Author Archives: Megan Carnes

Acquisition of Sarasota, Florida-based technology provider will continue to propel Thrive’s NextGen Cloud & Cybersecurity Managed Services in the Florida market

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – March 9, 2022 – Thrive, a premier provider of NextGen Managed Services, announces today that it has acquired SouthTech, a managed technology solutions leader on the Florida West Coast. The acquisition will provide businesses throughout the region with enhanced IT support along with Thrive’s next-generation managed cybersecurity, collaboration, and Cloud services to help drive digital transformation efficiencies.

For almost three decades, SouthTech has provided award-winning IT support to over 275 companies in southwest Florida. The Company offers a complete suite of tailored IT solutions, including managed services, Cloud and hosting solutions, backup and disaster recovery services, unified communications, compliance auditing, and data security. SouthTech has a seasoned team of certified IT experts that are dedicated to becoming clients’ trusted IT Navigators that align technological strategies with business outcomes.

“SouthTech’s team provides unique services for complex client technology issues which aligns very closely with our customer-centric approach,” said Rob Stephenson, Thrive’s CEO. “The Florida market is red-hot, and we wanted to find the best MSP partner on the West Coast to promote the Thrive cybersecurity, Cloud & digital transformation platform into the region. SouthTech’s talented group of employees deliver that.”

“For over 25 years, SouthTech’s mission is to be a trusted long-term partner to companies by delivering custom technology solutions and being a people-first managed service provider,” said Nathan Bailey, CEO/COO of SouthTech. “We’re excited to join the Thrive family as their overarching goal aligns with our values and IT service offerings as a technological guide for customer’s path to success.”

SouthTech marks the second acquisition by Thrive in Florida this year and continues the establishment of building a strong presence in this region. Thrive is a security-first MSP that delivers comprehensive managed services and unmatched expertise to drive secure digital transformation for small to mid-sized enterprises across multiple industries.

For more information on Thrive, visit thrivenextgen.com.

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About Thrive

Thrive is a leading provider of NextGen managed services designed to drive business outcomes through application enablement and optimization. The company’s Thrive5 Methodology utilizes a unique combination of its Application Performance Platform and strategic services to ensure each business application achieves peak performance, scale, uptime, and the highest level of security. For more information, thrivenextgen.com.

Thrive: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram

MEDIA CONTACT:

Patrick Reily

Zer0 to 5ive for Thrive

732-687-4683 | patrick@0to5.com

About SouthTech

Since 1994, SouthTech has been southwest Florida’s premier provider of managed technology solutions. Our highly experienced team of certified support technicians and network engineers are dedicated to delivering the highest level of service. SouthTech offers a complete suite of IT solutions, including managed services, cloud and hosting solutions, backup and disaster recovery services, unified communications, compliance auditing, and data security. We become our clients’ trusted IT Navigators through a highly strategic approach that utilizes technology to guide them towards their desired business goals.

Have you had issues deploying a VM template with CloudBase-Init? Perhaps it works sometimes when you deploy the template but most of the time it fails with this error during the startup process like the screenshot below. Thrive utilizes a tool from our partner Abiquo that we use to provision virtual machines for our customers in a secure and repeatable way. Our tools utilize CloudInit for Linux and Cloudbase-Init for Windows to inject bootstrap information to automate the initial configuration.

The computer restarted unexpectedly or encountered an unexpected error. Windows installation cannot proceed. To install Windows. click “OK’ to restart the computer. and then restart the installation

The work around for the boot issue is a quick registry edit: While at the above screen don’t click okay – instead hit Shift+F10, type registry.exe in the command box that comes up and change the value of HKLM/SYSTEM/Setup/Status/ChildCompletion/setup.exe to 3 then reboot. However, we wouldn’t want to do that with every single templated machine that we deploy.

The problem comes down to a race condition of the specialize phase during sysprep and the way Cloudbase-Init was installed on this template. When installing CBI its common to not use the option at the end of the installer to immediately perform a sysprep operation but that skips some of the logic that it does. To work around that we need to edit the Unattend.xml file as well as change the cloudbase-init service.

1. After the Cloudbase-init installation is complete, run the following in an elevated command command prompt or use services.msc to disable automatic startup of the Windows service

1. 1.    sc config cloudbase-init start= disabled
2. Edit the unattend.xml in C:\Program Files\Cloudbase Solutions\ file to enable automatic startup mode of the cloudbase-init Windows service. This command _must_ be set as <Order>1</Order> and the existing unattended cloudbase-init node set to <Order>2</Order> so that the re-enable command runs prior to the unattended instance of cloudbase-init, which requires a reboot.

<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action=”add”>

<Order>1</Order>

<Path>sc config cloudbase-init start= auto</Path>

<Description>Re-enable auto start of cloudbase-init</Description>

<WillReboot>Never</WillReboot>

</RunSynchronousCommand>

1. Perform any remaining customization steps and application installs you need to do. For example we change the cloudbase-init config files to run particular plugins
2. Assuming you use the default install directories then create a batch file in C:\Program Files \Cloudbase Solutions\Cloudbase-Init\conf with the following”

1. 1. Cd C:\Program Files \Cloudbase Solutions\Cloudbase-Init\conf
   2. Ipconfig /release
   3. c:\windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /mode:vm /shutdown /unattend:unattend.xml

1. 1. Now is a good time to snapshot your VM
   2. Launch an admin command prompt. Navigate to ‘C:\Program Files \Cloudbase Solutions\Cloudbase-Init\conf’ and execute the batch file to sysprep and shutdown your template
2. Clone this VM and convert to a template or ingest it to whatever tool you’re using. That will leave you with the base VM you can quickly apply Windows patches to in the future and just run the batch script to sysprep next time without having to rearm it.

Note: If you are using dissimilar hardware between where you built the template and when its eventually deployed you may also need to remove the following from the Unattend.xml file <PersistAllDeviceInstalls>true</PersistAllDeviceInstalls>

Here is an example modified unattend.xml

We hope this helps you in your journey to automating the cloud!

Reference Links:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/153f59d4-383c-4008-8f0e-3977dc3b14e5/sysprep-windows-could-not-parse-or-process-unattend-answer-file-for-pass-specialize?forum=win10itprosetup
https://bugs.launchpad.net/cloudbase-init/+bug/1407842 specifically the post from Curt Moore (jcmoore) on 2015-03-08
https://ask.cloudbase.it/question/693/reboot-loop-when-booting-a-glance-windows-image-with-cloud-init/

CHALLENGE

A major regional bank utilized outsourced technology and looking for a proven partner to migrate operations from on-premise Exchange to Microsoft O365 with a key focus on security and experience. The bank had a large IT team, yet it lacked internal expertise in migrating or configuring IT and collaboration platforms.

SOLUTION

The bank chose Thrive because it wanted a partner that had worked in regulated industries before with a proven track record. The Thrive team of experts worked with the bank’s concerns and requests to map out a NextGen tech strategy. Thrive migrated the bank from an on-premise Exchange to its Managed Microsoft Office 365 solution for better communication and collaboration, and enhanced productivity and cybersecurity.

RESULT

As a result of Thrive’s timely and strategic IT solutions, the bank is continuing to work with Thrive for its Managed Security Incident and Event Management (SIEMaaS) solution and other services to further enhance its IT infrastructure.

How can Thrive help your business?

Thrive is a leading provider of outsourced IT Infrastructure designed to drive successful business outcomes with our talented engineering teams and suite of Cloud-First, NextGen Managed Services.

To learn more about our services, CONTACT US

Welcome back to another installment of our “Thrive Employee Spotlight” blog series.

Our featured Thrive Employee is Adam Pfeifer. Adam is a Virtual CIO (vCIO) at Thrive.

Adam provides technical and strategic consultation and leadership for Thrive’s customers. He eases the burden of an in-house CIO and oversees the client’s entire IT infrastructure, ensuring everything in their business network is operating efficiently, smoothly and securely.

Adam lives in Goffstown, New Hampshire, with his wife and two children. Keep reading to find out about Adam’s sweet background!

Hi Adam! Can you tell us about your background and how you came to Thrive? 

I have more than 25 years in the IT industry. I joined Thrive when it was a startup company back in May 2001. Being the fifth engineer hired at that time, it’s been remarkable to witness Thrive’s tremendous growth and become an industry leader. Before Thrive, I worked for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as an IT Director.

Where did you go to school or get training? 

I graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a major in Management Information Systems and a minor in Business Administration.

What do you most enjoy about working for Thrive?

My relationships with my Thrive co-workers are what I enjoy the most. We are a solid team, working alongside with my colleagues’ to seamlessly and innovatively direct and guide our clients with their IT knowledge and initiatives.

Tell us what you like to do in your free time?

In my free time, I am a hobbyist sugar maker! I own a maple sugar farm with over 250 trees making more than 20+ gallons of maple syrup each year.

Are you interested in learning more about Thrive? Click here!

And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news, and continue checking our blog for more in our “Thrive Employee Spotlight” series. Until next time…

CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Erik Young, Vice President of Channel Sales at Thrive, to its 2022 list of Channel Chiefs. The prestigious CRN® Channel Chiefs list, released annually, recognizes top channel executives dedicated to the partner community, future business innovation, and channel growth. This is Erik’s third time to be named to the list of channel management movers and shakers, he was also named to the Channel Chiefs list in 2019 and 2021.

As Vice President of Channel Sales at Thrive, Erik is responsible for the success of Thrive’s Partner Program, including onboarding, client engagement, and management of the channel partner sales team and support team. He joined the Thrive team in 2017 and has been the driving force behind the company’s channel growth.

Erik has built a white-glove, partner-centric Channel Program at Thrive that allows the company’s trusted advisors to leverage Thrive as a true extension of their IT team. With over 20 years working in the space, his expertise is pivotal for Thrive to deliver and empower customers in a new landscape of security-driven decision-making.

“Thrive has taken the channel to new levels to empower all partners regardless of their technical competency,” said Young. “As a trusted cyber security advisor, we lead our partners to new areas of revenue that they traditionally haven’t been exposed to. This takes the partners up the technology stack and makes their relationships more valuable to the client. Thrive has expanded nationwide and has entered the UK channel markets with our master agents. We are also expanding globally with the channel.”

“CRN’s 2022 Channel Chiefs recognition is given exclusively to the foremost channel executives who consistently design, promote, and execute effective partner programs and strategies,” said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. “We’re thrilled to recognize the tireless work and unwavering commitment these honorees put into fostering outstanding business innovation and building strong partner programs to drive channel engagement and success.”

CRN’s 2022 Channel Chiefs list will be featured in the February 2022 issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs.

The Miami IT support company will help catapult Thrive’s NextGen Cybersecurity and Cloud Platform in South Florida

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – February 2, 2022 – Thrive, a premier provider of NextGen Managed Services, announces today that it has acquired Preemo, a responsive, award-winning technology services firm based in Miami, FL. The acquisition will provide South Florida businesses with comprehensive cybersecurity, cloud and digital transformation solutions to increase their technology (ROI) return-on-investment.

Preemo has been providing top-quality IT services and proactive, innovative solutions to South Florida companies for nearly a decade, currently serving more than 200 businesses across a multitude of different industries but specializing in the legal and private equity spaces.

“Preemo has a tremendous reputation built upon a customer-centric focus and premier IT support,” said Rob Stephenson, CEO of Thrive. “Thrive has a large number of customers in the Northeast United States moving or expanding to South Florida that will benefit from Preemo’s team of exceptional technologists. Their clients will benefit from Thrive’s 24x7x365 SOC, cybersecurity practice, and digital transformation products and services.”

“Over the past 13 years, Preemo has grown into a leader in the Southeast Florida market, delivering comprehensive managed IT services, public and private cloud, and cybersecurity solutions,” noted Ivan Mladenovic, CEO of Preemo. “Now, under Thrive’s umbrella, we will expand both our service offering and our geographic footprint, to deliver a one-of-a-kind experience for our clients in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. We’re thrilled about this new partnership and look forward to our strategic growth this year and beyond.”

Preemo establishes a strong presence for the company in the Florida region. Working with leading small to mid-sized enterprises across multiple industries, Thrive delivers comprehensive NextGen managed services and unmatched expertise to drive digital transformation efficiencies with advanced cybersecurity best practices.

For more information on Thrive, visit thrivenextgen.com.

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About Thrive

Thrive is a leading provider of NextGen managed services designed to drive business outcomes through application enablement and optimization. The company’s Thrive5 Methodology utilizes a unique combination of its Application Performance Platform and strategic services to ensure each business application achieves peak performance, scale, uptime, and the highest level of security. For more information, thrivenextgen.com.

Thrive: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram

MEDIA CONTACT:

Stephanie Farrell

VP of Marketing

617-952-0289 | sfarrell@thrivenextgen.com

About Preemo

Preemo has been a trusted leader in South Florida for over a decade, providing proactive, innovative solutions for a variety of businesses, including law firms, medical offices, accounting firms, and manufacturing & distribution companies.

CHALLENGE

The largest school in a major northeast metro needed a solution to manage, support, and secure a huge demand for online student learning devices, such as iPads and Chromebooks.

SOLUTION

The PK-12 school has relied on Thrive to support its IT services for more than a decade and turned to Thrive once again to accommodate its growing need for online learning devices. Thrive’s experts implemented Thrive’s Managed Endpoint Security and Response service, powered by Fortinet’s FortiEDR platform, the only endpoint protection platform that delivers threat protection both pre-and post-infection in real-time. Thrive also provided firewall solutions to fortify the school’s IT network and a global network management service to operate and maintain the network infrastructure at optimal performance.

RESULT

The school was instantly able to accommodate the demand for online school learning devices for all students. In addition, Thrive delivered unmatched managed IT support with its wide range of helpdesk solutions, so the school could gain confidence and support in their IT infrastructure while experiencing new innovative solutions in place.

How can Thrive help your business?

Thrive is a leading provider of outsourced IT Infrastructure designed to drive successful business outcomes with our talented engineering teams and suite of Cloud-First, NextGen Managed Services.

To learn more about our services, CONTACT US

Welcome back to another installment of our “Thrive Employee Spotlight” blog series.

Our featured Thrive Employee is Katelyn Hunt. Katelyn is the Director of Client Success at Thrive.

As Director of Client Success, Katelyn leads Thrive’s Customer Service department and Client Success Management team. She works effortlessly to not only retain Thrive’s clients, but to also ensure that they have an exceptional experience with the Thrive platform, promoting relationship longevity and loyalty. Her department works closely with clients to collaborate on successes, improvements, and enhancements throughout the relationship. The department focuses on direct client feedback and CSAT focused strategies and reporting.

Late last year, she moved to Shirley, Massachusetts from Derry, New Hampshire.

Hi Katelyn! Can you tell us about your background and how you came to Thrive? 

I joined Thrive back in January 2015 when we had only our Tewksbury office! It has been unbelievable to see and be a part of the journey. I started my career at Thrive right out of college and have had a wonderful experience growing within my role here as a Client Success Manager and into Director of Client Success in late 2020.

Where did you go to school or get training? 

Fun Fact: I actually studied Economics at Framingham State University. Efficiency and people are two passions of mine. I have always worked with people and client services during my career, starting way back in college as a bank teller, to now 7 years working with our clients here at Thrive.

What do you most enjoy about working for Thrive?

Two things – our people and watching Thrive help our clients make their businesses successful, efficient, and protected. Whether it be a project we assist with to complete an infrastructure upgrade or a security service we layer on their infrastructure to provide peace of mind for the IT environment, I enjoy watching their business goals come to fruition with Thrive on the IT side. The team we have here at Thrive is second to none. I trust and admire my colleagues.

Any recent exciting projects at Thrive that you can tell us about?

We will be hosting another Client Portal Webinar with brand new functionalities for our clients soon. Please keep an eye out and join us!

Tell us what you like to do in your free time?

I absolutely love spending time with my daughter. She has consumed my free time and allows me to utilize my other hobby of photography on her. I also like to head up to Portland, ME for a nice IPA or stout (another great hobby of mine)!

Are you interested in learning more about Thrive? Click here!

And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news, and continue checking our blog for more in our “Thrive Employee Spotlight” series. Until next time…

CHALLENGE

A safety, health, and rescue services firm operating for more than three decades in the northeast U.S. needed to leverage new technologies to support the growth of the business with enhanced security measures and reduced dependence on its on-premise infrastructure.

SOLUTION

The safety services company is a long-standing customer of Thrive. Thrive experts worked with the company’s management team to implement state-of-the-art technology to simplify and streamline operations with enhanced security. Thrive migrated the company’s file server content to SharePoint, relocated on-premises servers to ThriveCloud, implemented Managed Office 365, installed an End-user Security Bundle to protect against cyber threats, and deployed Thrive’s vCISO services to provide security oversight and governance.

RESULT

Thrive provided a custom solution that complemented the safety services company’s business strategy and risk tolerance. The company is now positioned for further growth by moving operations to a scalable IT infrastructure with Cloud, cybersecurity and vCISO services. The continuous monitoring of cybersecurity along with end-user training also reduces strain on in-house IT staff and resources.

How can Thrive help your business?

Thrive is a leading provider of outsourced IT Infrastructure designed to drive successful business outcomes with our talented engineering teams and suite of Cloud-First, NextGen Managed Services.

To learn more about our services, CONTACT US

CHALLENGE

The manufacturer and distributor was at a pivotal point in its operations to increase security and employee adoption of digital transformation. Specifically, the company was searching for a trusted advisor to train its user community and mature its server patch process to enhance and secure its operations.

SOLUTION

The Thrive team of experts presented several solutions involving security, digital transformation, and Microsoft management. Thrive delivered its Managed Server Patching and Managed Anti-Phishing solutions for a more flexible, future-proof, and secure IT infrastructure. In addition, Thrive leveraged its patching engineers for continued collaboration around Digital Transformation and Microsoft management. To increase employee adoption of these initiatives, Thrive deployed End-User Security Training for each of the manufacturing company’s employees.

RESULT

The updated IT infrastructure now supports more scalable and secure operations for the manufacturing company. Thrive’s managed security services will keep up with the changes in system updates, company policies, and new threats. The End User Security Training will increase the company’s employees’ ability to keep the organization secure and enables staff members to recognize these dangers and handle various security incidents, mitigating the risk of cyberattacks.

How can Thrive help your business?

Thrive is a leading provider of outsourced IT Infrastructure designed to drive successful business outcomes with our talented engineering teams and suite of Cloud-First, NextGen Managed Services.

To learn more about our services, CONTACT US