FortiExpress Brings Facts to You

By Carley Wessler

In this summer heat, nothing beats air conditioning and a cold beverage.
Next week, Convergent Technologies Group is offering that to our customers – with the bonus of inside access to the latest information security in the business.
We’re hosting the FortiExpress – an information security lab on wheels – at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, 1601 Overbrook Road, #A. The event will kick off at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 4.

FortiExpress is an innovative resource created by Fortinet, our preferred partner for information security products. The lab is an 18-wheeler that brings Fortinet’s Network Security Platform to life.

Actually, Fortinet commissioned a pair of mobile labs, which are on the road in the “FAST & Secure” tour with stops in 100 cities and logging 25,000 miles over 270 days. We’re honored to bring the FortiExpress to Central Virginia.

Here’s why your business needs you to attend:

• Technology showcase – don’t just take our word for it. Explore the full suite of Fortinet security products that offer the latest in security threat detection from the best in the industry.
• Demonstrations – see for yourself how the best security products are both fast and easy to implement.
• Mobile data center – set up for performance testing.
• Networking – talk with other IT leaders across the region and learn about the changing threat landscape and ways to improve your security infrastructure.

Unfortunately, we can only fit so many people in the mobile lab, even when it’s expanded to its full 1,200-square-foot presentation size, and you don’t want to miss this opportunity. To reserve your space, simply click here to register online to reserve your space. The live presentations and demo will run from 4:30-5:30 p.m.

And once you’ve taken in everything in the FortiExpress, we’ll be offering refreshments and beverages at Hardywood until 7 p.m. We look forward to helping you learn more about the right security products that will protect the heart of your enterprise.

Carley Wessler is an account executive at Convergent Technologies Group.

Now Hiring: We’re Looking for People with Drive to Succeed

By John Monahan

A company on the move always relies on the talents of its people. And with a strategic plan tailored to smart growth in the year ahead, Convergent Technologies Group is looking to hire people with the right skills and drive to advance us on our journey.

We are looking for people who:

1. Thrive in an entrepreneurial environment. We believe in hiring smart people and giving them the opportunity to do good work. Ideally, new employees will bring some unique and proven skills within the IT industry, but we also offer tailored training with our key manufacturing partners. As a small business, we give our people the opportunity to push their boundaries and learn new skills with our products as well as our day-to-day operations. This is a two-way street: We’ll give you the nourishment you need to recognize your potential and turn it all into something real.

2. Show passion about being a solid team contributor. We believe in giving our people the freedom and tools to forge their own path, as they deliver work that advances us on some ambitious goals that we share. Together, we can make a bigger impact than within our individual roles. We work hard as a team, and we celebrate our successes regularly. (Have you heard about our corporate holiday trip each December? Last year, we hosted our employees and their significant others on an all-expenses-paid weekend in New York City!)

3. Find innovative ways to get the job done. After all, we’re in the IT business, where inventiveness and problem solving are part of daily life. We want people who demonstrate creativity in how they work, which opens up new, market-differentiating opportunities in how we partner with and support our clients. Our manufacturing partners are moving at lightning pace with product innovations, and our people need to find the best ways to engage with customers to implement the right solutions.

4. Want to push our business to hit the next level. We’re at a pivotal moment in our corporate evolution, and we know that building the right talent pool is essential to achieving some aggressive-but-attainable business goals. We need people who have the drive to push up to those heights, while also maintaining our hallmark of high-touch customer service and ensuring our long-term sustainability.

Over the past decade, Jeff and I have consciously crafted a business where the contributions of our employees are recognized and rewarded, starting with competitive salaries and complemented with generous bonuses. By building a business where people want to come to work, we’ve grown at paces that consistently outperform others in our industry.

What roles are open now?

Right now, as we look at our business forecasts for the coming year, we are hiring to expand our sales and marketing outreach. We want people who not only understand our vision, but can see themselves as key contributors in achieving that vision. More specifically, we are hiring:

• Enterprise account managers – serve as the critical bridge between our clients and our services team. Communications skills and product knowledge are critical for this role.

• Junior marketing specialist – supports our overall marketing strategy, particularly as we move into new markets and offer an expanded product portfolio.

• Junior accounting associate – aids in back-office functions that keep our business running smoothly with solid financial reporting.

Applying to CTG is easy: Just send your resume to resume@ctgva.com. Most importantly, tell us why we need to hire you – and what you can offer to help CTG accelerate our future.

John Monahan is co-founder of 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.

On the Road to HPE Discover 2016

By John Monahan

Our CTG leadership team is getting ready for our biggest road trip of the year: We are bound for Discover 2016, Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s annual solutions showcase.

Each year, we can’t imagine how HPE might top the previous year’s program, but each year HPE ups the ante with a new level of innovation and engagement. Once again, Discover will be held in Las Vegas, and we’re delighted to host several clients during the June 7-9 program.

As an HPE Platinum Partner, CTG can deliver unparalleled access to HPE leaders, giving our clients a competitive advantage in pursuing Enterprise Class solutions, tools, and resources. It’s a jam-packed few days, but in the rapidly advancing idea economy – the answers we need come from our strategic intersections.

In fact, CEO Meg Whitman will speak specifically on how HPE is enabling companies like yours to act instantly and adapt continuously. Business as usual, well, isn’t business as usual anymore – and the right IT investments can provide a springboard for you to drive productivity, leverage data to power your business, and protect your digital enterprise.

What makes this a “can’t-miss event:”

·        Insight: This annual program presents the latest technologies, solutions, case studies, trends and strategies. More than just learning about cutting-edge topics, participants get the information they need to make smart choices now – and down the road. Even more important? You’re engaging with the best thinkers and strategists in the business.

·         Innovation:  Hearing someone tell you about something new is one thing. Seeing emerging IT in practice and putting it to the test is something much more – and that’s one of the hallmarks of Discover. The Transformation Zone lets you engage with both HPE and your CTG team to explore the newest innovations and technologies. We’re talking about tools that will help you hit important goals back in your business, from boosting your revenue, customer service and agility to reducing costs and risks.

·         Networking: Discover attracts more than 10,000 participants, representing HPE executives, IT professionals (from CIOs to engineers, from architects to analysts), partners and more. Share your challenges and successes to find new ways to leverage IT in powerful ways.

·         Learning: The program features hundreds of break-out sessions, allowing attendees to find out how to get the most of current HPE solutions and understand the value of new ones.

We’re looking forward to getting a sneak peek at the future of IT – and we’re thrilled to be sharing this experience with our clients. For those of you who can’t make it to Discover 2016, we’ll be sharing updates and will report on the key event takeaways. Plus, the keynote addresses and many sessions will be streamed live; follow us on social channels to learn more.

In these final days before the conference, let us know if you have any specific IT questions that we can answer for you. We’ll be sitting at the table with the nation’s top IT talent, and we’re ready to put our partner affiliation and knowledge to work for you.

John Monahan is a co-founder of Convergent Technologies Group.

Networking and Your IT Infrastructure

By Carley Wessler

Sometimes, the best place to learn about something new for your business is anywhere but your office. We all get distracted by phone calls, emails and other team members.

Still, it is important to keep aware of what’s happening in the technology industry, so you are putting the best resources to work for your business. Having a powerful, reliable infrastructure is critical to your ability to compete effectively – not to mention profitability – in today’s idea economy. Your competitive edge becomes your ability to maximize how you use more and more data.

That is why our CTG team is inviting you to come join us for an evening with Hewlett Packard Enterprise. We’ll host the event from 6-9 p.m. April 27 at Sonoma Wine Bar & Bistro, located in the Virginia Beach Town Center.

In other words, we are offering some time for you to come network – and explore new IT solutions in a casual environment. Whether you are actively considering new investments or are interested in longer-term implementations, we are going to focus on HPE’s Hyperconverged Datacenter Infrastructure for the 3rd Platform – a simple, all-in-one virtualization solution that allows you to launch new capabilities quickly, simplify your IT operations, and reduce costs.

What we plan to cover:

• Platform scalability – for both hardware and software, so you can gain storage and computing stacks.
• Data management – boost your data performance, efficiency and availability.
• Storage efficiency – as you grow your business and your data, make it easier on yourself.
• Data resiliency – apply new capabilities soundly at targeted levels.
• Workload adjacency and quality of service – get the best for both computing and storage.

We know you probably have questions about how this infrastructure could benefit your organization, and our team of CTG experts and HPE leaders can deliver the answers you need to make informed decisions. We encourage you to check out this market spotlight on this innovative HPE infrastructure – and we look forward to seeing you on April 27.

Carley Wessler is an account executive with CTG.

Revamped Web Site Launches

By Alexandra Suder

One of the biggest priorities on the marketing front this year has been on overhauling our Web site – and I was excited to finally hit the “go live” button on the new-and-improved www.ctgva.com last week.

We did a lot of work behind the scenes to make this a robust and meaningful site for our customers. How did we do that? We listened to what you’ve been telling us from our first years in business, nearly a decade ago.

The biggest takeaway we heard is that you don’t just want to hear that we offer great technology and services because you always trust us to do that. You want to know what CTG and our solutions can do for you. And in today’s idea economy – where IT is the biggest competitive advantage in your business – that’s more important than ever. That was the driver as we mapped out the framework for the new site.

What you’ll find now:

• Our focus on putting benefits first: In general, clients don’t come to us asking for a specific product. Instead, they come to us looking for ways to work more efficiently or solve problems. Now, at a glance, you can pinpoint the capabilities that CTG can deliver to help fuel your growth. The biggest gain is we help our clients achieve their goals and business directives: The focus becomes on opening their eyes to other possibilities that hadn’t yet been considered, but could redefine their business.

• Our expertise at your fingertips: You’ll find white papers, product videos and webinars – all available to you at a click. We’re also integrating our blog and social media channels, so you can keep up with the latest in our industry, Gartner and IDC.

• Our commitment to bringing you best: Much like our primary partner, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, we are committed to helping your transform your enterprise. The Web site is aligned to HPE’s mission to help you migrate to a hybrid infrastructure, use data to power your growth, boost workplace productivity through mobility and keep your enterprise safe and secure. No matter the size of your business, we’re committed to deploying the right solution for you.

We believe the new site structure allows you to quickly navigate the information you need, and we want to thank our partners at Agency Ingram Micro for bringing our vision for this new site to life. They brought some great ideas to the table on how to best share our story and services in engaging ways for our site visitors.

More is still to come. We’ll be regularly adding news and other information, and we envision ultimately launching an online store for various products in our portfolio.

For now, we encourage you to take a few moments, visit the site and share some feedback about your experience. The more we hear from you, the better we can continue to refine and adapt the site.

Of course, this is only one way to interact with the CTG team. While our Web site is open 24/7, we always prefer the opportunity to sit down with you in person to discuss your IT needs – and how we can put the right solutions to work for you.

Alexandra Suder is CTG’s director of marketing.

What To Look For In A Modern Firewall Solution

By Convergent Technologies Group
Your network is the central nervous system of your business—connecting employees, partners and customers and data. The value of that data found on your network is what makes every organization a target for breach. The risk from internal and external threats is very real. The compromise of sensitive financial information, personal data, or intellectual property by malicious outsiders or careless employees can cost an organization dearly.
A strong network protection platform is one that can stop internal and external threats from reaching its targets without hindering access to vital information resources. That’s where the Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) comes in.
More comprehensive than traditional traditional firewalls, a NGFW is a vital component of an effective, multi-layered cybersecurity platform. But with so many firewall options out there, how do you choose the solution that provides the right level of security for your business? When evaluating next generation firewall solutions, it’s important to look at platforms that meet your requirements for security, reliability, performance, ease-of-management and affordability.
Here are 6 factors to consider:
1. Reduced Complexity and Expense
Some of the less-expensive choices out there that are far less affordable than they seem. Many firewalls have additional charges for advanced features, and some of them actually stagnate the network. A good next generation firewall should simplify network management instead of making it cumbersome.
2. Point Product Consolidation
An effective next generation firewall consolidates the capabilities of multiple point products, eliminating problems resulting from incompatibilities between point products and piecemeal upgrades and replacements.
3. Advanced Security Protection
Modern cyber attacks come from all directions, and your next generation firewall platform needs to offer defense-in-depth protection to block them all. A NGFW that works hand-in-hand with an Internal Segmentation Firewall (ISFW) is the best approach. The ISFW sits inside your network to protect your highest-priority assets from APTs that have penetrated the network perimeter or insider threats.
4. Exceptional Visibility And Control
The most effective NGFWs give you the flexibility to protect your entire network from one view. Look for platforms with intuitive drag and drop controls and single pane of glass, centralized management for 360-degree network visibility and ease of administration.
5. High-Powered, Reliable Performance
A firewall only has to go down for a few minutes before culprits infiltrate the perimeter. And your network security can’t come at the expense of productivity. When evaluating next generation firewall solutions, ask for throughput comparisons from multiple vendors.
6. Credible Ratings and Endorsements
The single best way to determine the next generation firewall that meets your needs is to ask the experts here at CTG. Before investing in a comprehensive next generation firewall, make sure all vendor claims are validated by industry tests, and customer and analyst endorsements.
An independent systems integrator is your partner to help you identify your needs and security goals. Convergent Technologies Group works with best in class technology like Fortinet, to develop and implement network security solutions that offer the highest level of protection for your most valuable data assets.  We chose to work with the Fortinet because we believe it offers the best in its class technology and has been chosen by NSS Labs as the industry's top solution for security effectiveness, speed and total cost of ownership.
Contact Convergent Technologies Group here.