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Special Announcement: My New Book, The SMB IT Playbook, Is Live
If you run a professional services firm, you already know that technology is no longer a background function. It’s part of how you deliver work, protect your reputation, and stay ahead of problems that can derail a client relationship. Most leaders understand this but still find themselves operating in an environment that feels inconsistent or harder than it needs to be.
Jeremy Phillips
December 01, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
Over the years I’ve seen the same patterns repeat. Too many tools. Too much noise. Systems that don’t quite fit together. Security gaps that hide in the corners. Good people forced to work around the limitations of what they have. None of this is because firms don’t care. It’s because no one has ever handed them a simple, complete picture of what “good IT” actually looks like for a small or midsized organization.
So I wrote one.
Today I’m releasing The SMB IT Playbook. It’s a practical guide to building a stable, secure and scalable technology foundation without pretending you’re a Fortune 500 company. For now, it’s free for Athencia Insights subscribers. Simply subscribe to Athencia Insights and you’ll receive a link directly to the PDF
Why this book exists
Growing firms eventually hit a point where technology decisions stop being about “what’s cheapest” or “what’s available” and start being about “what will support the next stage of the business.” Some get there early. Others get pushed there by an outage, a security scare or a compliance requirement. Either way, the questions become bigger and the stakes get higher.
This book lays out a simple model for understanding your environment and making decisions that hold up over time. It’s not technical for the sake of being technical. It’s focused on clarity, structure and helping leaders see the whole system instead of isolated problems.
What’s inside
The book is organized around five areas that shape every firm’s technology posture.
1. Foundation
The basic systems that everything else depends on. How to create stability, reduce surprises and keep your environment from becoming a patchwork of half-finished ideas.
2. Security
A clear view of the real risks facing small and midsized organizations and the controls that actually matter. No theatrics. Just the essentials that protect client data and keep you out of trouble.
3. Productivity
How to reduce tool sprawl, simplify workflows and help people do their best work without fighting the system. This is where small improvements have an outsized impact.
4. Growth Enablement
How to use technology to scale without chaos. Things like automation, standardization and visibility. The parts of IT that support growth instead of reacting to it.
5. Governance
The structure that keeps your environment predictable. Who makes decisions. How technology is evaluated. How you maintain order as the firm expands or roles change.
Each section is practical and directly applicable to a 10-to-100-person firm. Nothing theoretical. Nothing written for enterprise audiences. Just a clear path forward.
Who it’s for
Owners, partners, operations leaders and firm administrators who want their technology to support the business instead of distracting from it. People who are tired of chasing problems and want a framework that makes sense. Anyone who feels like the firm has outgrown the way IT used to work.
If that’s you, this book will help.
Get your copy
The book is available now for purchase on Amazon and free for Athencia Insights subscribers.
Want your free copy? Simply subscribe to Athencia Insights and you’ll receive a link directly to the PDF.