The world of technology is complex. Each episode of TechSperience will uncover helpful technology, cybersecurity, cloud, and workplace transformation tips to help the everyday IT professional. Tune in for advice from leading IT experts covering retail, manufacturing, healthcare, K-12, higher education, and more.
Episodes
Tuesday Nov 17, 2020
Tuesday Nov 17, 2020
Host: Penny Conway
Guest 1: Tony Dancona, Evangelist Digital Workspace and part of the Industry Solutions Group at Connection
Guest 2 Emily Hammond, Senior Director of Benefits and Compensation at Connection
Guest 3: Rob McIntosh, Marketing Manager for the Business Solution Group at Connection
Organizations across the country are taking on the enormous task of building strategies, policies, and technology-based solutions to return employees safely to the office.
Today’s episode is the first part of the new Return to Office Series, where Connection’s team will help you navigate the challenges ahead. The first segment of this series is about the ‘perception of’ and the ‘impact to’ employees, and the role the Human Resources department has in developing and implementing return to office technology.
Reach out to the Connection Team.
Email us at podcast@connection.com
Follow Connection We Solve IT on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Linkedin, and Blog
Key takeaways:
[1:46] Tonny talks about his expertise.
[2:30] Emily introduces herself.
[3:10] Rob introduces himself and talks about his perspective as an end-user.
[4:25] Emily shares her experience as a professional in human resources about how employees are feeling about returning to their work at the office.
[6:06] As an employer be transparent about the reasons why you are asking people to come back to the office.
[7:30] Tony talks about the conversations that he is having with IT professionals about time planning for this return to the office.
[9:43] Rob shares his perspective as an employee who went back to the office.
[12:10] How do we bridge the gap between the new policies and the caring for employees?
[14:11] It is not all or nothing, certain people can return slowly to the office and some can stay working remotely following the company’s needs.
[15:50] Tony talks about the reality of going back to the office against the fear of feeling in a “big brother” space where employees are being constantly monitored.
[19:50] How does it look from an employer perspective when an employee has a temperature and is sent home?
[24:19] Tony talks about the 6 main components of the return to office solution.
[28:36] This pandemic is going to define how corporate America is moving forward.
Tuesday Nov 10, 2020
Tuesday Nov 10, 2020
Host: Penny Conway
Guest: Jason Burgeson, Systems Engineer for Aruba Networks.
If you are a small business your digital strategy could make or break you this year. According to a recent study by McKinsey, 70 to 80% of B2B customers prefer a digital interaction in the age of a pandemic. The top performers and digital engagement with customers were video and live online chat. Do you have the WiFi network to support the new keys to success?
Penny Conway, your host, welcomes Jason Burgeson, the expert from Systems Engineer for Aruba Networks, with over 10 years of IT & networking experience from deploying to designing.
In this episode, Jason talks about how to deploy a fast and secure WiFi network and how it may be easier than you think.
Reach out to the Connection Team.
Email us at podcast@connection.com
Follow Connection We Solve IT on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Linkedin, and Blog
Key takeaways:
[1:28] Jason introduces himself and his role at Aruba Networks.
[3:15] Where are businesses in general in the digital transformation journey?
[7:23] Jason shares what he considers to be the starting point in figuring out how much WiFi access a business needs to be able to sustain this model in the future.
[9:40] Jason talks about the difference between a solution built for businesses and the ones designed for homes.
[10:55] Jason talks about 5G and WiFi 6 and how this new technology benefits small business owners.
[14:28] Jason compares WiFi 5 to Wifi 6.
[18:50] What is Aruba offering to small business owners?
[22:00] How does Instant On work?
[24:09] What kind of controls are in place in terms of how much bandwidth the users will be able to consume when they are using a business’ network?
[26:45] Jason talks about the matter of security.
[30:48] Jason shares the scalable features of the Instant On.
[31:16] Instant On has no subscription costs or licensing.
[32:10] Instant On offers 90 days of phone customer support.
Mentioned in this episode:
Contact Connections to get more information around Aruba’s Instant-On or visit https://arubainstanton.com
Friday Oct 23, 2020
Friday Oct 23, 2020
Host: Penny Conway
Guest 1: Cameron Bulanda, Vice President Technical Sales at Connection
Guest 2: John Kuzma. Industry Technical Specialist- Intel Corporation
Description: In a previous episode Penny talked with Intel to talk about how a modern data center should look like as part of the digital transformation. Many of you already know the benefits of modernizing your data center but, do you really know the consequences if you don´t?
In today’s episode, Penny is back with the expert of Connection and Intel to really talk about the challenges of transforming and what could happen if you wait too long.
Reach out to the Connection Team.
Email us at podcast@connection.com
Follow Connection We Solve IT on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Linkedin, and Blog
Key takeaways:
[1:15] Cameron introduces himself and his role at Connection.
[2:06] John Kuzma talks about his position at Intel Corporation.
[2:52] How does the evolution of the data center look like?
[5:40] What are customers thinking about when they start the digital transformation process?
[9:04] How does the conversation with a client look in regards to achieve a cohesive decision-making process and an outline of what they need to build for their future?
[10:55] Is there any hesitancy among the IT stakeholders of not making moves forward because of a lack of proper skills or resources?
[14:09] John shares stories about how Intel has been bridging the gap for customers in regards to the skills needed to enter the digital transformation.
[17:05] The work of assisting customers developing a cohesive ecosystem.
[21:40] What are the consequences for the organizations that are not modernizing their data center today?
[26:06] What are the industries that could be impacted by a potential upcoming disaster?
[29:20] John talks about the new technologies that Intel that will lebel up this normalization.
[32:45] Suggestion for companies that are on the edge and doubting about entering the digital transformation.
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
Host: Penny Conway
Guest: Rhett Livengood. Director, Digital Business Enabling at Intel Corporation
Description: The world has been talking about the growth of collaboration tools and demands on the PC market, but what else are we missing to do our jobs and do them well, it's time to start talking about how organizations are going to need to reimagine the roles and responsibilities of their leadership to hone in on what employees need to be safe, secure, and productive. I'm your host, penny Conway. And today I'm joined by Rhett Livengood to talk about what the future looks like for it and the leaders that support them.
Reach out to the Connection Team.
Email us at podcast@connection.com
Follow Connection We Solve IT on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Linkedin, and Blog
Key takeaways:
[1:08] Rhett Livengood shares his background.
[2:29] Rhett Livengood talks about workplace transformation from a leadership standpoint.
[4:06] How to protect employees?
[6:05] 60% of remote workers do their work from their ling rooms.
[8:23] Is remote work temporary or is it here to stay?
[10:45] What are some of the building blocks that can cast that wide net of security to keep that human error from being such an issue in people's homes?
[11:30] Rhett shares how the Intel hardware shield works.
[12:30] The old refresh days are in the past.
[15:15] Rhett talks about the upcoming trend to recycling devices.
[17:50] How do we better measure productivity in this environment?
[20:44] Rhett shares his experience going into a fully remote setting.
[23:30] Rhett talks about how Intel has been monitoring how users feel at their workspaces as they go through this process of remote working.
Tuesday Sep 15, 2020
Tuesday Sep 15, 2020
Host: Penny Conway
Guest 1: Stacy Cote: Manager of Microsoft Program at Connection Team.
Guest 2: Matt Koehler: Global Business Development for Veeam Software
It took nearly a decade and a pandemic, but it is now safe to say that the Cloud is considered now a major benchmark of digital transformation. Whether you have fully adopted the could or you are just beginning your journey, you may be asking “What´s next?”. In today´s episode, Penny Conway, your host, is talking with experts from Veeam and Microsoft to answer your questions around security, integration, and managed services.
Reach out to the Connection Team.
Email us at podcast@connection.com
Follow Connection We Solve IT on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Linkedin, and Blog
Key takeaways:
[1:14] Matt introduces himself and shares what brings him to the podcast
[1:39] Stacy Cote talks about her role at Connection.
[4:05] Matt shares about the digital transformation and introduction of Cloud nearly a decade ago.
[6:22] Nowadays there is a common fear about how to manage workload, employees, and connectivity.
[7:22] Stacy talks about some of the push-backs to the adoption of the cloud.
[10:34] The skill gap of being able to manage what makes the company operational today.
[11:13] What is entailed in managing a service or a solution?
[13:07] Matt talks about the benefits related to the partnership that Connection has with Veeam.
[15:38] Microsoft, Connection, and Veeam work together to secure and restore data.
[16:35] What would make a customer trust Veeam with his data?
[17:41] Matt talks about the increase of security risk with remote working.
[19:24] The most important, apart from securing data, is being able to get it back in a timely manner.
[21:20] How prevalent is going to be hiring a company to managed services?
[23:30] How do people get started with a managed services model for their cloud?
[25:55] When does a customer start to realize the cost-benefit of using managed services?
[27:46] What visibility does a customer maintain while using the managed services?
[30:38] Learn more about the partnership between Connection and Veeam
Tuesday Sep 08, 2020
Tuesday Sep 08, 2020
Host: Penny Conway
Guest 1: Mike Gambrell, retired chief of police, Greenville SC Police Department and GovSOLV program director at SYNNEX
Guest 2: John Wiley, Government Channel Account Manager, Zebra Technologies
Description: In today’s episode, Penny Conway, Mike Gambell, and John Wiley are taking about how electronic citations can increase safety, efficiency, and accuracy for your department. Electronic citations solutions have several advantages over handwritten citations, and you will hear about them from the experts in the matter.
Reach out to the Connection Team.
Email us at podcast@connection.com
Follow Connection We Solve IT on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Linkedin, and Blog
Key takeaways:
[1:21] John Wiley introduces himself and his work at Zebra Technologies.
[1:55] Mike Gambell talks about his background and current work.
[3:32] The matter of law enforcement.
[4:51] The two most dangerous calls for an officer are traffic stops and domestic violence situations.
[10:08] The current situation in the USA in regards to e-citations.
[13:25] E-citation enhances an officer’s response time.
[15:51] The cost of not implementing a solution can be greater than the cost of developing the answer to a particular problem.
[16:30] John talks about the cost of doing nothing vs the cost of doing something.
[19:04] John and Mike explain a way that a department can promote self-funding.
[22:55] Mike talks about how the full solution for officers provided by Zebra Technologies looks like.
[26:25] What actions can you take within your department to start making the necessary steps to enhance the efficiency and safety of the officers?
Tuesday Sep 01, 2020
Tuesday Sep 01, 2020
Host: Penny Conway
Guest 1: Marcel Guerrette – Cisco Solution Specialist, Data Center (Cisco Employee), has 17-year experience in IT in numerous technical pre and post-sales support roles to help customers with their Data Center solutions.
Guest 2: Marc Sadinsky – Partner Account Manager at Intel Corporation, has 20 years of experience at Intel serving partner channels to deploy next-generation edge and data center solutions.
Description: Organizations across the country are looking for flexible and efficient ways to keep remote workforces connected. Like many others, you might be wondering where to start. In today’s episode, we are going to dive into the data center with experts from Cisco and Intel as they help you decrease your latency and avoid bottlenecks by modernizing your IT infrastructure.
Reach out to the Connection Team.
Email us at podcast@connection.com
Follow Connection We Solve IT on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Linkedin, and Blog
Key takeaways:
[1:40] What was going on pre-pandemic? What were they facing at the data center when the pandemic hit?
[4:16] How does IT modernization look like now?
[6:40] How does a customer evaluate what he should have today based on what is working and what’s not?
[9:09] Is there enough budget to do an IT modernization?
[11:55] Transformation means how you are going to run your business and adapt in times of pandemic.
[13:30] Why now is the time to modernize your IT.
[14:44] The flows have changed from within the network, then going out of it, and now coming back in.
[15:50] Have industries taken the next step to modernize their data center?
[18:55] What are the benefits of HyperFlex as a solution?
[20:25] Years of collaboration between Intel and Cisco resulted in the creation of HyperFlex, an integral solution to IT modernization.
[22:01] How does hot swap work?
[25:33] Prepare for the things you are not anticipating.
[26:31] Marc and Marcel share what motivates them now about this “new normal”.
Tuesday Aug 18, 2020
Tuesday Aug 18, 2020
Host: James Hilliard
Guest 1: Microsoft- Kyle Van Son, US Commercial Master Trainer
Guest 2: Intel- Rhett Livengood, Director, Digital Business Enabling Client Computing Group Intel® Corporation
Guest 3: Lenovo- Burton Kersey, Channel Account Manager
Description: Short- and long-term impact of a worldwide pandemic has companies reevaluating remote work strategies. Minimum working arrangements, for the most part, have been met and now the challenge becomes improving and thriving during adverse conditions. Will employees return to the office? At what capacity? How are companies boosting “digital dexterity”, keeping the company assets secure all while utilizing best practices and sticking to a continuity plan? While financial departments evaluate cost-cutting measures during a lean economy, the need for a modern device, easy deployment, security, and compatibility may no longer be a luxury but a necessity. Hear from our 3 subject experts how they have been more productive working from home thanks in no small part from modern devices.
Reach out to the Connection Team.
Email us at podcast@connection.com
Follow Connection We Solve IT on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Linkedin, and Blog
Key takeaways:
[2:42] Kyle talks about the work from home situation for him.
[3:54] Burt shares the shifts in his work as a result of the pandemic.
[4:34] Rhett talks about his level of productivity working from home.
[6:30] Microsoft Teams has been a success to online workers and students.
[7:44] Burt talks about Microsoft Teams on Lenovo computers to make work from home more productive.
[9:28].How Intel experienced the transition during pandemic times.
[10:56] The benefits of Wi-Fi 6.
[12:30] Kyle talks about how they have been encouraging people to move to the newest version of Windows.
[13:43] The benefits of acquiring modern devices.
[16:16] The challenges of transitioning to full work from home.
[17:03] Rhett shares what he does to stay productive
[19:20] Kyle talks about how they manage at his team to stay efficient and motivated at the same time.
[20:49] How can you keep your team engaged?
[22:57] Having great tools can help attract the right talent.
[24:33] Employees are going to start demanding the flexibility of working from home.
[26:10] The matter of safety and the devices that can provide it.
[27:10] Rhett, Burt, James, and Kyle share what they learned and implemented to enhance the working from home experience.
Learn more about our guests:
Kyle Van Son has been delivering training and evangelism with Microsoft in different capacities since the days of Windows 7, from humble beginnings showing of Windows Live Photo Gallery in Win 7 at a Sam’s Club to helping build Best Buy’s Microsoft Expert program, and more, before transitioning to the commercial space in January of 2019.
Rhett Livengood is Intel’s WW Director of Digital Business Enabling working with solution providers (system integrators, IT outsourcers, resellers, managed service providers) to integrate Intel technology into customer workplace transformation solutions. He was most recently Intel’s WW B2B Customer Engagement Director managing lead generation activities, Intel’s Enterprise Board of Advisors and online sales development working targeting Global 5000 enterprises and SMB customers worldwide.
During his career in the IT industry, Rhett has managed regional and worldwide sales and marketing for Intel’s Services group. He was Worldwide Marketing Manager for Intel’s Software group and Product Marketing Manager of Intel’s Mobile Computing Group and held marketing and engineering positions in Intel’s memory, processor, software, and platform divisions. He was the worldwide director of Marketing at Lam Research. Rhett began his career as a design engineer at Honeywell.
Rhett holds a BS degree in Chemical and Materials Engineering from the University of Iowa and an MS degree in Electronic Materials Process Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He is an Intel Achievement Award winner.
Burton Kersey is the Senior Channel Account Manager at Lenovo. His role involves managing Mobile Workstation and Desktop Workstation sales for Connection and SHI, he Developed and executed strategies to achieve Lenovo's Workstation growth targets. Burton administered on-site product, sales, and technical workstation training to Connection and SHI account managers, he also consulted daily as a technical workstation expert on end-user opportunities, calls, and visits. Burton works at Cargo where he is the Inside Channel, Account Manager. His responsibilities include building relationships with Lenovo's partners resulting in net new revenue, channel development and expansion, account acquisition, and SMB growth. Burton works with approximately 100+ certified partners currently and discuss Lenovo's brand and channel program operations.
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn more about Microsoft and Intel services
Visit Lenovo
Wednesday Aug 12, 2020
Wednesday Aug 12, 2020
Microsoft Sponsored
AI and Machine Learning - Impacts and Pitfalls with Jamal Khan Parts I and II
Sponsored by Microsoft
Host: Penny Conway
Guest: Jamal Khan, President of Global Digital and eCommerce Marketing for Connection.
Microsoft sponsored AI podcast parts I and II with Jamal Khan. Both episodes together together kicking off our AI series focussing on AI, Machine Learning and their effects on CySec, national infrastructure, the job market and much more.
- Fact vs. Fiction and the data explosion.
- Democratization of toolsets: Tremendous advantages for developers to streamline process and development time.
- Microsoft AZURE ML Studio is an amazing working environment for developers. What was historically a difficult undertaking now saves hours and produces more efficient results and reporting. The studio leverages AI technology and simplifies the process.
- Learn the pace at which the AI and machine learning are growing and how it will impact the job market.
- How nations are building capabilities in this space.
Tuesday Aug 11, 2020
Tuesday Aug 11, 2020
Host: James Hilliard
Guest 1: Todd Gustafson, President of HP Federal
Guest 2: Thomas Gardner Chief Technology Officer Directory Services Team
Guest 3: Penny Conway
Description: Federal agencies are faced with increasing security challenges. Many agencies know the importance of securing endpoints like printers and computers, but what they may not know is that those devices could be subject to foreign threats due to risk factors in the supply chain itself before it ever connects to your network.
The DoD recently put procurement regulations in place to ensure the security of your devices and information. Find out in today’s episode what you need to know to avoid the pitfalls that come from purchasing LPTA products with weak supply chains.
Reach out to the Connection Team.
Email us at podcast@connection.com
Follow Connection We Solve IT on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Linkedin, and Blog
Key takeaways:
[2:36] Todd shares how he, as the President of HP Federal, and his team reacted to the COVID strike.
[4:15] Thomas talks about the shift COVID-19 has imposed in the way the work is done.
[6:10] Thomas talks about the preparedness of teams to work from home from a technological standpoint.
[7:35] Thomas shares the challenges they faced and how they dealt with them.
[11:00] Todd gives his point of view in regard to the questions the federal workers have to make themselves before purchasing a computer.
[11:41] Todd gives an update on the HP supply chain.
[14:28] Penny shares her experience with the “mad grab for products” as a result of the pandemic.
[16:28] Thomas talks about his involvement in the Department of Homeland Security as a supply risk management task force.
[17:34] Top threats to businesses and agencies that could impact operations and missions.
[19:43] HP is building now 2 and a half PCs per second and 1 and a half printers per second every day.
[20:25] All of us have changed, our work styles and habits, and also the hackers have adapted to these changes.
[22:10] Every year, millions of dollars are invested in HP labs to make their products more secure.
[24:45] Penny talks about the trend in choices that people are making when purchasing computers and printers and assuring security.
[27:40] Thomas talks about the application of Augmented Intelligence into the security environment.
[30:42] What is next to keep working efficiently, effectively, and securely?
[36:01] It is an exciting time for the services’ part of the world.