May Mental Health Month: Creating Supportive Workplaces to Foster Mental Well-being

May is a month of blooming flowers and vibrant growth, and it also holds great significance as Mental Health Month. It is an opportune time for businesses and organizations to cultivate open conversations and implement practices that prioritize the mental well-being of their employees.

In this blog, we will explore the importance of recognizing and addressing mental health in the workplace, as well as practical steps that businesses can take to create a supportive environment for their employees.

We’ll also showcase some of the initiatives we’re taking to open the conversation in our own organization and provide our team with access to resources and support.

Managed Solutions Mental Health Week Initiatives

At Managed Solution we work to promote a fun, healthy culture that enables our employees to succeed because they feel safe, happy, and supported.

That is why this month we dedicated an entire week of activities to promote team bonding, highlight the importance of mental health, share available resources, promote self-care, and open a conversation we hope to keep a special focus on beyond the month of May. Check out some of the activities we initiated below!

Mindful Monday

We kicked off Mental Health Week with a deep breath and a mindful pause. Encouraging our team to explore the following options to boost their mindfulness and mitigate stress.

Ten-minute meditations
One-minute mini meditations for those new to the idea of mindfulness or short on time
Expanding their mindful pauses through our EAP resource: Mindfulness Coach app (along with other free resources!)

Treat Yo Self Tuesday

We took a note from Parks and Rec royalty, Donna and Tom, for Treat Yo Self Tuesday! Where our team entered a spa-day gift card raffle by listing the things they do for self-care, or to simply “treat” themselves.

Feed Your Soul Wednesday

On Wednesday we fostered team bonding and connection through a virtual luncheon hosted on Microsoft Teams. Our team had a blast gathering to share stories, meet new members, and catch up on each other’s daily lives.

Mental Health Day of Action

Thursday was our ‘Mental Health Day of Action’, where we focused on spreading the idea that mental health IS health. We took more time to address the conversation on the importance of mental health and the tangible steps that we can all take to care for ourselves both mentally and physically. We further backed this by sharing more mental health resources offered to our employees and guiding them to places or personnel they could reach to access them.

Friday Afternoon Move & Groove

We finished big with a virtual dance party on Friday. It may sound silly but sometimes letting your team know that they’re safe to let loose and be themselves can be a great way to promote mental health.

Professionalism is of course important, but people are people at the end of the day, and knowing you’re free to bust out the sprinkler amongst your team can serve as a fun mood booster. At least, it sure did for us!

Acknowledging the Importance of Mental Health

Mental health is an integral part of overall well-being, and businesses have a vital role to play in acknowledging and addressing this reality. By recognizing that mental health impacts employees' productivity, job satisfaction, and overall quality of life, organizations can foster an environment where individuals feel valued and supported.

Creating Open Conversations

Encouraging open conversations about mental health is a cornerstone of creating a supportive workplace. Businesses can take proactive steps to destigmatize mental health by:

Promoting awareness

Use internal communications, newsletters, or workshops to educate employees about mental health issues, symptoms, and available resources. Share personal stories and testimonials to foster empathy and understanding.

Implementing mental health training

Provide managers and employees with training on mental health awareness, recognizing signs of distress, and supporting colleagues in need. This knowledge empowers individuals to offer appropriate support and creates a culture of empathy and compassion.

Establishing support networks

Encourage the formation of employee resource groups or support networks focused on mental health. These safe spaces allow individuals to share experiences, seek guidance, and build a community of understanding.

Implementing Supportive Practices

In addition to creating open conversations, organizations can implement practical measures that prioritize the mental well-being of their employees. Check out some of the examples we have listed below:

Flexible work arrangements

Offer flexible working hours, remote work options, or compressed work weeks to promote work-life balance and reduce stress. Flexibility empowers employees to manage their mental health effectively while fulfilling their professional responsibilities.

Employee assistance programs (EAPs)

Collaborate with mental health professionals to establish EAPs that provide confidential counseling, therapy, and resources for employees seeking support. These programs ensure that employees have access to professional help when needed.

Wellness initiatives

Introduce wellness initiatives such as yoga or meditation classes, mindfulness workshops, or access to wellness apps. Encouraging physical activity and stress reduction techniques can significantly contribute to employees' mental well-being.

Encouraging time off

Emphasize the importance of taking regular vacations, mental health days, and sick leave without guilt or stigma. Encourage employees to prioritize self-care and model this behavior from leadership positions.

There’s no perfect way to talk about mental health. The important thing is to talk about it in a way that’s authentic to your organization. Mental Health Month presents an invaluable opportunity for businesses and organizations to foster an environment that prioritizes the mental well-being of their employees.

By creating open conversations, implementing supportive practices, and recognizing the importance of mental health, businesses can nurture a workplace where individuals feel valued, supported, and empowered to thrive both professionally and personally. Together, let us embrace the journey toward a mentally healthy and resilient workforce.

Resources:

If you're struggling, don't wait - contact emergency support at 988 anytime!
If you struggle with anxiety attacks, try this box breathing technique to help regulate your nervous system.
Working remotely isn’t always easy, try virtual coworking platforms like Flow Club or Focusmate.
If you’re an employer or team member wanting to promote a better mental health environment for your team, check out these resources and success stories from the CDC’s website.

Interviewing in a Remote World- Virtual Vetting

Interviewing in a Remote World- Tips & Tricks for Virtual Vetting

By: Amanda Hawthorne, Director of People and Culture

Two years into the pandemic, it’s almost hard to remember life in the “before times.” At this point, it’s probably fair to say that Covid-19 might be our lifetime’s ultimate ‘disruptor’ – a word that, in Silicon Valley at least, usually signifies a unicorn organization poised to create a true paradigm shift in how the world operates. So much as changed in daily life since March 2020 because of the pandemic. Whether it’s new safety measures or even the foregoing of certain regulations (to-go cocktails, anyone?), the change is undeniable.

For many office workers, these changes are most noticeable in how and where we work. Many of us are now working and collaborating in largely digital workplaces. Whether they’re sharing files and trading gifs on Teams, or messaging colleagues over Slack, or spending yet another afternoon on back-to-back ZOOM calls, more people than ever are working remotely… and with yet another surge of cases and the fact that so many have embraced remote work, we don’t see this changing anytime soon. Remote work is here to stay!

As we adapt to these virtual work environments, business leaders had to rethink almost every aspect of their businesses. While this has often been about overcoming obstacles, it’s also been about re-examining what’s possible. In the world of HR, this shift has been perhaps most dramatic in terms of what’s possible with recruiting, and we’re so excited about the possibilities we’ve uncovered in terms of hiring in a remote world!

Broaden Your Talent Pools by Recruiting in New Geographies

Managed Solution has long prided itself on being remote-friendly. As a technology services provider, we were early adopters of tools that allowed our team to work anywhere and everywhere. Even before the pandemic, much of our team worked from home a few times a week. Still, though, most of our employees were based in San Diego, CA, and most of us were commuting to a brick-and-mortar office at some point each week.

When we told our team members to start working remotely full-time during the pandemic, many of them began exploring opportunities for relocation – to their dream houses, to be closer to family, and even to be closer to the mountains for rock climbing! Before we knew it, our team was spread out across states and time zones.

Despite some early challenges with adding payroll in new states (who enjoys navigating the red tape of various state agencies?), we quickly realized the numerous advantages of having employees in different locations. For our 24/7 IT helpdesk team, we were able to staff different shifts in time zones that made sense for our clients’ needs – and our employees’ lives. Operating on a more national basis was not only good for our team, but great for our business.

Now, when hiring for our own vacancies, we began advertising our roles to candidates in these various states and were enthusiastic to see such high-quality resumes coming through our applicant tracking systems! Broadening your geographic search criteria gives you access to more candidates, increasing your likelihood of finding that perfect match!

But while we were singing the praises of a broader talent pool, we also realized that phone calls with candidates wasn’t going to cut it in this new world: video interviews were necessary to help us build a level of rapport with candidates that’s on par with the experience of in-person interviewing. Unfortunately, interviewing candidates on a video call isn’t always a no-brainer.

To help you get started on video interviewing (or to help you up your game!), here are some of our tried-and- true tips & tricks to ensure both a strong candidate AND strong employer experience in the interview process…

Virtual Interviews: 10 Tips & Tricks for Success

Get Really Clear on the Job Details.

Ideally, this happens before you’ve even posted a role, but especially before you get to an interview, you’ll need to really understand the job itself: what skills are must-haves, which are on the nice-to-have list? Be sure to also dive into when and where this role could be performed: is this job suited to remote work in the short term, but eventually you’d require a candidate to commute to the office? If so, be sure to communicate that! Is a position remote flexible but the function needs to be performed during specific hours based on the time zone for your home office? Share that, too! Being clear about the role not only lets you recruit among the broadest talent pool, it also helps ensure a strong mutual fit with any prospective candidate -- and avoids an awkward situation down the road. Imagine accepting an offer, quitting your job, and showing up on the first day in your new role… only to discover that your understanding of your work schedule or environment was completely off?! No thank you! You’ll save yourself a lot of heartache as a hiring manager if you can get really clear on your job details before you start interviewing!
Revisit Your Interview Plan.

Start with the basics: map out your in-person interview strategy, including who was included and what the respective conversations were covering. Now, assess who else a candidate might benefit from speaking to. Perhaps now is the time to include a peer interview so the candidate can start learning who they’d be working with – not just After all, with in-person interviews, a candidate often gets to at least put eyes on the people they’d be working with. You must consciously create those opportunities in a remote work world! While you don’t want your interview process to become excessively slow – especially in today’s fight for talent – but you do want to have enough time for a clear picture of the candidate’s skills… and give them enough time to really learn what it would be like to work with you!
Give Your Candidate the Info & Tools Needed to Be Successful in Your Interviews.

Include all pertinent details in an interview invite, such as the names and positions of those who will be involved in the call. Be sure the candidate has the contact info of at least one interviewer in case something comes up last minute. Consider providing your candidate with the specific goals of each interview phase so they have some idea of what will be covered: is this a technical interview? A hiring manager interview? Peer interview? Let the candidate know what to expect. Clarity is kindness, after all – and being clear about the who/what/why of the interview also gives the candidate the chance to prepare appropriate questions for your team. (And also makes it less ok if they haven’t prepared at least a question or two ahead of time!)
Make a Plan for Technical Difficulties – And Make Sure Your Interviewers Can Help Troubleshoot Common Issues! We’ve all been through those video calls where someone’s network connection just isn’t quite cutting it, so you’re hearing only every few words at best. Interviews won’t be effective if there isn’t clear audio / visual on both sides and even in today’s world where virtual meetings seem common, it’s not unusual to come across a candidate who’s never used Teams (or whatever your tool of choice is). Head off the technical issues altogether by sending some brief instructions for your candidates about how to get connected. Let them know in advance that the interview will be video on and give them insight about your ‘workplace’ dress code. Consider encouraging them to use a background filter. And then be sure your own team is well-versed on your technology so they can help a candidate who may struggle.
Show Your Team in the Best Light Possible – Literally!

If your team is going to be on camera frequently for interviews, you may want to give them some guidance to help reflect positively on your organization. From displaying the appropriate dress code to a professional, neat background, to joining calls from a quiet space with good lighting… all can make your company appear coordinated and well-adjusted to remote work. Consider offering ring lights or monitor-mounted webcams to provide flattering lighting and angles – your interviewers will be more focused on the candidate if they’re not distracted by their own double chin in the video preview feed! Help your interviewers focus on the candidate’s video feed, or even direct them to look into the camera while speaking to give the feeling of eye contact. (Our Talent Advisor uses a sticker at the top/center of her monitor to give herself something to look at!) Remind your interviewers of good interviewing etiquette: close the door, turn off the laundry, silence your cellphone, have a glass of water nearby, and (at a minimum) have them skim the candidate’s resume in advance!
Expect the Unexpected.

Help train your interviewers on how to handle the realities of remote work: dogs barking, kids stumbling into the room, lawyers who are definitely not cats… interviewing in this new world is sometimes as weird as it is wonderful. Remind your team to keep it calm and collected, and help put candidates at ease, even when things run awry. The pandemic has reminded us that, at the end of the day, we’re all just doing our best to hold things together. Being flexible when things don’t work out quite like we expected reassures a candidate that your company values authenticity and understands that an employee is a person.
Educate Your Interviewers to Make Lawful Hiring Decisions.

When interviewing people from their home, you may see things in the background that give clues to a candidate’s life in ways you might not if they came into your office. Remind your interviewers to disregard anything they may see in the background which may suggest things about the candidate’s nationality, ethnicity, religious affiliation, marital/parent status, or other protected class status. (Remember, too, not to make assumptions based on what you’re seeing!) Give interviewers guidance on job-related questions to ask and consider rubrics for scoring candidates consistently across interviews. Work with your HR team or an outside consultant to be sure that your hiring criteria are valid and lawful, and to help you identify potential areas for bias.
If Possible, Consider Meeting In-Person – At Least Once.

Following CDC and other relevant guidelines, consider whether meeting a prospective candidate in-person is feasible, prior to issuing an offer. For some candidates, the chance to meet a potential manager gives them a better sense of your leadership style and interpersonal dynamic. For others, it’s reassuring to meet in person to help them trust that a job offer is legitimate before handing over their confidential details for a background check or I-9 form. If an in-person meeting isn’t feasible, you might offer your top candidates the chance to connect on a call with another employee who onboarded remotely or with a top performer in your org – not necessarily so that your employee can weigh in on the candidate, but so that the candidate can get a sense of what it’s like to work on your team – and feel confident that your offer is legit.
Give the Candidate Time to Interview YOU!

Many times, as interviewers, we’re so focused on getting answers to our questions that we may forget to reserve time for the candidate to ask us any questions they may have. Some successful interviewers preface their meetings by letting the candidate know he or she will have time to ask questions at the end: this can help keep a conversation on course while also giving the candidate the floor before wrapping up the call.
And our very best tip for success in remote hiring in this new world? Ask for help!

Implementing Microsoft Teams? Trying to map out an interview plan for a particular role? Looking for help in technical vetting of your top candidates? Just not getting enough qualified applicants for your open tech roles? Managed Solution offers a range of managed, professional, and technical services – including staffing! Our Talent Advisor can help you look at your hiring needs, improve your interview strategies, and connect you with our targeted solutions for staffing – remote or otherwise. Whether it’s working together on a Direct Hire Recruiting or Staff Augmentation Resourcing basis, or even helping you validate the technical skills of candidates your team has sourced, Managed Solution can take on the heavy lifting of hiring. And we’ll also be there each step of the way making sure you, your candidates, and your interviewing team has everything they need to be successful along the way!

Ready to up your recruiting game? Check out all our Staffing Services HERE. Let us know how we can help… get in touch with our Talent Advisor HERE.

Staffing Services: The Details- What you need to know!

By: Amanda Hawthorne, Director of People and Culture at Managed Solution

So you’ve got an opening or resource need on your team? Exciting! Managed Solution’s Staffing Services can help! But knowing where to start with an outside recruiting firm can be tough, and you may have a lot of questions about the process…

There are plenty of choices for service providers: so how do you know which is going to deliver?

Sometimes the exact resource or budget requirements for your position may be a bit hazy, and you may still be sorting out how exactly a new hire will engage within your team. Who can help you define your needs and understand a market-realistic hiring budget?

Everyone is already stretched thin today, and no one has time to interview a series of candidates who completely miss the mark. Working with a trusted Staffing Service provider like Managed Solution can help you quickly connect with pre-vetted technical talent so you can make efficient staffing decisions and get back to work with the right team!

Why You Can Trust Managed Solution to Deliver Top Talent

Managed Solution is an IT service provider – which means IT people are our business. For over 20 years, we’ve been meeting talented engineers and connecting them with our clients across Southern California (and beyond!) to fulfill ongoing support or even project-based needs. In the age of remote work and the “Great Resignation,” it’s more important than ever to hire highly skilled and vetted engineering talent – and even harder to find them!

After hearing from client after client about the challenges they’re having in finding and vetting top talent, we saw an opportunity here: open our Talent Community to our clients, giving them access to the amazing people we’re meeting daily. (And as a bonus, individuals in our Talent Community have already been vetted by our Microsoft-certified engineers!)

Plus, since hiring our Talent Advisor, Kat Grunzinger, we now have a talent concierge to meet with our clients and really dive into their needs, to help define an opportunity for efficient recruiting. Kat has years of experience in the recruiting space and has a true knack for building quick rapport with candidates, diving into what they know (and don’t), as well as understanding what opportunities are truly of interest to them. She leverages this same inquisitive nature to consult with clients to understand what Staffing Services are best-suited to their needs – and which candidates will really fit the bill!

What You Need to Know When Getting Started with Managed Solution’s Talent Advisor

You may be asking, what’s it like to work with Managed Solution’s Talent Advisor?

Here’s what you can expect:

First, Our Talent Advisor will want to interview you! We’ve found the best way to understand the true needs of an organization isn’t to rely on a job description (which may be out of date or miss key aspects of what a position truly requires), but to go straight to the source: you!

As a hiring manager, you’ll have insight into your needs, your team, and your organization – even if you haven’t scoped out a formal job description yet, or if you haven’t gotten the chance yet to update the one that’s been on file for years.

Our Talent Advisor can help you outline the specific function that’s needed. She’ll be aiming to understand the ins and outs of your open role, so she can connect you to the right resources. Key questions she’ll ask include:

What function or role will this person play in your organization or project? Do you need someone to take charge and lead a team? Someone to execute tasks already outlined in a project plan? Someone your end users can trust to solve their issues in a responsive and friendly manner?
What skills & experience are essential for their success? Are you seeking a well-rounded IT generalist with demonstrated success in a particular industry? A helpdesk superstar already proficient with a specific ticketing system and Office365 administration? An SQL wizard?
Who will this person interact with most often? What people skills would make someone most successful in those interactions? Every team has a different style, and Our Talent Advisor knows a successful candidate will be a value-add to your existing team culture. Is your team highly process oriented or working in a compliance-heavy environment? Operating in a start-up mentality where adaptability is key? Our Talent Advisor wants to know so we can present candidates who are ready to jump in and be successful!
What is the available budget and target market for hiring? Are you looking for an onsite resource in your downtown Los Angeles office, or flexible to find someone fully remote from anywhere in the nation? Do you have budget for a full-time internal hire, or will you be looking to staff a temporary need with an external position on an hourly bill rate?

Our Talent Advisor will ask these key questions so she understands exactly what this individual will be doing on a day-to-day basis and how their success will be defined. This will help her articulate the opportunity to potential candidates - and help us avoid wasting your time with candidates who would fall short of expectations. This understanding will allow her to scroll through her mental Rolodex of people in our Talent Community so she can quickly connect you with any pre-vetted candidates that might align with your goals.

Understanding your needs can also help us align our Staffing Service offering with your ‘ask’ to ensure we’re helping you meet your need in a cost-effective manner.

How Managed Solution Approaches Staffing Services

Managed Solution offers several different Staffing Services to meet your IT hiring needs:

Direct Hire Recruiting: With this model, Managed Solution will leverage your job specifications to actively seek out qualified resources for you to interview, hire, and onboard onto your team. In addition to the keen instincts of our Talent Advisor, we vet candidates with our Microsoft-certified engineers before we even present their resumes to you. When we send a candidate profile your way, you can be confident of that resource’s technical skills – plus, they’ll have been briefed by our team on your needs and expectations so you can get have a meaningful conversation from the start. With our significant IT hiring experience and vast Talent Community of pre-vetted resources, our Direct Hire Recruiting service will get the right person, sooner, so you can focus on your team.
Staff Augmentation Resourcing: In this service, Managed Solution performs the same service of connecting you with talent aligned to your needs, but, in this case, the resource will be retained by our team and assigned to a project or temporary position on yours. Let us handle the administrative side of things, from payroll to benefits, and you can focus on your team’s priorities. You’ll still get all the benefits of our pre-vetting, our Talent Advisor’s concierge intake process, and our Talent Community – plus, after a set term, you’ll have the option to convert your Staff Augmentation Resource to your own team without an additional fee.
Technical Vetting: With technical vetting, we’ve shifted the recruiting model a bit – you bring the candidates, and we provide feedback about the candidates’ critical skills, based on interviews with our Microsoft-certified engineers. This service is especially suited to hiring for executive or management-level IT staff: after all, who at your firm can provide a true skills assessment of a resource if that resource is meant to be the most technical member of your team? In that case, we’re happy to leverage the technical knowledge of our seasoned engineers and even our executive teams to help vet your candidates along job-related criteria that you define when you engage our services. We can also help provide feedback for your systems engineer, systems/network administrator, and helpdesk technicians! For a reasonable, fixed price, gain some additional peace of mind about your next hire!

When our Talent Advisor meets with you to discuss your team’s needs, she’ll help you determine which Staffing Service is right for you.

How a Strong Rapport with Your Talent Advisor Helps You Hire Better, Faster

Once a Staffing Service Agreement is signed, she’ll begin sorting through our existing connections within our Talent Community and will reach out to appropriate passive candidates on your behalf.

When we find suitable candidates – aligned to your role in terms of experience, skills, location, culture, and career goals – we’ll pre-vet them with our Microsoft-certified engineers and then present you with their talent profiles (a fancy term for their resumes, catered to your position). Ideally, they’ll all look good on paper, and then it’s time for you and your teams to interview!

Our Talent Advisor will work with you to define your own vetting process for the opening – who will be involved in the interviews; when/how interviews will be conducted; etc. Then, she’ll coordinate scheduling and share pertinent information to the candidate so they can be on-time and ready to discuss your opportunity, whether that’s in person at your office, or via Microsoft Teams video interview. (We can even send out a Microsoft Teams meeting bridge for you and the candidate to connect on!)

During the interview, you’ll get a sense of your own as to whether the candidate meets the eligibility and suitability requirements of your role. Our Talent Advisor will check in after your interviews to hear about what went well, what concerns still linger, and what next steps look like. Our Talent Advisor will also get feedback from the candidate to ensure a strong mutual fit before moving ahead in the process. This two-way flow of information and feedback is one essential for effective recruiting services – and helps ensure that by the time an offer is issued, you’re confident it will be accepted.

Having a strong rapport with your Talent Advisor can help you move through the hiring process faster, more effectively, and with the outcomes you’re looking for. Sometimes hiring managers hesitate to share negative feedback about a candidate’s skills or experience (because who likes giving bad news?), but we encourage open communication during this process. Understanding exactly what is or isn’t working helps us ensure a better outcome on the next candidate. And if things are going well, timely communication is even more important: you’re more likely to get an enthusiastic “yes!” in response to an offer when the candidate feels the process has moved along at a natural clip, and they’ve received timely, positive feedback. Plus, a strong rapport with your Talent Advisor also allows her to share honest feedback from candidates about your position, interview process, and the candidate experience.

What details Talent Advisor Wants You to Know

Want the inside scoop about working with our Staffing Services professionals? We sat down recently with Kat Grunzinger, Managed Solution’s Talent Advisor, to talk about her professional background in recruiting and her hopes for Managed Solution’s Staffing Services.

Here’s what Kat Grunzinger, Managed Solution’s Talent Advisor, wants you to know!

Q: What do you want a hiring manager to know about you?

A: “I want hiring managers to know that I’ve been in their seat! I know how challenging it can be to find, vet, and hire the right people for the right positions. That level of empathy drives me to move quickly across the process – jumping onto an intake call, running through recent conversations to see if there are any immediately ‘right’ candidates, proactively sourcing talent across multiple platforms, and being timely in scheduling and feedback. I will earn the hiring manager's trust by active listening to quickly understand an opening; by being flexible and available for their calls; by following through on any action items outlined; and by reassuring them that I’m here for them! I feel most successful when I know we’ve done the right thing for the client.”

Q: What drew you to recruiting and what’s your favorite part of the process?

A: “I love getting to meet talented individuals and hearing their stories and learning what they want out of their careers – and then getting to help make that happen! It’s a privilege to assist in their journeys, and I take seriously that we are talking about a person’s livelihood. The same care I take in building relationships of trust with hiring managers, I apply to our Talent Community. My goal is to facilitate transparent, two-way communication. I’m not afraid to tell a candidate when a job isn’t going to help them meet their goals because it frees them up to find the opportunities that are right.”

Q: What should a hiring manager know about your job to make the relationship more effective?

A: “Honest and open communication matters. Not only is this aligned with Managed Solution’s values and Code of Conduct, it’s truly critical for recruiting and other Staffing Services. A hiring manager needs to be honest and realistic about budgets, the true needs of their team, – and sometimes as an outside entity, I’m able to help them see another side of the coin. Whether that’s advising the client about the right pay scale for a position with a specific region or helping them see that their job description is unrealistic (or describes three different jobs), I really appreciate when hiring managers value this two-way feedback. I think it brings us more credibility as recruiters and ultimately helps clients fill their needs.

I think it’s also important for a hiring manager to understand that my role as a recruiter is to help sell the value of an organization or position to candidates. The time we invest up front in an intake call positions me to effectively communicate with potential candidates about the roles, and to proactively answer the questions they have. We’ll both spend more time talking to the right people if a hiring manager spends the time with me up front to help me learn how their team functions, what types of soft skills help someone thrive, and what perks/benefits exist within their organizations. I’ll definitely do the right homework on my side to read the job description, the company website, and more before that meeting, but there’s nothing like learning straight from the hiring manager how the team is doing and what it needs.”

Q: What are your hopes for Managed Solution’s Staffing Services?

A: “My hope is that we can continue building trust with our clients, as we succeed in connecting them with qualified talent. I know I’ve done my job when a client comes back for help with another opening or refers us to their colleague for assistance on a role. Continuing to help good people find fulfilling work with amazing organizations – that’s what it’s all about!”

Ready to hand over the heavy lifting to us? Email us about our Staffing Services today!

The New Price Increases from Microsoft for Their Flagship Office 365 and Microsoft 365 Products

By Ashley Triplett

The first of several significant commercial price increases from Microsoft for Office 365 since its launch a decade ago is occurring March 1, 2022. Microsoft plans including business software subscriptions for Microsoft 365 Business (Basic and Premium), Office 365 (E1, E3, and E5), and more will be affected. Businesses that use these products should expect increased charges.

These increases will apply globally with local market adjustments for specific regions. The good news is that the price increases will only affect commercial and business users, with no changes to pricing for education or consumers subscriptions.

There is a silver lining, in March of 2022, Microsoft will be adding Audio Conferencing to all licenses that include Teams, which will include unlimited dial-in capabilities for Microsoft Teams meetings across the enterprise, business, frontline, and government suites.

Here is the official Microsoft announcement of the price changes.

Microsoft 365 Upcoming Price Changes Effective on March 1, 2022

Microsoft 365 Business Basic - from $5 to $6 per user
Microsoft 365 Business Premium - from $20 to $22
Office 365 E1 - from $8 to $10
Office 365 E3 - from $20 to $23
Office 365 E5 - from $35 to $38
Microsoft 365 E3 - from $32 to $36

How Will These Changes Affect Managed Solution’s O365 Customers?

You may still add licenses to your current subscriptions and pricing will remain the same until December 31, 2022.
Only Net New Subscriptions will be affected by the price increase on/after March 1, 2022.
If you are intending to make a transition to any new licenses in 2022, we recommend adding at least 1 license before March 1, 2022 to lock in the current pricing until December 31, 2022.
Managed Solution will be renewing subscriptions for all customers taking advantage of our Cloud Solution Provider program savings the beginning of 2022 to lock in the current pricing before March 1, 2022. This will ensure your pricing and budget do not change until at least December 31, 2022.
Microsoft will be moving all Legacy (existing) subscriptions to the new pricing platform December 31, 2022. We will be sending more information out on how the new prices and changes will affect our clients prior to December and will have available meeting times for Q&A.

Purchasing New Subscriptions after March 2022 – What You Need to Know

Starting in March, new all Microsoft 365 subscriptions must be purchased under the New Commerce Experience. The New Commerce Experience is Microsoft new subscription platform where you will have 2 options when purchasing new subscriptions. New Commerce Experience subscriptions are available to purchase now and currently qualify for promotions, outlined below.

The first option is to purchase an annual subscription. Annual subscriptions will be at a lower price per seat; the subscription is billed 12 months in full at time of purchase, however, some customers may qualify for monthly termed invoicing under the annual commitment. Annual subscriptions do allow you to increase your seat count at any time, but you may not decrease the number of licenses you purchased until the 12 months is met. In addition, Microsoft is offering a 5% promotional discount for any new annual subscriptions purchase before March 31^st, 2022.

The second option is to purchase a monthly subscription. Monthly subscriptions, under the New Commerce Experience, are 20% more than the monthly price of the annual subscription. Monthly subscriptions allow you to increase your seat count at any time, but you may not decrease the number of licenses until the end of each month. Microsoft is offering a 16.7% monthly promotional discount for New Commerce Experience Monthly Subscriptions until June 30^th, 2022.

Very Important to Note: With the New Commerce Experience, Microsoft is enforcing its cancellation policy that states Cancellations are only possible within the first 72 hours of purchase with a prorated refund (proration is calculated daily). This policy is enforced with both Annual and Monthly subscriptions, when a cancellation request is submitted after 72 hours of purchase, the cancellation will not take effect until the end of the Monthly Term or the Annual Term.

Restrictions:

Microsoft has put a 2400 Seat limit per license type, this limit excludes Windows 365
Promotions do not apply to Non-Profit, Academic or Government licenses.

Additional Microsoft Price Increases That Took Effect in 2021

There was a quiet price increase for the Enterprise Mobility Suite and Intune licenses announced in July and the price increase took effect August 2021. The new pricing will take effect when subscriptions are renewed at their annual term. Managed Solution is sending out notices to our clients before the price increases take effect.

Microsoft also implemented price increases to their Windows Server offering on September 1, 2021, Windows Server Standard, Win Server CAL, and Win Server RDS licenses all received a 10% price increase.

Open Licensing Program is Ending December 31, 2021

As of January 1, 2022, commercial customers will not be able to buy new or renew software licenses or online services through the Microsoft Open License program. New license-only purchases should be transacted through partners in the Cloud Solution Provider program. You will continue to have full rights and access to all perpetual software licenses acquired through the Open License program. There are currently no changes to the Open Value or Open Value Subscription programs.  

You may receive a notice that you have an Agreement that is expiring, these notices are likely just for the Authorization number expiring.

Managed Solution is happy to provide quotes for any licenses you need. We can offer great pricing on the new Software Perpetual licenses through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program or if you are in need of Software assurance, we can quote the Open Value licensing as well.

For more information on the Open Licensing Program changes, see the Microsoft official announcement here.

Contact Us

If you are a current licensing client and have questions, please reach out to our Cloud Team at o365@managedsolution.com

If you are new to working with Managed Solution, and want to learn more about how we can help you with your Microsoft licensing and other IT needs, please contact us at sales@managedsolution.com

Want to help us petition against the Microsoft Price Increase?  Sign the Petition here.

2021 Best of Cloud Consulting Award Winner

By Avarra Gordon

This year marks the inaugural UpCity “Best of” awards honoring the top providers around the world in specific service categories based on their Recommendability Rating. The UpCity Recommendability Rating was developed to determine a B2B service provider’s credibility and trustworthiness, giving UpCity the confidence to recommend them to those businesses seeking services.

We are thrilled to announce that Managed Solution has been recognized as a Best of Cloud Consulting award winner by UpCity!

UpCity is a resource that helps connect businesses to service providers they can trust. With more than 70,000 listed providers—from marketing agencies to accounting firms to HR consultants to IT specialists and many more—nearly 2 million businesses (and counting) have visited UpCity to research and identify the best partner for their needs.

Mark Tepper, SVP of Sales & Customer Success at UpCity, had this to say about Managed Solution:

“Managed Solution is a company that focuses on getting meaningful results for their clients. Everything they do is customized and tailored to your business needs, and we are thrilled to present them with this award.”

—Mark Tepper, SVP of Sales & Customer Success, UpCity

This honor has been driven in large part by our 5-star review rating on UpCity. Here are some of our favorite pieces of feedback we’ve received from our incredible customers:

“Managed Solution continues to be a great technology partner for our company, Red Door Interactive. Their breadth of services and depth of expertise have allowed us to take on and complete projects. The teams I have worked with are engaged, and they put their best effort to ensure success and offer any assistance to go beyond expectations.”

- Dennis Gonzales, Customer

“We have entrusted Managed Solution to provide our company with complete, end-to-end solutions for all of our technology needs since 2019. Our Platinum Support Plan encompasses server and workstation monitoring, helpdesk, and remote/onsite support services as well as a multitude of other services that leave all technical recommendations for data management and security to Managed Solution. During these past few years, we have always received excellent support from their entire team. They have been very responsive to our issues/inquiries and provided the technical support necessary to resolve the problem(s). They are also very patient with our technically-challenged employees which is very helpful when dealing with issues that can slow down productivity.”

- Susan Bunn, Customer

We’re honored to accept this amazing award. It is our mission to empower people with technology that drives business growth and solves complex challenges. Thank you UpCity for recognizing our efforts and thank you to our customers who trust us to build and support the backbone of our business. You are why we do what we do.

Managed Solution Open House Event Recap

Managed Solution hosted our annual Open House at our headquarters on February 13^th, 2018. Over 100 customers, partners and friends attended our V-day inspired bash. Guests were treated to Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, chair massages, Stone Beer, and catered appetizers. Lucky winners received raffle prizes from Amazon, Microsoft, and StorageCraft. Thanks to everyone who attended! For those of you who couldn’t be with us, you were missed and we look forward to seeing you soon! We’re excited to announce our new referral program.

Click here to learn how you can earn cash for referrals!

Click here to see more photos on the Facebook album.

Meltdown And Spectre: What, When, Who, How.. What Is Managed Solution Doing To Support Our Clients?

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By Rob Meyers, Director Of Systems Architecture, MCITP, MBSP, MCSE

By now you've probably seen the news. There are exploits due to some flaws in CPU or processor design. They're called Meltdown and Spectre. The number one issue that the industry is seeing with these exploits is very simple: they are based on a fundamental design used in most microprocessors.

Please note that all the major manufacturers are rapidly working on solutions to solving this exploit, from a software perspective. This does not mean it will be 100% fixed immediately.

What is it?

A new technique was found to inject or remove data from RAM. This is done by utilizing a flaw in microprocessors. This flaw is based on the concept that a microprocessor utilizes speculation to accelerate its performance. It splits the instructions between the cache on the CPU and RAM. As time goes on it trades out pieces from RAM into the cache and then clears out the cache. This is done speculatively in order to speed things up. Yes, your CPU guesses what it needs to do next. If it is correct, the CPU moves on to the next instruction, and if not it guesses again. This is the source of the vulnerability. This export allows things to either be retrieved from the cache, injected into the cache, or read directly from memory. Oddly enough with two names, Meltdown and Spectre, there are actually three exploits.

When did this occur?

These exploits were documented in June and July 2017. They were not made public until this week.

Who is using the exploits?

When export is used for malicious intent, it is referred to as being used in the wild or found in the wild. As of yet this is not being found in the wild. However, the techniques and technology required behind it and example code has been found on public websites. The reason for this is that after six months people felt that something should be able to be done about it. However, not everything is ready to go at this point.

How does this affect me?

This is one of the most extreme vulnerabilities ever found on a computer. This affects most computers built from 1995 to today. If you have a current operating system on your computer, you should be able to be patched to protect yourself against this. However, if your system is not up-to-date, not under support, or cannot get patches, you need to upgrade and patch. As of right now, it would be normal to consider defending yourself against this patch. We do not know when this will hit the wild, or if it already has.

The impact is going to be felt on most computers made since 1995 in addition to most modern cell phones (e.g. iPhone and Android), tablets and even smart watches. Currently there is disagreement as to whether the Apple Watch is impacted, though the more technical responses seem to believe it is.

Will there really be a performance impact?

Intel, Microsoft, Google, Apple, AMD, and a huge plethora of coders throughout the world are currently working on solutions for this. The current solutions can have drastic impact on performance. For a workstation it is normal to see 2% to 3% degradation, although more has been experienced. Servers can expect to see a performance hit that is significantly higher. The average consensus seems to be about 30% impact on traditional servers, however the range has been noted between 17% and 50%.

In our testing, the impact on a computer running Windows 10 (1709) was noticeably impacted. It did not however render the computer inoperable, simply slower with a little more lag.

What should I do?

You will see some websites simply recommend throwing away your microprocessor. Obviously, this is not realistic. In general, you should consider two things. The first is patch and accept that there will be a performance impact. The second is to work on regularly changing your password (at least once a month, if not more often). When large exploits are public, it is better to usE throwaway passwords then expect to be protected when you may not be.

What is Managed Solution doing?

For all of our Managed Service clients

1. Monitor released patches (Meltdown is the current focus with Spectre more patches will be expected over a course of time)

2. Test released patches

3. Patch or work with clients to patch systems

4. Recommend that all users change their passwords at least once per month

Do you have any news links or anything in the public for this?

Do you have anything a bit more technical?

Start here:
https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2018/01/reading-privileged-memory-with-side.html
https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/584653

Then for Spectre:
Spectre - Variant 1: bounds check bypass (CVE-2017-5753)
Spectre - Variant 2: branch target injection (CVE-2017-5715)

https://spectreattack.com/spectre.pdf

For Meltdown:
Meltdown - Variant 3: rogue data cache load (CVE-2017-5754)
https://meltdownattack.com/meltdown.pdf

About the Author:
Robert Meyers is the Director of Systems Architecture at Managed Solution in San Diego, California. He has well over a dozen current certifications from on various products from Windows Server 2008 to Private Cloud. Robert has had a diverse career, beginning in 1991, and included owning an internet service provider and a managed services provider in the past.

Since joining Managed Solution, he has been Published as “Industry Ally”, Top Tech Exec Awards 2011 by San Diego Magazine in addition to being staff nominated twice, and was a regular at the Microsoft Management Summit. Today he is an avowed technical evangelist, blogger and systems architect.

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Managed Solution customers that do not have a managed service agreement could contact their account executive to discuss further details.

Not a current customer? Contact us today to get started 858-429-3084

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Happy Holidays From The Managed Solution Team