Over fifteen years ago, I joined what was then AdvizeX Technologies as CEO, Fred Traversi’s first outside hire.
Today, I have the honor and privilege of succeeding Fred as the new President of Rolta AdvizeX. It has been an exciting journey, yet I am confident the best is still ahead of us.
One of the great things about being in the technology business is that it never gets dull. There are always new innovations transforming what’s possible: virtualization, big data, and the cloud, for example. But it’s important to remember that technology is not a strategy or solution—it is a tool. In short, when you sit down with an organization to help them map their future a technology’s speeds and feeds isn’t the most relevant topic.
I see Rolta AdvizeX as being in the relevance business. Everything we do should be relevant to our customers, by helping them use technology as a business advantage. That, in turn, ensures we’re more relevant to our core technology partners. And when what we do as a company is important to our customers and our partners, our employees can feel proud knowing their work is changing the outcome of winners and losers in the industry.
What’s relevant to organizations today? They want to know about hybrid clouds and how to manage them. They want to know how to secure their data in an increasingly dangerous and borderless world. And they want to know how to scale their networks for a mobile-centric future. There are technologies that will enable these outcomes, but those discussions come later. Before that, you need to get the right people around the table to listen and share ideas.
At Rolta AdvizeX, bringing the right people to the table has always been our goal.
We invest heavily in people who understand technology. More than two-thirds of the Rolta AdvizeX team are highly-trained technologists, because it isn’t only about best-of-breed technology, organizations need best-of-breed solutions. The right solution is as individualized as each business, which means not only understanding a specific partner’s technology, but knowing which partners’ technology would create the best solution to meet that specific organization’s needs.
Organizations simply aren’t buying as many boxes as they used to, and that’s a good thing. They are focused on using technology to create actionable insights, instead of simply getting information from point A to B. Understanding which technology solution is right for their business is where Rolta AdvizeX excels.
One of the things I learned in my previous role as the head of our Midwest Region is the importance of profitability, investment, and their contribution to growth. You simply can’t save your way to growth. The right investments make the difference between success and failure. Our plan for the future is to invest in the things that matter most to our customers: expertise, solutions, and managed services.
As I said at the outset, these are exciting times. We live in a world of constant transformation. Our customers understand that technology can be the catalyst for success, and as a company we are transforming to further help them do just that. Together, we can change the world.
Thank you for joining us on our journey.
C.R. Howdyshell
President
Rolta AdvizeX