Speakers
Download the agenda schedule and conference map.
Amy Babinchak
President and Lead Technology Consultant
Harbor Computer Services
Amy is President and Lead Technology Consultant for Harbor Computer Services which she formed in 2000. Before forming Harbor Computer Services she was employed in the environmental services, health care and educational sectors as a computer network technician. She holds a B.S. in Public Affairs and Natural Resources and an M.S. in Natural Resources with a specialization is economics and law. She is an SMBTN Chapter Leader in Michigan, an ISA MVP and an honorary SBS MVP. In her spare time you’ll find her either sailing or curling depending on the season.
About Harbor Computer Services
Harbor Computer Services has been an MSP and small business specialist since opening the doors in 2000 and before the terms were coined. Our philosophy is to provide IT services with high value ROI for the clients. Security is an additional area of specialty for the company. Clients range from 2 – 750 employee corporations and are wide spread through-out southeastern Michigan.
Jay Balli
Channel Development Manager
StoreVault, a NetApp Division
Jay Balli has over 14 years of channel leadership experience in business development, sales and marketing for Fortune 100 companies. He has many years of selling storage and back up recovery solutions working with SMB VARs. Jay has direct and indirect channel sales experience after graduating from graduate of San Diego State University.
He is the Channel Development Manager (South West Region) for StoreVault, a NetApp Division focused on the SMB market.
Louis Barajas
Author and Business Consultant
Financial Greatness, Inc.
Louis Barajas is a premier example of the American dream. Born in the East Los Angeles barrio and the son of Mexican immigrants, Louis began his financial and small business career in his teens by helping his father and mother with their wrought iron business. He graduated from UCLA in 1984, received his MBA from Claremont Graduate School in 1987, and attained a Certified Financial Planner designation from the Denver College of Financial Planning in 1990. After some personal life changing events and years of experience at major accounting and financial planning firms in Southern California, Louis left the "yacht and Mercedes" crowd of Newport Beach California and returned to East Los Angeles in 1991 to form his own wealth and business planning firm, Louis Barajas, Wealth and Business Planning. Louis wished to make a difference with the kind of people he grew up with hard-working men and women who, because of lack of information or understanding, often made bad financial choices that kept them from achieving the success, security, and significance they deserved.
Over the last fifteen years, Louis has become a nationally recognized expert in Latino financial and business issues. Louis believes that creating abundance in underserved markets like the barrio will happen only when people change their limiting and culturally conditioned beliefs about money. His goal is simple: to create an Economic Revolution for the Working Class, to help them attain greater abundance through more wise financial choices. In his books, speeches, seminars, business and personal coaching, Louis makes the complex and overwhelming world of finances and small business comprehensible, as he teaches people at every economic level the simple, practical, and powerful financial and business strategies to achieve financial and entrepreneurial greatness.
Bobby Bliven
Technology Specialist
Microsoft Corporation
Bobby has over 6 years of Microsoft Industry Experience and got his MCSE in NT4 in 2000. Bobby spent over 4 years working for a software/hardware distributor where he did everything from instruction, installations, implementations, project management, pre-sales, to sales. More recently Bobby came from Quest Software where he functioned as a Senior System Consultant in the Sales Department. Bobby has spent a lot of time in Fortune 500 and 100 companies performing presentations, consulting, demo's, POC, and most importantly showing the business value of software. Currently Bobby works at Microsoft specializing in Vista and OS deployments for enterprise customers. He was most recently on stage with Jeff Raikes, President, Microsoft Business Division, performing demos for the Los Angeles 2007 Business launch of Vista that had over 2000+ attendees.
Bobby was originally from Colorado, but he loves Southern California. Some of his hobbies are music, riding his motorcycle, and going out having fun with good friends.
Michael W. Cocanower
Founder and President
itSynergy
Michael W. Cocanower is the founder and president of itSynergy. Since its inception in 1997, Phoenix, Arizona-based itSynergy has empowered small- and medium-sized businesses with strategic information technology (IT) guidance, comprehensive IT infrastructure services, and custom residential construction software solutions that provide distinct competitive advantages. Leveraging the latest Microsoft® technology, the firm builds, deploys, and supports solutions that improve efficiencies, drive bottom-line results, and enable clients to focus on their core business.
Prior to founding itSynergy, Mr. Cocanower built a solid educational and business background. Born and raised in Phoenix, Mr. Cocanower received Bachelor of Science degrees in both finance and computer information systems from Arizona State University. He went on to serve in technology consulting positions for various Arizona-based companies, as well as in internal IT management positions for leading Arizona residential construction companies such as Maracay Homes and Cameron Homes.
Mr. Cocanower is now a 15 year veteran of the IT field. Under his leadership, itSynergy has built an impressive client roster and has experienced exponential revenue growth. The company has been recognized as a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner and a Microsoft® Small Business Specialist. Mr. Cocanower has been recognized as a Microsoft® Certified Professional and is one of only 35 Microsoft® Windows Small Business Server Most Valuable Professionals in the world. Mr. Cocanower sits on both the United States and International boards of the International Association of Microsoft® Certified Partners. He also serves on the Microsoft® Windows Small Business Server Channel Advisory Council.
Frequently quoted in various international publications, Mr. Cocanower is a recognized author and subject matter expert on the following Microsoft® publications: Small IT Solution, Medium IT Solution (both are part of the IT Solutions for SMB Series published on Microsoft's® Web site), Deploying Windows Mobile 5 on Small Business Server 2003, and the Windows Server System Assessment and Deployment Solution for Midsize Businesses. Mr. Cocanower has also been a frequent speaker at key industry events. He has spoken at the Microsoft® Worldwide Partner Conference, various Microsoft® Connections events, and at key customer events on such topics as Microsoft® Windows Sharepoint Services, Microsoft® Windows Small Business Server, and on a host of other Microsoft® technologies.
Stuart R. Crawford
Dir of Business Development
IT Matters Inc.
Stuart Crawford is a remarkably talented, value-driven professional offering over 10 years of business experience. He is constantly evolving, accomplishing and developing his knowledge and expertise within the business world. His track record of success speaks for itself with increased performance through dynamic leadership, strategic planning, process design, technology innovation and change management. Stuart is equally adept in capitalizing on interpersonal and technology skills to create a unique blend of innovative solutions and products while pushing the creative envelope.
Stuart is a respected mentor who shares his entrepreneurial spirit with a network of business people in a variety of industries. He is very involved in networking groups that facilitate the growth of start-up companies as companies undergoing a transition to long-term growth. An ability to see the big-picture—and the small steps along the way—make him an energizing, motivating speaker who is willing to venture into new territory with humor and enthusiasm.
A personal goal of Stuart's is to bring his high energy, optimistic view of business to groups seeking to learn from a successful entrepreneur. Take your company to new heights—have Stuart speak to your organization today.
Read article published in ConnectIT.
Eric Gilmore
Product Manager, Office Accounting
Microsoft
Eric Gilmore is the Product Manager for Microsoft Office Accounting. There he leads world-wide product management and marketing strategy.
Before joining Office, Gilmore served as marketing manager in the US Midmarket group where he drove the relationship marketing strategy and execution of marketing campaigns. There he developed a through-partner event model which scaled to over 10,000 partners. He also pioneered building a relationship marketing platform which became a global best practice for multi-channel communications and print-on-demand technologies.
Gilmore joined Microsoft in 2003, where he was recruited into the first Microsoft Marketing Leadership Program where he rose to the top of his class.
Before joining Microsoft, Gilmore founded two technology companies where he developed an e-commerce platform and search technologies. Gilmore also worked for a venture capital firm where he evaluated key investments in high-tech companies.
Gilmore is a graduate of The Ohio State University, with a degree in business administration. Gilmore also founded the Center for Entrepreneurship at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business.
Bob Godgart
Founder and CEO
Autotask Corporation
Bob is a seasoned software entrepreneur who has been inventing affordable, market-specific applications designed to automate and streamline business operations for nearly two decades. Bob has invented productivity software for architects and engineers to speed the conversion of blueprints into digital formats, he also invented software that allows the newspaper industry to deliver its classified advertising on the Internet.
Five years ago Bob launched Autotask Corporation, a company dedicated to providing the most affordable and powerful software improving profitability and service delivery for companies that provide outsourced IT Solutions. The Autotask software has won numerous prestigious software awards and is now used by nearly 8,000 service professionals, and growing.
Dan Hay
CEO
isoutsource Inc.
Dan brings to isoutsource.com nearly twenty years of consulting and product management experience in the high-tech industry. Prior to joining isoutsource.com®, Dan worked at Microsoft Corporation, where he led the product management team for the Visio business within the Office product group. Before Visio, Dan drove the marketing strategy and launch of the Visual Studio .NET enterprise tools business. Dan began his career at Microsoft managing professional services engagements with key enterprise customers, delivering custom development applications using emerging Microsoft technologies.
Before his achievements at Microsoft, Dan founded and lead a small business in Seattle, focusing on ERP consulting and custom application development. Dan earned his B.A. degree in economics from the University of Washington. He is a Seattle native and lives with his family in Kirkland.
About isoutsource.com®
isoutsource.com is a one stop IT services and support solutions provider focused on improving productivity for small and medium sized businesses. With over 15 years of experience in IT consulting services and support, isoutsource.com provides the most cost-effective technical solutions to help maximize clients' return on investment in technology and human capital.
Phil Kenealy
President
Advanced Computer Engineering Solutions (ACES)
Phil Kenealy got his start in the Information Technology industry in 1991 selling MS-DOS-based administrative software to private colleges. In 1995 he founded Computer Pros, Inc. to provide server, desktop and LAN sales and services to small businesses in NE Iowa. Computer Pros became a Microsoft certified partner in 1996 and grew to just under $1 Million in revenue with 4 full time system engineers on staff. In 2002, the company acquired another Microsoft certified partner firm, Advanced Computer Engineering Solutions (ACES) and gained 4 additional system engineers and 2 sales staff. Since 2002, the company has shifted its emphasis to providing recurring revenue services which now represent over 50% of the $2 Million annual revenue. In 2005, the company implemented an online backup service for Microsoft desktops and servers delivered through a national network of backup resellers.
About Advanced Computer Engineering Solutions (ACES)
Advanced Computer Engineering Solutions (ACES) is northeast Iowa’s premier information technology provider specializing in Microsoft solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. ACES staff of certified systems engineers have over 100 years of combined experience in providing information technology solutions that improve our customers’ bottom line. We offer solutions for IT staff augmentation, server and desktop deployment, LAN/WAN design and deployment, managed security solutions, storage solutions, remote connectivity, web development, hosting and maintenance, 3COM VoIP Telephony and Stockade Online Backup Service.
Lindsey L. Long
SMB Consultant
Heartland Technology Solutions
Lindsey is an SMB Consultant & Marketing Manager for Heartland Technology Solutions (HTS). HTS is a regional VAR with 8 locations across the Midwest. She coordinates and manages the marketing efforts for HTS as well as being an active technology consultant in the small to midsize business community in Ames, Iowa.
Prior to her time with HTS, she served as Lead Account Executive for Clear Channel Communications in Ames. She holds a BS in Marketing from Iowa State University. Lindsey is very active in several Chamber of Commerce’s throughout Central Iowa.
Vlad Mazek, MCSE
CEO
Own Web Now Corp
Vlad Mazek has been an Exchange developer, system administrator and evangelist for close to a decade. As a leader of two regional IT Professional associations and promoter of security and collaboration software gives Mr. Mazek a feel for over 4,000 Exchange deployments world-wide. Mr. Mazek is the CEO and Chief Software Engineer of ExchangeDefender, a leading communication security and business intelligence platform processing over 14 million messages an hour.
Richard N. McLeod
Director, Unified Communications Solutions
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Richard McLeod is Director of Unified Communications Solutions for Worldwide Channels at Cisco Systems. He is responsible for Cisco’s global channel strategy and partner development programs in the Unified Communications and related Unified Communications Applications Solutions markets, including contact center, unified messaging, rich media collaboration, XML and vertical applications.
Richard has over 20 years of successful sales, business development and marketing leadership experience in the Key/PBX, Data Networking, Contact Center and Unified Communications markets.
Karl W. Palachuk
President
Great Little Book Publishing Co., Inc.
Karl owns KPEnterprises, an SMB consulting firm in Sacramento, California. He is a Microsoft Hands-On Lab instructor, and a popular speaker at technical events. He is the president of the Sacramento Small Business Server Users Group and author of The Network Documentation Workbook, The SAN Primer for SMB, and Service Agreements for SMB Consultants. In the last year Karl has appeared in more than a dozen cities across the United States, plus another five cities in Europe. He was a speaker at the 2006 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference as well as SMB Nation and other venues.
Outside the world of technology, Karl is also the author of Relax Focus Succeed®, a guide to balancing your personal and professional lives and being more successful in both. His next book is simply called Relax Focus Succeed and will be released in May.
More information online at www.greatlittlebook.com or www.relaxfocussucceed.com.
David Perry
Global Director of Education
Trend Micro, Inc.
David Perry, Global Director of Education at Trend Micro, is one of the best respected and best known authorities in the world of computer viruses and malicious code. With over 33 years of experience in the technical education and support field, (the last seventeen years entirely in Computer Security and Antivirus) David Perry brings to Trend Micro his own unique blend of technical understanding, communication style, and humor.
While at Trend Micro, David Perry has been a featured speaker at COMDEX, Virus Bulletin, EICAR, RSA, Infosec London, FOSE, Infosec Moscow, AVAR, Dubtech in Dubai, and many other technical and trade conferences. He served in the national Y2K center and co chaired a meeting in the White House, concerning the protection of America’s critical digital infrastructure. David has appeared on numerous national and regional television news broadcasts, including the ABC Evening News with Peter Jennings, CBS's Good Morning America, and NPR All Things Considered. In addition, David is a monthly guest on Craig Crossman's nationally syndicated Computers America show, and has been quoted on the front page of major news publications such as the New York Times and USA Today. He is often looked to as a resource by news agencies such as Reuters and Associated Press. David appears on television radio and publications in every corner of the world.
Prior to joining Trend Micro, David Perry began his career in the antivirus world as a technical support analyst with Peter Norton Computing (now SYMANTEC), where he helped tens of thousands of individuals and corporations to recover from virus and hostile code attacks. Later, he worked at McAfee Corporation, managing all online and Web based support, and became a well known community leader through his involvement with CompuServe and AOL. He went on to Cybermedia corporation, where he quickly moved up to a company spokesperson role where he appeared in more than 170 television and radio broadcasts in addition to a full schedule of user groups, industry conferences and other personal appearances. This is David’s tenth year with Trend Micro, Inc., and he continues to lead efforts to educate computer users in every walk of life. “Great system security begins in admitting that there is a problem”, says Perry, “but that is only the first step towards working in a safer, more secure world.”
David lives in Huntington Beach, California with his wife, Margaret.
Daniel Petersen, MBSCP
Project Manager
Applied Tech
Daniel Petersen received his Bachelor of Science degree from the UW Madison with a double major in Computer Sciences and Philosophy. He has eight years of professional experience in the IT industry, and has primarily focused on database and CRM solutions. Daniel began his IT career at the UW Madison Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs managing the internal alumni and publications databases.
He has spent the last six years as a business intelligence analyst and project manager at Applied Tech and has been responsible for maintaining and customizing the internal Microsoft CRM implementation. Applied Tech was involved in the Microsoft CRM 3.0 TAP program and was hired by Microsoft to develop the training and e-learning materials for the CRM 3.0 Small Business Edition. Daniel was the lead for both of these projects. He has achieved his MBSCP certifications in Dynamics CRM in the Applications, Customization, and Installation and Configuration categories.
He is currently developing his skill set in Microsoft SQL 2005 and is planning to gain his MCTS later this year.
Chris Phillips
General Manager, WSSG
Microsoft Corporation
As the General Manager for the Windows Server Solutions Group (WSSG) at Microsoft Corporation, Chris Phillips is responsible for building products focused on solutions for specific segments of the market. These product solutions generally combine multiple server workloads and are focused at sub-Enterprise customer segments. Previously, Chris served in various management, business development and sales capacities across the Softimage, Windows Client, Windows Embedded, MSN, and Windows Server Divisions.
Prior to joining Microsoft in '94, Chris held a variety of positions in sales, engineering, consulting and management for small and large companies including Hewlett Packard Co., Black and Decker, MS Financial Services, Cardinal Healthcare, and Science Applications International Corporation.
Chris holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.
Mark Piening
Senior Director, Worldwide SMB Marketing
Symantec Corporation
Mark Piening is senior director of Worldwide SMB Marketing for Symantec. In his role, he is responsible for defining Symantec’s SMB marketing strategy, messaging and associated campaigns. Additionally, he owns the development of the SMB Marketing business plan and leverages it to drive company-wide integration and further Symantec’s objective of becoming the industry-leading SMB-centric solutions provider for security and availability IT needs.
Piening joined Symantec through the merger with VERITAS Software, where he managed its worldwide Dell partnership. Prior to VERITAS, Piening served as the director of business development at Partnerware. Before Partnerware, Piening worked as a brand manager for Dell Computer Corporation managing its server, storage and workstation brands.
Piening is a former CPA at Ernst & Young serving in the High Tech practices of the Orange County and San Jose, CA offices. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business from UCLA, and his MBA from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School with an emphasis on High-Tech Marketing and Entrepreneurship.
Brian Randell
Senior Consultant
MCW Technologies, LLC
Brian A. Randell is a senior consultant with MCW Technologies, LLC Over the last 18 years, Brian has worked with companies and their developers to help the create solutions that leverage various Microsoft technologies. Today Brian splits up his time teaching Microsoft .NET -based technologies to developers, working with new and emerging technologies like Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio Team System, and consulting worldwide for clients such as Microsoft, American Honda, DELL, and others.
In addition to consulting, he speaks at events such as VSLive!, Tech.Ed, and the PDC. He is the co-author of Effective Visual Basic and the forthcoming Tom and Huck's Guide to Visual Basic Express (both from Addison-Wesley) and has written articles for MSDN Magazine and Microsoft.
Jay Schmelzer
Group Program Manager, Visual Studio
Microsoft Corporation
Jay Schmelzer is the Group Program Manager on the Visual Basic Team at Microsoft. Jay and his team are responsible for delivering the core Visual Basic development experience, including the language, compiler and development environment, as well as a number of Visual Studio features vital to end-to-end application development including tools for working with data, creating and consuming web services and application deployment. Prior to joining Microsoft, Jay was a partner with a leading consulting firm and specialized in the design and development of custom business applications. Jay has authored several articles and books on application development and is a frequent speaker at conferences.
Zack Schuler
CEO
Cal Net Technology Group
Zack Schuler founded Cal Net Technology Group in 1995. Starting as a "one-man shop,"
Zack grew the business to its current total of 34 employees and 6+ million in annual
revenues. Zack is married with two children, and resides in Northridge, CA.
About Cal Net Technology Group
Since 1995, Cal Net Technology Group has been providing Southern California's
businesses with technology solutions expertise. Cal Net has the design, installation, and
maintenance know-how with diverse areas of business technology to make sure our
clients' projects are completed on time, under budget, and with minimal business
interruption. Our specialties include Active Directory, Exchange, Backup and Recovery,
Disaster Recovery planning, Thin client systems, remote access solutions, LAN/WAN
design and security, procurement and license management, network monitoring and
alerting, content filtering and anti-spam technologies, automated workstation and
application deployment. Our project and operations management team specialize in I.T.
Operational assessment and design, Enterprise Project Management, and general I.T.
strategy consulting.
On the managed services side of our business, we've been performing our version of managed services since 1998, and have over 160 networks in the Southern California area that we currently manage.
Scott Scrogin
Location Manager
Heartland Technology Solutions
Scott Scrogin is a location manager for Heartland Technology Solutions, a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner. In his role, he oversees the daily operations of the Muskogee, OK office, works with other members of the HTS team to improve performance, and consults on special projects with clients and vendors.
Scott previously worked 12 years for Network Management Group, Inc. where he led the training, marketing and professional services departments. Additionally, he was the product manager for the award-winning DoubleCheck Email Manager and conducted nationwide training for CPAs. He participated in various peer groups and received the Chairman’s Award for contributions to Ingram Micro’s VentureTech Network.
Scott has a degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA. He lives in the Tulsa area.
About HTS
Today HTS is a regional technology solution provider headquartered in Harlan, Iowa on the family farm. There are currently 7 offices in 5 states. 75 people are employed today providing solutions in networking, document imaging, web hosting and design, electronic marketing, GPS, wireless, telephony and many other technologies. 2006 revenues for HTS exceeded $15M. Arlin still resides on the techno-farm near Harlan, Iowa, where the HTS headquarters is located.
HTS also hosts peer groups for partner companies under the name Heartland Tech Groups. There currently are 3 groups with 12 partner companies in each that meet quarterly to share best practices and set goals for achievement. A fourth group is currently being formed.
Erick Simpson
Vice President and CIO
Intelligent Enterprise
Erick Simpson is co-founder, vice president and CIO of Intelligent Enterprise, Inc., a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner in Southern California, where he oversees all technical aspects of the organization and helps develop new Managed Services training and fulfillment services for Intelligent Enterprise’s Partner Channel. Author of “The Guide to a Successful Managed Services Practice – What every SMB IT Service Provider Should Know…”, Erick’s previous experience includes overseeing the design, development and implementation of enterprise-level Help Desks and Call Centers for Fortune 1000 organizations.
About Intelligent Enterprise
Intelligent Enterprise has been providing Information Technology Solutions to the Southern California SMB Market since 1997. Their relationships with partners such as Microsoft, Cisco, Citrix and HP have allowed them the ability to design, scale and implement effective infrastructure solutions for their diverse client base.
Intelligent Enterprise successfully migrated to a Managed Services business model in January of 2005. Prior to this, they were operating as many other I.T. Providers have – reacting to Clients in “break-fix” mode, and dealing with the constant demand to recruit new clients and sell new solutions each and every month in order to meet their receivables goals.
Intelligent Enterprise now employs an “All You Can Eat” Managed Services Approach focused on 3 Core Services – Help Desk, Network Monitoring and Vendor Management.
Today Intelligent Enterprise specializes in providing Managed Services training, workshops, and bootcamps, as well as help desk and sales and marketing services to IT Service Providers, Vendors and Channel Organizations nationwide through their Managed Services University at www.mspu.us.
David Sobel
CEO
Evolve Technologies
Dave Sobel is the founder and President of Evolve Technologies, a consulting firm that provides information technology and computer networking services to small businesses in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Evolve Technologies provides a wide array of services including server installation, virus protection, network security, backup services, and complete information technology outsourcing. The first Microsoft Small Business Specialist located in the Washington, D.C. area, Evolve Technologies is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.
In his role as President, Sobel continues to hold overall management responsibilities for the company. He has ten years of experience in Internet services and consulting.
In 1996, Sobel founded Evolve Technologies, established a successful Web hosting facility and won a USA Today award for his reality-based Web site. The business expanded into consulting in 1997, and has grown to include a number of clients in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
Sobel's consulting clients have spanned from Fortune 500 companies to local and regional operations, including such technologies as Web server management, database servers, security and software development.
Sobel has spoken at a wide variety of industry events including Evolve Technologies' seminars and the SMB summit.
Prior to founding Evolve Technologies, Sobel worked as a Web architect for a consulting company doing security, network and infrastructure design for Fortune 1000 companies. Sobel holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the College of William and Mary.
Arlin Sorensen
President and CEO
Heartland Technology Solutions
Arlin Sorensen began his adventure into the computer world in 1982 with an Apple II+ computer. He founded The Computer Connection in 1985 to sell farm accounting packages and served as a single proprietor for the first 5 years. In 1990, along with his brother, they decided to form Sorensen's Computer Connection Inc. (SCCI). At that point he hired his first employee. During the 90's SCCI grew from one person to 36 as the company transitioned to commercial business and the PC platform. In late 2002, SCCI merged with Connecting Point Joplin and began operating under the name of Heartland Technology Solutions (HTS). Mid 2003 brought the acquisition of another major reseller in Ames, Iowa, along with several other small companies. In 2006, HTS merged with Business Computer Center with offices in Wichita, Newton and Hutchinson Ks and Muskogee Oklahoma.
About HTS
Today HTS is a regional technology solution provider headquartered in Harlan, Iowa on the family farm. There are currently 7 offices in 5 states. 75 people are employed today providing solutions in networking, document imaging, web hosting and design, electronic marketing, GPS, wireless, telephony and many other technologies. 2006 revenues for HTS exceeded $15M. Arlin still resides on the techno-farm near Harlan, Iowa, where the HTS headquarters is located.
HTS also hosts peer groups for partner companies under the name Heartland Tech Groups. There currently are 3 groups with 12 partner companies in each that meet quarterly to share best practices and set goals for achievement. A fourth group is currently being formed.
Bob Sutton
Senior Product Manager
Microsoft
Bob is the Sr. Product Manager for Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) with vast experience in the field of applying technology to increase business process efficiency. After getting his degree in Industrial Engineering, Bob served as business and technology consultant, including lead roles in ERP implementations. Bob holds a Master in Business Administration from the Wharton School.
Bob is currently leading efforts to successfully launch WSS version 3, disseminate the Application Templates for WSS and create a rich hosting channel for online collaboration and workflow as a service.
Bala Swaminathan
Director – Education and Training
CompTia
Bala Swaminathan joined CompTIA in 2000 and, in his current role, oversees learning activities and events for the technology community. His main focus is CompTIA University – a portal for reseller business education that also includes the CompTIA Solution Provider Roadmap.
In addition, he has responsibility events around education and training – like the CompTIA Colloquium and CompTIA Channel Education Summit.
Prior to CompTIA, Bala served as regional director of a national training company overseeing training facilities and handling offshore courseware development. He has a Masters in Commerce from India and a Masters in Business Administration from Chicago.
Sean Sweeney
Director Partner Development
Level Platforms
Sean is Director Partner Development at Level Platforms Inc. and he and his team coach and personally support a community of over 2000 Partners as they successfully utilize Managed Workplace to increase revenue, drive out costs, add net new recurring revenue, and grow their businesses.
Sean brings with him over 20 years sales experience and has owned and operated multimillion dollar SMB businesses.
Ken Thoreson
President
Acumen Management Group, Ltd.
Ken Thoreson brings more than 20 years of experience in sales leadership and management to clients. The sales management thought leader shares his proven abilities in developing and implementing creative sales management strategies through frequent editorial contributions and speaking engagements about effective sales leadership and sales management.
His expertise is in sales execution, channel management, revenue generation, sales analysis, forecasting, recruitment, and training within the sales function. Prior to Ken’s founding the Acumen Management Group, Ltd., he led development stage, entrepreneurial and national vertical software sales organizations as the Vice President of Sales.
About Acumen Management Group, Ltd.
The Acumen Management Group, Ltd. provides expertise and programs to help change organizations and build predictable revenue. Ken has worked with a variety of clients; ranging from early stage, turnaround, and major corporations throughout North America. On the web at: www.acumenmanagement.com
Erik Thorsell
President
Success Computer Consulting, Inc.
Erik Thorsell is the founder and president of Success Computer Consulting (SCC), Inc., of Minneapolis, Minnesota, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner specializing in Advanced Network Infrastructure and Information Worker Solutions. While continuing investment in the network infrastructure and managed services practices, Erik has led a successful effort to diversify and strengthen his business by building a SharePoint/Information Worker practice which has resulted in significant year-over-year growth in revenue and net income in his business.
Success Computer Consulting has been recognized by the Microsoft Partner Program as a leading SharePoint partner for small business. According to Thorsell, SCC’s success with SharePoint has been the direct result of a structured, packaged offering, with documented repeatable processes. As a result, the business generates an 80% premium-per-billable hour over the firm’s network infrastructure work and is creating a platform for future growth.
Thorsell serves on the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Advisory Council for SMS&P, is active in the HTG peer group, and is a mentor to many startup Microsoft partner organizations.
Dan Wensley
Vice President Partner Development
Level Platforms
Dan and his team continue to grow Level Platforms’ Partner community of top tier solution providers ensuring that the combination of product, programs, training and personal support results in 100% Partner success in their adoption of managed services. Previously Dan served as VP Channel Development with Net Integration Technologies, where he spearheaded the rapid growth and adoption of NITIX. Prior to this he drove the channel initiatives for MCI WorldCom Canada launching the company’s first channel and vendor partnership program.
