Next month, February 27 – March 3, we will be back in Cancun for NerdioCon 2023, our second in-person, all-inclusive partner conference! We are once again looking forward to bringing attendees the best content, sponsors and speakers from around the channel and are stoked to have a new enterprise partner track added this year. Spaces are limited and selling out fast so please visit www.nerdiocon.com to view our agenda and register to attend.
To bring visibility to some of the experts you catch at the conference, we’re excited to kick off our Nerd Icon blog series that will run January – March. First up is none other than Tim Coach, Global Channel Chief, Pia!
Tell us a bit about Pia and your current role with them.
Pia is a true automation platform that integrates a SaaS solution with a PSA but is also a standalone platform. This will allow MSPs to automate the day-to-day tasks of their help/service desk services thereby creating efficiencies, standardization and improved relationships with both employees and clients.
My role as the Global Channel Chief of Pia is to bring awareness of the PIA solution to the MSP channel that will drive and deliver the next big thing to MSPs; automation. In essence the role allows me to bring the value of true automation to the MSP and enterprise communities to improve their quality of business and life.
Pia’s partners are both MSPs and enterprise level businesses. Our primary focus is to serve the community of MSPs as well as partners that are looking to the future of their business and discovering a solution that will help automate day-to-day tasks. With the current trends in the economy along with the deficiency in the tech labor force, new forward-thinking solutions are needed. MSPs carry an extremely difficult task and are the backbone to ensure business stay open and server their clients. True Automation gives the MSPs the ability to switch the focus off overworked staff to the client. This allows for a deeper and more meaningful relationship between the two.
How did you get to this point in your career, and what sustained or prompted your interest in the tech industry?
I began my career as a client of an MSP. Then jumped over to the MSP side in management. From there I worked my way up to COO, rebuilding and consulting with other MSPs to help create a better version of the MSP. I did that for over a decade, during that time I was a guest speaker for various vendors and realized how much I loved the channel side of the business. That is when I decided to change my focus and bring products to the MSP that improved both their day-to-day quality of running the business and as a result improved their relationships with their clients.
Can you tell us about what you plan to speak about at NerdioCon? Why will this be relevant/important for partners?
My session, “Next big shift for MSPs, the future of using true automation,” is coming at the perfect time to help MSP partners amid current market factors. Given the current state of the economy, in correlation with the lack of talent in the hiring pool, SaaS solutions providing true automation will relieve the burden of growing your business while increasing efficiencies and profitability.
What are you looking forward to at the event this year?
We are looking forward to being able to partner with Nerdio at your premier event to put automation at the forefront of the MSP community as a primary resource to help move the MSP business model forward.
We are also looking forward to spicy margaritas for everyone (on me 😉)
What trends do you think we’ll be seeing in the partner space in the year to come?
We feel the trends for 2023 will move heavily towards automations and platforms that are focused on AI and machine learning space. Pia wants to help take the load off the MSPs, by providing more within a solution to make up for resources, lack of talent as well as assist in the expandability of the MSP.
Finally, who are your “nerd icons”? That is, who do you look up to in the tech industry? And/or who has influenced your career in it?
Nerd icons for me, are always the passionate innovators. Those that work tirelessly behind the scenes with little recognition but are the ones that are moving the industry forward. Our very own developer and CTO at Pia, Aron Hardy-Bardsley is a great example of this. If you look at all the successful IT companies over the years there is always a front person, someone who is the face of the company that we all know. Very few know the people that put the long hours in on the keyboard, or envisioned the next version, the next enhancement, the next BIG thing. Those are the innovators/creators that should inspire us all, those are the folks that allow me to represent them to our community.
