The IT Summit produces technology conferences for executives from the government, education, and corporate sectors. These conferences are produced by and for senior leaders to promote economic development, education, and the proliferation of information technology. We ensure the highest quality events through extensive CIO input.

Stephen Johnson is a Senior Analyst at Coach Media, a consultancy he founded in 1998 specializing in video distribution technologies, including product strategy, interface design, research, advanced advertising and intellectual property.

The once-streamlined business of delivering video to consumers — not least thanks to so-called “Over the Top” distributors — has radically changed over just the past few years and the impact on IT to deliver these services has been just as dramatic. After outlining the basics of current video streaming technology, Mr. Johnson will address two prominent OTT topics — multi-device delivery and targeted advertising — that illustrate the growing IT challenges to support these burgeoning services through the cloud. To elaborate on these topics, he will also touch upon current standards and practices for media network support, customer identity/authentication, privacy, and decisioning algorithms.

Bill is Orion’s Director of Strategic Partnerships and is responsible for IT services development. He has more than 20 years of experience as a technology executive and helping others reach their full potential. This experience includes partner and business  development for Deloitte and Touche, Microvision, vCustomer, Free and Clear, as well as most recently, Electric Lightwave. His specialties include major account partnerships and strategic industry partnering of all types. He is the VP of Strategic Partnerships for the Seattle Chapter of the Help Desk Institute. He has sat on several other nonprofit boards and is a supporter of Special Olympics, as well as Make-A-Wish and other great local organizations. Bill is a Washington native and a graduate of the University of Washington business school.

Your IT center is dedicated to creating an experience that customers love. But are you truly serving all your customers? Blind or hearing-impaired customers may have a completely different experience than the one you intended. Bill Holder from Orion Industries, a social enterprise with the mission of helping those with barriers to employment, will share the tactics you can use to make your services accessible to all. Further, Bill will outline how you can use this hidden, highly-skilled workforce to fill open positions in your IT department and meet the specialized needs of all your customers.

Enjoy a complimentary plated lunch courtesy of The IT Summit.

Andrew Healey, the Chief Technology Officer and General Manager at ISOutsource, is a proponent of simple security measures done right and regularly shares this message whenever he can.  He has nearly 20 years of technology and leadership experience and holds a master’s degree in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance.

If we’re monitoring DNS at all (hint: most aren’t), it is still typically upstream of core DNS servers. We’ll explore some gotchas and challenges of monitoring Windows DNS from Server 2012 through the latest preview release of Server 2019. If time permits, we’ll run through some basic configurations utilizing Graylog for collection and analytics.

Technology can be a hinderance if not well planned or deployed. With new tools like AI, IoT and Apps, it can be difficult for employees and employers to embrace it. Learn the issues faced today while learning recommendations on how to improve adoption of technology in a very simple way. 1. How Tech is Changing the way Kids think, thus changing our thinking a. Input / Output (observing, questioning) b. Do we still need Memory Recall? 2. Adoption of Technology in the Workforce a. On Demand Workforce b. Working Past 65 c. Reliance on Artificial Intelligence 3. Tech Trends a. 4.8 Trillion in Global IT Industry b. Cloud Maturity & IoT c. Online Marketplaces 4. Data Veracity a. Inaccurate/Biased data 5. Relevant Methods to Help Everyone Embrace Technology a. Going Mobile With the many new tools and apps, we will review how to navigate them to improve communication, interactions, and activities. For work, this can give us a broader perspective with the improved understanding of New Technology, which can help use the right tools. Therefore, let’s learn together on How To, “Stay Ahead of New Technology.”

A near fatal traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the journey to recovery has enhanced the speaker’s perspective on leadership, interactions, communications and of course, life. Hence, Ivy’s made-up word that best describes this change in her viewpoint – Reinventioneer™. She has engineered the reinvention of herself and is now teaching others this new way of successfully thinking.

Ivy Meadors, founder and CEO of High Tech High Touch Solutions, Inc., shares her knowledge through speaking, consulting, coaching and mentoring, contributing to people’s growth personally and professionally in business and in life. Her dynamic and charismatic imprint has been felt among Fortune 50 to Fortune 1000 corporations, U.S. Government agencies, Universities and non-profit agencies worldwide.

With over thirty years of experience in customer service and support, Ivy has developed a platform of excellence upon four pillars; psychology of leadership, customer service as the lifeblood of businesses, multi-faceted communication techniques, and progressive deployment of specialized technologies.

Ivy is an active member and professional speaker designated by the National Speakers Association and the Global Speakers Federation. Ivy co-authored “Success is a State of Mind”, along with Deepak Chopra, Les Brown, Mark Victor Hansen, and numerous other brilliant authors.

The owner and producer of the Signature Customer Service and Support Professionals Conference, and the Government Customer Support Conference, afford Ivy a venue to share her passion in leadership, communications, and technology with people, globally. She is also the co-founder and owner of the National Customer Service and Support Professionals (CSSP) organization.

Not everyone may be a thought leader, but everyone can think like a thought leader and make powerful transformations in self and the organization by practicing the “Top 10 Characteristics of Influential Thought Leaders”. The key is to understand the employment of thought leadership as an instrument to develop strategic positioning by individuals, organizations, and associations to differentiate and lead in the industry. Ivy’s quick-paced delivery of the top 10 characteristics of influential thought leaders will entice you to embrace innovative and revolutionary ideas, as a means to empowerment. You will be stimulated with thoughts on increasing idea generation and decreasing work effort through non-traditional thinking. The benefits of attending include:

• Learn the definition of a “Thought Leader” and how it applies to you.

• Understand how to think like a Thought Leader.

• Learn the top 10 characteristics of Thought Leaders

AI will drive $1.2 trillion in business value this year, according to Gartner. Is your organization ready to unlock its share of that value? Learn how you can enable AI and ML innovation without destroying budgets, governance, or security.

Howard Mannella is Managing Principal of Alternative Resiliency Services Corp, a next-gen consultancy dedicated to alternative approaches in pragmatic rapid reduction of Risk.  ARSC has delivered actionable Business Continuity, Crisis Management and other programs, specializing in ergonomic plans usable under stress and lightning-fast speed to value. He has facilitated realistic high-touch high-impact executive exercises, some of which presaged actual headline events. His programs have been proven in real-life disaster situations. Mr. Mannella’s passion is executive education and evangelizing Risk and Resiliency, contributing to executive closed-door round-tables, delivering keynotes, running workshops and sitting on expert panels across four continents. He has worked in numerous verticals including Banking/Card Processing, Pharmaceutical, Defense/Aerospace, eCommerce, Travel Management and others. Prior to ARSC, Mr. Mannella was Principal Resiliency Strategist for Expedia, Inc, starting the global program from scratch and managing it for eight years. Mr. Mannella was formerly consulting on the US East Coast before moving to the Seattle area.
 

The world is a risky place: political unrest, increased cyber threats, natural and man-made disasters. The stakes are getting higher: GDPR, corporate liability, reputational damage via social media. Executives have an imperative to manage Risk! Yet we are constantly blindsided by unforeseen circumstances. Why? Because we has humans are hard-wired not to understand Risk. Traditional organizations also fall short because we are hard-wired for misinterpretation of probabilistic events. We as humans are subject to Normalcy Bias, Availability Bias, and other cognitive flaws. Enter into an interactive conversation about Black Swans and Base Rate Bias, Technology Disintermediation and the Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy. Learn practical ways that organizations can overcome these flaws and manage the risks we cannot see!

Objectives:
• Understand the increasingly complex risk landscape, and more importantly, why it’s increasing
• Recognize some common psychological flaws and cognitive biases that impede our understanding of risk
• Gain valuable practices and approaches to manage unforeseeable risk

Barracuda Networks, Inc. offers industry-leading solutions designed to solve mainstream IT problems – efficiently and cost effectively – while maintaining a level of customer support and satisfaction second to none. Barracuda Networks products span three distinct markets, including: 1) content security, 2) networking and application delivery, as well as 3) data storage, protection and disaster recovery.

While Barracuda Networks maintains a strong heritage in email and web security appliances, their award-winning portfolio includes more than a dozen purpose-built solutions that support literally every aspect of the network – providing organizations of all sizes with true end-to-end protection that can be deployed in hardware, virtual, cloud and mixed form factors.

CitiBank, Coca-Cola, Delta Dental, FedEx, Harvard University, IBM, L’Oreal, Liberty Tax Service, Mythbusters and Spokane Public Schools are amongst the more than 150,000 organizations worldwide confidently protecting their users, applications and data with Barracuda Networks’ solutions. The company is privately held with its international headquarters and manufacturing facility based in Campbell, California. Barracuda Networks has offices in eight international locations and distributors in more than 80 countries worldwide.

BTP is an Authorized Plantronics Headset Distributor of the latest wireless and corded headsets for business – with free ongoing support! We help office managers, contact centers, and IT departments select and maintain these critical communication assets. Clients consistently save substantial time and budget through our above-and-beyond customer service and Lifetime Solution.

Our team is certified by Plantronics in Unified Communications (UC) and Call Center Specialization, so you’ll always get solid advice from trained experts. If we don’t know the answer, we’ll know where to go to find it.

We also specialize in Polycom world-class voice and video teleconferencing. Conferencing helps clients maximize communication effectiveness during meetings, while slashing travel expense and saving valuable time. Other quality product lines include Microsoft® Skype for Business optimized audio devices, speakers and headsets for softphones by Avaya®, Cisco®, IBM® and others, and well as some IP desk phones. Accessories include online indicator lights, replacement parts for headset maintenance, loud ringers for noisy environments, and other unique telecom accessories—all from worldwide leading brands.

BTP is built on core values of honesty, integrity, and respect. Good old-fashioned customer service from real people who want to talk with you live. That may seem old-school to some, but it’s why our customers have kept coming back to us for over 25 years.

Loyal clients include Fortune 500 and regional organizations across a variety of industries: education, government (federal, state, and local), health care, high tech, insurance, legal, telecommunications, utilities and more.

Cerium Networks is a leading integrator of advanced solutions, delivering design, implementation & support. This includes telephony, mobility, messaging, contact center, video, data center, network security, route/switch and wireless.

Comcast Business has the largest IP network in the nation, serving the needs of small business through large enterprise customers.  Technology solutions range from fast, reliable Ethernet and Internet connectivity to voice, video, and Managed Solutions.  Comcast Business is powered by an advanced Gig-ready network and 24/7 technical support.
 
Comcast Business offers robust Ethernet, SD-WAN and voice solutions that provide a high-performance backbone that helps organizations securely manage growth and drive application performance. Learn more at business.comcast.com/enterprise.

Green House Data is a managed services provider that helps organizations choose the IT platforms that will best enable their business paired with an industry-leading 15 Minute Hear from a HumanSM customer support SLA. The company is a B-Corp and EPA Green Power Partner. www.greenhousedata.com

HARMAN designs and engineers connected products and solutions for consumers, automakers, and enterprises worldwide, including audio, visual and infotainment systems; enterprise automation solutions; and software services. With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® , Mark Levinson® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world.

In 1989, HDI became the first professional association created for the technical support industry. Since then, HDI has remained the source for professional development by offering resources to promote organization-wide success through exceptional customer service. We do this by:

Facilitating collaboration and networking

Hosting acclaimed conferences and events

Producing renowned publications and research

Certifying and training thousands of professionals each year

Technical support professionals love HDI because it provides them with a profound sense of community. At 150,000 people strong, HDI is a community built by industry peers and leaders that gives you the resources, knowledge, and drive to be great at what you do.

The Evergreen InfraGard Members Alliance area of operation is Washington State and over 600 members. As part of the Western Region, we work closely with the IMAs in Los Angeles, San Diego, Oregon, and Idaho. Our chapter’s mission is, “To protect Washington State’s Infrastructure and critical services by providing a secure platform and trusted community to share experiences and information.”

With more than 86,000 constituents in more than 160 countries, ISACA® (www.isaca.org) is a leading global provider of knowledge, certifications, community, advocacy and education on information systems assurance and security, enterprise governance of IT, and IT-related risk and compliance. Founded in 1969, ISACA sponsors international conferences, publishes the ISACA® Journal, and develops international information systems auditing and control standards. It also administers the globally respected Certified Information Systems Auditor™ (CISA®), Certified Information Security Manager® (CISM®) and Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT® (CGEIT®) designations.

ISACA developed and continually updates the COBIT®, Val IT™ and Risk IT frameworks, which help IT professionals and enterprise leaders fulfill their IT governance responsibilities and deliver value to the business.

The Puget Sound chapter is run by volunteers who are ISACA members nominated through ISACA Annual General Meeting (AGM). ISACA members’ participations in running the chapter are highly encouraged.

Established in 1989 under the name MACROSEARCH, Inc, we updated our name to MACRO.CCS in 2011 to better reflect who we have become: an IT services company with heavy concentration in fixed deliverable computer consulting. Under our new corporate name, we retain the names of our original services; MACROSEARCH for direct hire placement services, and MACROSTAFF for technical staffing.

We serve the West Coast through our offices in Seattle and Los Angeles. We are proud of the successful, long term relationships we enjoy with a wide variety of companies and technical specialists.

Our corporate culture is formed by the goals and values we have set for ourselves. We have established and maintained an industry reputation as one of the most honest and ethical companies in the marketplace.

The Heart of Your Northwest tech community with monthly events connecting you to people and resources to take your career or company to the next level. Join us for New Tech Eastside’s Women in Tech Special Event on May 16th with presenters including Catalyze Seattle, ADA Academy, Diverse City and Ebay’s eWit Program.

The OPTA is group of technologically inclined individuals, whom share a general interest in helping the local community. The Olympic Peninsula Technology Alliance (OPTA) currently meets during the first Thursday of every month. As of the time of this writing, there has not been a determination on a permanent meeting location.

At Presidio, we take the time to deeply understand how your business works, we architect transparent, enduring technology solutions that meet your immediate needs – and prepare you for tomorrow. We combine experience and stability with regional expertise and service, so you can rest assured we’ll be there to help you locally with the ability to cover your global business needs.

Recover your applications instantly to any second in the past with BackDating. Reduxio’s HX550 enterprise storage array redefines flash hybrid array performance and reinvents data protection with capabilities far exceeding anything on the market. Reduxio Systems is an enterprise storage company based in Silicon Valley founded by visionaries from Oracle, NetApp, and Dell. Reduxio – Best of VMworld 2015 award winner in the Virtualization and Cloud Infrastructure category. Twitter @ReduxioSystems

Unitrends increases uptime, productivity and confidence in a world in which IT professionals must do more with less. Unitrends leverages high-availability hardware and software engineering, cloud economics, enterprise power with consumer-grade design, and customer-obsessed support to natively provide all-in-one enterprise backup and continuity. The result is a “one throat to choke” set of offerings that allow our customers to focus on their business rather than backup.

As one of the oldest and largest statewide technology trade associations in North America, we’re passionate about promoting Washington as a desirable place to start and grow successful technology companies amid a strong and connected community. WTIA isthe place to connect to Washington’s technology industry

Zerto helps customers accelerate IT transformation by eliminating the risk and complexity of modernization and cloud adoption. By replacing multiple legacy solutions with a single IT Resilience Platform™, Zerto combines disaster recovery, backup and cloud mobility in a simple, converged platform. With enterprise scale, Zerto’s software platform delivers continuous availability for an always-on customer experience while simplifying workload mobility to protect, recover and move applications freely across hybrid and multi-clouds.