Major Deals, Splits Will Transform IT Industry

By Brandon Samuel

Anyone who has been reading our blog posts or following CTG on social media channels knows by now that Nov. 1 will mark the end of one era and the beginning of a new one for HP. While the news will usher in a new era in technology, it has not been the most impactful news of this month – at least not in the eyes of the end user.

Last week, Dell announced its purchase of EMC, after reaching a $67 billion agreement. In this most expensive technology purchase in history, two giants in the IT world are coming together at a time when our industry as a whole is in the midst of a major shift. As with any big news in my industry, I spent much time after hearing the news going over the pros and cons of the deal, with hopes of better understanding how it would affect my goals of making Convergent Technologies Group and HP the platinum standard in manufacturer/reseller relationships.

When I meet with clients who use Dell products within their infrastructure, I always ask two questions: What do you like about buying Dell? And what do you dislike about it? The answers – although often varying in length – are almost always the same. Clients like the fact that Dell has a direct purchasing model because they believe that they are getting better discounts because of that agreement. Their dislikes always center on support, whether it be for warranty issues or implementation of new solutions.

Along with the Dell-EMC announcement came another announcement that I believe is equally important. Dell and CDW announced a partnership that will allow CDW to begin selling Dell products, virtually eliminating the direct model that so many customers are so fond of. Dell is not well-known to have a strong reseller focus, and this shift will have major impacts on clients who aren’t fond of change. Perhaps the reason behind the deal is that HP’s numbers with CDW were down 6 percent over the past year, a result, in my opinion, of HP’s increased focus on bringing deals to partners such as CTG that bring value throughout the entire sales process.

You might be asking yourself, “How does the merger affect either of these things? Shouldn’t two goliaths in the IT world coming together be a good thing for EMC and Dell clients alike?” Not from our market analysis.

The deal between Dell and EMC is one that has major financial ramifications. At $67 billion, the deal could prove very costly in the short term. Dell will be responsible for paying upward of $2.5 billion dollars annually in interest alone, which will cause a major disruption when it comes to support and R&D, both areas in which Dell has struggled as of late. You must also take into account that these are two very large companies coming together, with very different sales models. The integration of products and sales/service teams will be time consuming and cause major interruptions for the combining businesses for some time. In short, I believe that it will take these companies quite a bit of time to get it right, leaving the door open for companies such as HP to show the value that their products and partnerships can bring to the table, particularly for clients that have flown the Dell flag for quite some time.

Dell has always been a strong company with a loyal following. The move to purchase EMC has allowed them to expand its Enterprise storage portfolio with an EMC product that has been one of the top three Tier 1 solutions for many years. However, the EMC solution has become stagnant of late, as can be noticed by HP’s 3Par offering earning top ratings for the past two years. This deal will likely to cause loyal EMC customers to take a look at their architecture, which could likely lead to an increase in conversations around 3Par. I look forward to the challenges that this merger will create in the long term and am excited for HP Enterprise to take the lead across all major Data Center infrastructure portfolios.


Brandon Samuel is assistant manager of Convergent Technologies Group.

HP Split Will Drive Innovation and Growth

By Scott Haizlip

As the navigator specialist here at Convergent Technologies Group, my focus is in tune with the growth of HP’s printing and personal systems business. Currently, HP is a market leader in printing and personal systems, but – like all companies – HP is always looking for the next way to increase innovation and grow business. I feel that HP has found a way to increase both innovation and growth with its plan to split its business.

On Nov. 1, HP officially will separate into two new, equally robust Fortune 50 companies. The business that will be known as Hewlett Packard Enterprise will be responsible for HP’s enterprise infrastructure, software and services business. The second company, to be named HP Inc., will focus on printing and personal computing. Rather than continuing to try to do everything, HP smartly opted for this split that will allow each company to function more strategically and nimbly on what it can do best.

Although HP Enterprise and HP Inc. will both benefit, I feel HP Inc. will thrive from the separation. In my opinion, establishing HP Inc. as a stand-alone company will ensure increased investments in research and design in these market-leading products. This, in turn, will drive growth through innovation.

For our customers, this innovation will change the way you operate your business and life – from how you print to what you can accomplish from a mobile device. HP is constantly developing and introducing inventive products, such as 3D scanning with the HP Sprout, and handwritten notes that transfer to text on the HP Pro Slate 12 – just to name a couple.

Look for HP Inc. to continue to be a leader in bringing the best printers and personal systems to the marketplace. Look for growth in product capabilities and new products that change how we do business. Look for HP to have the solutions to meet your needs – and open up unimagined avenues for you to deliver successfully on your business goals.

Scott Haizlip is SMB account manager at Convergent Technologies Group.

Thin Client Technology Is Game Changer for Mobility

By Doug Carter

HP and Windows have launched a new rugged product that is going to change the game on how companies manage their mobile workforces.

The new HP Elitepad 1000 G2 TC Tablet is a rugged Thin Client that offers all of the functionality of a fully loaded table – delivered with the value, security, manageability and long life that corporations love to have.

With 5.7 million more Thin Client units implemented in 2014 and 7.8 million projected worldwide by 2018, HP has certainly set the bar high for its competition with the new Thin Client rugged tablet. Offering improved technologies in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, Desktop as a Service and Cloud Solutions, combined with a Windows-embedded operating system, HP has claimed the top rung in the worldwide market for Windows-based Thin Client tablets.

What can customers expect from this rugged mobile Thin Client tablet?

To start, this tablet delivers a consistent experience with trusted and familiar standard tools for system administration, along with user-friendly applications that are intuitive, interactive and integrates with existing infrastructure. This tablet also offers the best:

Security: Because security is on the forefront of everyone’s thoughts these days, HP and Windows offer comprehensive security on this amazing unit, combined with HP’s TPM, NIST, Fiber NICs, Multiple Authentication Solutions and HP Easy Shell, Windows provides BitLocker, AppLocker, Write Filters and Predictable Security Update Schedule.

Cloud Power: Microsoft Azure provides a reliable platform customized to meet customer needs. Azure RemoteApp on HP Thin Clients allows customers to run business applications and to scale to meet their business demands, with easy configuration and remote management.

With Office 365, customers have the capability for security-enhanced, cloud-hosted office applications, business-class email with Outlook WebApp, and instant messaging, voice and video calls with Skype.

Connectivity and Communication: A critical part of field reporting is connectivity and communication. The Thin Client with embedded Gobi (Verizon/AT&T) and 2D/3D Barcode reader – aligned with the same hardware and driver ecosystem as Windows desktop operating systems – provides easy access to drivers for printers, scanners, card readers and headsets. It provides high-fidelity communication in the VDI environment or the browser-based cloud. With Microsoft RDP/RFX, Citrix HDX, VMware Vie, HP RGS provides the most complete protocol support for virtualization technology.

Value Add from HP Software: HP Device Manager, HP Velocity and HP Easy Shell provide a rich software ecosystem to optimize the ease of deployment of HP’s Thin Client tablet.

Based in our North Carolina office, Doug Carter is the mobility account manager at Convergent Technologies Group.

The Best Disaster Planning Happens Before a Disaster Strikes

 By Jeff Garell

While the best disaster planning should always take place in advance, we recognize that the looming potential damage from heavy rains and Hurricane Joaquin in the coming days is a good time to make sure your business has every base covered.

First and foremost is not just checking that you have backups, but verifying that they are good and you can restore from them. You'd be surprised the number of times someone diligently verifies that the backup software claims it's successful but has never tested a restore - even if it's just restoring a few random files.  

Just as important as having good backups is verifying that you've been backing up the right stuff. Again, we've come across problems where the backup solution was set up years ago, while processes/applications/critical data have changed and the backups have not been adjusted accordingly.

Next would be to figure out how to continue operations if your location is out of power/flooded/generally inaccessible. Depending on your business, this might not be possible or necessary. For instance, a high-end clothing store would be less interested in trying to sell fancy clothes and more interested in protecting its inventory from looters or floodwaters until the emergency passes. To stay with retail examples, a grocery store or home improvement store will be very interested in maintaining its operations to help those affected (and make a few bucks). 

The majority of businesses will want to somehow continue to operate and keep the revenue flowing.  This is generally referred to as business continuity, and, depending on the business, might involve having a paper process as the backup to today’s more automated solutions.

Prior to leaving the office for the last time before a predicted storm hits, consider shutting down and unplugging all your IT/Telephone/electronic assets, making sure they're off the floor, and, as an added precaution covering them with plastic sheeting. DO NOT cover with plastic sheeting if you don't turn everything off or your assets will overheat, possibly melt the plastic and be a fire hazard. Be sure you know how to put everything back in place - or arrange with your service provider to do it - once the storm passes. 

If you don't already have a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) or Continuity of Operations Plan (ConOP), it's probably too late to start with the current storm bearing down on the Mid-Atlantic. Once things calm down, however, start that that planning process. A solid and practiced BCP answers the questions of what and how to do your recovery before you're in panic mode. Showing you have one might reduce your insurance costs, and if you show you followed your plan, then the insurance companies will often expedite your claim with fewer questions about why you made X decision.

One final and important note: When facing widespread problems (regional power outages from ice storms or hurricanes, for example), every business owner or manager must remember this affects your employees’ families just as much as it affects your business operations. You'll be hard pressed to get everyone in to try and save the business when your employees’ families also are going through considerable hardship. You must keep this in mind in any contingency planning you put together.

Jeff Garell is co-founder of Convergent Technologies Group.

CIO Retreat Pushes Creativity in IT

By John Monahan

As I see it, the best part of my job is helping clients solve tough questions.

If we are truly going to achieve our vision of being a trusted partner with our customers, we can’t simply be focused on selling products. We need to ensure that we are offering the right resources to help those businesses take care of what they need today and are positioned to grow smartly with the strategic use of their IT resources.

Being a trusted partner is about more than just supporting infrastructure, it’s about ensuring that our clients understand the current industry environment and have a vision of what’s coming next. That’s a big reason we host a handful of CIOs from around the region at our ongoing retreat series, held at The Greenbrier in West Virginia. For two days, we step away from the daily business operations and take a deeper dive into the future state of IT.

The centerpiece of the weekend is an exclusive three-hour session with HP’s Chief Creatologist, Joe Batista. Yes, we know that’s not a common title, but the greatest value that Joe delivers is that he isn’t a conventional IT executive. His role is about helping HP clients discover, unlock and unleash the power of innovation, a common theme in the many years that he has joined in our CTG retreats. Joe talks about how to think differently about your business, your technology and your assets in ways that drive new growth and real results. It’s how to use IT, if you will, to change the game.

Why is this so important?

1.     The world is getting more complex, and we need creative approaches to find the best answers. To gain the competitive advantages required, businesses need to look for more than off-the-shelf solutions. They need to know how to leverage both their legacy and emerging technologies – along with their human resources - to work in innovative ways.

2.     We learn from others. Just like the best technologies can’t exist in a silo, we can’t try to sit apart to plan out the next technology steps. With this opportunity to talk with other technology executives, participants can look at the bigger picture and learn about best practices that they can apply to their current challenges and opportunities.

3.     Technology fuels innovation. You can have the best or most unique business idea, but getting it to market today requires the smartest IT backbone. If it’s simple and straightforward, someone has probably already done it. To distinguish yourself and your product, you need to come at your business in ways that you probably have yet to consider – and you need to develop the strategic mindset and identify the tools to help you make those dreams into realities with bottom-line gains.

We’re looking forward to hearing the latest visions and insights from Joe, whom we have access to as part of our Platinum Partnership with HP. We’ll be sharing more in the days ahead, so be sure to keep following CTG on our social channels.

John Monahan is co-founder of Convergent Technologies Group.

Giving Ourselves a Shout Out: CTG earns HP Platinum designation

By John Monahan and Jeff Garell

We have some big news to share: After years of investing a lot of time in training and building our hands-on expertise, CTG has been named a Hewlett Packard Platinum partner.

We’re even more proud to be among an elite group in the country to earn this designation, which reflects our expertise both in sales and service. In other words, we have a rare mastery of HP’s infrastructure products and how to put them to work for you. We’re also the only Virginia-based, exclusive HP provider to reach this top level.

We earned our Platinum Partner status as a converged infrastructure specialist, which covers the core areas of storage, networking, servers and infrastructure servicing – all products of what will become Hewlett Packard Enterprise this fall.

While this is certainly exciting news for CTG, this is great news for our customers. But what exactly does this mean for clients who choose to work with us as a Platinum partner?  Here are some key perks for you:

1.        Specialized skills: Our people have invested years in training programs, where we received hands-on education with every HP Enterprise product – from basic features to performance standards. As HP enhances existing offerings and launches new products, that training is continuing, ensuring that CTG’s team can share the latest technology and information with clients. Basically, we know every product inside and out – like no one else.

2.     Innovative solutions: Because we have the deepest knowledge of HP products, we can easily develop and implement strategic solutions that meet your IT needs today and for the future. There’s nothing across the HP Enterprise portfolio that we can’t deliver at the highest-quality standards. Our clients trust us to recommend what’s right.

3.     Personalized support: We know you – and we know the solutions we provide. Because of that, we can provide the tailored IT support you need for your business.

Of course, our customers have received many great benefits from our previous Gold Partner affiliation with HP. We’ll be able to build on those offerings, such as continuing to host clients at the HP Customer Experience Center in New York, holding private sessions at HP Discover with HP product specialists and much, much more. We also will continue to bring you cutting-edge HP products, solutions and services at the most-competitive rates.

Yes, we are pretty excited to share this news with you, largely because this news is about you. We didn’t strive for this certification just for CTG. Rather, we made this investment because we realized that achieving this elite skills-and-services designation would be the best way to demonstrate our commitment to delivering the highest-quality engagements with our customers.

John Monahan and Jeff Garell are co-founders of Convergent Technologies Group.

The World Rides with Richmond

By John Monahan

Starting late next week, Richmond’s roadways will be filled with bicycles, as our region hosts the UCI Road World Championships. We’re expecting to see 1,000 cyclists from some 70 countries.

And Convergent Technologies Group is part of the action.

We’ve signed on as a sponsor through the Société 2015, a coalition of businesses that are supporting this great event because we love our city and recognize the grand opportunity that lies in the days ahead. Created in partnership with the Greater Richmond Chamber and the Retail Merchants Association, the Société explains: “We are businesses, organizations, entrepreneurs, cyclists, bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists alike.”

We are connected together to build on the energy of this race – a grand international experience brought to life right on the local streets we travel every day – to continue Richmond’s recent economic growth.

This is an unparalleled opportunity both to support our community and bring the great business and IT resources here to the forefront. More than 450,000 spectators will be watching in person over nine days of racing from Sept. 19-27, and millions more will be watching on global telecasts.

Richmond has a lot of offer for companies willing to make an investment. With all that attention on the race and the great state of Virginia, why not show the world what Richmond businesses have to offer? Who knows – maybe one global business may decide to explore our region deeper and one day bring hundreds (or thousands, even) of new jobs to Virginia. We have a strong IT industry, growing financial services, an outstanding creative workforce – not to mention great residential areas and restaurants that are attracting national accolades.

Being part of the community means getting out into the community. This fall, CTG celebrates our 10^th anniversary. No way could we have reached this milestone without the support of those around us, starting with our employees and partner vendors. But the success of our business relies on the extensive relationships we have built with our clients, many of whom have relied on our IT expertise from the first day we opened our door. Although we have grown our operation along the East Coast, we still call Richmond home and want to give back to the community that has given so much to us.

Cycling is a healthy lifestyle that is blossoming across the region, with new bike paths and lanes. Personally, I was a smoker for close to 30 years. Now that I’ve stopped and joined a gym, one of my favorite activities is spin class, a.k.a., intensive indoor biking. When you ride hard for an hour, it gives you a great respect for those who have chosen to do this for a profession. The endurance, strength and stamina it takes to be a biker is amazing.

Interested in learning more about the race? Check out this great video from the team at Richmond 2015, which is organizing the event:

And as the Société suggests, let’s welcome these cyclists and spectators – and their bikes – with open arms.

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