TechSperience Solutions

Host: James Hilliard

Guest : Tom Halberda,  - Director of E-Rate & Data Center Sales - Connection SLED

There has been no more important time in the history of our schools and libraries to take advantage of all the E-Rate program has to offer.  Affordable internet and telecommunications during these challenging times is mission critical and E-Rate will help your school or library.   James talks to Tom Halberda on how the E-Rate program has changed over the years and recent changes you need to know.  Find out about approaching deadlines and exactly what E-rate funding can be used for.  Connection expert Tom Halberda walks you through the motions and tells a few E-rate stories you'll want to hear.

Reach out to the Connection Team.

Email us at [email protected] 

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Host: Penny Conway

Guest 1: Katie John — Senior Product Manager — Microsoft Center of Excellence

Guest 2: Jenny Gibson-Kautz, - Partner Development Specialist - Microsoft Center of Excellence

Guest 3: Rob McIntosh, - Marketing Manager  - Connection Business Solutions Group

Microsoft currently has over 115,000,000 daily users and growing every day.  Why the adoption? What are some of the advantages of Teams and what are the top 3 tips and tricks as suggested by Microsoft Experts?  Listen in and learn new ways to use one of the fastest growing collaboration tools for our new virtual world!

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Key takeaways:

[4:37] Remote Work gets a face-lift with teams for a back to office feel from home.

[7:20] Collaboration, organization and a reduction in e-mails through the teams portal

[10:10] Utilizing the @ feature to tag someone and notify within teams

[10:31] Message notification and prioritization

[12:27] Open Federation and sharing teams outside your organization

[14:05] All new Whiteboard Function for interactive meetings

[16:23] Breakout rooms for events, large meetings, trainings and more.

[19:39] Wrap up and summary by Penny Conway

Host: Penny Conway

Guest 1: Jason Buffington — Vice President, Solution Strategy — Veeam

Guest 2: Franklin Nsude, Sr. Microsoft Cloud Solutions Architect

According to a recent Veeam Customer Survey, 76% of Office 365 users don’t realize they needed to back up their data, this should make us all feel a little nervous, especially as we are living in a time when cyberattacks are happening all around us.

Penny Conway, your host, welcomes the experts from Veeam and Microsoft to talk about the seven reasons you need to be backing up your Office 365, your new number one priority!

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Key takeaways:

[1:28] Franklin introduces himself.

[1:53] Jason talks about his role at Veeam and his career in the data protection space.

[2:55] Who is in charge of backing up Microsoft 365?

[3:38] Reasons why you should back up your Microsoft 365.

[7:31] Franklin shares his view on the matter of public knowledge in regards to backups.

[9:43] Extending the retention period is not the same as an operational backup.

[10:01] Jason talks about Veeam’s history 12 years ago.

[12:11] Creating business continuity through backups.

[13:01] The seven reasons why you should care about backing up Microsoft 365.

[13:25] Reason #1: Accidental deletion.

[14:59] Reason #2: Retention Gaps.

[16:23] Reason #3: Internal threats.

[18:07] Reason #4: External threats and impacts.

[19:20] Reason #5: Legal compliance.

[19:55] Reason #6: Migration.

[21:42] Franklin talks about the possibility to use backup for migration. 

[24:23] Reason #7: Teams!

[30:36] Jason shares about the changes in Microsoft Teams.

[31:35] Franklin talks about one of his experiences migrating data.

[35:00] How to start a backup service. 

Host: Penny Conway

Guest 1: Brian Gillman, Vice-President of Product & Solutions Marketing at Vonage

Guest 2: John Fuhrman — Partner Alliance Manager-Cloud for Connection

Description: Throughout 2020 call centers have seen record-breaking call-in contact volumes. Your call center is often the first experience that a prospective patient has with your healthcare brand. Having the right technology in communication solutions can make all the difference. Penny Conway, your host, is today talking with leaders from Vonage and Connection about how the cloud can help you create an optimal patient experience from end to end.

Reach out to the Connection Team.

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Key takeaways:

[1:31] Brian introduces himself and talks about his expertise.

[1:58] John introduces himself and shares about his role at Connection.

[3:20] What has changed in the call centers since March 2020?

[5:33] Brian talks about two big changes in which people can now make contact with doctors and organizations.

[7:35] John talks about the change in the landscape in terms of getting up to speed in order to meet the current demands of consumers.

[10:23] Brian talks about the particularities of a healthcare call center.

[12:13] Penny shares her own patient experience.

[12:45] Do health provides really understand the frustration that a patient can experience from the first point of contact?

[17:12] 2020 promoted an entire business transformation.

[20:35] What are the new technology tools that are provided by Vonage and Connection to enhance a better patient experience?

[24:22] John talks about journey mapping.

[25:49] John explains the importance of companies to have the technology that allows them to be reliable, scalable, and accessible.

[30:21] How can organizations enhance the patients’ journey?

[31:24] IT needs to ensure the safety of the patient’s personal information.

[33:34] Brian talks about Vonage’s certification in regards to security compliance.

[37:04] It all starts with developing the right plan.

[40:17] Customers’ expectations that have changed this year will be forever changed.

Host: Penny Conway

Guest 1: Tony Dancona, Evangelist Digital Workspace and part of the Industry Solutions Group at Connection

Guest 2  Emily Hammond, Senior Director of Benefits and Compensation at Connection

Guest 3: Rob McIntosh, Marketing Manager for the Business Solution Group at Connection

Organizations across the country are taking on the enormous task of building strategies, policies, and technology-based solutions to return employees safely to the office.

Today’s episode is the first part of the new Return to Office Series, where Connection’s team will help you navigate the challenges ahead. The first segment of this series is about the ‘perception of’ and the ‘impact to’ employees, and the role the Human Resources department has in developing and implementing return to office technology.

Reach out to the Connection Team.

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Key takeaways:

[1:46] Tonny talks about his expertise.

[2:30] Emily introduces herself.

[3:10] Rob introduces himself and talks about his perspective as an end-user.

[4:25] Emily shares her experience as a professional in human resources about how employees are feeling about returning to their work at the office.

[6:06] As an employer be transparent about the reasons why you are asking people to come back to the office.

[7:30] Tony talks about the conversations that he is having with IT professionals about time planning for this return to the office.

[9:43] Rob shares his perspective as an employee who went back to the office.

[12:10] How do we bridge the gap between the new policies and the caring for employees?

[14:11] It is not all or nothing, certain people can return slowly to the office and some can stay working remotely following the company’s needs.

[15:50] Tony talks about the reality of going back to the office against the fear of feeling in a “big brother” space where employees are being constantly monitored.

[19:50] How does it look from an employer perspective when an employee has a temperature and is sent home?

[24:19] Tony talks about the 6 main components of the return to office solution.

[28:36] This pandemic is going to define how corporate America is moving forward.

Host: Penny Conway

Guest: Jason Burgeson, Systems Engineer for Aruba Networks. 

If you are a small business your digital strategy could make or break you this year. According to a recent study by McKinsey, 70 to 80% of B2B customers prefer a digital interaction in the age of a pandemic. The top performers and digital engagement with customers were video and live online chat. Do you have the WiFi network to support the new keys to success?

Penny Conway, your host, welcomes Jason Burgeson, the expert from Systems Engineer for Aruba Networks, with over 10 years of IT & networking experience from deploying to designing.

In this episode, Jason talks about how to deploy a fast and secure WiFi network and how it may be easier than you think.

Reach out to the Connection Team.

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Key takeaways:

[1:28] Jason introduces himself and his role at Aruba Networks.

[3:15] Where are businesses in general in the digital transformation journey?

[7:23] Jason shares what he considers to be the starting point in figuring out how much WiFi access a business needs to be able to sustain this model in the future.

[9:40] Jason talks about the difference between a solution built for businesses and the ones designed for homes.

[10:55] Jason talks about 5G and WiFi 6 and how this new technology benefits small business owners.

[14:28] Jason compares WiFi 5 to Wifi 6.

[18:50] What is Aruba offering to small business owners?

[22:00] How does Instant On work?

[24:09] What kind of controls are in place in terms of how much bandwidth the users will be able to consume when they are using a business’ network?

[26:45] Jason talks about the matter of security.

[30:48] Jason shares the scalable features of the Instant On.

[31:16] Instant On has no subscription costs or licensing.

[32:10] Instant On offers 90 days of phone customer support.

Mentioned in this episode:

Contact Connections to get more information around Aruba’s Instant-On or visit https://arubainstanton.com 

Host: Penny Conway

Guest 1: Cameron Bulanda, Vice President Technical Sales at Connection

Guest 2: John Kuzma. Industry Technical Specialist- Intel Corporation

Description: In a previous episode Penny talked with Intel to talk about how a modern data center should look like as part of the digital transformation. Many of you already know the benefits of modernizing your data center but, do you really know the consequences if you don´t?

In today’s episode, Penny is back with the expert of Connection and Intel to really talk about the challenges of transforming and what could happen if you wait too long.

 Reach out to the Connection Team.

Email us at [email protected] 

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Key takeaways:

[1:15] Cameron introduces himself and his role at Connection.

[2:06] John Kuzma talks about his position at Intel Corporation.

[2:52] How does the evolution of the data center look like?

[5:40] What are customers thinking about when they start the digital transformation process?

[9:04] How does the conversation with a client look in regards to achieve a cohesive decision-making process and an outline of what they need to build for their future?

[10:55] Is there any hesitancy among the IT stakeholders of not making moves forward because of a lack of proper skills or resources?

[14:09] John shares stories about how Intel has been bridging the gap for customers in regards to the skills needed to enter the digital transformation.

[17:05] The work of assisting customers developing a cohesive ecosystem.

[21:40] What are the consequences for the organizations that are not modernizing their data center today?

[26:06] What are the industries that could be impacted by a potential upcoming disaster?

[29:20] John talks about the new technologies that Intel that will lebel up this normalization.

[32:45] Suggestion for companies that are on the edge and doubting about entering the digital transformation.

Host: Penny Conway

Guest: Rhett Livengood. Director, Digital Business Enabling at Intel Corporation

Description: The world has been talking about the growth of collaboration tools and demands on the PC market, but what else are we missing to do our jobs and do them well, it's time to start talking about how organizations are going to need to reimagine the roles and responsibilities of their leadership to hone in on what employees need to be safe, secure, and productive. I'm your host, penny Conway. And today I'm joined by Rhett Livengood to talk about what the future looks like for it and the leaders that support them. 

Reach out to the Connection Team.

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Key takeaways:

[1:08] Rhett Livengood shares his background.

[2:29] Rhett Livengood talks about workplace transformation from a leadership standpoint.

[4:06] How to protect employees?

[6:05] 60% of remote workers do their work from their ling rooms.

[8:23] Is remote work temporary or is it here to stay?

[10:45] What are some of the building blocks that can cast that wide net of security to keep that human error from being such an issue in people's homes?

[11:30] Rhett shares how the  Intel hardware shield works.

[12:30] The old refresh days are in the past.

[15:15] Rhett talks about the upcoming trend to recycling devices.

[17:50] How do we better measure productivity in this environment?

[20:44] Rhett shares his experience going into a fully remote setting. 

[23:30] Rhett talks about how Intel has been monitoring how users feel at their workspaces as they go through this process of remote working.

Host: Penny Conway

Guest 1: Stacy Cote: Manager of Microsoft Program at Connection Team.

Guest 2: Matt Koehler: Global Business Development for Veeam Software

It took nearly a decade and a pandemic, but it is now safe to say that the Cloud is considered now a major benchmark of digital transformation. Whether you have fully adopted the could or you are just beginning your journey, you may be asking “What´s next?”. In today´s episode, Penny Conway, your host, is talking with experts from Veeam and Microsoft to answer your questions around security, integration, and managed services.

Reach out to the Connection Team.

Email us at [email protected] 

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Key takeaways:

[1:14] Matt introduces himself and shares what brings him to the podcast

[1:39] Stacy Cote talks about her role at Connection.

[4:05] Matt shares about the digital transformation and introduction of Cloud nearly a decade ago.

[6:22] Nowadays there is a common fear about how to manage workload, employees, and connectivity.

[7:22] Stacy talks about some of the push-backs to the adoption of the cloud.

[10:34] The skill gap of being able to manage what makes the company operational today. 

[11:13] What is entailed in managing a service or a solution?

[13:07] Matt talks about the benefits related to the partnership that Connection has with Veeam.

[15:38] Microsoft, Connection, and Veeam work together to secure and restore data.

[16:35] What would make a customer trust Veeam with his data?

[17:41] Matt talks about the increase of security risk with remote working.

[19:24] The most important, apart from securing data, is being able to get it back in a timely manner.

[21:20] How prevalent is going to be hiring a company to managed services?

[23:30] How do people get started with a managed services model for their cloud?

[25:55] When does a customer start to realize the cost-benefit of using managed services?

[27:46] What visibility does a customer maintain while using the managed services?

[30:38] Learn more about the partnership between Connection and Veeam

Host: Penny Conway

Guest 1:  Mike Gambrell, retired chief of police, Greenville SC Police Department and GovSOLV program director at SYNNEX

Guest 2: John Wiley, Government Channel Account Manager, Zebra Technologies

Description: In today’s episode, Penny Conway, Mike Gambell, and John Wiley are taking about how electronic citations can increase safety, efficiency, and accuracy for your department. Electronic citations solutions have several advantages over handwritten citations, and you will hear about them from the experts in the matter.

Reach out to the Connection Team.

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Key takeaways:

[1:21] John Wiley introduces himself and his work at Zebra Technologies.

[1:55] Mike Gambell talks about his background and current work.

[3:32] The matter of law enforcement.

[4:51] The two most dangerous calls for an officer are traffic stops and domestic violence situations.

[10:08] The current situation in the USA in regards to e-citations.

[13:25] E-citation enhances an officer’s response time.

[15:51] The cost of not implementing a solution can be greater than the cost of developing the answer to a particular problem.

[16:30] John talks about the cost of doing nothing vs the cost of doing something.

[19:04] John and Mike explain a way that a department can promote self-funding.

[22:55] Mike talks about how the full solution for officers provided by Zebra Technologies looks like.

[26:25] What actions can you take within your department to start making the necessary steps to enhance the efficiency and safety of the officers?