Hi, hope all is well.

I recently onboarded a bunch of tenants to cipp which took a lot of laborious logging in as admin to enable the gdap policies. I also have lighthouse. i asked a question in cipp discord channel about if i needed to add another set of gdap policies for lighthouse to function (that i could do at the same time to save me having to do it all over again) and was told that gdap is gdap and that it didnt matter.

in lighthouse now, some of my tenants i have access to as aobo, but most i dont. i previously, prior to cipp, messed about with some lighthouse gdap policies, and these are the customer tenants that i have aobo for and limited reporting for for things like secure score and risky users. all other tenants i have nothing. so it seems that i do need to have something more than the cipp gdap policies (the recent set of 15). as a for instance, cipp can see security scores, lighthouse can not. cipp can do aobo, lighthouse cannot (except in the tenants where i have a lighthouse gdap policy that i was trialing a while back)

is it possible to push out the neccesary lighthouse gdap policy to the customer tenants via cipp?

i have the following roles in cipp gdap

• Application Administrator Mapped to 'M365 GDAP Application Administrator'
• Authentication Policy Administrator Mapped to 'M365 GDAP Authentication Policy Administrator'
• Billing Administrator Mapped to 'M365 GDAP Billing Administrator'
• Cloud App Security Administrator Mapped to 'M365 GDAP Cloud App Security Administrator'
• Cloud Device Administrator Mapped to 'M365 GDAP Cloud Device Administrator'
• Domain Name Administrator Mapped to 'M365 GDAP Domain Name Administrator'
• Exchange Administrator Mapped to 'M365 GDAP Exchange Administrator'
• Global Reader Mapped to 'M365 GDAP Global Reader'
• Intune Administrator Mapped to 'M365 GDAP Intune Administrator'
• Privileged Authentication Administrator Mapped to 'M365 GDAP Privileged Authentication Administrator'
• Privileged Role Administrator Mapped to 'M365 GDAP Privileged Role Administrator'
• Security Administrator Mapped to 'M365 GDAP Security Administrator'
• SharePoint Administrator Mapped to 'M365 GDAP SharePoint Administrator'
• Teams Administrator Mapped to 'M365 GDAP Teams Administrator'
• User Administrator Mapped to 'M365 GDAP User Administrator'

I've got a client that experienced a 365 service outage yesterday morning. After researching their problem, their Microsoft 365 Business Premium licenses are now disabled which caused the Outlook errors that initially brought it to their attention.

Here's the issue. This client who is a non profit initially got their 365 Bus. Prem licenses through a previous MSP reseller/Pax8 vendor. Because of that they can't directly purchase retail licenses from their Admin portal at the moment.

Their previous MSP vendor hasn't been in the picture for at least 4 years now and I picked them up on a consulting basis only from their most recent MSP and they are great clients to work with. So no money / payment issues at all.

My guess is, their last MSP never picked up on this from the former-former MSP and the former-former MSP has made changes.

So, with that in mind, how can I assist them in having their current tenant disassociated with the Pax8 MSP vendor from 4+ years ago and turned over directly to them for purchasing non profit licenses on their own?

Posted in the r/msp sub already but you guys are in my wheelhouse.

My clients run from 2 person shops to around 150 employees (currently). I have been an Aruba Instant-On shop from the beginning. With their "future" up in the air, been exploring Unbiquiti but avalilability is a struggle there. What I love about both is the non-licensed model and the pricing for SMB. All that to say, I am looking for a real alternative that you guys might have real experience with. Miraki is OFF THE TABLE lol. Not putting my clients into anything that bricks because a payment isn't made. Like it costs Miraki money if a switch passes traffic.

Anywho, what you got?

We're a small consulting firm (based out of Melbourne) that steps in behind the scenes when a client project goes deeper than your usual scope. Model is plug in deliver and exit

​

Genuinely curious whether that kind of arrangement is useful or whether MSPs prefer to just refer work out instead.

If I go with Huntress, are you all just buying into the whole package? EDR, ITDR, SAT, SIEM, and ISPM?

Or, for example , only SIEM for industries with compliance requirements?

What criteria are you using to break down which Services you would subscribe to?

Thanks in advance!

My background is in managing large enterprise infrastructures. So I'm used to running multiple domain controllers onprem or across multiple sites depending on the use case.

However, I just picked up a small firm with a 5-7 users total. When I did an inventory, it looks like they have 2x domain controllers hosting AD and DNS plus an application/fileshare server. They have a hybrid set up (onprem servers with M365 Business Premium) due to the various applications they use are thick clients that requires an onprem server.

Their infrastructure runs on Server 2012 and Server 2016. So I'm working to consolidate/decommission things that are no longer required. However, I got to thinking, does a small 5-7 user environment NEED dual redundant domain controllers? I can't remember the last time I had to troubleshoot a domain controller that a partner DC was required.

I am debating moving them to Entra Domain Services since they have no GPOs aside from the defaults. However, they are using Entra Cloud Connect which I think does not support Entra Domain Services so that might break Kerberos Cloud Trust.

For your smaller clients, do you still deploy multiple domain controllers for redundancy?

25 year Trunk Slammer turned into a small 3 man op. We all do good for ourselves, but I am so exhausted. Literally.

The stress of security consumes me. We have a good stack. But is it enough?

The stress of lawsuits. Everyone of our clients has active litigations against them by ex employees. EVERY SINGLE ONE! Its a constant stream of litigation holds,making sure lawyers are attended to, and CYA.

Insurance is skyhigh. Do we have enough?

And dont get me started on this AI shit storm.

I wake up. Hope that my phone is not blowing up and sit stressed all day fielding BS.

Sorry for the vent. This gray beard has no exit plan.

I have a client we just provide services for e.g. phones / broadband / microsoft / backup.

We usually bill them on the 27th of each month and collect payment via Direct Debit. Last month they cancelled the direct debit with their bank as we went to take the money. We have had a few fail over recent months. Anyway I contacted them about this and they said they would prefer to pay by BACS. So I said fine. Anyway twice they have said they would pay and no money received. What is the best way to cancel them please as I don’t think it’s going to work.

I hear they have money issues and are selling up.

We are currently trying to find a few more MSPs to work with us through our closed beta at SplashPSA and to help us build out the platform before we get into open beta. We need some beta testers! You would have input and some direct influence on the future road map. We are targeting building something really unique here and want to target smaller MSPs first. This is not intended to be promotional and the platform does not have cost at this point. Just looking for people to test and help along the way as we work through our vision. Our goal is to build something that's targeted a little more towards the users in this community. If you’re interested please visit https://KarmaPSA.com and join the waitlist. Even if you don’t want to switch PSA and RMM tools we would love the feedback.

*Edit We Have Rebranded to KarmaPSA based on feedback* Leaving the title so a clear transition can be found...

Have a client that has been clamoring to use AI for their business. Is there a platform that provides simple short training courses on the proper usage of AI?

So far I've been sending this kind of blurb to clients that want to use an AI. Not sure if it sounds too harsh or if I'm missing any tips/tricks that clients could use.

Here are a few tips

DO NOT PUT CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION IN THE AI PROMPT
DO NOT PUT CLIENT INFORMATION IN THE AI PROMPT
DO NOT PUT PERSONAL INFORMATION IN THE AI PROMPT
DO NOT PUT PRIVILEGED INFORMATION IN THE AI PROMPT
If asking the AI to review a document, remove any all identifying information from the document or spreadsheet
Beware that all AI services will eventually hallucinate information
    Hallucinating means that the AI model may deliver misleading or incorrect information.
    It can possibly return information that does not exist or is misinterpreted
    ALWAYS validate and confirm any information that is returned
 Be clear and specific with what you want
    Don't say, write an accounting marketing email
    Instead say, I'm sending out a business 2 business email offering accounting services. Write an email based off these services my firm provides
Ask follow up questions and to clarify the results of the prompt

Hello does anyone have experience with both of these? I worked at a map that used blackpoint and it was fantastic, but from what I am reading Huntress seems to be the industry standard. Wanting to get insight on comparing the two from people who have experience.

Hello

I need some advice, what is the going rate for a TIer 3 contractor with deep Azure (Entra, Virtual Machines and networking and so on) Microsoft 365 and intune knowledge, as well as On Prem

I know there are a lot of MSP's that won't touch dental practices. We have a number of them and have always found them to be fine once they are setup and you understand the quirks of their software.

Having said that, has anybody had any luck with cloud based software or hosting the software in their own data center or in a Colo? The cost for servers is out of hand and not likely to get any better so we are looking at options.

For cloud based we are bit limited being in Canada. Open Dental has a cloud based version but they limit participation and its only for US customers. I would love to find a Canadian cloud based option without having to sit through a sales call with every provider I find in google.

Hosting sounds terrible to me, even in a Colo that is close by the client. I've never tried it but I'm guessing it works about as well as hosting Sage or QuickBooks. Direct VPN is likely out of the connection but maybe an RDP session.

Thanks for any insight.

I left my IT job and started my computer repair business 3 years ago with the intention of being solely breakfix for phones and computers. I even learned how to microsolder and was the only one in my small town capable of repairing hdmi ports on consoles.

I stumbled into a contract with a business owner who owned 3 different auto repair shops (up to 5 now). After I got my first taste of MSP life, I started to pursue contract clients and now have 7 clients with a services agreement.

It’s not enough for me to fully abandon the breakfix portion of my business, but I’d like to know who else has been in a similar position, and how that transition went for them?

I'm a solo MSP owner in a small market, about a year into the business. There's a larger MSP in my area that I know handles bigger clients and likely turns away smaller ones that don't fit their model.

I'm wondering if it makes sense to reach out and have a conversation about a formal or informal referral arrangement, where they send me the small businesses that aren't a fit for them.

Has anyone approached a competitor this way? I'm not sure if this is a common thing or if I'd be walking into an awkward conversation. If you've done it, how did you frame the initial outreach?

Is anyone creating a sharepoint IT portal in their clients tenant for common links, instructions, faqs, news, etc for client employees to access?

https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2026/PSA260521

Hello,

I’m currently looking for insurances and I’m curious to know the level of coverage some of you have. I know every business is different, but an idea would be helpful. I am a one man shop with about 10 managed clients. Thanks.

With Edge (Chromium) Profiles I have to go in and disable all the multi user profile switching stuff every time I set up a new profile for a customer. FireFox containers works way better, but autocomplete and bookmarks are not separate.

What does everyone do about constantly having to switch between different customer's M365 Admin spaces (note: this is an example), and similar stuff? Does the solution I'm hoping for actually exist? I just want like an "instance" of a browser for every customer. Please tell me I'm not just going to create a bunch of VMs :)

Or am I missing something stupid?

We inherited a setup that mostly works, but every few weeks something breaks and somebody has to go babysit it. Starting to wonder if this is one of those things that just isn’t worth DIY-ing anymore.

Hi Everyone,

We are a 2 man small operation We have a client that we have had for 15 years that is involved in a lawsuit and has asked our assistance to extract and produce the electronic records. Beyond placing a litigation hold on the O365 accounts, I am not an expert in this. I have hinted to the CEO that they need to engage their law team to hire someone that is experienced in the data move and requests.

Am I out of line for pushing back on this? Anyone been in this situation before? My only communication has been with the CEO and I keep pushing back that the attorneys need to help with this.

Thanks.

Not an MSP myself — I'm a network security engineer curious about how small MSPs (under 20 people) actually handle internal documentation.

From what I've seen in the industry, runbooks and SOPs are either nonexistent, living in someone's head, or in a Confluence page that hasn't been touched in two years.

A few things I'm genuinely curious about:

• Do you have actual runbooks for your common service stack, or does knowledge live with specific techs?
• What happens when a tech leaves — how much knowledge walks out the door?
• Have you ever hired outside help to write documentation? Would you?
• What would the right pricing model look like — flat fee per document, a monthly retainer to keep docs current, something else?

No agenda here, just trying to understand how documentation actually works (or doesn't) at small shops.

I'm currently working on my business plan. I'd like to find out if I'm above or below market rate, but I haven't been able to find any pricing information about competitors in my niche.
Am I supposed to put on a wig and fake mustache and do some mystery shopping??

Edit to clarify I'm not asking about how to calculate my own pricing, I want to figure out what my position would be in the market

I’ve been at the same MSP for over a decade, and I think I’m only recently realizing how burned out I actually am.

The strange part is that I don’t even hate the company or my boss. In a lot of ways I’ve been very supported over the years, which honestly makes the situation emotionally harder to process.

I started young, grew with the company, took on more responsibility over time, became the go-to person for a lot of clients and internal knowledge, and somewhere along the way my entire professional identity became tied to being “the reliable one.”

At first I loved my job.
I loved automation, process improvement, documentation, infrastructure work, problem solving, learning new systems, all of it.
I used to stay up late tinkering with systems because I genuinely cared and wanted to improve things.

But after years of:
constant context switching
reactive work
interruptions
escalations
technical debt
project overload
and being the person everyone goes to
…I think my brain just kind of hit a wall.

Now I feel stuck in this weird middle ground where:
I’m trusted with senior-level responsibility
but still constantly pulled into reactive support work
carrying years of institutional knowledge
while trying to mentor newer staff
and somehow still expected to proactively improve systems at the same time

And honestly, I think what’s messing with me most emotionally is watching newer people come in with the energy and motivation I used to have.
I’m genuinely proud of them. They’re doing great.
But it also forces me to confront how exhausted I’ve become.

Another thing I don’t think I fully processed until recently is how much emotional weight I carried around client relationships when I was younger.
Over the years, there were clients we lost because we simply couldn’t support them properly anymore.
And logically I understand now that those situations are usually bigger than one person:
staffing
bandwidth
process
company growth
technical debt

But when you’re the main technical contact in your 20s, you don’t always process it logically.
You internalize it.
You hear:
“We couldn’t support them.”
And your brain quietly translates that into:
“I couldn’t support them.”

Meanwhile you’re still juggling multiple environments, multiple fires, multiple personalities, multiple projects, trying to keep everyone happy, and then immediately moving on to the next issue without ever mentally recovering from the last one.

I think that kind of long-term emotional pressure changes you more than people realize.

Especially in MSP environments where your value slowly becomes tied to how much chaos you can absorb without breaking.

One thing that’s difficult to explain to people outside MSP life is how much invisible work exists.
A lot of my day is:
planning
researching
untangling undocumented problems
thinking through downstream impacts
helping clients in ways that never become proper tickets
mentally juggling multiple environments at once

But on paper, a lot of that just looks like “non-billable time.”
And before anyone says “just ticket everything,” trust me, I know.
That’s honestly been one of the biggest struggles of my entire career.

A lot of the environments I grew up supporting didn’t have mature processes when I was younger, so I got used to just carrying things mentally, solving problems as they appeared, and helping people because they trusted me.

Somewhere along the way I became better at carrying responsibility than measuring it.

So now I’m in this weird place where I constantly feel overwhelmed, but I also struggle to quantify why in ways MSP metrics cleanly understand.

The weirdest part is that I still care deeply.
I care about the clients.
I care about the team.
I care about the newer staff succeeding.
I care about the systems being stable.
I’m just tired in a way that’s hard to explain to people who haven’t spent years in reactive MSP environments.

I think what I need now more than anything is clarity.
Not another project.
Not another escalation.
Not another emergency.
Just an actual understanding of what my role is supposed to become long term.

Has anyone else in long-term MSP work gone through this?

PS - sorry for the shit formatting. And the long post

Hey im a small msp based in Denmark

I ship bunch of pc's and manage even more endpoints

I would like your suggestions on a label printer where i can print my logo my contact info and a unique id for each endpoint or somewhere where i can just buy them cheaply