Posts Tagged ‘Greg Elliott’
08 - 06 - 10
By: Darren Bonawitz
Here is a special feature about Stallard Technologies, Inc. detailing who its client are, how it’s associated with 1102 GRAND and why Kansas City is the place to do business.
Description about the company: Stallard Technologies, Inc. buys and sells new and pre-owned Dell servers, workstations, and storage solutions. Customers can choose from 30 different models at 40% – 60% savings over new equipment. Dell certified technicians re-configure the equipment to your exact specifications and conduct a 20 point inspection of each unit. A FREE one year STI Limited Warranty is included with each system. Save Green, Go Green, Stallard Technologies.
Who are your clients? Stallard Technologies works with small businesses to Fortune 500 companies in the US and all around the world. We can ship from one computer part to 2000 Dell servers(Germany) at a time.
How is your company associated with 1102 GRAND? We share many mutual customers by providing the IT hardware that 1102 GRAND host and maintains.
Why are you in Kansas City? The company was started by James Stallard out of his father-in-laws garage in Overland Park, Kansas in January 2003.
What is the best part of doing business in Kansas City? Friendly, hard working people who desire to do things with excellence.
What are the benefits of working in Kansas City? Good place to raise a family and great quality of life.
What are the financial or economic incentives to living in Kansas City or the metro area?Reasonable cost of living and good business opportunities.
06 - 25 - 10
By: Greg Elliott
Information Technology Kansas City (ITKC) offers a valuable service to the Kansas City community, so I would like to take the time to share some details from their website about the organization.
ITKC is a program of the Enterprise Center of Johnson County focused on building a strong IT community within the Kansas City metropolitan area that consists of organizations that provide or use Information Technology.
ITKC offers an array of programs and services that aim to educate, entertain, provide networking opportunities and increase the visibility of local expertise to the Kansas City region. The programs and services include:
- Networking events for IT professionals, managers or executives
- IT technical and business seminars
- Best practices roundtables and discussions
- Directory of IT service and training providers
ITKC does not cater to only one type of company, but believes small to well-established businesses can benefit from the programs and events it offers. Participants of past events have included engineers, managers, executives and financial and sale professionals.
ITKC’s mission is to energize, unite and nurture the regional Kansas City information technology community. It builds upon the strengths of many companies, small and large‚ to help enable a center of IT excellence in the Midwest. It is the gateway to the IT community and provide a leadership resource for the metro area.
So if you are a KC IT professional and have not checked out ITKC, we encourage you to do so. Actively participating in groups such as this, helps build a strong IT community in Kansas City.
To learn more about ITKC visit www.itkc.org
06 - 10 - 10
By: Darren Bonawitz
Thank you for taking the time to read our blog. Here is a special feature on Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. about who it is, who it serves, how it’s associated with 1102 Grand, and why Kansas City!
Company Description: Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. (MHM) is a national independent CPA firm – 3rd largest in Kansas City and 8th largest in the country – that is dedicated to providing high quality audit and attest services including: Financial Statement Audits, SAS 70 Audits, Employee Benefit Plan Audits, Reviews and Agreed Upon Procedures. They are guided by their core values of competence, integrity, respect and value, and with more than 30 locations nationwide, they are a nationally recognized alternative to the Big Four.
Who it Serves: While MHM provides services to a variety of industries and companies, their primary focus includes mid-sized and growing companies (public and private) in the construction, nonprofit, life sciences, manufacturing, financial institutions and other professional services industries.
How it is Associated with 1102 GRAND: We provide SAS 70 services to 1102 GRAND.
Why Kansas City: MHM’s roots in Kansas City can be traced back to 1954 when Ernest D. Mayer opened a small accounting practice. After years of steady growth, Mayer Hoffman McCann’s tax practice merged with CBIZ, Inc. in 1998 while MHM began to focus strictly on audit and attest services, and continued to acquire other independent CPA firms across the country. Even though MHM quickly became one of the Top Ten accounting firms in the nation, they recognized Kansas City as both a strategic location and strong foundation for the company, so remained in the area and established it as their national headquarters.
The Best Part of Doing Business in Kansas City: There is such a vast amount of different businesses and industries in the Kansas City area, that as a Consultant, we learn so much about how these businesses operate, what their target market is, where they can improve, etc. We can then help them by applying the services our company provides or introducing them to others that can assist.
The Benefits of Working in Kansas City: I have lived in Kansas my entire life so helping small, medium and large sized businesses locally is very rewarding.
The Economic Incentives to Living in Kansas City or the Metro Area: There are a lot of areas you can reside in Kansas City that are safe and have great schools and not have to pay a premium to live there. I think convenience is also a big factor as you can get around the city without having to wait in traffic for the most part.
05 - 28 - 10
By: Darren Bonawitz
During an interview with Stallard Technologies, a data partner of 1102 GRAND, Greg Elliott reviewed why the company has a working relationship with Stallard Technologies.
“Our main job at 1102 GRAND is to provide a carrier neutral place for providers to connect their networks and to do the behind the scene connections that need to take place in order to make all of those networks work,” said Elliott.
Stallard Technologies is an Internet retailing company based in Overland Park, Kansas. It specializes in buying and selling quality new and used Dell servers and workstations, as well as EqualLogic and EMC storage devices and Cisco network appliances.
At Stallard Technologies, it is your personal shoppers. It works aggressively to find the best available values on business networking hardware, so you can accomplish your networking goals effectively, efficiently and under budget.
It deals strictly with reliable vendors and top quality products, and will make sure that you are getting what you expect, no surprises. It knows the importance of building relationships, and is committed to providing you with the best combination of hardware value and service available anywhere, online or offline!
Stallard Technologies, has its own staff of trained and qualified technicians. It manages complete diagnostic checks on all our products. Performance of products has the Stallard Technologies seal of Approval and Warranty.
03 - 16 - 10
By: Greg Elliott
Hi, I’m Greg Elliott with 1102 GRAND, Kansas City’s carrier hotel and collocation facility. Thanks for taking the time to join me for another podcast concerning what we’re seeing out there in the collocation industry. Today, I’m going to focus on why networking events are important to 1102 GRAND to facilitate the growth of the IT and the telecom community in the area. 1102 GRAND is a major hub for voice and data traffic in the midwest and we see a lot of deals come through the doors and we offer to help in any way we can. Whether it’s a potential customer who needs cabinet or cage space, or just needs a recommendation on who they should go to for their solution to their problem. We always try and help.
For years, we have sponsored networking events to help bring people together. We have our annual golf tournament, our Boulevard Brewery event, along with other informal events throughout the year. We find that when you bring individuals together in a relaxed atmosphere people share ideas, and in turn, deals happen. So we feel it’s our place in the community to be a hub for the commerce, as well as a hub for the internet. I invite you to come take a look at what we’re building at 1102 GRAND.
Click here to register for the April 1st networking event at Boulevard Brewery
11 - 30 - 09
By Greg Elliott
I’ve had many discussions with people involved in the software and IT industries and the topics that usually come up are:
-Where can I find good employees?
-Where can I find other software or IT Professionals to network with?
-Is there an organization that has resources that can help my software or IT company?
My answers to these questions are, “yes,” through the Software and Information Technology Association of Kansas (SITAKS). I was able to visit with Miriam Ubben, president of SITAKS, and here’s what she had to say about this worthwhile organization.
Q: What is SITAKS all about?
A: The Software and Information Technology Association of Kansas was launched in June 2008 to provide support to Kansas’ burgeoning software and information technology (IT) industry. SITAKS is a corporate membership group designed to support Kansas’ 3,200 software and IT companies, as well as companies with large IT departments. We provide state level advocacy, workforce development, capital formation and management level education and networking to our members. You will find value in SITAKS membership if your company has an interest in building connections and establishing your presence within the software and IT sector.
Q: What impact has SITAKS had on the IT Community?
A: The SITAKS membership has grown to 100 member companies in just 18 short months. During this time, SITAKS has hosted over 30 educational and networking events that have brought together software/IT executives that are now leveraging each others’ products and services.
Many of our events center on helping to improve your bottom line. Our events are customized to the software/IT management environment and include such topics as utilizing state and federal R&D tax credits for software development, protecting your company’s IP, securing federal contracts and tapping into state funding programs.
Next February 2010, SITAKS is hosting the first annual Kansas Technology Awards featuring awards in nine categories. This event is designed to bring prominence to our member companies and the sector. We are also rolling out our state legislative platform in December, 2009 which focuses primarily on improving the business environment for software and IT companies.
Q: What opportunities are there to become involved with SITAKS?
A: In addition to attending events and board participation, members have the opportunity to serve on the following SITAKS committees: 1) Public Policy Committee; 2) Workforce Committee; 3) Events Committee; and 4) Membership Committee. Committees meet monthly and provide networking opportunities and an opportunity to provide direction to the organization.
Thank you, Miriam, for taking the time to share about SITAKS! Feel free to contact me via email at Greg@1102Grand.com for questions about SITAKS. Let me know if there are other topics you would like to see discussed here at Nfrastructure EXchange, and I would be happy to look into it. We are currently working on topics that delve into the Healthcare IT and Call Center verticals. Stay tuned!
SITAKS Bio
The Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC)*, as part of its mission to promote technology based economic development, launched SITAKS on June 11, 2008 to support Kansas’ software and information technology companies. SITAKS is located in Lenexa, KS at the Enterprise Center of Johnson County. Current members include small to large companies. Founding companies include Garmin, Freightquote, LSI, DSI, Perceptive Software, Deloitte, cBIZ and 1102Grand. Membership is based on number of employees in your company. Visit www.sitaks.com to learn more and to become involved!
11 - 25 - 09
Welcome to Greg Elliott’s weekly podcast featuring local IT, VOIP and data center opportunities.
By Greg Elliott
Hi, I’m Greg Elliott with 1102 GRAND, Kansas City’s Carrier Hotel and collocation facility. What we want to try to do with these podcasts is just to share with you some real world experiences that we’re seeing here in Kansas City, across the nation and around the world. We have customers from Kansas City, and as far away as the Philippines and Germany. We’re seeing a good cross-section of what’s going on out there in the collocation world. I wanted to share with you specifically a customer that recently came to us…
10 - 19 - 09
Greg Elliot With IT Executive Consultant & CIO Brad Rein
By Greg Elliott
I have heard the discussion many times, should I invest capital in a data center at my current facility or should I move to an off-site facility? I met Brad Rein recently and he had a great insight into the topic at hand. His particular case was a little different, he was looking to move his primary data center to an off-site location and have his DR [disaster recovery] site remain at their main office.
1) What were the components that made the move make sense?
Our operations consisted of one data center, so as the company achieved the current level of maturity and demands from our clients, I had to begin planning for the advancement of our DR/BC [disaster recovery/business continuity] plan. My decision to develop an off site hosting model for our primary data center operations was based on several factors. First, the buildup of our server, network and storage infrastructure was essentially complete so the level of hands on activity had been reduced to periodic maintenance and other occasional physical changes. With our heavy emphasis on virtualization, and remote management capabilities, having direct access to the primary physical components by our infrastructure team was no longer an issue. This previously had weighed heavily into the decision to keep our primary data center operations in our corporate office facility.
Second, given the nature of our business (medical device, healthcare information centric), we were capturing and maintaining highly sensitive data. Our clients and business partners were placing significant emphasis on comprehensive security controls that we were obligated to meet. The focus on the physical data center was becoming increasingly important to them, and the requirements were beginning to exceed what we could justify from a cost/benefit perspective in terms of hardening our existing data center.
2) What did you discover as key benefits to the potential move?
My model was to essentially transfer our primary DC [data center] operations to a remote facility and continue to operate the corporate office data center as the fail over, backup. This was a strategic decision based on the previous points, with the intent of taking our DR/BC capabilities to the next level while mitigating the cost of building the requisite functionality into our existing data center. Additionally, this move would also allow flexibility in the event that, for instance, the company outgrew the leased space in the building and was forced to seek new space elsewhere. Business service interruptions were limited to narrow scheduled maintenance windows – too narrow to take down and move the data center. And, as previously stated, the increasingly stringent operational and security requirements coming from our clients and business partners related to data center operations would be easily met under this model thus expediting the acquisition of new business, and meeting evolving SLA’s [service level agreement].
3) Was there a cost saving by making the switch?
The initial cost analysis showed that by making this change we would eliminate the need to invest in additional (redundant) data circuits, upgrade the fire protection solution, security, HVAC [heating, ventilating, air conditioning], etc. The savings on the fixed and recurring costs far outweighed the cost of the hosting solution. In a high density, virtualized infrastructure, the footprint is significantly reduced, so the monthly costs for the hosted solution is minimal by comparison.
4) What obstacles did you encounter with the process?
In our discussions and planning, I did not see any issues whatsoever in making the change. Any major player in the hosting services space have the engineers on staff to assist with this process, and I felt comfortable with the approach. Having moved data centers on two occasions throughout my career, I understand the process, what to plan for, and how to execute. The bottom line is plan, plan and plan some more. Get the key people involved in every step of the process.
5) What advice would you offer to a CIO contemplating a similar move?
In the current economic climate, most CIO’s are facing increasing pressures on budgets, with expectations to deliver world class, best of breed solutions. Often that creates a paradox in that an adequate capital expenditures budget is essential to accomplishing the mission. It is a fairly simple mathematical exercise to establish the cost to a business when mission critical functions are lost. Approach it from an insurance mindset, and consider ways to reduce the impact. Whether you are hosting a single data center, or multiple operations, hosting makes sense in that you have the full attention and skill of the staff in a facility specifically designed to support critical technology operations.
So there you have it, straight from a CIO. Let me know what topics you would like to see covered in our five questions with… posts. Coming soon…equipment financing with Commercial Capital Company and data backup with DataEdge.
Brad A. Rein
Brad A. Rein has a broad background as a senior executive with over 20 years of leadership experience in medium size, private equity held company environments. His experience history has been primarily focused in high growth, strong return businesses with key roles in Information Technology. Mr. Rein has extensive experience in establishing vision and business strategy, building and managing IT project teams and initiatives, with depth and mastery of key technology areas.
