Focus on Outcomes

Data-Driven Impacts and IT Security

• Elevity Leadership Team • Season 2 • Episode 1

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Can a data-driven approach transform how organizations impact their communities? Join Elevity President Jeff Dotzler and Senior Sales Manager Patrick Hanifin in this exciting relaunch of Focus on Outcomes as we promise to uncover the secrets behind successful non-profits and for-profit organizations making real differences. Jeff shares wisdom from his experience in an MSP leadership peer group, emphasizing the power of collaboration and learning from industry successes.

This episode also tackles the recent CrowdStrike incident that shook the IT world. Discover how Elevity's layered security approach aims to protect client data and minimize disruptions, ensuring smoother operations. Jeff and Patrick discuss the broader implications of such events and what organizations can do to safeguard their systems. Don't miss out on this engaging episode filled with valuable lessons, success stories, and exciting previews of upcoming content!

Jeff Dotzler:

Hello everyone and welcome back to Focus on Outcomes. We've been out for a little while focusing on some other things and we're excited to be back bringing you a monthly podcast where we focus on outcomes. Happy to have my co-host join us, patrick Welcome. Thanks, jeff, appreciate being here, as Jeff mentioned. Co-host join us, patrick Welcome.

Patrick Hanifin:

Thanks, jeff, appreciate being here. As Jeff mentioned, my name is Patrick Hannafin. I'm the sales manager at Elevity. You know, jeff, I really enjoyed this podcast when I was a rep. I'm happy that it's coming back. Why is now the right time to relaunch Focus on Outcomes?

Jeff Dotzler:

Yeah, it's a good question. I don't know that now is necessarily the right time, other than it was the time that we got to it. We have a lot of great things going on with our clients and organizations that we interact with and we felt it was the right time to start to tell some of their stories and find out what they're doing to help people in our communities.

Patrick Hanifin:

You've been fortunate enough to be part of an MSP leadership peer group. What have you learned about the managed services space that's helped you lead Elevity?

Jeff Dotzler:

Yeah, that's a good question. You know a lot of input from a lot of different sources over a lot of time and you know just by working with a lot of great people, I think we've done. We've put together some exciting things. One of our key components of how we built Elevity was to be data-driven, and I think that includes listening and learning and understanding what others that are successful have done in the space, and we've tried to incorporate as much of those things that make sense as we've worked to build this and I think we've learned a lot from clients what we've done well, what we haven't done well, and tried to figure that out in the next situation, the next opportunity.

Patrick Hanifin:

For those that are new to this podcast, or listening again, what's the purpose of this podcast?

Jeff Dotzler:

What are we trying to accomplish, I guess, with this? Understand what organizations do within their day-to-day and the outcome that they produce that helps the communities that they're in or the customers that they serve or the population that they serve. So we're going to talk to nonprofits. We're going to talk to for-profit organizations that have a great mission or the work that they do has a big impact on the communities that they live in. Part of Elevity's mission is that if we're successful in helping our customers win and grow, then that helps to provide more jobs, you know more, more opportunities for people in our communities, and it's something that we're passionate about. And being able to provide a platform for our customers to be able to tell that story was really kind of the key mission behind Focus on Outcomes, so we're excited to do that. I think we've got some great episodes lined up with some very exciting topics, and we're looking forward to sharing those stories.

Patrick Hanifin:

Great. You know, recently there was a fairly significant event in the IT space with the CrowdStrike incident event. Yeah, I mean kind of what. What happened there? And are there things that our clients or potential clients are that could be listening, could understand, about how levity protects their data and their identity, things of that nature?

Jeff Dotzler:

Yeah, you know, speaking of outcomes, there was a pretty significant one that came from that, I would say. Thankfully, most of our customers weren't impacted by that, so we didn't dig into a ton of the details. But you know, basically CrowdStrike, a very large organization that has their technology built into a lot of other technology, did a software update and when that update pushed it took a ton of global applications down, including, you know, microsoft, all three of the major US airlines and you know many, many others. Our phone system had was impacted by that, you know, and there are only so many. There's only so much that organizations can do. We apply a layered approach to security so that, hopefully, there's multiple layers of security and best practices so that major issues can be mitigated and and recovered from as quickly as possible.

Jeff Dotzler:

I'm not sure what could have been done to help organizations in this situation. I think, you know, I think Delta airlines had operation disruption for almost a week, which is which is pretty significant. Yeah, but you know these are the headlines that make the global news and the mainstream media of major organizations that have impact. But the reality is most of the breaches and major issues that occur are to small and medium businesses, which is who we focus on, and they think, because those stories aren't in the news, that they're not affected. But unfortunately, daily, weekly, monthly, we see it happen in and around our communities and with organizations that you know that aren't going to make the headlines.

Patrick Hanifin:

Yeah, and we talk about how SMBs sometimes don't take security seriously until it impacts them, and this is something that it's probably impacted a lot more than the normal things that we hear on the pipeline breach of a couple of years ago, things of that nature.

Jeff Dotzler:

I mean, this is consumer, so the outcome of this was significant, not only in the organizations that were impacted, but all in the organizations that were impacted, but all of the people that they support and that those organizations support. It's a long line, yeah absolutely.

Patrick Hanifin:

What are some of the directional IT decisions that are facing organizations in the SMB space today? You know security maybe being one of them, but what are some other things?

Jeff Dotzler:

Yeah, I'd say security and productivity. I think the whole AI craze that popped up in the last 12 months, that everybody's trying to wrestle with figuring out how to tackle and incorporate into their organization, is really around productivity and driving efficiency, whether that's for individuals with the Microsoft Copilot tools, or organizationally or within industries where major applications are having AI rolled out as part of their platform. I think that's big. I think figuring out how to make the whole work from anywhere concept be efficient and productive and secure is another big thing that we have a lot of. We spend a lot of time talking to customers about specifically moving major applications of the cloud and data to the cloud. You, I think, just using all the tools and the technology to connect and interact and communicate with their customers and their vendors in a way that is efficient, effective and productive.

Patrick Hanifin:

I'm out of questions, great. So last segment we're going to do some unfocused outcomes, some rapid fire questions just right off the cuff what's your go-to salad dressing?

Jeff Dotzler:

Ranch.

Patrick Hanifin:

If you were to write a book, what would it be about?

Jeff Dotzler:

I think it'd be about leadership. You're qualified for that Questionable. I might not sell many.

Patrick Hanifin:

What's your?

Jeff Dotzler:

death row. Final meal I think I'd have a ribeye medium rare, maybe some broccoli potato of some kind I'm not a big potato guy Maybe rice Rice.

Patrick Hanifin:

Do you put sauce on steaks? No, nothing. No, you haven't had a pick of pepper sauce, though. No, I know. Favorite Christmas movie, elf. Finish this sentence Leadership is Consistency. If you had to sing karaoke right now, what would you sing? What song would you choose? Whiskey, lullaby okay, crushed or cubed ice? Cubed does depend on the drink yes are you gonna say that?

Jeff Dotzler:

if it's in a margarita crushed, sure. If it's with a bourbon cubed, okay, a big cube a big cube.

Patrick Hanifin:

What's the most rewarding part of your job other than this?

Jeff Dotzler:

yeah, yeah, this is this would be on the list, uh. Seeing people grow, seeing people advance good, all right, my turn. It is all right, uh, if you had to play a round of golf with only one club, which one, and why?

Patrick Hanifin:

uh, seven iron, uh, just my favorite club.

Jeff Dotzler:

What's your favorite wine varietal?

Patrick Hanifin:

Great question, man. Can I pick one?

Jeff Dotzler:

For this purpose.

Patrick Hanifin:

yeah, I'll just say a Cab.

Jeff Dotzler:

Not a Cab Franc?

Patrick Hanifin:

I'll get you ba ck in a, not a cab fronk. I'll get you back in a cab fronk

Jeff Dotzler:

If you won the lottery. What's the first thing you would buy? This is the rapid part.

Patrick Hanifin:

Yeah, I know that's a great question. Probably a boat

Jeff Dotzler:

A boat. Okay, You're a Chicago kid Thin crust or deep dish

Patrick Hanifin:

Thin for sure.

Jeff Dotzler:

So follow up to that Square or pie-shaped slices.

Patrick Hanifin:

I grew up on square Square.

Jeff Dotzler:

Okay, what's your go-to snack while on a long solo drive?

Patrick Hanifin:

Trail mix

Jeff Dotzler:

If you could master any skill instantly, what would it be?

Patrick Hanifin:

Golf

Jeff Dotzler:

what's the one piece of technology you wouldn't want to live without?

Patrick Hanifin:

My phone

Jeff Dotzler:

With a completely working screen, or just a third of it?

Patrick Hanifin:

Two thirds

Jeff Dotzler:

All right, good. Well, that's our segment. I'm excited about that. We'll see how our guests handle these questions, and hopefully as well as we did.

Patrick Hanifin:

Yeah, learned a little bit about each other there. I like that.

Jeff Dotzler:

You know. So please subscribe to Focus on Outcomes. We'll be bringing a monthly podcast out with various interviews and guests along the way. You know we're going to hope to have some fun with this, like our rapid fire session. We're calling that unfocused outcomes, at least for now, right, until we get a paid sponsor or an unpaid sponsor. But please subscribe, feel free to join us. You know we're going to probably ask for 15 to 25 minutes every month and if you have suggestions, if you would like to join us, please reach out. We'd love to consider having you as a guest on Focus on Outcomes, patrick, it was fun.

Patrick Hanifin:

It was fun.

Jeff Dotzler:

All right, we'll see you next time

Patrick Hanifin:

Thank you.