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Allen began his IT career in 1994 as an entry-level tech. He founded his first IT Service Provder in 2002 and led the enterprise from Break/Fix to MSP and from paper ticketing to custom software to two industry-leading PSAs.
He sold his ITSP in 2011 and subsequently led two other ITSPs in leadership positions. Both saw great success, doubling in size during his tenure.
Allen founded Eureka Process in 2018, and along with his team of consultants, aims to improve companies through immersed engagement in their daily processes, strategies, and activities.
He is a sought-after MSP expert who builds meaningful, growth-centered relationships that support bringing about next-level business performance.
***Interview with the author, Allen Edwards***
Q. What would you say if you had to explain this book in one sentence?
A. This book is the definitive starting point for an IT Service Provider (ITSP) or Managed Services Provider (MSP) to begin their journey toward a Culture of Process.
IT business owners have long coveted the predictable results promised by process that so many authors and thought leaders discuss but can’t seem to make happen. This book gives you the secret to creating and maintaining a documentation and process-based organization.
Q. Who are the primary influencers on your life and philosophy?
A. Many of those early influences in my entrepreneurial journey have shaped my entire life. From my father running his own small business, Junior Achievement’s mock corporations in the classroom, to books like Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and Michael Gerber’s The E-Myth Revisited.
Later, discovering the authors Dave Ramsey (Total Money Makeover) and Mike Michalowicz (The Pumpkin Plan) pushed me to think about simplification. Listening to thought leaders at IT industry trade shows, such as Arnie Bellini (ConnectWise), Gary Pica (TruMethods), and Paul Dipple (Service Leadership), got me thinking that there was a greater number of people beyond myself to serve.
Q. What other authors or books influenced you to write this one?
A. First, I was delighted that Karl Palachuk agreed to write the forward for this book. I’ve long modeled my goals and desires based on his impact on our industry as an author and speaker. The number of times my answer to someone new in the industry is to read Managed Services in a Month is incalculable.
Second, there is a Robert Kiyosaki quote in response to a journalist wondering what the deal with his books was because his writing was terrible. Paraphrasing, he responded, “It says I’m a bestselling author, not a best writing author.” I took that as it’s not how you write but what you have to say (and if it resonates) that matters. That put the idea in my head that being an author was something I could do.
Lastly, I was lovingly joking with a client just a few years ago about why they always take my advice…a year after I give it…after someone else tells them to do it. The response was simply that the “someone else” had written the book on the matter. He was part literal (be an author) but explained that it wasn’t just the publishing that made the expertise. The fact that the author had to do the work, research, and study to produce the book got his attention. That really stuck with me, and I started working on this book earnestly.
Q. What are some of the central ideas you integrate into this book or your life?
A. It’s the cliché-level analogy that the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Building a culture of process and documentation can feel quite daunting, but when you lay it out in a project plan, you only have to worry about one step at a time; it makes process and documentation culture much more manageable to create.
Further, we bring in the idea that process and documentation are not change events. This is a journey that you integrate into everything you do, and it’s as simple as following four key concepts to keep your process-based culture ongoing.
Q. What would be another choice if you could not use your current book title?
A. Honestly, the current title of the book started as a joke. I sent our early drafts to colleagues for proofing and feedback, and everyone was commenting on my lame titles of The Process Book or The Eureka Process Primer: Part 1. I thought we were on the same wavelength for them to read the other 15000 words. In frustration, I came up with the obnoxious title of Process and the Other “P” Word (Which is Also Process), and everyone loved it, so it stuck.
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