Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Interview with Jason Blessing, CEO of Plex Systems (Part 1)

Jason Blessing is the chief executive officer of Plex Systems, a company offering America’s first and so far only ERP cloud service solution exclusively for manufacturers. Jason graduated from the University of Michigan and he has more than 20 years of experience in the IT industry. In this interview he talks about the unique offering of Plex Systems, and for what purpose mostly small and medium sized companies use it. He also shares insights into the future of the sector and how big data plays a big role in the manufacturing process. >>>

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Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Interview with John Michelsen, CTO of CA Technologies (Part 1)

John Michelsen is the chief technology officer of CA Technologies. John studied at Trinity University and is considered one of the great innovators in business IT, with over 12 patents awarded to him. In this interview John talks about trends in the business IT world and how it has developed over the years. Furthermore, he discusses possibilities and opportunities for entrepreneurs and gives us his views on innovators in this space.

Sramana Mitra: John, let’s give our readers a bit of context about what is happening at CA these days. We had your predecessor, Don Ferguson, on one of our series a couple of years ago. When we started doing these series, there was still ambiguity on where the cloud movement was going and how much adoption there was in enterprises. Today there is no such ambiguity. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Joel Young, Senior VP of Research & Development/Chief Technical Officer of Digi (Part 1)

Joel Young is the senior vice president of research & development and chief technical officer of Digi International, a machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions expert for improving business efficiencies. In this interview Joel talks about the integration of the company’s systems in businesses like Salesforce.com and future trends of “the Internet of Things.” According to Wikipedia, the Internet of Things refers to uniquely identifiable objects (things) and their virtual representations in an Internet-like structure.

Sramana Mitra: Joel, let’s start with context about Digi and also context about your background.

Joel Young: First of all, you probably haven’t thought of Digi as in cloud computing. We have been in business since 1985, and we were always in the device connectivity business. We make things that connect devices – originally, to servers or computers. As the world has evolved, we have evolved with it, so we started putting devices on networks. Our goal, since we were founded, has been to connect devices into an application. The world has evolved from serial ports to networks like Ethernet and local area networks (LANs). >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: A Second Conversation with Mark Settle, CIO of BMC (Part 1)

Mark Settle is the chief information officer of BMC, a Houston-based company that provides software solutions to any size business. Mark has been in this position for four years. Before BMC, he worked as CIO of Corporate Express and Arrow Electronics, and he was executive vice president of the Systems & Processing division of Visa. In this interview he explains new trends in cloud computing, big data management, and how these affect medium-sized and large businesses.

Sramana Mitra: Welcome back to the Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing series, Mark.  We have talked before, so our audience knows you. I think the last time we spoke was some time ago, and we were still trying to figure out how America or the world was looking at cloud computing as a trend. At this point, the trend is sweeping over the IT-infrastructures around the world.  There is no ambiguity – the trend is here to stay and cloud adaption is quite significant. In today’s conversation, I would like to address some specific issues which you have a lot of insight to. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Joseph Beal, Chief Information Security Officer of CCSI (Part 1)

CCSi is a 20-year-old company that serves only the needs of the U.S. government. That’s quite a hefty client for anyone to handle. The U.S. government requires all the same types of support as any other organization. Since the information it handles is much more sensitive that what the average company does, CCSI has its work cut out for it.

Sramana Mitra: Hi, Joseph. Let’s start with your background as well as some context about CCSI. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Chris Gatch, CTO of Cbeyond (Part 1)

It’s nice to have an IT team on staff, but that’s not affordable for all businesses, especially small and medium businesses. That’s where managed services providers like Cbeyond come in. They offer small and medium businesses the same level of services that they would receive with on-staff IT teams at a fraction of the overall cost.

Sramana Mitra: Hi, Chris. Let’s start with some context. What do you do? Where are you going directionally? What is your personal background? >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Steve Pavlovsky, Product General Manager, Control and Communications Systems Business, GE Intelligent Platforms (Part 1)

There’s more to General Electric (GE) than people might think. Founded in 1890 by Thomas Edison, the company has moved beyond providing electricity and light bulbs. As my conversation with Steve Pavlovsky will reveal, GE continues to move forward and adapt with changing times in ways that Edison would likely approve of.

Sramana Mitra: Hi, Steve. Let’s start with your personal background and the organization within GE, GE Intelligent Platforms, that you’re part of. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Elizabeth Cholawsky, General Manager of IT Support Product Line, Citrix (Part 1)

We’ve featured Citrix on the blog before. This time, we’re going to discuss the wonderful things that Citrix is doing in the cloud.

Sramana Mitra: Hi, Elizabeth. Let’s start with a bit of your personal background as well as what Citrix is doing in the area of cloud-based support.

Elizabeth Cholawsky: Right now I am the general manager for the IT support line of business at Citrix, which includes all of the GoToAssist branded products. I took this position a couple of years ago, but when I first joined Citrix, I was the VP of product management and client services. Client services runs through my career for the past 20 plus years. When we decided to focus on IT support, it was a natural segue from running our contact center operations and support operations to managing the business for these products. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Mike Toplisek, EVP, Product and Marketing, EarthLink (Part 1)

Although you don’t have to forget what you already know about EarthLink, you will have to adjust your thinking a bit. Today, EarthLink is an IT services, network, and communications provider that serves more than a million consumers, with more than 150,000 business customers spread throughout the United States. Cloud computing is the wave of the future, and the executives at EarthLink know that and they want to get their own share of that innovative, ever-changing pie.

Sramana Mitra: Hi, Mike. Let’s start with a bit of context about EarthLink and your activities in the cloud. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Jesse Lipson, Founder and CEO, ShareFile by Citrix (Part 1)

File sharing in the business world has become as common as sending email with attachments. In 2005, when Jesse Lipson launched ShareFile, that was not the case. Lipson founded ShareFile in the days before cloud computing was all the rage. By the time Citrix acquired ShareFile in October 2011, the 100% bootstrapped company had grown from one employee to 165.

Sramana Mitra: Hi, Jesse. Let’s start with some context about you, ShareFile, and your acquisition by Citrix. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Alex Osipov, CTO of OS33 (Part 1)

No longer the wave of the future, cloud computing has become an integral part of the way we live and work. Companies like OS33 have capitalized on the growing importance of cloud computing by positioning themselves to help those who help the end users, specifically, managed services providers (MSP). A completely cloud-based IT delivery automation platform, OS33 allows MSPs to more easily deliver and manage the IT solutions they provide for their clients. With the aid of OS33, end users receive a customizable Webtop graphical user interface (GUI) that provides a single unified interface that can access all company applications, data and services via a connected computer regardless of location.

Sramana Mitra: Hi, Alex. Let’s start with some context about OS33 and about you. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Adam Miller, CEO of Cornerstone OnDemand (Part 1)

Cornerstone OnDemand is a company that provides cloud-based talent management software solutions to nearly eight million people in 179 countries. The company boasts such heavy-hitting clients as Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Turner Broadcasting System, Virgin Media, and Save the Children, among others. Based in Santa Monica, California, Cornerstone has office locations in Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and Brazil.

Seven months ago, I sat down to talk with Cornerstone CEO Adam Miller for my Entrepreneur Journey series. The company has grown a bit since then, as has the talent management space.   >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: David Guthrie, CTO of PGi (Part 1)

Remote workforces continue to grow and telecommuting becomes more commonplace every day as modern technologies like Web conferencing and video chats make it easier for people from all over the world to collaborate on projects or simply work from home. These types of conveniences save money for everyone, and companies like PGi strive to make Web conferencing and video chats less bothersome than some of its closest competitors as my interview with CTO David Guthrie quickly reveals.

Sramana Mitra: Hi David. Please give our audience some context about you and PGi. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Steve Singh, CEO of Concur (Part 1)

Business travel can be a pain, especially when it comes to knowing you can and can’t include on your expense account when you return. Concur is one company that will help you remain compliant with your company’s policies and still enjoy your trip as much as possible. Founded in 1993, Concur is a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions that provides services for more than 15,000 clients and more than 15 million users worldwide.

Sramana Mitra: Hi Steve. We talked some time back, and of course, the cloud industry — when we talked — was still kind of hitting its stride. Now, the momentum is in full force. Give me an overview of what you see around you to kick this off, and then we’ll double click down on major things that you see. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Pradeep Rathinam, CEO of Aditi Technologies (Part 1)

As more and more companies transition to cloud computing, the demand for platform-as-a-service (PaaS) will continue to grow. That will pose no problem for Aditi Technologies, which is already among the top three PaaS solution providers in the world and among the top five Microsoft technology partners in the United States. Aditi offers solutions to its clients in four domains:  digital marketing, cloud solutions, enterprise social and product engineering.

Sramana Mitra: Hi Pradeep. Please give us some context about Aditi as well as you personally. >>>