Podcasts about cdw

AI, interoperability, and real-world readiness are converging to define the next era of healthcare IT. In this episode, Shaman Akhtar, Mike Costa, and Tom Stafford break down the challenges and opportunities shaping healthcare IT, as well as the growing need for true downtime resilience.Shaman Akhtar, senior leader at ELLKAY, discusses how interoperability remains a “data plumbing” problem, warning that even with HL7 and FHIR, vendors still “speak different dialects,” creating ongoing challenges in exchanging patient information and even between emerging AI tools and agents.Next, Mike Costa, Client Relationship Executive at Impact Advisors, reflects on the journey from EHR implementation to true optimization, arguing that many organizations have barely unlocked the value of their systems and that AI and ambient technologies could finally help harvest that potential while addressing persistent adoption and operational challenges. Finally, Tom Stafford, Healthcare Strategist at CDW and a recovering CIO, explains how CDW evolved from a logistics company into a turnkey healthcare partner, helping systems with security, cloud, and, especially, downtime resilience so they can safely operate when core systems fail. Together, they highlight common themes from the South Florida HIMSS Integrate Conference, ranging from regulatory and political pressures to the promise of AI, demonstrating that leaders across payers, providers, and vendors are grappling with similar issues. Tune in and learn how interoperability, optimization, and resilience are reshaping healthcare's digital future!ResourcesConnect with Shaman Akhtar on LinkedIn.Follow ELLKAY on LinkedIn here and explore their website.Connect with and follow Mike Costa on LinkedIn.Learn more about Impact Advisors on LinkedIn and visit their website.Email Mike directly here.Follow and connect with Tom Stafford on LinkedIn.Discover more about CDW•G on LinkedIn and their website.Email Tom directly here.

Welcome back to the Ultimate Guide to Partnering® Podcast. AI agents are your next customers. Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://theultimatepartner.com/ebook-subscribe/ Check Out UPX:https://theultimatepartner.com/experience/ https://youtu.be/vEdq8rpBM3I In this data-rich keynote, Jay McBain deconstructs the tectonic shifts reshaping the $5.3 trillion global technology industry, arguing that we are entering a new 20-year cycle where traditional direct sales models are obsolete. McBain explains why 96% of the industry is now surrounded by partners and how successful companies must pivot from “flywheels and theory” to a granular strategy focused on the seven specific partners present in every deal. From the explosion of agentic AI and the $163 billion marketplace revolution to the specific mechanics of multiplier economics, this discussion provides a roadmap for navigating the “decade of the ecosystem” where influence, trust, and integration—not just product—determine winners and losers. Key Takeaways Half of today's Fortune 500 companies will likely vanish in the next 20 years due to the shift toward AI and ecosystem-led models. Every B2B deal now involves an average of seven trusted partners who influence the decision before a vendor even knows a deal exists. Microsoft has outpaced AWS growth for 26 consecutive quarters largely because of a superior partner-led geographic strategy. Marketplaces are projected to grow to $163 billion by 2030, with nearly 60% of deals involving partner funding or private offers. The “Multiplier Effect” is the new ROI, where partners can make up to $8.45 for every dollar of vendor product sold. Future dominance relies on five key pillars: Platform, Service Partnerships, Channel Partnerships, Alliances, and Go-to-Market orchestration. If you're ready to lead through change, elevate your business, and achieve extraordinary outcomes through the power of partnership—this is your community. At Ultimate Partner® we want leaders like you to join us in the Ultimate Partner Experience – where transformation begins. Keywords: Jay McBain, Canalys, partner ecosystem, channel chief, agentic AI, marketplace growth, multiplier economics, B2B sales trends, tech industry forecast, service partnerships, strategic alliances, Microsoft vs AWS, distribution transformation, managed services growth, SaaS platforms, customer journey mapping, 28 moments of truth, future of reselling, technology spending 2025, ecosystem orchestration, partner multipliers. T Transcript: Jay McBain WORKFILE FOR TRANSCRIPT [00:00:00] Vince Menzione: Just up from, did you Puerto Rico last night? Puerto Rico, yes. Puerto Rico. He dodged the hurricane. Um, you all know him. Uh, let him introduce himself for those of you who don’t, but just thrilled to have on the stage, again, somebody who knows more about what’s going on in, in the, and has the pulse on this industry probably than just about anybody I know personally. [00:00:21] Vince Menzione: J Jay McBain. Jay, great to see you my friend. Alright, thank you. We have to come all the way. We live, we live uh, about 20 minutes from each other. We have to come all the way to Reston, Virginia to see each other, right? That’s right. Very good. Well, uh, that’s all over to you, sir. Thank you. [00:00:35] Jay McBain: Alright, well thank you so much. [00:00:36] Jay McBain: I went from 85 degrees yesterday to 45 today, but I was able to dodge that, uh, that hurricane, uh, that we kind of had to fly through the northern edge of, uh, wanna talk today about our industry, about the ultimate partner. I’m gonna try to frame up the ultimate partner as I walk through the data and the latest research that, uh, that we’ve been doing in the market. [00:00:56] Jay McBain: But I wanted to start here ’cause our industry moves in 20 year cycles, and if you look at the Fortune 500 and dial back 20 years from today, 52% of them no longer exist. As we step into the next 20 year AI era, half of the companies that we know and love today are not gonna exist. So we look at this, and by the way, if you’re not in the Fortune 500 and you don’t have deep pockets to buy your way outta problems, 71% of tech companies fail over the course of 10 years. [00:01:30] Jay McBain: Those are statistics from the US government. So I start to look at our industry and you know, you may look at the, you know, mainframe era from the sixties and seventies, mini computers, August the 12th, 1981, that first IBM, PC with Microsoft dos, version one, you know, triggered. A new 20 year era of client server. [00:01:51] Jay McBain: It was the time and I worked at IBM for 17 years, but there was a time where Bill Gates flew into Boca Raton, Florida and met with the IBM team and did that, you know, fancy licensing agreement. But after, you know, 20 years of being the most valuable company in the world and 13 years of antitrust and getting broken up, almost like at and TIBM almost didn’t make payroll. [00:02:14] Jay McBain: 13 years after meeting Bill Gates. Yeah, that’s how quickly things change in these eras. In 1999, a small company outta San Francisco called salesforce.com got its start. About 10 years later, Jeff Bezos asked a question in a boardroom, could we rent out our excess capacity and would other companies buy it? [00:02:35] Jay McBain: Which, you know, most people in the room laughed at ’em at the time. But it created a 20 year cloud era when our friends, our neighbors, our family. Saw Chachi PT for the first time in March of 2023. They saw the deep fakes, they saw the poetry, they saw the music. They came to us as tech people and said, did we just light up Skynet? [00:02:58] Jay McBain: And that consumer trend has triggered this next 20 years. I could walk through the richest people in the world through those trends. I could walk through the most valuable companies. It all aligns. ’cause by the way, Apple’s no longer at the top. Nvidia is at the top, Microsoft. Second, things change really quickly. [00:03:17] Jay McBain: So in that course of time, you start to look at our industry and as people are talking about a six and a half or $7 trillion build out of ai, that’s open AI and Microsoft numbers, that is bigger than our industry that’s taken over 50 years to build. This year, we’re gonna finish the year at $5.3 trillion. [00:03:36] Jay McBain: That’s from the smallest flower shop to the biggest bank. Biggest governments that Caresoft would, uh, serve biggest customer in the world is actually the federal government of the us. But you look at this pie chart and you look at the changes that we’re gonna go through over the next 20 years, there’s about a trillion dollars in hardware. [00:03:54] Jay McBain: There’s about a trillion dollars in software. If you look forward through all of the merging trends, quantum computing, humanoid robots, all the things that are coming that dollar to dollar software to hardware will continue to exist all the way through. We see services making up almost two thirds of this pie. [00:04:13] Jay McBain: Yesterday I was in a telco conference with at and t and Verizon and T-Mobile and some of the biggest wireless players and IT services, which happen to be growing faster than products. At the moment, there is more work to be done wrapping around the deal than the actual products that the customer is buying. [00:04:32] Jay McBain: So in an industry that’s growing at 7%. On top of the world economy that’s grown at 2.2. This is the fastest growing industry, and it will be at least for the next 10 years, if not 2070 0.1% of this entire $5 trillion gets transacted through partners. While what we’re talking to today about the ultimate partner, 96% of this industry is surrounded by partners in one way or another. [00:05:01] Jay McBain: They’re there before the deal. They’re there at the deal. They’re there after the deal. Two thirds of our industry is now subscription consumption based. So every 30 days forever, and a customer for life becomes everything. So if every deal in medium, mid-market, and higher has seven partners, according to McKinsey, who are those seven people trying to get into the deal? [00:05:25] Jay McBain: While there’s millions of companies that have come into tech over the last 10 to 20 years. Digital agencies, accountants, legal firms, everybody’s come in. The 250,000 SaaS companies, a million emerging tech companies, there’s a big fight to be one of those seven trusted people at the table. So millions of companies and tens of millions of people our competing for these slots. [00:05:49] Jay McBain: So one of the pieces of research I’m most proud of, uh, in my analyst career is this. And this took over two years to build. It’s a lot of logos. Not this PowerPoint slide, but the actual data. Thousands of people hours. Because guess what? When you look at partners from the top down, the top 1000 partners, by capability and capacity, not by resale. [00:06:15] Jay McBain: It’s not a ranking of CDW and insight and resale numbers. It is the surrounding. Consulting, design, architecture, implementations, integrations, managed services, all the pieces that’s gonna make the next 20 years run. So when you start to look at this, 98% of these companies are private, so very difficult to get to those numbers and, uh, a ton of research and help from AI and other things to get this. [00:06:41] Jay McBain: But this is it. And if you look at this list, there’s a thousand logos out of the million companies. There’s a thousand logos that drive two thirds of all tech services in the world. $1.07 trillion gets delivered by a thousand companies, but here’s where it gets fun. Those companies in the middle, in blue, the 30 of them deliver more tech services than the next 970. [00:07:08] Jay McBain: Combined the 970 combined in white deliver more tech services. Then the next million combined. So if you think we live in an 80 20 rule or maybe a 99, a 95 5 rule, or a 99 1 rule, we actually live in a 99.9 0.1 parallel principle. These companies spread around the world evenly split across the uh, different regions. [00:07:35] Jay McBain: South Africa, Latin America, they’re all over. They split. They split among types. All of the Venn diagram I just showed from GSIs to VARs to MSPs, to agencies and other types of companies. But this is a really rich list and it’s public. So every company in the world now, if you’re looking at Transactable data, if you’re looking at quantifiable data that you can go put your revenue numbers against, it represents 70 to 80% of every company in this room’s Tam. [00:08:08] Jay McBain: In one piece of research. So what do you do below that? How do you cover a million companies that you can’t afford to put a channel account manager? You can’t afford to write programs directly for well after the top down analysis and all the wallet share and you know exactly where the lowest hanging fruit is for most of your tam. [00:08:28] Jay McBain: The available markets. The obtainable markets. You gotta start from the community level grassroots up. So you need to ask the question for the million companies and the maybe a hundred thousand companies out there, partner companies that are surrounding your customer. These are the seven partners that surround your customer. [00:08:48] Jay McBain: What do they read, where do they go, and who do they follow? Interestingly enough, our industry globally equates to only a thousand watering holes, a thousand companies at the top, a thousand places at the bottom. 35% of this audience we’re talking. Millions of people here love events and there’s 352 of them like this one that they love to go to. [00:09:13] Jay McBain: They love the hallway chats, they love the hotel lobby bar, you know, in a time reminded by the pandemic. They love to be in person. It’s the number one way they’re influenced. So if you don’t have a solid event strategy and you don’t have a community team out giving out socks every week, your competitors might beat you. [00:09:31] Jay McBain: 12% of this audience loves podcasts. It’s the Joe Rogan effect of our industry. And while you know, you may not think the 121 podcasts out there are important, well, you’re missing 12% of your audience. It’s over a million people. If you’re not on a weekly podcast in one of these podcasts in the world, there’s still people that read one of the 106 magazines in the world. [00:09:55] Jay McBain: There are people that love peer groups, associations, they wanna be part of this. There’s 15 different ways people are influenced. And a solid grassroots strategy is how you make this happen. In the last 10 years, we’ve created a number of billionaires. Bottom up. They never had to go talk to la large enterprise. [00:10:15] Jay McBain: They never had to go build out a mid-market strategy. They just went and give away socks and new community marketing. And this has created, I could rip through a bunch of names that became unicorns just in the last couple of years, bottoms up. You go back to your board walking into next year, top down, bottom up. [00:10:34] Jay McBain: You’ve covered a hundred percent of your tam, and now you’ve covered it with names, faces, and places. You haven’t covered it with a flywheel or a theory. And for 44 years, we have gone to our board every fourth quarter with flywheels and theory. Trust me, partners are important. The channel is key to us. [00:10:57] Jay McBain: Well, let’s talk at the point of this granularity, and now we’re getting supported by technology 261 entrepreneurs. Many of them in the room actually here that are driving this ability to succeed with seven partners in every deal to exchange data to be able to exchange telemetry of these prospects to be able to see twice or three times in terms of pipeline of your target addressable market. [00:11:26] Jay McBain: All these ai, um, technologies, agentic technologies are coming into this. It’s all about data. It’s all about quantifiable names, faces, and places. Now none of us should be walking around with flywheels, so let’s flip the flywheels. No. Uh, so we also look at, and I sold PCs for 17 years and that was in the high times of 40% margins for partners. [00:11:55] Jay McBain: But one interesting thing when you study the p and l for broad base of partners around the world, it’s changed pretty significantly in this last 20 year era. What the cloud era did is dropped hardware from what used to be 84% plus the break fix and things that wrap around it of the p and l to now 16% of every partner in the world. [00:12:16] Jay McBain: 84% of their p and l is now software and services. And if you look at profitability, it’s worse. It’s actually 87% is profitability wise. They’ve completely shifted in terms of where they go. Now we look at other parts of our market. I could go through every part of the pie of the slide, but we’re watching each of the companies, and if you can see here, this is what we want to talk about in terms of ultimate partner. [00:12:43] Jay McBain: Microsoft has outgrown AWS for 26 straight quarters. They don’t have a better product. They don’t have a better price, they don’t have better promotion. It’s all place. And I’ll explain why you guess here in the light green line. Exactly. The day that Google went a hundred percent all in partner, every deal, even if a deal didn’t have a partner, one of the 4% of deals that didn’t have a partner, they injected a partner. [00:13:09] Jay McBain: You can see on the left side exactly where they did it. They got to the point of a hundred percent partner driven. Rebuilt their programs, rebuilt their marketplace. Their marketplace is actually larger than Microsoft’s, and they grew faster than Microsoft. A couple of those quarters. It is a partner driven future, and now I have Oracle, which I just walked by as I walked from the hotel. [00:13:31] Jay McBain: Oracle with their RPOs will start to join. Maybe the list of three hyperscalers becomes the list of four in future slides, but that’s a growth slide. Market share is different. AWS early and commanding lead. And it plays out, uh, plays out this way. But we’re at an interesting moment and I stood up six years ago talking about the decade of the ecosystem after we went through a decade of sales starting in 1999 when we all thought we were born to be salespeople. [00:14:02] Jay McBain: We managed territories with our gut. The sales tech stack would have it different, that sales was a science, and we ended the decade 2009, looking at sales very differently in 2009. I remember being at cocktail parties where CMOs would be joking around that 50% of their marketing dollars were wasted. They just didn’t know which 50%. [00:14:23] Jay McBain: And I’ll tell you, that was really funny. In 2009 till every 58-year-old CMO got replaced by a 38-year-old growth hacker who walked in with 15,348 SaaS companies in their MarTech and ad tech stack to solve the problem, every nickel of marketing by 2019 was tracked. Marketo, Eloqua, Pardot, HubSpot, driving this industry. [00:14:50] Jay McBain: Now, we stood up and said the 28 moments that come before a sale are pretty much all partner driven. In the best case scenario, a vendor might see four of the moments. They might come to your website, maybe they read an ebook, maybe they have a salesperson or a demo that comes in. That’s four outta 28 moments. [00:15:10] Jay McBain: The other 24 are done by partners. Yeah, in the worst case scenario and the majority scenario, you don’t see any of the moments. All 28 happen and you lose a deal without knowing there ever was a deal. So this is it. We need to partner in these moments and we need to inject partners into sales and marketing, like no time before, and this was the time to do it. [00:15:33] Jay McBain: And we got some feedback in the Salesforce state of sales report, which doesn’t involve any partnerships or, or. Channel Chiefs or anything else. This is 5,500 of the biggest CROs in the world that obviously use Salesforce. 89% of salespeople today use partners every day. For the 11% who don’t, 58% plan two within a year. [00:15:57] Jay McBain: If you add those two numbers together, that’s magically the 96% number. They recognize that every deal has partners in it. In 2024, last year, half of the salespeople in the world, every industry, every country. Miss their numbers. For the minority who made their numbers, 84 point percent pointed to partners as the reason why they made their numbers. [00:16:21] Jay McBain: It was the cheat code for sales, so that modern salesperson that knows how to orchestrate a deal, orchestrate the 28 moments with the seven partners and get to that final spot is the winning formula. HubSpot’s number in separate research was 84% in marketing. So we’re starting to see partners in here. We don’t have to shout from the mountaintops. [00:16:44] Jay McBain: These communities like ultimate Partner are working and we’re getting this to the highest levels in the board. And I’ll say that, you know, when 20 years from now half of the companies we know and love fail after we’re done writing the book and blaming the CEO for inventing the thing that ended up killing them, blaming the board for fiduciary responsibility and letting it happen. [00:17:06] Jay McBain: What are the other chapters of the book? And I think it’s all in one slide. We are in this platform economy and the. [00:17:31] Jay McBain: So your battery’s fine. Check, check, check, check. Alright, I’ll, I’ll just hold this in case, but the companies that execute on all five of these areas, well. Not only today become the trillion dollar valued companies, but they become the companies of tomorrow. These will be the fastest growing companies at every level. [00:17:50] Jay McBain: Not only running a platform business, but participating in other platforms. So this is how it breaks out, and there are people at very senior levels, at very big companies that have this now posted in the office of the CEO winning on integrations is everything. We just went through a demographic shift this year where 51% of our buyers are born after 1982. [00:18:15] Jay McBain: Millennials are the number one buyer of the $5 trillion. Their number one buying criteria is not service. Support your price, your brand reputation, it’s integrations. The buy a product, 80% is good as the next one if it works better in their environment. 79% of us won’t buy a car unless it has CarPlay or Android Auto. [00:18:34] Jay McBain: This is an integration world. The company with the most integrations win. Second, there are seven partners that surround the customer. Highly trusted partners. We’re talking, coaching the customer’s, kids soccer team, having a cottage together up at the lake. You know, best men, bate of honors at weddings type of relationships. [00:18:57] Jay McBain: You can’t maybe have all seven, but how does Microsoft beat AWS? They might have had two, three, or four of them saying nice things about them instead of the competition. Winning in service partnerships and channel partnerships changes by category. If you’re selling MarTech, only 10% of it today is resold, so you build more on service partnerships. [00:19:18] Jay McBain: If you’re in cybersecurity today, 91.6% of it is resold. Transacted through partners. So you build a lot of channel partnerships, plus the service partnerships, whatever the mix is in your category, you have to have two or three of those seven people. Saying nice things about you at every stage of the customer journey. [00:19:38] Jay McBain: Now move over to alliances. We have already built the platforms at the hyperscale level. We’ve built the platforms within SaaS, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Workday, Marketo, NetSuite, HubSpot. Every buyer has a set of platforms that they buy. We’ve now built them in cybersecurity this year out of 6,500 as high as cyber companies, the top five are starting to separate. [00:20:02] Jay McBain: We built it in distribution, which I’ll show in a minute. We’re building it in Telco. This is a platform economy and alliances win and you have alliances with your competitors ’cause you compete in the morning, but you’re best friends by the afternoon. Winning in other platforms is just as important as driving your own. [00:20:20] Jay McBain: And probably the most important part of this is go to market. That sales, that marketing, the 28 moments, the every 30 days forever become all a partner strategy. So there’s still CEOs out there that believe platform is a UI or UX on a bunch of disparate products and things you’ve acquired. There’s still CFOs out there that Think platform is a pricing model, a bundle model of just getting everything under one, you know, subscription price or consumption price. [00:20:51] Jay McBain: And it’s not, platforms are synonymous with partnerships. This is the way forward and there’s no conversation around ai. That doesn’t involve Nvidia over there, an open AI over here and a hyperscaler over there and a SaaS company over here. The seven layer stack wins every single time, and the companies that get this will be the ones that survive this cycle. [00:21:16] Jay McBain: Now, flipping over to marketplaces. So we had written research that, um, about five years ago that marketplaces were going to grow at 82% compounded. Yeah, probably one of the most accurate predictions we ever made, because it happened, we, we predicted that, uh, we were gonna get up to about $85 billion. Well, now we’ve extended that to 2030, so we’re gonna get up to $163 billion, and the thing that we’re watching is in green. [00:21:46] Jay McBain: If 96% of these deals are partner assisted in some way, how is the economics of partnering going to work? We predicted that 50% of deals by 2027. Would be partner funded in some way. Private offers multi-partner offers distributor sellers of record, and now that extends to 59% by 2030, the most senior leader of the biggest marketplace AWS, just said to us they’re gonna probably make these numbers on their own. [00:22:14] Jay McBain: And he asked what their two competitors are doing. So he’s telling us that we under called this. Now when you look at each of the press releases, and this is the AWS Billion Dollar Club. Every one of the companies on the left have issued a press release that they’re in the billion dollar club. Some of them are in the multi-billions, but I want you to double click on this press release. [00:22:35] Jay McBain: I’m quoted in here somewhere, but as CrowdStrike is building the marketplace at 91% compounded, they’re almost doubling their revenue every single year. They’re growing the partner funding, in this case, distributor funding by 3548%. Almost triple digit growth in marketplace is translating into almost quadruple digit growth in funding. [00:23:01] Jay McBain: And you see that over and over again as, as Splunk hit three, uh, billion dollars. The same. Salesforce hit $2 billion on AWS in Ulti, 18 months. They joined in October 20, 23, and 18 months later, they’re already at $2 billion. But now you’re seeing at Salesforce, which by the way. Grew up to $40 billion in revenue direct, almost not a nickel in resell. [00:23:28] Jay McBain: Made it really difficult for VARs and managed service providers to work with Salesforce because they couldn’t understand how to add services to something they didn’t book the revenue for. While $40 billion companies now seeing 70% of their deals come through partners. So this is just the world that we’re in. [00:23:44] Jay McBain: It doesn’t matter who you are and what industry you’re in, this takes place. But now we’re starting to see for the first time. Partners join the billion dollar club. So you wonder about partnering and all this funding and everything that’s working through Now you’re seeing press releases and companies that are redoing their LinkedIn branding about joining this illustrious club without a product to sell and all the services that wrap around it. [00:24:10] Jay McBain: So the opening session on Microsoft was interesting because there’s been a number of changes that Microsoft has done just in the last 30 days. One is they cut distribution by two thirds going from 180 distributors to 62. They cut out any small partner lower than a thousand dollars, and that doesn’t sound like a lot, but that’s over a hundred thousand partners that get deed tightening the long tail. [00:24:38] Jay McBain: They we’re the first to really put a global point system in place three years ago. They went to the new commerce experience. If you remember, all kinds of changes being led by. The biggest company for the channel. And so when we’re studying marketplaces, we’re not just studying the three hyperscalers, we’re studying what TD Cynic is doing with Stream One Ingram’s doing with Advant Advantage Aerosphere. [00:25:01] Jay McBain: Also, we’re watching what PAX eight, who by the way, is the 365 bestseller for Microsoft in the world. They are the cybersecurity leader for Microsoft in the world and the copilot. Leader in the world for Microsoft and Partner of the Year for Microsoft. So we’re watching what the cloud platforms are doing, watching what the Telco are doing, which is 25 cents out of every dollar, if you remember that pie chart, watching what the biggest resellers are converting themselves into. [00:25:30] Jay McBain: Vince just mentioned, you know, SHI in the changes there watching the managed services market and the leaders there, what they’re doing in terms of how this industry’s moving forward. By the way, managed services at $608 billion this year. Is one and a half times larger than the SaaS industry overall. [00:25:48] Jay McBain: It’s also one and a half times larger than all the hyperscalers combined. Oracle, Alibaba, IBM, all the way down. This is a massive market and it makes up 15 to 20 cents of every dollar the customer spend. We’re watching that industry hit a trillion dollars by the end of the decade, and we’re watching 150 different marketplace development platforms, the distribution of our industry, which today is 70.1% indirect. [00:26:13] Jay McBain: We’re starting to see that number, uh, solidify in terms of marketplaces as well. Watching distributors go from that linear warehouse in a bank to this orchestration model, watching some of the biggest players as the world comes around, platforms, it tightens around the place. So Caresoft, uh, from from here is the sixth biggest distributor in the world. [00:26:40] Jay McBain: Just shows you how big the. You know, biggest client in the world is that they serve. But understand that we’re publishing the distributor 500 list, but it’ll be the same thing. That little group in blue in the middle today, you know, drives almost two thirds of the market. So what happens in all this next stage in terms of where the dollars change hands. [00:27:07] Jay McBain: And the economics of partnering themselves are going through the most radical shift that we’ve seen ever. So back to the nineties, and, and for those of you that have been channel chiefs and running programs, we went to work every day. You know, everything’s on fire. We’re trying to check hundred boxes, trying to make our program 10% better than our competitors. [00:27:30] Jay McBain: Hey, we gotta fix our deal registration program today, and our incentives are outta whack or training programs or. You know, not where they need to be. Our certification, you know, this was the life of, uh, of a channel chief. Everybody thought we were just out drinking in the Caribbean with our best partners, but we were under the weight of this. [00:27:49] Jay McBain: But something interesting has happened is that we turned around and put the customer at the middle of our programs to say that those 28 moments in green before the sale are really, really important. And the seven partners who participate are really important. Understanding. The customer’s gonna buy a seven layer stack. [00:28:09] Jay McBain: They’re gonna buy it With these seven partners, the procurement stage is much different. The growth of marketplaces, the growth of direct in some of these areas, and then long term every 30 days forever in a managed service, implementations, integrations, how you upsell, cross-sell, enrich a deal changes. So how would you build a program that’s wrapped around the customer instead of the vendor? [00:28:35] Jay McBain: And we’re starting to hear our partners shout back to us. These are global surveys, big numbers, but over half of our partners, regardless of type, are selling consulting to their customer. Over half are designing architecting deals. A third of them are trying to be system integrators showing up at those implementation integration moments. [00:28:55] Jay McBain: Two thirds of them are doing managed services, but the shocking one here is 44% of our partners, regardless of type, are coding. They’re building agents and they’re out helping their customer at that level. So this is the modern partner that says, don’t typecast me. You may have thought of me in your program. [00:29:14] Jay McBain: You might have me slotted as a var. Well, I do 3.2 things, and if I don’t get access to those resources, if you don’t walk me to that room, I’m not gonna do them with you. You may have me as a managed service provider that’s only in the morning. By the afternoon I’m coding, and by the next morning I’m implementing and consulting. [00:29:33] Jay McBain: So again, a partner’s not a partner. That Venn diagram is a very loose one now, as every partner on there is doing 3.2 different business models. And again, they’re telling us for 43 years, they said, I want more leads this year it changed. For the first time, I want to be recognized and incentivized as more than just a cash register for you. [00:29:57] Jay McBain: I want you to recognize when I’m consulting, when I’m designing, when you’re winning deals, because of my wonderful services, by the way, we asked the follow up question, well, where should we spend our money with you? And they overwhelmingly say, in the consulting stage, you win and lose deals. Not at moment 28. [00:30:18] Jay McBain: We’re not buying a pack of gum at the gas station. This is a considered purchase. You win deals from moment 12 through 16 and I’m gonna show you a picture of that later, and they say, you better be spending your money there, or you’re not gonna win your fair share or more than your fair share of deals. [00:30:36] Jay McBain: The shocking thing about this is that Microsoft, when they went to the point system, lifted two thirds of all the money, tens of billions of dollars, and put it post-sale, and we were all scratching our heads going. Well, if the partners are asking for it there, and it seems like to beat your biggest competitors, you want to win there. [00:30:54] Jay McBain: Why would you spend the money on renewal? Well, they went to Wall Street and Goldman Sachs and the people who lift trillions of dollars of pension funds and said, if we renew deals at 108%, we become a cash machine for you. And we think that’s more valuable than a company coming out with a new cell phone in September and selling a lot of them by Christmas every year. [00:31:18] Jay McBain: The industry. And by the way, wall Street responded, Microsoft has been more valuable than Apple since. So we talk in this now multiplier language, and these are reports that we write, uh, at AMIA at canals. But talking about the partner opportunity in that customer cycle, the $6 and 40 cents you can make for every dollar of consumption, or the $7 and 5 cents you can make the $8 and 45 cents you can make. [00:31:46] Jay McBain: There’s over 24 companies speaking at this level now, and guess what? It’s not just cloud or software companies. Hardware companies are starting to speak in this language, and on January 25th, Cisco, you know, probably second to Microsoft in terms of trust built with the channel globally is moving to a full point system. [00:32:09] Jay McBain: So these are the changes that happen fast. But your QBR with your partners now less about drinking beers at the hotel lobby bar and talking dollar by dollar where these opportunities are. So if you’re doing 3.2 of these things, let’s build out a, uh, a play where you can make $3 for every dollar that we make. [00:32:28] Jay McBain: And you make that profitably. You make it in sticky, highly retained business, and that’s the model. ’cause if you make $3 for every dollar. We make, you’re gonna win Partner of the year, and if you win partner of the year, that piece of glass that you win on stage, by the time you get back to your table, you’re gonna have three offers to buy your business. [00:32:51] Jay McBain: CDW just bought a w. S’s Partner of the Year. Insight bought Google’s eight time partner of the year. Presidio bought ServiceNow’s, partner of the year over and over and over again. So I’m at Octane, I’m at CrowdStrike, I’m at all these events in Vegas every week. I’m watching these partners of the year. [00:33:05] Jay McBain: And I’m watching as the big resellers. I’m watching as the GSIs and the m and a folks are surrounding their table after, and they’re selling their businesses for SaaS level valuations. Not the one-to-one service valuation. They’re getting multiples because this is the new future of our industry. This is platform economics. [00:33:25] Jay McBain: This is winning and platforms for partners. Now, like Vince, I spent 20 minutes without talking about ai, but we have to talk about ai. So the next 20 years as it plays out is gonna play out in phases. And the first thing you know to get it out of the way. The first two years since that March of 23, has been underwhelming, to say the least. [00:33:47] Jay McBain: It’s been disappointing. All the companies that should have won the biggest in AI have been the most disappointing. It’s underperformed the s and p by a considerable amount in terms of where we are. And it goes back to this. We always overestimate the first two years, but we underestimate the first 10. [00:34:07] Jay McBain: If you wanna be the point in time person and go look at that 1983 PC or the 1995 internet or that 2007 iPhone or that whatever point in time you wanna look at, or if you want to talk about hallucinations or where chat chip ET version five is version, as opposed to where it’s going to be as it improves every six months here on in. [00:34:30] Jay McBain: But the fact of the matter is, it’s been a consumer trend. Nvidia got to be the most valuable company in the world. OpenAI was the first company to 2 billion users, uh, in that amount of speed. It’s the fastest growing product ever in history, and it’s been a consumer win this trillions of dollars to get it thrown around in the press releases. [00:34:49] Jay McBain: They’re going out every day, you know, open ai, signing up somebody new or Nvidia, investing in somebody new almost every single day in hundreds of billions of dollars. It is all happening really on the consumer side. So we got a little bit worried and said, is that 96% of surround gonna work in ag agentic ai? [00:35:10] Jay McBain: So we went and asked, and the good news is 88% of end customers are using partners to work through their ag agentic strategy. Even though they’re moving slow, they’re actually using partners. But what’s interesting from a partner perspective, and this is new research that out till 2030. This is the number one services opportunity in the entire tech or telco industry. [00:35:34] Jay McBain: 35.3% compounded growth ending at $267 billion in services. Companies are rebuilding themselves, building out practices, and getting on this train and figuring out which vendors they should hook their caboose to as those trains leave the station. But it kind of plays out like this. So in the next three to five years, we’re in this generative, moving into agentic phase. [00:36:01] Jay McBain: Every partner thinks internally first, the sales and marketing. They’re thinking about their invoicing and billing. They’re thinking about their service tickets. They’re thinking about creating a business that’s 10% better than their competitors, taking that knowledge into their customers and drive in business. [00:36:17] Jay McBain: But we understand that ag agentic AI, as it’s going to play out is not a product. A couple of years ago, we thought maybe a copilot or an agent force or something was going to be the product that everybody needed to buy, and it’s not a product, it’s gonna show up as a feature. So you go back in the history of feature ads and it’s gonna show up in software. [00:36:38] Jay McBain: So if you’re calling in SMB, maybe you’re calling on a restaurant. The restaurant isn’t gonna call OpenAI or call Microsoft or call Nvidia directly. They’re running their restaurant. And they may have chosen a platform like Toast Square, Clover, whatever iPads people are running around with, runs on a platform that does everything in their business, does staffing, does food ordering, works with Uber Eats, does everything end to end? [00:37:08] Jay McBain: They’re gonna wait to one of those platforms, dries out agent AI for them, and can run the restaurant more effectively, less human capital and more consistently, but they wait for the SaaS platform as you get larger. A hundred, 150 people. You have vice presidents. Each of those vice presidents already have a SaaS stack. [00:37:28] Jay McBain: I talked about Salesforce, ServiceNow, Workday, et cetera. They’ve already built that seven layer model and in some cases it’s 70 layers. But the fact is, is they’re gonna wait for those SaaS layers to deliver ag agentic to them. So this is how it’s gonna play out for the next three and a half, three to five years. [00:37:45] Jay McBain: And partners are realizing that many of them were slow to pick up SaaS ’cause they didn’t resell it. Well now to win in this next three to half, three to five years, you’re gonna have to play in this environment. When you start looking out from here, the next generation, you know, kind of five through 15 years gets interesting in more of a physical sense. [00:38:06] Jay McBain: Where I was yesterday talking about every IOT device that now is internet access, starts to get access to large language models. Every little sensor, every camera, everything that’s out there starts to get smart. But there’s a point. The first trillionaire, I believe, will be created here. Elon’s already halfway there. [00:38:24] Jay McBain: Um, but when Bill Gates thought there was gonna be a PC in every home, and IBM thought they were gonna sell 10,000 to hobbyists, that created the richest person in the world for 20 years, there will be a humanoid in every home. There’s gonna be a point in time that you’re out having drinks with your friends, and somebody’s gonna say, the early adopter of your friends is gonna say. [00:38:46] Jay McBain: I haven’t done the dishes in six weeks. I haven’t done the laundry. I haven’t made my bed. I haven’t mowed the lawn. When they say that, you’re gonna say, well, how? And they’re gonna say, well, this year I didn’t buy a new car, but I went to the car dealership and I bought this. So we’re very close to the dexterity needed. [00:39:05] Jay McBain: We’ve got the large language models. Now. The chat, GPT version 10 by then is going to make an insane, and every house is gonna have one of the. [00:39:17] Jay McBain: This is the promise of ai. It’s not humanoid robots, it’s not agents. It’s this. 99% of the world’s business data has not been trained or tuned into models yet. Again, this is the slow moving business. If you want to think about the 99% of business data, every flight we’ve all taken in this room sits on a saber system that was put in place in 1964. [00:39:43] Jay McBain: Every banking transaction, we’ve all made, every withdrawal, every deposit sits on an IBM mainframe put in place in the sixties or seventies. 83% of this data sits in cold storage at the edge. It’s not ready to be moved. It’s not cleansed, it’s not, um, indexed. It’s not in any format or sitting on any infrastructure that a large language model will be able to gobble up the data. [00:40:10] Jay McBain: None of the workflows, none of the programming on top of that data is yet ready. So this is your 10 to 20 year arc of this era that chat bot today when they cancel your flight is cute. It’s empathetic, it feels bad for you, or at least it seems to, but it can’t do anything. It can’t book you the Marriott and get you an Uber and then a 5:00 AM flight the next morning. [00:40:34] Jay McBain: It can’t do any of that. But more importantly, it doesn’t know who you are. I’ve got 53 years of flights under my belt and they, I’m the person that get me within six hours of my kids and get me a one-way Hertz rental. You know, if there’s bad weather in Miami, get me to Tampa, get me a Hertz, I’m driving home, I’m gonna make it home. [00:40:56] Jay McBain: I’m not the 5:00 AM get me a hotel person. They would know that if they picked up the flights that I’ve taken in the past. Each of us are different. When you get access to the business data and you become ag agentic, everything changes. Every industry changes because of this around the customers. When you ask about this 35% growth, working on that data, working in traditional consulting and design and implementation, working in the $7 trillion of infrastructure, storage, compute, networking, that’s gonna be around, this is a massive opportunity. [00:41:30] Jay McBain: Services are gonna continue to outgrow products. Probably for the next five to 10 years because of this, and I’m gonna finish here. So we talked a lot about quantifying names, faces, places, and I think where we failed the most as ultimate partners is underneath the tam, which every one of our CEOs knows to the decimal point underneath the TAM that our board thinks they’re chasing. [00:41:59] Jay McBain: We’ve done a very poor job. Of talking about the available markets and obtainable markets underneath it, we, we’ve shown them theory. We’ve shown them a bunch of, you know, really smart stuff, and PowerPoint slides up the wazoo, but we’ve never quantified it for them. If they wanna win, if they want to get access, if they want to double their pipeline, triple their pipeline, if they wanna start winning more deals, if they wanna win deals that are three times larger, they close two times faster. [00:42:31] Jay McBain: And they renew 15% larger. They have to get into the available and obtainable markets. So just in the last couple weeks I spoke at Cribble, I spoke at Octane, I spoke at CrowdStrike Falcon. All three of those companies at the CEO level, main stage use those exact three numbers, three x, two x, 15%. That’s the language of platforms, and they’re investing millions and millions and millions of dollars on teams. [00:42:59] Jay McBain: To go build out the Sam Andal in name spaces and places. So you’ve heard me talk about these 28 moments a lot. They’re the ones that you spend when you buy a car. Some people spend one moment and they drive to the Cadillac dealership. ’cause Larry’s been, you know, taking care of the family for 50 years. [00:43:18] Jay McBain: Some people spend 50 moments like I do, watching every YouTube video and every, you know, thing on the internet. I clear the internet cover to cover. But the fact is, is every deal averages around these 28 moments. Your customer, there’s 13 members of the buying committee today. There’s seven partners and they’re buying seven things. [00:43:37] Jay McBain: There’s 27 things orchestrating inside these 28 moments. And where and how they all take place is a story of partnering. So a couple of years ago, canals. Latin for channel was acquired by amia, which is a part of Informa Tech Target, which is majority owned by Informa. All that being said, there’s hundreds of magazines that we have. [00:44:00] Jay McBain: There’s hundreds of events that we run. If somebody’s buying cybersecurity, they probably went to Black Hat or they probably went to GI Tech. One of these events we run, or one of the magazines. So we pick up these signals, these buyer intent signals as a company. Why did they wanna, um, buy a, uh, a Canals, which was a, you know, a small analyst firm around channels? [00:44:22] Jay McBain: They understood this as well. The 28 moments look a lot like this when marketers and salespeople are busy filling in the spots of every deal. And by the way, this is a real deal. AstraZeneca came in to spend millions of dollars on ASAP transformation, and you can start to see as the customer got smart. [00:44:45] Jay McBain: The eBooks, they read the podcasts, they listened to the events they went to. You start to see how this played out over the long term. But the thing we’ve never had in our industry is the light blue boxes. This deal was won and lost in December. In this particular case, NTT software won and Yash came in and sold the customer five projects. [00:45:07] Jay McBain: The millions of dollars that were going to be spent were solved here. The design and architecture work was all done here. A couple of ISVs You see in light blue came in right at the end, deal was closed in April. You see the six month cycle. But what if you could fill in every one of the 28 boxes in every single customer prospect that your sales and marketing team have? [00:45:30] Jay McBain: But here’s the brilliance of this. Those light blue boxes didn’t win the deals there. They won the deals months before that. So when NTT and Software one walked into this deal. They probably won the deal back in October and they had to go through the redlining. They had to go through the contracting, they had to go through all the stuff and the Gantt chart to get started. [00:45:54] Jay McBain: But while your CMO is getting all excited about somebody reading an ebook and triggering an MQL that the sales team doesn’t want, ’cause it’s not qualified, it’s not sales qualified, you walk in and say, no, no. This is a multimillion deal, dollar deal. It’s AstraZeneca. I know the five partners that are coming in in December to solidify the seven layers, and you’re walking in at the same time as the CMOs bragging about an ebook. [00:46:21] Jay McBain: This changes everything. If we could get to this level of data about every dollar of our tam, we not only outgrow our competitors, we become the platforms of the next generation. Partnering and ultimate partnering is all here. And this is what we’re doing in this room. This is what we’re doing over these couple of days, and this is what, uh, the mission that Vince is leading. [00:46:43] Jay McBain: Thank you so much. [00:46:47] Vince Menzione: Woo. Day in the house. Good to see you my friend. Good to see you. Oh, we’re gonna spend a couple minutes. Um, I’m put you in the second seat. We’re gonna put, we’re gonna make it sit fireside for a minute. Uh, that was intense. It was pretty incredible actually, Jay. And so I’m, I think I wanna open it up ’cause we only have a few minutes just to, any questions? [00:47:06] Vince Menzione: I’m sure people are just digesting. We already have one up here. See, [00:47:09] Question: Jay knows I’m [00:47:10] Vince Menzione: a question. I love it. We, I don’t think we have any I can grab a mic, a roving mic. I could be a roving mic person. Hold on. We can do this. This is not on. [00:47:25] Vince Menzione: Test, test. Yes it is. Yeah. [00:47:26] Question: Theresa Carriol dared me to ask a question and I say, you don’t have to dare me. You know, I’m going to Anyway. Um, so Jay, of the point of view that with all of the new AI players that strategic alliances is again having a moment, and I was curious your point of view on what you’re seeing around this emergence and trend of strategic alliances and strategic alliance management. [00:47:52] Question: As compared to channel management. And what are you seeing in terms of large vendors like AWS investing in that strategic alliance role versus that channel role training, enablement, measurement, all that good stuff? [00:48:06] Jay McBain: Yeah, it’s, it’s a great question. So when I told the story about toast at the restaurant or Square or Clover, they’re not call, they’re not gonna call open AI or Nvidia themselves either. [00:48:17] Jay McBain: When you look out at the 250,000 ISVs. That make up this AI stack, there is the layers that happen there. So the Alliance with AWS, the alliance they have with Microsoft or Google is going to be how they generate agent AI in their platforms. So when I talk about a seven layer stack, the average deal being seven layers, AI is gonna drive this to nine, and then 11, then probably 13. [00:48:44] Jay McBain: So in terms of how alliances work, I had it up there as one of the five core strategies, and I think it’s pretty even. You can have the best alliances in the world, but if the seven partners trusted by the customer don’t know what that alliance is and the benefits to the customer and never mention it, it’s all for Naugh. [00:49:00] Jay McBain: If you’re go-to market, you’re co-selling, your co-marketing strategies are not built around that alliance. It’s all for naught. If the integration and the co-innovation, the co-development, the all the co-creation work that’s done inside these alliances isn’t translated to customer outcomes, it’s all for naugh. [00:49:17] Jay McBain: These are all five parallel swim lanes. All five are absolutely critically needed. And I think they’re all five pretty equally weighted in terms of needing each other. Yes. To be successful in the era of platforms. Yeah. [00:49:32] Vince Menzione: And the problem is they’re all stove pipe today. If, if at all. Yeah. Maintained, right. [00:49:36] Vince Menzione: Alliances is an example. Channels and other example. They don’t talk to one another. Judge any, we’ve got a mic up here if anybody else has. Yep. We have some questions here, Jacqueline. [00:49:51] Question: So when we’re developing our channel programs, any advice on, you know, what’s the shift that we should make six months from now, a year from now? The historical has been bronze, silver, gold, right? And you’ve got your deal registration, but what’s the future look like? [00:50:05] Jay McBain: Yeah, so I mean, the programs are, are changing to, to the point where the customer should be in the middle and realizing the seven partners you need to win the deal. [00:50:15] Jay McBain: And depending on what category of product you’re in, security, how much you rely on resell, 91.6%. You know, the channel partners are gonna be critical where the customer spends the money. And if you’re adding friction to that process, you’re adding friction in terms of your growth. So you know, if you’re in cybersecurity, you have to have a pretty wide open reseller model. [00:50:39] Jay McBain: You have to have a wide open distribution model, and you have to make sure you’re there at that point of sale. While at the same time, considering the other six partners at moment 12 who are in either saying nice things about you or not, the customer might even be starting with you. ’cause there is actually one thing that I didn’t mention when I showed the 28 moments filled in. [00:51:00] Jay McBain: You’ll notice that the customer went to AWS twice direct. AWS lost the deal. Microsoft won the deal software. One is Microsoft’s biggest reseller in the world. They just acquired crayon. NTT who, who loves both had their Microsoft team go in. [00:51:18] Question: Mm. [00:51:19] Jay McBain: So I think that they went to AWS thinking it was A-W-S-S-A-P, you know, kind of starting this seven layer stack. [00:51:25] Jay McBain: I think they finished those, you know, critical moments in the middle looking at it. And then they went back to AWS kind of going probably WWTF. Yeah. What we thought was happening isn’t actually the outcome that was painted by our most trusted people. So, you know, to answer your question, listen to your partners. [00:51:43] Jay McBain: They want to be recognized for the other things they’re doing. You can’t be spending a hundred percent of the dollars at the point of sale. You gotta have a point of system that recognizes the point of sale, maybe even gold, silver, bronze, but recognizing that you’re paying for these other moments as well. [00:51:57] Jay McBain: Paying for alliances, paying for integrations and everything else, uh, in the cyber stack. And, um, you know, recognizing also the top 1000. So if I took your tam. And I overlaid those thousand logos. I would be walking into 2026 the best I could of showing my company logo by logo, where 80% of our TAM sits as wallet share, not by revenue. [00:52:25] Jay McBain: Remember, a million dollar partner is not a million dollar partner. One of them sells 1.2 million in our category. We should buy them a baseball cap and have ’em sit in the front row of our event. One of them sells $10 million and only sells our stuff if the customer asks. So my company should be looking at that $9 million opportunity and making sure my programs are writing the checks and my coverage. [00:52:48] Jay McBain: My capacity and capability planning is getting obsessed over that $9 million. My farmers can go over there, my hunters can go over here, and I should be submitting a list of a thousand sorted in descending order of opportunity. Of where my company can write program dollars into. [00:53:07] Vince Menzione: Great answer. All right. I, I do wanna be cognizant of time and the, all the other sessions we have. [00:53:14] Vince Menzione: So we’ll just take one other question if there are any here and if not, we’ll let I know. Jay, you’re gonna be mingling around for a little while before your flight. I’m [00:53:21] Jay McBain: here the whole day. [00:53:22] Vince Menzione: You, you’re the whole day. I see that Jay’s here the whole day. So if you have any other questions and, and, uh, sharing the deck is that. [00:53:29] Vince Menzione: Yep. Alright. We have permission to share the deck with the each of you as well. [00:53:34] Jay McBain: Alright, well thank you very much everyone. Jay. Great to have you.

In this episode of "Discovering Grayslake," recorded at The Loop Marketing, the hosts welcome Jennifer Everett, president of Foundation 46 and a Grayslake Middle School reading specialist. Jennifer shares how Foundation 46 supports local teachers and students through flexible grants, fundraising events like Barn Fest, and community activities such as school scavenger hunts. The conversation highlights the importance of community involvement, employer donation matching, and volunteering. Listeners are encouraged to attend events, apply for grants, and help spread the word, all working together to strengthen Grayslake's hometown spirit and support its schools. How Foundation 46 Empowers Grayslake: A Deep Dive into Community-Driven Educational Support Grayslake is more than just a town—it's a community where neighbors look out for each other, and where local organizations like Foundation 46 are making a real difference in the lives of teachers, students, and families. In a recent episode of the "Discovering Grayslake" podcast, recorded at The Loop Marketing at the end of Center Street and Lake, we sat down with Jennifer Everett, a seventh-grade reading specialist at Grayslake Middle School and the current president of Foundation 46. Jennifer, along with our hosts, shared invaluable insights into how Foundation 46 operates, the impact it has, and how every community member can get involved. This blog post unpacks the main themes and actionable tips from the episode, offering a comprehensive guide for anyone interested in supporting education in Grayslake. Whether you're a teacher, parent, business owner, or simply a neighbor who cares, there's a role for you in this hometown effort. What is Foundation 46? Foundation 46 is a local nonprofit dedicated to supporting teachers and students in Grayslake's District 46. Through grants, fundraising events, and community partnerships, the foundation provides resources and opportunities that go beyond what the school budget can cover. Their mission is simple: empower educators, enrich student experiences, and strengthen the community. 1. Flexible, Teacher-Friendly Grants: Fueling Creativity in the Classroom How the Grant Program Works One of the standout features of Foundation 46 is its open, rolling grant application process. Unlike many grant programs that have rigid deadlines, Foundation 46 allows teachers to apply whenever inspiration strikes. Applications are reviewed monthly, making it easier for busy educators to access funding when they need it most. Types of Grants: Project Grants:** $500–$1,000 for classroom projects, materials, or programs. Impact Grants:** Over $1,000 for larger, collaborative, or cross-school initiatives. Application Process: Teachers submit a Google Form detailing their project, its goals, and the number of students impacted. The Foundation uses a rubric to ensure fair, transparent evaluation. If more information is needed, teachers are encouraged to revise and resubmit—Foundation 46 is committed to helping ideas succeed, not just rubber-stamping or rejecting applications. Actionable Tips for Teachers Don't Wait for the "Perfect" Idea:** If you see a need in your classroom, apply! The process is designed to be supportive, not intimidating. Collaborate Across Schools:** Projects that benefit multiple classrooms or schools are especially encouraged. Think Beyond Supplies:** Past grants have funded everything from sensory kits and STEM materials to author visits and family reading nights. Reapply if Needed:** If your application isn't approved the first time, use the feedback to strengthen your proposal and try again. Expert Insight Jennifer Everett emphasizes, "We want to say yes. If you have a creative idea that will benefit students, we're here to help you make it happen." 2. Fundraising with Heart: Barn Fest and Beyond Barn Fest: The Signature Event Barn Fest is Foundation 46's biggest annual fundraiser, held at Jessie Oaks. It's an adult-only evening packed with fun—think mechanical bull rides, live music from Stu the Piano Guy, games, drink specials, and both live and silent auctions. The event is more than just a party; it's a chance for the whole community to rally behind local schools. Key Features: Affordable Tickets:** $25 for teachers, $40 for community members (includes dinner). Community Awards:** The Tom Mescal Award honors outstanding contributors. Unique Auction Items:** From rides in fire trucks to airplane experiences, the auction is always a highlight. Themed Fun:** This year's "Denim and Diamonds" theme blends country charm with a touch of sparkle. Other Fundraising Initiatives Dine-In Shares:** Local restaurants like The Vine and Black Lung host special nights where a portion of proceeds goes to Foundation 46. Scavenger Hunts:** Family-friendly events at local schools encourage exploration and community spirit. Sponsorships:** Local businesses can sponsor events or donate auction items, gaining visibility and goodwill. Actionable Tips for Community Members Attend Events:** Your ticket directly supports grants for teachers. Donate Auction Items:** Unique experiences or services are always in demand. Sponsor a Fundraiser:** Businesses can make a big impact and connect with local families. Host a Dine-In Share:** Restaurant owners, consider partnering with Foundation 46 for a win-win event. Expert Insight Jennifer notes, "We want Barn Fest to be a celebration for everyone, not just teachers. The more the community gets involved, the more we can do for our schools." 3. Maximizing Impact: Employer Matching and Volunteer Power Employer Matching: Double (or Triple) Your Donation Many local companies—including AbbVie, Allstate, Cardinal Health, CDW, First Midwest Bank, Granger, Kraft, Discover, and Motorola—offer matching gift programs. This means your donation to Foundation 46 could be doubled or even tripled, at no extra cost to you. How to Take Advantage: Check with HR:** Ask your employer if they match charitable donations. Submit Your Receipt:** Even event tickets may qualify as a donation. Spread the Word:** Encourage coworkers to participate. Real-World Example: At last year's Barn Fest, a $1,000 donation was matched by Granger, resulting in a $3,000–$4,000 total impact. Volunteering: The Heartbeat of Foundation 46 Like many nonprofits, Foundation 46 relies on a core group of dedicated volunteers—but they're always looking for more hands and fresh ideas. Ways to Volunteer: Join the Board:** Meetings are open to the public, held the first Thursday of each month at Frederick School's Falcon Room. Help at Events:** From setup to auction management, there's a role for everyone. Spread the Word:** Share Foundation 46's mission on social media or within your school community. Jennifer's Wish: "If even a small percentage of our 500 district employees volunteered, we'd have an incredible team. Every bit helps." 4. Expanding the Mission: Scholarships and Community Engagement New Initiatives: Student Scholarships Starting in 2026, Foundation 46 plans to offer student scholarships to help cover costs like sports fees for families in need. This expansion reflects a commitment to supporting not just teachers, but students and their families as well. Community-Building Activities School Scavenger Hunts:** Inspired by Jennifer's own experiences, these events encourage families to explore local schools and connect with each other. Family Reading Nights and Author Visits:** Funded by grants, these programs foster a love of learning and bring the community together. Actionable Tips for Families Participate in Events:** Bring your family to scavenger hunts and reading nights. Apply for Scholarships:** If you need help with extracurricular costs, watch for upcoming opportunities. Stay Informed:** Follow Foundation 46 on social media and sign up for newsletters. 5. How to Get Involved: Your Next Steps For Teachers: Apply for a grant—no idea is too small or too big. Collaborate with colleagues for cross-school projects. For Parents and Community Members: Attend Barn Fest and other events. Volunteer your time or skills. Donate or secure auction items. Check if your employer offers matching gifts. For Local Businesses: Sponsor an event or donate services. Host a dine-in share night. For Everyone: Share Foundation 46's mission on social media. Encourage friends and neighbors to get involved. Attend a board meeting to learn more. Contact Information: Email:** foundation46board@gmail.com Website:** foundation46.org Final Thoughts: Small Actions, Big Impact As Jennifer and the podcast hosts remind us, supporting local schools is a community effort. Whether you're donating, volunteering, or simply spreading the word, every action counts. In the words of our host, "Do one or two random acts of kindness each day—especially during the holiday season. Together, we can make Grayslake an even better place to live, learn, and grow." Subscribe to "Discovering Grayslake" on your favorite platform to stay updated on local stories and opportunities to get involved. Let's keep the hometown spirit alive—support Foundation 46 and help Grayslake's students and teachers thrive!

In der heutigen Folge sprechen die Finanzjournalisten Nando Sommerfeldt und Holger Zschäpitz über einen Sam Altman im Attacke-Modus, die prominenten MDax-Aufsteiger und 7 Bücher, die Euch helfen, das globale Chaos besser zu verstehen. Außerdem geht es um Alphabet, Nvidia, Tencent, Softbank, T-Mobile, Nvidia, Arm, Biogen, Lululemon, ON Semiconductor, GlobalFoundries, CDW, The Trade Desk, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Seagate, Western Digital, Insmed, Monolithic, Ferrovial, Meta, Tesla, Apple, Microsoft, Broadcom, T-Mobile, Applovin, Palantir, Aumovio, TKMS, Hellofresh, Gerresheimer, Teamviewer, Ottobock, Tonies, Verbio, PSI Software, LPKF, Stratec, Thyssenkrupp Nucera, Formycon, Procredit, Amadeus Fire, iShares MSCI EM SRI ETF (WKN: A2AFCZ), Xtrackers MSCI World Health Care ETF (WKN: A113FD), L&G Cyber Security ETF (WKN: A14WU5), iShares STOXX Europe 600 Construction & Materials ETF (WKN: A0H08F), iShares Core MSCI World ETF (WKN: A0RPWH), (Xtrackers MSCI Emerging Market ETF (WKN: A12GVR), Amundi Core MSCI Japan ETF (WKN: LYX0YC), iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (WKN: A0RPWG), Xtrackers MSCI USA ETF (WKN: A1XB5V), NASDAQ-100 ETF (WKN: A0F5UF), JPMorgan US Research Enhanced ETF (WKN: A2DWM7), Xetra-Gold (WKN: A0S9GB, Euwax Gold II (WKN: EWG2LD), iShares Global Corporate Bond EUR (WKN: A1W02Q), Xtrackers II EUR Overnight Rate ETF (WKN: DBX0AN). Die aktuelle "Alles auf Aktien"-Umfrage findet Ihr unter: https://www.umfrageonline.com/c/mh9uebwm Wir freuen uns an Feedback über aaa@welt.de. Noch mehr "Alles auf Aktien" findet Ihr bei WELTplus und Apple Podcasts – inklusive aller Artikel der Hosts und AAA-Newsletter.[ Hier bei WELT.](https://www.welt.de/podcasts/alles-auf-aktien/plus247399208/Boersen-Podcast-AAA-Bonus-Folgen-Jede-Woche-noch-mehr-Antworten-auf-Eure-Boersen-Fragen.html.) [Hier] (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6zxjyJpTMunyYCY6F7vHK1?si=8f6cTnkEQnmSrlMU8Vo6uQ) findest Du die Samstagsfolgen Klassiker-Playlist auf Spotify! Disclaimer: Die im Podcast besprochenen Aktien und Fonds stellen keine spezifischen Kauf- oder Anlage-Empfehlungen dar. Die Moderatoren und der Verlag haften nicht für etwaige Verluste, die aufgrund der Umsetzung der Gedanken oder Ideen entstehen. Hörtipps: Für alle, die noch mehr wissen wollen: Holger Zschäpitz können Sie jede Woche im Finanz- und Wirtschaftspodcast "Deffner&Zschäpitz" hören. +++ Werbung +++ Du möchtest mehr über unsere Werbepartner erfahren? [**Hier findest du alle Infos & Rabatte!**](https://linktr.ee/alles_auf_aktien) Impressum: https://www.welt.de/services/article7893735/Impressum.html Datenschutz: https://www.welt.de/services/article157550705/Datenschutzerklaerung-WELT-DIGITAL.html

For years, the AV industry has discussed the long-anticipated convergence with IT—but that shift is no longer theoretical. With cloud adoption accelerating, hybrid work normalizing, and organizations rebuilding digital infrastructure after years of rapid change, AV systems now sit squarely on the IT backbone. In fact, the majority of newly upgraded conference rooms require network-centric workflows compared to five years ago, a trend amplified by the pandemic-driven overhaul of collaboration spaces.What does this convergence actually look like when deployed at scale? And how can AV professionals adapt to an environment where IT now influences everything from user experience to data strategy?Welcome to Pro AV Today. In the latest episode, host Ben Thomas speaks with Sean Hobday, SVP of Sales, Global Supply Chain, and Doug Eckrote, SVP and Chief Operating Officer at Zones, to explore how a global IT-centric company is applying decades of cross-industry expertise to its new foray into Pro AV. The conversation covers how real-world IT practices can streamline AV deployments, enhance user outcomes, and set new expectations for consistency and scale across locations.Key highlights from the conversation…Why AV has officially become part of IT—and how cloud, networking, and post-pandemic upgrades accelerated the shift.How retail and QSR experience shaped Zones' approach, especially around user experience, standardization, and scaling digital environments across many locations.What success looks like for modern AV/IT implementations, from security and efficiency gains to measurable revenue impact and exceeding operational expectations.Doug Eckrote is a seasoned executive with 30+ years of leadership in multinational technology, operations, and enterprise transformation, specializing in large-scale business operations, supply chain optimization, and go-to-market strategy. He has overseen multibillion-dollar business units, led major digital and operational transformations—including CDW's $1.9B Small Business unit and its $4.2B eCommerce platform—and driven initiatives that significantly improved efficiency, revenue performance, and organizational capability. Recognized with industry honors such as Crain's Forty Under Forty and Logistics Management's Gold Award, he is known for guiding complex organizations through growth, modernization, and high-impact operational change.Sean Hobday is a global sales executive with more than 30 years of experience transforming IT organizations through scalable infrastructure strategy, market expansion, and high-performance team development. He has led Zones' worldwide sales growth across North America, Europe, India, the Middle East, and Asia, driving double-digit annual gains while advancing cloud, network, and data center modernization initiatives for enterprises across retail, utilities, finance, and manufacturing. Known for turning complex technology landscapes into clear, measurable business outcomes, he specializes in IT lifecycle management, competitive innovation strategy, and building customer-centric sales cultures that accelerate global growth.

Send us a textDid Vatican II require the priest to face the people? Short answer: no.In this episode, we unpack *ad orientem*—what it is, what the Roman Missal actually says, and why the Church's worship faces the Lord.— EPISODE SUMMARY —Fr. Dan and Ken walk through the Church's teaching and practice on Mass orientation. We clarify common misconceptions about Vatican II, explain the idea of “liturgical East,” look at the Roman Missal rubrics that tell the priest when to turn and face the people, and review the year-2000 Vatican clarification that versus populum is an option—not an obligation. Pastoral takeaways: mutual openness, reverence, and a vertical focus on God.— KEY POINTS —• What “ad orientem” means: priest and people facing the Lord together  • “Liturgical East”: crucifix/tabernacle as our shared focus  • Vatican II: what it did—and did **not**—say about orientation  • 1964 instruction on freestanding altars: an option for celebration facing the people  • Roman Missal rubrics: why “turn to face the people” appears (and what that implies)  • 2000 clarification (CDW): facing the people is **not** obligatory  • Benedict XVI (Cardinal Ratzinger): avoid labels; seek the best realization of the liturgy  • Pastoral how-to: reintroducing ad orientem prudently and catechetically— QUOTES/REFERENCES —• Michael Lang, *Turning Towards the Lord* (foreword by Joseph Ratzinger)  • General Instruction / Roman Missal rubrics (on turning to face the people)  • CDW, 2000 clarification on celebration facing the people— CHAPTERS —00:00 Intro — Ad Orientem Unveiled: What Vatican II Really Taught01:04 Homily begins: Fr Dan Yasinski: What Vatican II didn't say03:08 What “Ad Orientem” means & it's historical significance 05:28 Why “Liturgical East” matters (crucifix & tabernacle as focus)06:21 Does the Church allow for Ad Orientem?09:53 Benedict XVI (Ratzinger): mutual openness, not labels11:38 Interview with Fr Dan Begins - Did Vatican ask priest to face the people?15:36 Q&A segment: What are the rubrics? 18:24 How are the rubrics over looked?19:58 Why are the instructions from the Vatican on Ad Orientem ignored?22:32 Responding to the critics of Ad Orientem worship27:27 Is Ad Orientem worship non-inclusive?30:46 Conclusion & invitation: “We turn to the Lord”If this blessed you, please follow/rate the show and share it with a friend.  Support the showSupport this show and get all future episodes by email atwww.kenandjanelle.com

In this episode of the Innovative Pedagogy Podcast, Chris Garcia talks with Dr. Jennette Vanderpool from CDW about what it means to lead smarter in today's schools. Jennette shares how her experience as a teacher, administrator, and board member shapes her approach to efficient spending and strategic decision-making.They break down where districts should focus when budgets are tight, how to balance innovation with responsibility, and why trends like AI, cybersecurity, and sustainability are shaping the future of Classroom Modernization 2025. Jennette also highlights how strong collaboration between school and IT leaders can turn smart investments into better learning.A practical and forward-looking conversation for anyone guiding educational decisions today.#EducationalLeadership #EdTech #InnovativePedagogy #SchoolLeadership #FutureReadySchools #CDWEducation #ClassroomModernization #AIinEducation #CybersecurityEducation #SustainableSchools #SmartSpending #EducationPodcast

In this episode of the CDW Canada Tech Talks podcast, host KJ Burke engages with CDW experts Joe D'Amato, Kris Kostiuk and Kevin Ellsworth to explore the evolving technology landscape of media and entertainment. They discuss the unique challenges faced by the industry, including project-based workflows, cybersecurity threats and the impact of AI on content creation. The conversation highlights the importance of collaboration, best practices and the need for dedicated teams to manage technology and security. As the industry adapts to new technologies and threats, the experts share insights on how studios can prepare for the future and leverage innovations to enhance their operations. To learn more, visit cdw.ca Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

CDW chief technologist Jaro Tomik joins host Sakari Kyrö to unpack two seismic shifts rocking enterprise IT: the rise of AI-washing and the pivot to experience-led service management. Hear how Jaro's “escape-room for IT” workshops flip roles, surface hidden bottlenecks and turn data visibility into a zero-ticket, proactive support vision—all while keeping people and productivity front-and-centre.Key Take-awaysBeware AI-washing. Almost every vendor now claims “AI,” so leaders must cut through marketing noise to find real value.Employee experience is the new compass. Human-centred design and continuous experience data now guide project prioritisation.Scenario workshops build cross-functional empathy. Role-swapping lets teams feel each other's pain, revealing blind spots safely.Service-desk reality is tough. Experiencing the frontline first-hand fosters respect and partnership between business and IT.Visibility requires three data lenses—technology, operational, experience. Only by merging all three can CIOs see true bottlenecks.A living roadmap tames VUCA change. A clear three-year vision anchors busy teams and retains talent.Automation + AI enable proactive, “zero-ticket” support. When IT knows device health and feelings up-front, users stay productive.External facilitation accelerates buy-in. An outside voice often unlocks trust and momentum that internal teams struggle to spark.Resources & Links mentionedJaro Tomik on LinkedIn – connect for daily enterprise-service-management insights https://www.linkedin.com/in/jarotomikCDW Enterprise Service Management – learn how CDW guides large enterprises through experience-led transformation https://www.cdw.com/Scenario-Based IT Workshops (Sunburst Simulations) – explore the escape-room-style workshop framework Jaro runs https://sunburst-simulations.com/Subscribe to our newsletter:LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/it-experience-insights-6996053129205026816/⁠Email: ⁠https://happysignals.com/itxm-insights

Crain's commercial real estate reporter Danny Ecker joins host Amy Guth to discuss the latest with Sterling Bay as the developer nears a deal to buy Boeing's West Loop office tower and looks to sell property next to the site for its embattled Lincoln Yards megaproject.Plus: Former ComEd CEO sentenced to two years in prison for Madigan bribery scheme, Streeterville hotel sold to local investor at discount, Chicago firm picks up riverfront office building on the cheap and plans $50 million revamp, and CDW cuts more workers in fourth round of layoffs over two years.

This week on Live Bold & Boss Up, Steph & Ash sit down with Amanda Dugger, CEO of DGR Systems, and Sable Davis, Managing Services Principal at CDW — and the newly appointed Chair and Vice-Chair of Tampa Bay Tech. Amanda and Sable open up about their career journeys, leadership philosophies, and what inspired them […] The post Leading the Future of Tampa Bay Tech with Sable Davis & Amanda Dugger appeared first on Radio Influence.

This week on Live Bold & Boss Up, Steph & Ash sit down with Amanda Dugger, CEO of DGR Systems, and Sable Davis, Managing Services Principal at CDW — and the newly appointed Chair and Vice-Chair of Tampa Bay Tech. Amanda and Sable open up about their career journeys, leadership philosophies, and what inspired them […] The post Leading the Future of Tampa Bay Tech with Sable Davis & Amanda Dugger appeared first on Radio Influence.

This week on Live Bold & Boss Up, Steph & Ash sit down with Amanda Dugger, CEO of DGR Systems, and Sable Davis, Managing Services Principal at CDW — and the newly appointed Chair and Vice-Chair of Tampa Bay Tech. Amanda and Sable open up about their career journeys, leadership philosophies, and what inspired them […] The post Leading the Future of Tampa Bay Tech with Sable Davis & Amanda Dugger appeared first on Radio Influence.

Immunic Inc CEO Dr Daniel Vitt talked with Proactive's Stephen Gunnion about new positive data from the company's phase 2 EMPhASIS trial of vidofludimus calcium in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The discussion also referenced the companion CALLIPER study in progressive MS, reinforcing the drug's potential neuroprotective benefits. Vitt said the low rate of confirmed disability worsening seen in EMPhASIS patients highlights a meaningful advancement. “It has the potential to really get beyond what current drugs are offering to patients,” he stated. The long-term follow-up revealed that 92.7% of participants remained free of 24-week confirmed disability progression after 144 weeks. The safety profile was also discussed, with Dr Vitt highlighting that 182 of the original 254 patients from the open-label extension remain on active treatment, underscoring strong tolerability. He reviewed the EMPhASIS trial's structure—three dosing arms tested against placebo with significant reductions in cumulative unique active and gadolinium-enhancing lesions seen in the 30mg and 45mg groups during the main treatment period. The company observed a more than 50% reduction in disability progression, even in early datasets. Vitt also noted the importance of confirmed disability worsening (CDW) for MS patients, linking it to long-term quality of life and independence. He emphasized that stopping or slowing CDW remains a key unmet need. Looking forward, Immunic has initiated two phase 3 ENSURE studies in relapsing MS, aiming for data readouts by the end of next year. These will support a potential regulatory filing. The CALLIPER study in progressive MS showed a 24% reduction in CDW overall and 32% in the primary progressive MS subgroup, reinforcing the neuroprotective potential of vidofludimus calcium. Visit Proactive's YouTube channel for more videos, and don't forget to give this video a like, subscribe to the channel, and enable notifications for future content. #ImmunicInc #MultipleSclerosis #MSResearch #VidofludimusCalcium #BiotechNews #ClinicalTrials #Neuroprotection #HealthcareInnovation #EMPhASISTrial #CALLIPERStudy #MSAwareness #DrugDevelopment

In this episode, we delve into the critical role of allyship in the workplace with Wendy O'Neill, Head of Business Development at CDW, who shares her personal experiences and practical strategies for becoming a better ally.  Wendy discusses how to recognize and support colleagues whose voices are often unheard, how to foster allyship within a team, and the powerful impact of situational awareness in meetings. She also talks about leading by example, addressing unconscious biases, and building relationships with allies who are different from us. The episode concludes with actionable tips for advocating for oneself and others, creating an inclusive and high-performing team culture.  01:27 The Power of Allyship in Building Confidence and Careers 08:43 How to Be A Great Ally (Practical Tips) 10:52 The Best Way To Support Overlooked Voices In Meetings 17:49 The Right Way to Ask An Ally For Support in Meetings 19:49 The Secret to Transform Conflict into Allyship 25:11 Tips to Encourage Your Team to Speak Up 27:51 How to Create a Culture of Allyship in Your Team and Company 37:45 Final Thoughts on Allyship   ✅ About Wendi O'Neill Wendi O'Neill is the Head of Business Development for CDW's Digital Velocity (DV) division, where she leads high-performing teams focused on helping organizations navigate digital transformation through modern technology practices. Wendi holds a Master's degree in Leadership and Innovation from the University of Queensland and serves as Vice Chair of CDW's Women's Opportunity Network. A champion for mentorship and strong leadership representation, Wendi is committed to fostering the next generation of changemakers in tech.   ✅ Take the Quiz 'Do You Speak Like a High-Impact Leader?': https://myassertiveway.outgrow.us/highimpactleader    ✅ Free Newsletter: https://assertiveway.com/newsletter/   ✅ Listen on the Speak Your Mind Unapologetically podcast on Apple Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speak-your-mind-unapologetically-podcast/id1623647915      ✅ Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6L1myPkiJXYf5SGrublYz2   ✅ Order our book, ‘Unapologetic Voice: 101 Real-World Strategies for Brave Self Advocacy & Bold Leadership' where each strategy is also a real story: https://www.amazon.com/Unapologetic-Voice-Real-World-Strategies-Leadership-ebook/dp/B0CW2X4WWL/   ✅ Follow the show host, Ivna Curi, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivna-curi-mba-67083b2/     ✅ Request A Customized Workshop For Your Team And Company:   http://assertiveway.com/workshops Contact me: info@assertiveway.com or ivnacuri@assertiveway.com Contact me on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivna-curi-mba-67083b2   ✅ Support The Podcast Rate the podcast on apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speak-your-mind-unapologetically-podcast/id1623647915

In this episode, we build with Jonathan Raude. I have known Jonathan for the last 10 years and witnessed his journey from new hire to founder. From single man to a father of two. From tennis player to tennis leader. I'm thrilled and honored to have Jonathan on to share his story!We discuss so many things including how Jonathan founded his company, how he finds talent in this new world, how being the son of immigrants influenced him and even how to find the best pizza in New York City and Miami. Jonathan Raude is the Co-Founder of Resourceful Talent Group, where he helps companies scale through high-impact hiring and global software outsourcing. An active voice on topics like global software outsourcing and modern hiring practices, Jonathan began his career at IBM as an Account Executive, managing Fortune 500 clients like American Express, Goldman Sachs, and Fiserv. Today, he leads a team that supports organizations such as CDW, Duke Health, AbbVie, and Ferrellgas, delivering creative, industry-agnostic talent solutions when the stakes are high. Known for his ability to thrive under pressure, Jonathan is a trusted partner for clients who need fresh thinking and results.A former Division I tennis player and team captain at Boston College, he brings the same competitive edge, discipline, and drive to business. He now lives in Miami with his wife and two children, Stella and Asher, and serves on the Emerging Leaders Council of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

We made it all the way through. In this episode we discuss the season finale of season 2. Topics include eating food from strangers houses, code switching and how information changes decisions. Other topics include playing the hero, suspension of disbelief and a very in depth disagreement on Jesse. We would also like to announce that #babywatch2025 has come to an end as Mr and Mrs CDW welcomed their healthy baby. What did you think of the finale? How do you feel about Jesse? Let us know on IG @youwatchinpodcast or our Facebook fan page!

En este episodio cubrimos los eventos más impactantes que están moviendo mercados, tensando relaciones internacionales y transformando industrias clave:

The Inside Stylists Podcast: Inside Clerkenwell Design Week 2025 A few things we covered in this episode : The huge scale of Clerkenwell Design Week and how it's evolved Why going with a like-minded industry friend makes all the difference Coat Paints x Kirkby by Design: tone-on-tone pairings Divine Savages' signature British storytelling designs Fenwich & Tilbrook's sustainable paint displays Fritz Fryer's antique light installation Beautiful bespoke furniture by Studio Arvor Matthew Burt's sculptural wooden ceiling installation Bisley's collab with artist Gabriella Marcella Timorous Beasties' bold new samples Natural textures and soundproofing materials from ARTE Studio Flock's sustainability-driven furniture My top tip: get out of the house to get inspired People mentioned in this episode: Coat Paints (Peel & Stick innovators) - Kirkby by Design (part of Romo Group) - Divine Savages – Designers of the famous Crane Fonda wallpaper. Podcast Ep: Divine Savages Interview Fenwick & Tilbrook – Eco-friendly paint brand from Norfolk - Fenwick and Tilbrook Podcast Fritz Fryer – Antique and modern lighting - Fritz Fryer podcast Studio Arvor – Cornwall-based sustainable furniture makers Matthew Burt – Master furniture maker and ceiling installation artist Bisley – UK-made office furniture with artist collaborations - bisley.com Gabriella Marcella / Risotto Studio – Artist and pattern designer - risottostudio.com Timorous Beasties – Maximalist textile and wallpaper designers - timorousbeasties.com Studio Flokk – Sustainable commercial furniture brand Georgina Isaac – Interior stylist and member of Inside Stylists Show notes for today's episode are here The Inside Stylist's Interior Styling Course     Find us here InsideStylists.com Instagram: Instagram.com/InsideStylists  Facebook: Facebook.com/InsideStylists Podcasts : Insidestylists.com/podcast/ Blogs : Insidestylists.com/inside-stylists-blog/

6 down 1 to go. This week we discuss episode 6 and a host of other items. Topics include homies maturing, travel plans, and BABY WATCH 2025 (for Mr and Mrs Cdw). Other topics include telling kids the truth, gushing over Joel, parenting teens, interpreting dreams and safety vs passion. Curt asks after the fall of civilization is history obsolete and complains about show Ellie. How are you feeling about show Ellie? How are you liking this season? Are you excited for the finale? Let us know on IG @youwatchinpodcast or our Facebook fan page!

En la segunda parte de la quedada de abril Emiliano Madrid y Manuel Barragán nos muestran un par de multi función con escáner e impresora láser que incorporan alimentador de hojas inteligente. Aparte de sus descripciones, nos comparten interesantes usos prácticos. A continuación, Juan Núñez nos habla de un dispositivo muy útil, una grabadora Bluetooth que nos permite grabar conversaciones telefónicas adosándola al móvil de forma magnética. Graba a nuestro interlocutor "por contacto", sin poner el móvil en manos libres y tiene una aplicación móvil que, entre otras cosas, nos permite trascribir e incluso resumir las grabaciones empleando Inteligencia Artificial.   Enlaces: Impresora multifunción láser Color con alimentador de Documentos de 50 Hojas e impresión automática a Doble Cara Brother DCPL3560CDW (la multifunción de la demo de Emiliano).   Impresora multifunción láser Color Brother MFC L 8690 CDW (la que escanea e imprime a doble cara, pero que es muy grande).   Impresora multifunción Profesional láser Color compacta Brother MFCL8390CDW (la que escanea e imprime a doble cara pero más compacta).   Impresora multifunción con Impresión láser automática a doble cara HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4302dw (la que tiene Manuel Barragán).   Mini grabadora de voz para móvil SOXOI.   Enlace de descarga en la AppStore para la aplicación FOCASE REC, la cual permite gestionar y configurar la grabadora SOXOI.  

In this episode of the Wise Decision Maker Show, Dr. Gleb Tsipursky speaks to Katrina Williams, VP of Sales, CDW, about the importance of continuing to learn about Gen AI to avoid getting left behind.You can learn about CDW at https://www.cdw.com/

You gotta protect the McNuggets! Welcome back to a special request episode from our #1 super fan Mr CDW where we watch 2005's The Longest Yard. Topics include what Marcus has been watching, Courtney Cox (mainly her titties), Ben Affleck, prison punishments, college football and Race in sports. We also discuss Burt Reynolds vs Tom Selleck and Curt call Marcus to the carpet for being difficult towards film and tv. Let us know your thoughts on IG @youwatchinpodcast or our Facebook fan page.

Send us a textIn this episode of The Route to Networking, host George Barnes interviews Tim Russell, Chief Technologist at CDW. Tim shares his unconventional journey from boat mechanic to IT leader, highlighting how hands-on problem-solving led him to a career in networking.He discusses the evolution of communication technologies, the challenges businesses face in adopting innovation, and how AI is transforming both customer and employee experiences. Tim also offers career advice for aspiring network engineers and reflects on the future of hybrid work.To hear more about the latest trends in networking and how technology is shaping the modern workspace, tune in to this insightful conversation!Find out more about Tim in this week's episode of The Route to Networking podcast. Out now!  Connect with Tim:

So, what is CDW coverage and why do you have to have it? Put very simply, CDW coverage limits your liability for material damage to the vehicle. Basic CDW is included in your rental agreement. This coverage limits your liability for damage to the vehicle. But it does not completely cover it. The amount over... The post Ireland Car Rental CDW Insurance appeared first on Ireland Family Vacations.

Ireland rental car insurance and CDW coverage leaves many people confused. What you must know before renting a car in Ireland. The post Ireland Rental Car Insurance: What is CDW Coverage and Why Do I Need It? appeared first on Ireland Family Vacations.

January 29, 2025: Dustin Leek, Executive Healthcare Strategist for CDW, explores the necessity of partners with clinical experience and CDW's current focuses. What role does data governance play in unlocking AI's potential in healthcare? As financial pressures mount on health systems, what strategies can CIOs and CTOs employ to maximize operational efficiency without compromising care? You don't want to miss this interview in action.Key Points:02:46 CDW's Unique Team and Approach04:36 Security, Data, and AI07:57 Upcoming Events and Speaking EngagementsSubscribe: This Week HealthTwitter: This Week HealthLinkedIn: Week HealthDonate: Alex's Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

What up? We're back this week with a fireside chat featuring our #1 Super Fan Mr. CDW. In this sprawling conversation Chris shares his story with us. Topics include childhood cultural diversity, sports, influences and interracial relationships. Chris and Marcus debate about Snoop selling out and talk about the benefits of sharing our experiences. We end with a CDW created pop-quiz putting Marcus's best friend claims to the fire. Let us know your thoughts on IG @youwatchinpodcast or our Facebook fan page.

January 15, 2024: Eli Tarlow, Director and Healthcare Strategist at CDW, and Rajeeb Khatua, COO of ReMedi Health Solutions, discuss their strategy to keep health systems afloat during EHR downtimes. CDW's four-base system takes health leaders through a process of ensuring quality continuous care, to equip clinicians with the tools to function on downtime for up to and beyond a month. Get a peek into the future of healthcare preparedness in this solution showcase. Key Points:05:28 Analogy: Healthcare and Aviation10:39 First Base: Assessment 14:41 Second Base: Remediation15:26 Third Base: Soft Tabletop Exercises16:04 Home Run: Downtime Simulation19:06 Financial and Operational ConsiderationsSubscribe: This Week HealthTwitter: This Week HealthLinkedIn: Week HealthDonate: Alex's Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

I'm thrilled to share my interview with Dustin Nelson, Sales Director at CDW, recorded live at Google Cloud's Marketplace Exchange! Dustin dives into how CDW has embraced the marketplace model to meet customers' evolving needs in today's SaaS-driven world, where cloud marketplaces are transforming how organizations buy, manage, and scale solutions. Dustin shares CDW's journey of building a dedicated team to support Google Cloud Marketplace transactions, which has led to impressive growth: over $400 million in marketplace business and 500 transactions this year alone. With customers now at the center, Dustin emphasizes that open collaboration between Google, ISVs, and partners like CDW is crucial for delivering enhanced value and transaction flexibility. For organizations planning their 2025 marketplace strategy, Dustin advises embracing collaboration and focusing on customer-centric approaches to stay ahead in this fast-evolving ecosystem. Tune into this Ultimate Guide to Partnering episode to hear how CDW is sparking the marketplace ecosystem!

Scott Norberg joins Ken Johnson and Seth Law for an episode of Absolute AppSec all about SAST. Scott is an ASP.NET Security Consultant, Author, Researcher and Speaker. In addition to running his Opperis Technologies consultancy, Scott has recently begun working as lead application security architect at CDW. Before that he worked as Lead Application Security engineer at Gallagher and was a Senior Consultant with the AppSec team at Coalfire. He has been a web security specialist for nearly two decades, and holds several certifications, including Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS), certifications for ASP.NET and SQL Server, and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and CCSP certification. He also has an MBA from Indiana University. To find out more about Scott check out his website https://scottnorberg.com/ as well as his 2020 book Advanced ASP NET Core Security Vulnerabilities.

Mastering Cybersecurity: From AI Threats to Quantum Encryption - Insights with CDW Join host Jim Love in a riveting discussion with Ivo Wiens, Field CTO for CDW Canada, as they review CDW's cyber security research and discussions with CISO's about the state of cyber security in Canada.  Delve into the sophistication of cyber attacks driven by organized crime and nation-states, and learn about the importance of cyber security frameworks like zero trust and NIST standards. The conversation also explores the role of AI in both enhancing phishing attacks and defending against cyber threats, as well as the challenges and strategies in implementing AI security within organizations. Gain insights on vendor management complexities, platformization, quantum cryptography, and the future of cyber encryption. Listen to practical advice on navigating business risks, enhancing user experiences, and adopting zero trust models in today's digital landscape.  00:00 Introduction to Cybersecurity Today 00:26 Understanding CDW and Its Role 01:08 CDW's Approach to Cybersecurity 04:16 Research and Insights from CDW 05:40 The Growing Sophistication of Cyber Attacks 08:24 Adopting Cybersecurity Frameworks 12:12 The Importance of Tabletop Exercises 17:01 Human Vulnerabilities and AI in Cybersecurity 18:12 The Sophistication of Phishing Attacks 19:03 Emotional Manipulation in Cyber Attacks 21:09 AI in Cybersecurity: Opportunities and Risks 22:30 Implementing AI in Business Operations 25:08 Balancing AI and Privacy Concerns 34:09 The Future of Cybersecurity: Quantum Computing 36:53 Final Thoughts and Advice for Organizations

Mastering Cybersecurity: From AI Threats to Quantum Encryption - Insights with CDW Join host Jim Love in a riveting discussion with Ivo Wiens, Field CTO for CDW Canada, as they review CDW's cyber security research and discussions with CISO's about the state of cyber security in Canada.  Delve into the sophistication of cyber attacks driven by organized crime and nation-states, and learn about the importance of cyber security frameworks like zero trust and NIST standards. The conversation also explores the role of AI in both enhancing phishing attacks and defending against cyber threats, as well as the challenges and strategies in implementing AI security within organizations. Gain insights on vendor management complexities, platformization, quantum cryptography, and the future of cyber encryption. Listen to practical advice on navigating business risks, enhancing user experiences, and adopting zero trust models in today's digital landscape.  00:00 Introduction to Cybersecurity Today 00:26 Understanding CDW and Its Role 01:08 CDW's Approach to Cybersecurity 04:16 Research and Insights from CDW 05:40 The Growing Sophistication of Cyber Attacks 08:24 Adopting Cybersecurity Frameworks 12:12 The Importance of Tabletop Exercises 17:01 Human Vulnerabilities and AI in Cybersecurity 18:12 The Sophistication of Phishing Attacks 19:03 Emotional Manipulation in Cyber Attacks 21:09 AI in Cybersecurity: Opportunities and Risks 22:30 Implementing AI in Business Operations 25:08 Balancing AI and Privacy Concerns 34:09 The Future of Cybersecurity: Quantum Computing 36:53 Final Thoughts and Advice for Organizations

Host Dave Sobel discusses the current state of the U.S. economy, highlighting a 0.4% increase in retail sales for September, which counters fears of an economic slowdown. Notably, sectors such as clothing, restaurants, and pet stores saw significant spending increases, while furniture and electronics experienced declines. Sobel also references Kindrall's 2024 readiness report, revealing a disconnect between executives' confidence in their IT infrastructure and its actual preparedness for future challenges, with a significant portion nearing the end of its life cycle.The episode delves into the growing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) among small businesses, with 40% utilizing AI tools in 2024, up from 23% in 2023. The primary applications include marketing and customer communication, reflecting a broader trend of businesses leveraging AI for data-driven strategies. Sobel notes that the AI market is valued at approximately $9 trillion, with predictions indicating a shift towards no-code applications and advancements in robotic process automation. The discussion emphasizes the importance of AI in enhancing operational efficiency and decision-making.Sobel highlights the evolving landscape for managed service providers (MSPs), particularly how mid-sized MSPs are leveraging generative AI tools to carve out niche markets. He points out that while larger MSPs focus on massive enterprise contracts, smaller players can thrive by specializing in specific verticals like healthcare and finance. The episode also touches on a CDW survey revealing that while organizations feel capable of managing their cloud environments, challenges such as a lack of governance and cloud skills persist, indicating a steady demand for cloud expertise.The episode concludes with a look at recent product launches and updates from major tech companies. Microsoft has introduced AI agents for its Dynamics 365 platform, aimed at automating tasks and improving efficiency, while OpenAI has launched a desktop application for ChatGPT, enhancing user accessibility. Additionally, PAX 8 has expanded its security program for MSPs, and Apple has introduced Business Connect to help organizations manage their identity across its platforms. Sobel emphasizes the need for expertise in AI deployment and the importance of specialization for service providers navigating these trends. Five things to know today 00:00 Amid Retail Strength and AI Growth, IT Leaders Face Infrastructure Gaps and Cloud Expertise Shortages06:51 Microsoft's Dynamics 365 AI Agents and OpenAI's ChatGPT Desktop App Launched08:49 Evo Security Launches Evo 2.0, Pax8 Expands Security Program and Marketplace 10:48 Apple Introduces Business Connect to Strengthen Brand Trust with Verified Business Caller ID in 202511:51 New $25M Founders Fund from Top Down Ventures Backs Promising SaaS Players in the MSP Sector   Supported by:  https://www.huntress.com/mspradio/https://mspradio.com/engage/   All our Sponsors: https://businessof.tech/sponsors/ Do you want the show on your podcast app or the written versions of the stories? Subscribe to the Business of Tech: https://www.businessof.tech/subscribe/Looking for a link from the stories? The entire script of the show, with links to articles, are posted in each story on https://www.businessof.tech/ Support the show on Patreon: https://patreon.com/mspradio/ Want to be a guest on Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services Insights? Send Dave Sobel a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/businessoftech Want our stuff? Cool Merch? Wear “Why Do We Care?” - Visit https://mspradio.myspreadshop.com Follow us on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28908079/YouTube: https://youtube.com/mspradio/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mspradionews/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mspradio/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@businessoftechBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/businessoftech.bsky.social

Exploring the 2024 CDW Canadian Hybrid Cloud Report with KJ Burke In this episode of Hashtag Trending, the weekend edition, host Jim Love delves into the evolution and current state of cloud technology with guest KJ Burke, Field CTO for Hybrid Infrastructure at CDW Canada. They discuss the 2024 CDW Canadian hybrid cloud report, prepared with IDC, highlighting trends and challenges in cloud management, particularly in Canadian businesses. The dialogue touches on hybrid cloud definitions, financial management in cloud operations, data governance, AI, and IoT projects. Burke shares insights on the evolving needs for automation and skills in IT and highlights the importance of data security and compliance. The episode ends with a call to check out related resources and stay tuned for more updates. 00:00 Introduction and Evolution of Cloud Computing 01:14 Introducing the 2024 CDW Canadian Hybrid Cloud Report 01:48 Meet K.J. Burke: Field CTO for Hybrid Infrastructure at CDW 03:04 The Importance of Canadian-Specific Cloud Research 05:55 Key Findings from the 2024 Cloud Report 10:43 Challenges in Managing Hybrid Multi-Cloud Environments 21:39 The Role of AI and IOT in Cloud Computing 30:58 Data Management and Governance in the Cloud 37:31 Final Insights and Recommendations 41:13 Conclusion and Farewell

What does it take to become a bold leader? How do you build high-performing teams that are excuse-proof, and goal-crushing?  Our guest in this episode is Kimberly Svoboda, the CEO of Aspiration Catalyst®. Kim spent 25 years building businesses from zero dollars to millions at high-growth technology firms such as CDW, Adobe, US Cellular, and Insight…and has deep expertise in leadership, sales, operations, strategy, and what it takes to build powerful teams and sustain high performance. Her mission is to empower BOLD leaders worldwide.   Episode Highlights: 00:00 Introduction: A Surprising Start 01:34 Influences and Inspirations: The Journey to Leadership 03:32 The Mission: Making a Difference in Leadership 04:47 Recognizing the Need for Leadership Coaching 07:10 Tailored Solutions for High-Growth Companies 12:34 The Power of Strengths-Based Leadership 17:09 A Global Perspective: Personal Insights and Future Plans ​19:12 How to Connect with Kimberly Svodoba   Show Links: http://www.aspirationcatalyst.com/

This week we are continuing our PoweredUp Tech Fest Series! Today Steph & Ash talk with Ken Pomella (CEO of Revstar), Todd Ketterman (Healthcare Strategist for CDW), and Kim Anstett (CIO of Trellix) about practical AI and putting it into use. We dive into how companies can use AI for practical business uses and if […] The post PoweredUp Series! – Kim Anstett, Todd Ketterman, and Ken Pomella appeared first on Radio Influence.

This week we are continuing our PoweredUp Tech Fest Series! Today Steph & Ash talk with Ken Pomella (CEO of Revstar), Todd Ketterman (Healthcare Strategist for CDW), and Kim Anstett (CIO of Trellix) about practical AI and putting it into use. We dive into how companies can use AI for practical business uses and if […] The post PoweredUp Series! – Kim Anstett, Todd Ketterman, and Ken Pomella appeared first on Radio Influence.

In this episode, Scott Becker discusses Blackstone’s $2 billion acquisition plan, Starbucks’ revenue miss, CDW’s market struggles, and Dr. Mu Tomlinson’s achievements with the Vituity Foundation. He also celebrates the podcast’s milestones and the stock market’s positive reaction to potential interest rate cuts.

In this episode, Scott Becker discusses Blackstone’s $2 billion acquisition plan, Starbucks’ revenue miss, CDW’s market struggles, and Dr. Mu Tomlinson’s achievements with the Vituity Foundation. He also celebrates the podcast’s milestones and the stock market’s positive reaction to potential interest rate cuts.

July 24, 2024: Tom Stafford (Healthcare CTO at CDW), Chris Akeroyd (Executive VP and CIO of Children's Health), and Theresa Meadows (SVP and CIO of Cook Children's) join Bill for a Solution Showcase. They discuss how initial cloud enthusiasm meets real-world challenges, such as data retrieval issues and vendor lock-in, and how these experiences shaped their current strategies. What lessons can be drawn from early cloud adoption missteps, and how do healthcare organizations ensure security and flexibility in their cloud architecture today? As they navigate the shift from traditional data centers to cloud-based solutions, how do they balance innovation with the practical needs of healthcare delivery? Key Points:00:52 Early Cloud Adoption Challenges02:26 Strategic Cloud Migration04:47 Cloud Security and Governance16:25 Staff Transition and Training22:15 Future of Data Centers and CloudSubscribe: This Week HealthTwitter: This Week HealthLinkedIn: Week HealthDonate: Alex's Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

In this podcast, Maxwell discusses the question: Is Generation Alpha's Attention spans getting worse? He explains the future possibilities of this growing problem, and points out the main causes. He also proposes various solutions for this ever-growing problem in this edition of CDW's podcast.

In this podcast, Lyla talks about the question: What do 8th Grade Girls Talk About During Lunch? Lyla talked about the three main things talked about during lunch, food, gossip, and school. She interviewed 8th grade girls from CDW to get answers on whether or not these things are actually talked about. Most of the girls interviewed agreed with the three main topics and gave an elaboration of what is talked about at lunch. If you want to know what these 8th grade girls talk about during lunch, listen to this podcast to find out. 

On this episode we chat with the President of Blacks In Technology Chicago, Vera Dureke. Vera chops it up with Greg to share her journey as a dynamic professional based in Chicago pursuing her Bachelor's degree in Data Science and Mathematics from Indiana University East. We discuss her role and experience as the BIT Chicago chapter lead, the initiatives she has planned for the chapter as well as diving into her hobbies of collecting vinyl records and crafting with 3D printers.About our guest:Vera Dureke is a professional based in Chicago, currently serving as the Chapter President for Blacks in Technology Chicago. She is pursuing her Bachelor's degree in Data Science and Mathematics from Indiana University East, showcasing her passion for data-driven insights and innovation. In addition to her academic pursuits, Vera takes on the role of Marketing Lead for Out in Tech Chicago.By day, Vera works as a Contract Analyst at CDW, where she excels in analyzing and managing contracts. Beyond her professional life, she is an avid collector with an extensive assortment of vinyl records, Funko Pops, and a flourishing collection of plants. Her creative side shines through as she enjoys crafting with 3D printers, bringing her imaginative ideas to life.View podcast video! 

Today's guest is Greg Wheeler, Public Sector Vertical Lead at CDW ServiceNow Solutions. As a ServiceNow Elite Partner, CDW helps you optimize the value of your ServiceNow investment and streamline IT operations across your organization. With customers ranging from Fortune 500 companies to some of the nation's leading healthcare organizations and higher education institutions, their team have the experience to help you succeed with your ServiceNow initiatives. Greg is responsible for defining a catalog of solutions based on industry best practice frameworks and optimizing the ServiceNow platform for government clients at CDW. Part of this role is identifying consistent, reliable, repeatable processes for marketing, scoping and delivering the identified services. Delivery includes both the technical delivery (e.g. configuration of the ServiceNow platform) as well as appropriate Organizational Change Management methods to ensure their clients' success. In this episode, Greg talks about: His career journey & overview of their work at CDW How the Public sector mirrors private sector but with distinct challenges, ServiceNow's possibilities beyond IT to enhance the citizen experience, Utilizing ServiceNow to aid school districts in asset management and interaction, Establishing a CoE to merge ServiceNow expertise with practitioner insight, How the Government blends strategic planning with agile implementation, How CDW blends large-scale capability with agile innovation

Aaron Welch, a service-disabled veteran of the US Marine Corps (1995-1999), traded his combat boots for marketing savvy, diving into the internet marketing scene in 2001 and social media marketing in 2006. Aaron's marketing journey began somewhat accidentally with a website reviewing Houston's nightlife and eateries in 2000. Although that first venture didn't take off, it sparked a relentless passion. After relocating to Austin, Aaron quickly turned his passion into profit, boosting his first client's business by an eye-popping 500% within two months. Since those early days, he's launched numerous businesses with some hits and some misses, collaborated with behemoths like Cisco Systems, Google (Alphabet), Oracle, and CDW, and helped to grow a lengthy roster of SaaS and local service providers' businesses through digital marketing advising and services. As an adult student, Aaron earned his BA from Texas State University and an MBA from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin courtesy of the GI Bill and Hazelwood Act while working full-time. Today, Aaron channels his formidable skills into championing Veteran-Owned Businesses and Veteran Service Organizations, enhancing their digital marketing, fundraising efforts, and adding automation and AI magic to streamline operations all while being a husband, father of two daughters who have inherited his sarcasm, being an avid traveler, sports fanatic, and terrible golfer. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vets2pm/support

On this episode, Scott Schell sits down with Brian Dixon at CDW to discuss the moments that matter around Enterprise Agreements (EAs), software adoption, and the customer lifecycle across the two.

Send us a Text Message.This episode is sponsored by Patrick & Company, a wholesale sales agency proudly representing nationally and internationally branded companies. Located in the Dallas Market Center, for over 30 years they have been the go-to source for retailers helping to discover those unique, sought-after, and stylish brands.Alec Samman is the President and CEO of Peepers, a 4th generation family run eyewear company. Alec and his sister Lindsay joined the business as owners a little over ten years ago, and they have continued to uphold the high standards of design, innovation and customer connection that have become associated with the Peepers brand.Under Alec's leadership, Peepers has grown exponentially by over 2500% to become a multi-channel business, expanding its distribution into over 7,000 stores nationwide as well as having a large and growing presence online, direct to the consumer. Peepers has opened offices in California and Hong Kong and has substantially grown its headquarters in Indiana in terms of space and employees. In 2019, the Company debuted a large, state-of-the-art distribution facility as part of its headquarters footprint. During the time that Alec has been CEO, Peepers has been named one of "Inc. 5000 FastestGrowing Companies" 10 times, one of the "Best Places to Work in Indiana" 7 times, and has made the coveted "Oprah's Favorite Things" list 7 times. Alec has been proud to establish a well-received philanthropic program called "Peepers for Teachers," where the company donates money, school supplies, and eyewear and offers volunteers to support teachers throughout the US. Before joining Peepers, Alec held several roles within the sales organization at CDW, a Fortune 500 information technology provider. While at CDW, he was named a President's Club winner for being a top sales producer. Alec was inducted into the YPO (Young Presidents' Organization) in 2019. He has served on several local non-profit boards, including the Notre Dame School Foundation and is currently the Vice Chair of the Reader & Sunglass Division at the Vision Council.Alec holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Marketing from Indiana University.Here, Alec shares his insights into what it was like to build the Peepers brand and his experience transitioning from a corporate sales career into the family business. Michelle and Alec also discuss how Peepers has evolved over four generations, an inside look at the Peepers company culture, and what it was like to get recognized by Oprah.  What's Inside:Alec's experience transitioning from a sales career into the family businessHow Peepers evolved over four generationsAn inside look at the Peepers company cultureMentioned In This Episode:Peepers on InstagramPeepers on TikTokPeepers on FacebookPeepers Website

Communication Is Key To Success In Business, Relationships, and More: Gary Ross works with everyone from the C-Suite to the production line to be a better communicator. As a former FORTUNE 500 corporate communications executive, Emmy-nominated broadcast journalist and current stadium and arena public address announcer, Gary knows you don't always need a booming sound system to get your message across. He provides actionable tips and advice that people can use to enhance their careers and build credibility and influence.Prior to his training, coaching, and consulting work, Gary led communications departments at CDW, Hyatt Hotels, and Fortune Brands. Before joining the corporate communications profession, he worked as a reporter and anchor for WCBD-TV in Charleston, SC, where he was nominated for an Emmy Award in investigative journalism, traveled overseas with the U.S. military and reported from the eye of Category Four Hurricane Hugo.Quote "Everything Communicates."Gary has been interviewed for several communications publications and podcasts and has spoken on communications and change for leading organizations and universities.Gary is a member of the Public Relations Society of America, the International Association of Business Communicators, the Association of Change Management Professionals and the National Speakers Association (Illinois Chapter). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism degree from the Medill School at Northwestern University. Today's Top 3 Takeaways: Everything CommunicatesStorytelling For SuccessCommunicate For Growth Today's Guest & Resource Links: www.insidecomms.comhttps://plus.insidecomms.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/garymross/ Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FIYpTfRkZF8 Timestamped Show Notes: 08:50 – I have three number one rules of communication, and they're all tied for number one. That's why they're all number one. One of them is, Everything Communicates and that's one of the things that communicates. I'll tell you kind of the converse of the story...19:00 – Well, so we need to be strategic absolutely about communication, because, you know, how many times have you been there whether you're in communications or not. You're at work and somebody comes to you and says, oh, you know, we need to send out an email about XYZ. People's minds, especially when it goes to communication, a lot of times just go to the tactic, we need an email, we need a meeting, we need a town hall, we need a video. 23:25 - Tell them a story! That's my third number one rule of communication, is to tell them a story. Why is that? Go back to caveman drawings. That's just the natural way for humans to communicate and to relate to one another and to move one another, to action. Frankly, it's not that tough, because there's a very simple structure. 29:20 – Regarding the e-Learning we've got, it's all about the video success. So you got the visual and the audio, but then we also have little exercises that reinforce a lot of the points that we talked about in the videos. Then we also added in each of the courses, we have these downloadable tools and templates that you can take and keep. If you want you want to go old school, you print it out and you stick it up next to your desk and you can consult it regularly. One of the things I've got is on the corporate narrative course in there, but it is the storytelling template that I...

Hacktivism and disinformation in the war between Hamas and Israel. LockBit claims an attack on CDW. Shadow PC's breach. Void Rabisu deploys a lightweight RomCom backdoor against the Brussels conference. Rick Howard describes Radical Asymmetric Distribution. Our guest is Jason Birmingham from Broadridge Financial Solutions with a look at asset management. And coin mining as a potential front for espionage or a staging area for sabotage. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/12/197 Selected reading. How hackers piled onto the Israeli-Hamas conflict (POLITICO)  Israel-Gaza War Now Includes Accompanying Cyber Warfare (Channel Futures)  How Cyberattacks Could Affect the Israel-Hamas War (Bank Info Security)  Medical aid for Palestinians website under cyber attack affecting relief efforts (mint)  Rumors of a ‘Global Day of Jihad' Have Unleashed a Dangerous Wave of Disinformation (WIRED)  Hamas in rare English ‘press conference' as it tries to counter global condemnation (The Telegraph)  In Israel-Hamas conflict, social media become tools of propaganda and disinformation (DFRLab)   A flood of misinformation is shaping how panicked citizens, global public view the war (Washington Post)  How Israel-Hamas War Misinformation Is Spreading Online (TIME) Misinformation Is Warfare (TIME)  Meta responds to EU misinformation concerns regarding Israel-Hamas conflict (Engadget)  Briefing: Meta Details Efforts to Remove War-Related Disinformation (The Information) Cloud gaming firm Shadow says hackers stole customers' personal data (TechCrunch)  PC streaming service Shadow discloses security breach (The Verge)  Shadow silent on data breach as hacked data appears genuine (TechCrunch)  530K people's info stolen from cloud PC gaming's Shadow (Register)  CDW investigating ransomware gang claims of data theft (Record)  Lockbit ransomware gang demanded an 80 million ransom to CDW (Security Affairs)  Void Rabisu Targets Female Political Leaders with New Slimmed-Down ROMCOM Variant (Trend Micro) Women Political Leaders Summit targeted in RomCom malware phishing (BleepingComputer)  Across U.S., Chinese Bitcoin Mines Draw National Security Scrutiny (New York Times) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices