We’re Hiring – Join the CTG Team!!

How many people tell you honestly that they like going to work every day?

I do – and it’s not because I’m one of the bosses. OK, maybe it is, because launching Convergent Technologies Group nearly a decade ago with my business partner allowed us to create the kind of IT company where we can do things our way. At first glance, we’re a veteran-owned firm that specializes in IT services such as data center, security, virtualization and emerging technology, such as bring-your-own-device (commonly known as BYOD).

But what we really do every day is focus on what our customers need. As IT consultants with unique access to HP and other best-in-class products and services, we recommend and implement the right technology that customers need at smart costs to reach their business goals. And we don’t simply walk away then. We’re here to make sure everything continues to run smoothly and to suggest next-stage IT investments to strategically take that business to the next level. It’s a perfect win-win situation: When our customers succeed, so do we.

Over the past 10 years, putting our customers first has been our cornerstone. In the last seven years alone – which, not coincidentally, is the average tenure of today’s CTG staffer – our company has experienced average annual growth of 37 percent. Yes, you read that right, and it’s strongly because of our people, who are our key assets. This year, we’re looking at projected growth of 45 percent, and we need good people to fill key roles within our organization.

Could you see yourself at CTG?

Before I talk about current job openings, let me share a little more about what it’s like to work for CTG. The most important thing about liking what you do is finding the right place, where you fit in.

We’ve built a workplace culture that promotes teamwork, respect and fun. Certainly, you need to know your way around the IT business, but – as you’ve probably reasoned – we put just as much emphasis on knowing how to take care of our customers. Because of that, we hire people who:

• Think outside the box, as individuals who know how to unravel IT puzzles and craft technology solutions that work seamlessly for our customers.
• Approach job challenges strategically, and can then communicate easily and effectively with both clients and teammates.
• Have an internal drive to succeed and bring fresh ideas to light.
• Make smart decisions because they are empowered to do their jobs.
• Want to grow with our company, as they master their current role and step up to new responsibilities.

If you think about it, we’re a sports team comprised of all family members. We believe in providing support for everyone at CTG, where everyone can rely on the bench for back-up. We also believe that family should always come first. We know that our employees’ healthy home lives – which means never missing a child’s game, concert or other special event due to work – spill back over, with good karma generated for our organization.

I want you to love coming to work as much as I do.

Who do we need?

We’re looking for:

• Inside sales representatives: This entry-level track is ideal for new college graduates with the drive for success. This position pays salary plus commission.
• Call center/telemarketing associates: These individuals will reach out and introduce CTG and our services portfolio to prospective clients, with a goal of arranging in-person meetings for our field account managers. This position pays salary plus commission.
• Enterprise account managers/personal systems and print managers: Ideal candidates will bring at least three years of IT sales experiences, along with a strategic commitment to develop sales territories in Richmond, Northern Virginia and Tidewater. This position also pays salary plus commission.

Besides a competitive pay package, CTG offers full medical, dental and vision coverage – just to start. We also provide three weeks of paid vacation annually, corporate contributions to employees’ retirement funds, and specialty training to achieve and maintain designated industry certifications.

What are you waiting for?

Our application process is simple: Send your resume, along with a cover letter with references, to resume@ctgva.com. Be sure to tell us specifically why you want to join CTG. We look forward to welcoming new talent to our team.

John Monahan is co-founder of Convergent Technologies Group (CTG).

Evolving Security Threats

Zero Day. Spear-Phishing. Heartbleed. ShellShock. These are a small handful of terms that would have once been limited to the lexicon of IT people. You’ve most likely heard these in evening news, but as the Internet has become more deeply ingrained into our everyday lives, the threats are getting closer to home.

Less than 15 years ago, having a good firewall, an anti-virus package on the desktop and some user education about clicking links in e-mails was enough to have a moderate expectation of safety. Those were the good old days.

Today, we face threats conducted by evolving and sophisticated attackers. Organized crime, nation states and politically motivated groups (hacktivists) have replaced the youngster in his parents’ basement and the uber-nerd whose code just got away from him. Attackers are now well funded, highly motivated and have access to unannounced exploits (a.k.a. Zero Day). In fact, there’s an entire market based on finding those vulnerabilities, writing the code to exploit it and selling the code for as much as six figures. It’s enough financial incentive to not tell the manufacturer about the vulnerability.

The Network Has Evolved 

The firewall – once the consummate guardian of our computer resources – has become just a single layer of a security program. Society and computing has become more mobile, with laptops, tablets, mobile phones, cloud services and “always-on” Internet access.

While these advances offer convenience and productivity, they also expand the threat vectors that your IT department must consider in its management, security and response plans.

Yes, Products Have Evolved 

The tech industry has evolved with a variety of product categories aimed at defending against threats. Vulnerability Scanners, Next-Gen Firewalls, Intrusion Detection/Prevention Appliances, and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) are all built and updated to help a security team deal with potential threats.

But products alone are not the panacea. As Bruce Schneier said in 2000, “Security is a process, not a product.” Putting products in place and checking the box labeled “secure me” will not provide the protection you need. A repeatable process to deal with the alerts that these products generate is key to keeping your systems safe.

The 2013-14 Target breach is a perfect example: Alerts were generated about the breach, but the process to research and respond was not followed. As a result, personal data and millions of credit cards were stolen and sold.

Too Small to Be Targeted 

“Too small to be targeted” and “no one would want our data” are a couple of the misconceptions we often hear.

Smaller companies offer easy targets with computers, storage, bandwidth and little-to-no auditing. They also make great reflector points to directly attack the real targets.

Beside the annoyance and possible public embarrassment of being part of an attack, if your systems are part of a large enough attack, you could find your equipment and data confiscated as evidence in an official investigation.

But there are steps you can take now to ensure the security of your IT systems, and we’ll look at those in a follow-up blog post next week.

Jeff Garell is co-founder of Convergent Technologies Group