you all kind
of like explain a little bit more about that, like
how did you all actually get that to happen.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
I think a lot of that goes to just the
educated staff that we have. We have long term employees, ok,
that have been doing this for many years, and they
helped train up other employees, so we transfer that knowledge
between employees and so that builds up that big database
of information of user issues that they faced ten, twenty
(08:12):
thirty times over the years, and so we're able to
hit that mark of getting that issue resolved on that
first call.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Gotcha? All right, So let's let's go with this. So
you're among the top two percent of MSSP worldwide. I
don't know what that means, but what so can you
explain to me and our listeners what that is?
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (08:42):
And MSSP is just an acronym like everybody's used to
in the IT world. We lived by acronyms. Yeah, so
that just means managed security service provider. And what allows
us to have that acronym versus just a managed service
provider MSP is our security division that we have twenty
(09:06):
four hour operation center that is monitoring different products and
services for our customers. So because we have that extension,
of our business, we're able to utilize that MSSP.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
So that kind of like ties into what we were talking
about earlier with the security and all that good of stuff,
the speaky season security, that's right, right.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
We use EDR another acronym early detection response. Think of
it as your Norton or McAfee n envirus on steroids. Okay,
So those are kind of the watchdog inside your house.
It doesn't start barking until someone's broken in your window,
knocked your door down. The EDR is kind of the
(09:47):
sniper on top of your roof with scope looking out
and going, hey, there's a bad guy over here. Maybe
we should go and contain him before he even gets
to the door.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Okay. And I think that's a good example of how
the security landscape has changed through the years. You know,
anti virus, your normal McAfee and Norton, you know, it
hadn't changed over thirty years, and then about you know,
six seven years ago, EDR came out. And so that's
basically artificial intelligence on your computer that is watching how
(10:18):
you use your computer, so when something weird starts happening,
it goes into effect. Whereas anti virus is looking for
signatures from the company. So if something comes out today,
your anti virus company has to figure out a solution
to fix that and then send you the update. So
what we call is a zero day threat. They're not
(10:40):
very good at finding. The EDR solutions are good at finding.
So that's how the landscape has changed. If you only
have anti virus, you're kind of behind the curve.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
So what we're saying here is we need to come
through a company like you all and not depend on
all these antivirus things that pop up every thirty seconds.
I'm like computer at home that I had ignore. All right,
well cool, So that's the first segment. We will be
right back with Adam and Devin.
Speaker 5 (11:20):
Does your business need health insurance? The Benefits Firm is
here to help with the Saint Matthew's Chamber insurance plan.
We can help your small business with health insurance. Our
plants to the Saint Matthew's Chamber cover between two and
two and fifty employees.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
We offer high quality.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Anthem health insurance with the best statewide.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
And national networks. You do not need to wait for
your annewal.
Speaker 5 (11:39):
If you're interested, please contact me. Billy Fowler, President of
the Benefits Firm at five zero two four six eight
one six ninety four or email me at Billy at
thee Beenefits Firm dot.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Com Talk Radio ten eighty.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
All right, we are back with the Ame group. We
got Devin and Adam in the house. Hello guys, Yeah,
all right, So back at the questions. Let's go if
you could go back and redo something from the past,
what would you all do as far as like technology
(12:22):
is concerned, as far as is there something like would
you make flying cars? Would you know something like that?
Let's let's go a little goofy.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
I would say an AI that would slap an end
user before they do something nefarious by accident, because we
get so complacent as users and bad actors are getting
really slick at sending things out there. I mean everyone
has gotten that text message that says here, click on
this and it's from UPS or Amazon, right, and it
looks legit and you just bought something and you're going, okay,
(12:57):
you just click on it. There was an AI that
went whoa stop, hold on chill. That would be the
end all be all, But then we'd probably be out
of a job.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
That's true, that's true. Maybe we don't need that.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
I think I'll go a little bit off topic and
love it. I always thought i'd have the Back to
the Future, hit the button and your shoes just tighten up.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
By now I.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Had the pump, but not the button.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
That just yeah, I've never even thought about that. That's
a good one.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
They came out a special edition with Nike, but they
cost like fifteen hundred bucks. You can still buy them
on eBay, but they don't work that well. I want
the hoverboard though, that that is, yes, give me the
Back to the Future hoverboard and make me Martin.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Mfly those ones that they have now, Like I'm so
scared of it. I'm like, if I get on that,
I'm totally gonna it.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Definitely seen too many fail videos, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
I'm like, no fakes, all right. Well, as security becomes
increasingly critical, what advice would you give businesses?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
It's never too late and you're probably acting you should
have acted months ago or years ago. Customers. Unfortunately, most
customers don't focus on security. That's why we're here to
help them focus on security. And when I think the
(14:25):
misnomer is it's all too expensive and there's little We
do it in layers. There's layers you can do so
you don't have to throw the kitchen sink at a
customer of security, because security can be a black hole
spin You can spend a million dollars and still, you know,
be attacked. So we approach it in a layered format
(14:46):
to where Okay, you don't have this, let's start here
and get you protected a little bit, and then down
the road, here's the roadmap that we're coming up with.
Here's what we can do in the future.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Yeah, so many people think, oh, I don't need that cure.
I've got the antivirus and the security that came boxed
up in my laptop or my desktop.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
We talked about earlier getting good and yes, usually ignore.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
It exactly and then they're like, I'm good, and then
they get attacked and they're like, WHOA, I should have
listened to you, I should have gotten a little bit
more beefed up, and then by then it's too late.
But it's always good to be proactive, and we can
also be reactive.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Absolutely. These gammers are no joke. They are everywhere doing
all kinds of It's like there'll be people that are
on our social media page, like if you want to
be a vendor for this event, and we're like, uh,
don't do that. Do not click on anything that doesn't
come from us, specifically click here.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
To win a thousand dollars right, yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
No.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
So for organizations that are hesitant to invest in these services,
what do you say to them about the value of
proactive IT strategy.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
I think when you engage a vendor like us, again,
we help try to educate and build that relationship so
we can let you know and understand why the benefits there.
And as we again roll out our services and help
you understand that, you're going to see pretty quick value
(16:15):
in what we're telling you and advising you about. As
we roll things out.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Most people think it's going to be a light switch.
It takes you know, three six months, and then the
light switch clicks and we go, oh okay, now I
see what you were talking about.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
So what are the most common misconceptions about managed IT
and security services that you encounter.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
I think one of them we hit on was just spend.
You know, it doesn't always have to be everything all
at once. We approach things in a layer format, you know,
we get our you know, based services in there to
make sure you're supported and you have your its needs met.
But then we come back and do these review meeting
with you, the business owner, the c suite, whoever is
(17:03):
in these meetings, and again advise and build that relationship. Again,
we don't throw everything at you at once, because that's
a lot of money to throw at somebody, because it's,
like I said, can be a black hole spend of
money when you're talking about security.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
And it can be overwhelming as a customer, you know,
as as a client, you know, I don't know everything
about technology, and then you come at me with all
these s o cs and ms qts and whatever. Yeah,
and I'm like, I don't know what he's talking about.
Help me. So it's good that you all kind of
take it like nice and slow, and.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
You know, we try to use analogies a lot, and
our engineers that get in front of customers, we again
focus on education and we know that you're not an
IT expert and you're calling us for help and it
may be you know, the worst part of your day
because you're just trying to.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Get a task done, absolutely and you know.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Your day may be you know, managing the memberships and
your computer's not working. We want to be that outlet
so you get your frustration out and get you back
to work.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
You don't know what you don't know, absolutely, so you've
got to be educated. And like we said, cybersecurity is
constantly evolving. So if you're not on that cutting edge
and you just think all right, I've got it and
you go to that complacency, that's when you become most vulnerable.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Absolutely absolutely. So let's talk about this other three letter
word with your SOOC two compliance. First off, can you
explain what that is and how it benefits your clients
on a practical level.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Sure, so SoC two compliancy is an industry standard that
a lot of companies go after to be compliant, and
it allows us to work with different verticals, so whether
it's banking or different verticals. And all that does is
we get audited every year and we show what we're
doing for security and how we're doing it, and they
(19:04):
audit to make sure we're doing what we say we're doing.
So it keeps us in check to make sure that
we're not giving out passwords or we're not you know,
getting on users computers without their permission and all these
things that we say we're going to do. That's where
the SoC two compliancy comes in, so it's a it's
a great certification for us to have to show our
customers that, hey, you know we're doing what we say
(19:26):
we're doing right right, And we also do audits, so
we can go in and we use those same principles
from SoC two to make sure that things are all
tightened up and you're covered when we come in before
we even do services.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
We can come in and do that audit for you.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Very cool. So looking forward to the future, are there
any is there anything coming up, emerging technologies or anything
like that that you all are excited for.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
I think one of the most recent things that has
gotten me excited is a product that we we've rolled
out towards the end of last year. I think so
email security is the biggest thing you can address these
days because ninety one percent of all hacks and breaches
start with an email, and as AI becomes more prevalent,
(20:17):
these emails are becoming more sophisticated and look more and
more like it came from the CEO or the counting
person or whoever it may be, and so it's hard
for a user to decipher that. So one of the
products that we came up with with our security center,
was we ingest some tools into your email tenant. And
(20:40):
that's just where all your email is stored, is what
the email tenant is, and it's constantly constantly monitoring your
email tenant for all users and all emails that come in.
And so if you open up your email on your
outlook on your phone and then in five minutes from now,
we see that somebody signed into your account in California,
(21:03):
well obviously it's impossible for you to go from Lowell
to California in five minutes, so we know that's an issue.
So we stop it from happening right then and there,
block your sign in and we have an incident response
that happens with that product. And so instead, if you
don't have that, you don't know that somebody signed in
in California into your account, and so they're in your account.
(21:25):
You don't know what they're doing, so they could have
your accountant access for seven days a month. Then you
start seeing weird things. Then you contact us and we
go in and say, oh, you've been compromised. Right, we
don't know how long, but you've been compromised. So this
product is very exciting because It's something that really every
business needs to ensure that they're protected and not having
(21:49):
business email compromises.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Go cha, I mean that's awesome because I mean you
get it all the time. I would get like emails
from Josh and I'm sitting right next to me. He's like,
I need you to go buy these three gift card
and I'm like, oh, Josh, no, you know I'm doing something. Yeah,
I just joke with it, all right. So we are
almost out of time, but I do need to ask
you all one question. If you had to explain to
a five year old what you do, how would you
(22:14):
explain it.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
You know, your iPad that you like to get on
and watch YouTube videos on. We make sure that that
is working properly and it's not taking you to a
site that you don't want to see, and everything is
working fine and it doesn't break on you. And if
it does, we're going to take care of it and
get it fixed so you can start watching your YouTube
kids again.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Basic bones.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Yeah, well see I've got teenagers, So I would just
say so you can continue to use your finger to
scroll up up to make sure that keeps sparking.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Heart the real heart, the reel yeah all right. Well,
thank you guys so much for coming on the show.
We really appreciate you. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.
Great things again. Check out AM Group and today we
were talking with Devin and Adam. Thanks guys, thank you,
We got you covered
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.