Weekly shop talk for the IT channel.
Matt Whitlock, technology editor for the ChannelPro Network, hosts a weekly conversation aimed squarely at MSPs, VARs, IT integrators and consultants. Guests who run their own shops walk through the unglamorous mechanics of the work: cash flow, client selection, networking, and where AI actually fits.
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ChannelPro Weekly is a long-running trade podcast for the IT channel, published by the ChannelPro Network and hosted by technology editor Matt Whitlock. Its audience is named explicitly at the top of nearly every episode: VARs, MSPs, IT integrators, IT consultants, system builders, virtual CIOs, anyone who designs and supports technology for other businesses. The core format is a single guest interview built around one operational problem. Nothing is abstract. The advice is the kind that changes an invoice or a hiring decision. Lori Hardtke, owner of a solo MSP, described parting ways with clients over time and reaching her highest revenue yet, because a smaller book let her deliver better service. Chris Barber, founder of Cheaper Than a Geek and self-titled Chief Nerd, made the case that professional organizations and chamber groups are a real growth channel, and that being memorable in a crowded room, in his case tall hair, loud sport coat and mismatched shoes, is not a gimmick so much as an asset. Rayanne Buchianico of ABC Solutions, whose firm does accounting for MSPs, went through what a buyer looks at during an acquisition: accounts receivable, month over month cash flow, working capital left in the business. The observation that many MSPs simply never chase customers for money is the sort of blunt shop-floor truth the show trades in. Ronnie Parisella of DataBit, a senior IT professional with decades in New York City IT services who has helped build and rebuild MSPs, discussed turning AI into actual profit. Fellow podcaster Dave Sobel joined to talk about filtering industry noise and making sense of layoffs. Alongside interviews, episodes cover news items, vendor and association stories, ideas like a post-password future, and dispatches from ChannelPro events such as the live show in Columbus and the Cybersecurity Online Summit. The register is conversational and a little playful. Whitlock riffs, digresses, welcomes a guest's cat on camera, and closes with a reminder that the show lives in podcast apps and on YouTube. Under the banter is real specificity, because the guests are operators describing decisions they made with their own money. The catalogue stretches back through an earlier era co-hosted with Rich Freeman, after which the show went quiet and returned in 2024 with a renewed weekly ambition that the host cheerfully admits he cannot guarantee. For channel professionals, it functions as a standing appointment with peers who have already solved the problem currently on the desk.
Made for: Managed service providers, VARs, IT integrators, consultants and virtual CIOs who deliver technology services to other businesses. Especially useful for owners of small or solo firms weighing client mix, growth and eventual exit.
What sets it apart: The guests are working channel operators rather than vendor spokespeople, so the advice lands at the level of receivables, client rosters and networking habits. Its host is a trade publication editor, which gives the interviews an industry news frame most peer-to-peer business shows lack.
The ChannelPro Weekly Podcast is a weekly audio program for channel professionals, focusing on topics of interest as related to the recent week in news, as well as other information, guest interviews, and more!
Matt Whitlock turns MSP growing pains into guest-powered shop talk you can actually use.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A practical solo-MSP conversation about tighter focus, higher revenue, and disciplined time management.
The discussion reads as a practical snapshot of Lori Hartke of Bite Buys, Inc., a solo MSP owner who has built a model around fewer clients and higher revenue.
A practical case for showing up prepared, meeting people, and not letting one conversation take over the evening.
Channel Pro Weekly episode 270 keeps its focus on a straightforward MSP networking pitch: join chamber groups, meet people there, and show up with a plan.
A focused look at the accounting habits that can shape an MSP sale.
ChannelPro Weekly episode 267 brings Rayanne Buccianico of ABC Solutions into a practical discussion about the accounting and tax habits that can make an MSP easier to sell.
Specialists walking through software's tradeoffs, one system at a time.
Founders and engineers on AI coding agents like Claude Code, and supply chain security.
Host Matt Whitlock introduces Episode 271 with guest Lori Hartke, a solo MSP and educator, discussing strategies for small business technology and scaling an MSP.
Chris Barber of Cheaper Than a Geek says his best chamber results came from the Crofton Chamber of Commerce, the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, and other groups in Anne Arundel County.
Rayanne Buccianico of ABC Solutions says the IT M&A market cooled after the pandemic because interest rates rose and costs climbed, even though buyers still want MSPs.
Channel Pro Weekly #266 features host Matt Whitlock interviewing Joseph Brunsman of Brunsman Advisory Group about cyber insurance, regulation, compliance, and MSP liability.
Ronnie Parisella tells Matt Whitlock that 40% of more than 75 MSPs at a ChannelPro Live event had not logged into an AI large language model.
Dawn Sizer of Third Element and Henry Tim of Phantom Technology Solutions tell Matt Whitlock that the Tech Degenerates began as a Signal group text, then moved to Discord because the phone "was going off like a million miles an hour." The community now includes several hundred MSP owners, vendors, CISOs and internal IT staff, and it enforces a no-sales-pitch rule outside one designated channel.
Philip D'Souza explains qubits as 'flipping a coin and catching that coin in any state' and defines superposition.
Mike Bloomfield describes how Techie Geeks grew from a one-person MSP in 2013 to a 17-person team.
The return of ChannelPro Weekly with guest Dave Sobel discussing industry noise, layoffs, and the show's new direction.
This episode covers recent IT channel news, including stories from CompTIA and Action1, a discussion on post-password future, and an interview with Yvette Steele about her book on inclusive leadership.