CTG Expands into North Carolina

By Caylor Feeley

Convergent Technologies Group is proud of our growth over the last decade and our customer-focused culture. And now, we’re moving ahead in a new direction, with our recent expansion into North Carolina. 

Expanding beyond our Central Virginia headquarters will allow us to strengthen our already existing relationships, and will also enhance our ability to effectively serve a new set of clients. Convergent Technologies Group has a tradition of growing businesses in Virginia, Washington D.C. and Maryland with our IT solutions that fit our customer’s precise needs. Our expansion into North Carolina will not only grow our clientele and market reach but will provide full-service technology solutions to our customers in the region. North Carolina's economy grew from tobacco farming and textiles into a leader in modern industries, such as aerospace, biotechnology, banking and energy. The fast-growing economy and the state's thriving technology-based industries create a strong fit for CTG's presence.

Convergent Technologies Group is dedicated to cultivating positive business relationships in North Carolina and providing organizations with targeted information technology solutions, particularly in the ever-changing digital economy. Technology allows us to connect with clients wherever they are. As we have developed new relationships, we want to ensure that our clients have a local account manager who can better understand their business and market they operate in. With solutions including cloud, collaboration, data center, disaster recovery, managed services and more, we analyze our clients’ specific wants and needs to create a tailored approach that will deliver against company objectives. 

Representing us in the North Carolina region is Bailey Mountcastle, who has joined CTG as a territory account manager. A Virginia Tech business management graduate, Bailey is highly motivated and dedicated, and looks to provide every business with the most effective keys to transform its IT department into a revenue-building department. Whether you need products, services or a mix of both Bailey can recommend and deliver solutions that will benefit both your current and future technology needs. Reach out to Bailey here. 

Caylor Feeley is a junior marketing specialist at CTG.

Executive Retreat at The Greenbrier to Focus on Continuity, Transformation

By Elizabeth Foster

“Continuity” and the willingness to “step and think outside of the box” are words that describe The Greenbrier, Convergent Technologies Group and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

In June, The Greenbrier – a historical legacy as one of America’s best resorts – and its community was tested as it faced massive flooding, the result of unprecedented levels of torrential rain. The national news showed images of homes, cars and other debris swept away in seemingly unstopping waves of water and mud. While the devastation destroyed much of the community, it didn’t stop the heart and resiliency of the community, which was buoyed by the reaction and support of The Greenbrier.

Even though this majestic, historical property was assessing severe damage across its property, the resort’s leaders opened its heart and its rooms to those who had lost everything. Two months later, many are still in the early stages of rebuilding their homes – and their lives.

Recognizing its role as a beacon in the community and a major employer in the region, The Greenbrier worked diligently to re-open its doors. In two months, Convergent Technologies Group will return again to The Greenbrier to host its annual Executive Retreat, partnering with HPE to discuss that latest in technology today – including resiliency when the unexpected might occur.

The background for the Oct. 21-23 is fitting. HPE is known for plowing through challenges, and today is recognized as a juggernaut for innovation and tried-and-tested technology. As a Platinum Partner, CTG shares those same values, refusing to settle for the status quo and pushing for next-generation solutions. At the same time, both companies have a history of empowering their people to be nimble, to be intuitive, to strive for excellence on a daily basis and to never settle for less than perfection.

For the Executive Retreat, technology leaders from Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia and North Carolina will be coming together with HPE’s Chief Business Strategist & Innovation Officer (aka Chief Creatologist) Joe Batista and CTG executives for open and frank discussions about today’s challenges. From digital transformation and the Internet of Things, from mobility issues to the need for hyper converged systems to handle virtual and storage environments, HPE and CTG together bring a new way of thinking and doing business. Collaboration is key but not the main factor for spurring on changes in technology. Executives are forced to do more with less with shrinking budgets and manpower, while still delivering business processes and continuity.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Batista’s keynote address will explore “The Pivoting Industry: What’s Your Next Move?”

Our CTG co-founders, John Monahan and Jeff Garell, have a united vision and focus for supporting their clients. They believe that executives who attend The Greenbrier Executive Retreat this year will expand their knowledge by learning key business best practices and how to maximize hyper converged environments to lower cost and down time – not to mention finite details on how to shrink and lower the cost of data footprint in the data center. And that’s just a few highlights.

We’ll be sharing more in the coming weeks about this Executive Retreat, which will featured rich discussions about technology and innovative thinking against the backdrop of historical elegance at The Greenbrier. Have you talked with us about saving a seat for you at this once-in-your-business-lifetime experience?

Elizabeth Foster is an inside sales representative at Convergent Technologies Group.

Takeaways from Discover 2016: IT Solutions that Work for You

by John Monahan and Jeff Garell

Ask any of our team members and guests for our top three takeaways from Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s Discover 2016 last week in Las Vegas, and you’ll probably not get the same answers from everyone. With so much information to gather and technology to observe and experience and top experts to hear, we often branched out to make the most of the agenda.

Without question, however, the centerpiece of Discover was our interaction with CEO Meg Whitman and all the HPE leadership. Once a year, Convergent Technologies Group hosts clients in a venue where they hear directly from the top minds in the industry. As an HPE Platinum Partner, we have rare access to connect our customers with those who are bringing cutting-edge products to the market.  These general sessions, demo labs and innovation break-outs help us deliver a level of expertise that differentiates the relationships that CTG offers. As a partner in our clients’ success, we connect you with the right people and solutions so you can do what you do best – and accelerate your growth.

Of course, the annual Discover showcase is when HPE unveils new products and solutions upgrades. Let us share a few favorites that we’re excited to be offering:

•  HPE Synergy: This is composable infrastructure, which brings a new architecture that allows you to construct your resources to your exact application needs, coupled with software-defined intelligence and a unified API. Two of our CTG engineers were among the first 100 individuals worldwide to earn certification in this new platform.

• CloudSystem 10: Do you work with hybrid IT? Then this is the comprehensive cloud solution you need. You can stand it up as a private cloud or integrate it with your existing cloud, virtualized and traditional resources.

• HPE Edgeline IoT Systems:  Before too long, more than 20 billion devices will be connected to the “edge” of traditional networks – this is what the Internet of Things is all about. HPE has unveiled Edgeline, a platform that helps you make the most of information on the fly. This might be from crews in the field, sales reps on the retail floor – basically anywhere that you are creating data that can drive your business. Breaking new ground, Edgeline will help you quickly gain insights from that data at the edge.

•  Hyperconverged380: With our unique capabilities in hyperconverged systems, you know this got our attention.  Designed specifically to help mid-sized businesses deploy virtual machines in minutes, it also is a foundational step for those organizations to move to a hybrid infrastructure. This will allow you to spend more time innovating, while increasing your productivity and flexibility.

• Docker Shipping with Servers: HPE will be shipping Docker, our go-to application container platform, with all its servers. Why does this matter? This automatically incorporates what you need for your modern data center when you install your server, with cross-platform performance, appropriate security and integrated support.

• Cloud transition: Dropbox has transitioned from the Amazon Web Services public cloud and onto an all-HPE cloud solution. The result is “industrial-strength, enterprise-grade security and manageability.” This is easing the transition to the cloud for CIOs everywhere.

• Better IT management: With OneView 3.0, you can simplify day-to-day operations, deploy applications faster and enable your IT to take advantage of new tools.

We’re already meeting and talking with clients about how they might benefit from these new solutions. Each enterprise has different needs, but we have definitely brought back new ideas and strategies that we can tailor to all of our customers.

What solution can we bring to you to advance you to the next level?

John Monahan and Jeff Garell are co-founders of CTG.