Hiring a new employee can be satisfying as well as a relief. You feel the satisfaction when you've roped in someone who can deliver great value for your company; the relief comes when you know you've filled a critical role that – if unfilled – could potentially hurt business.
Then the question turns to: How do I keep this person for as long as I can?
Aspire Technology Partners has made its mark in the channel over the last two decades, growing from what started out as a six-person firm to one with 85 employees. Last year, it ranked No. 318 on CRN's Solution Provider 500, up from No. 402 in 2015.
As businesses march to the cloud, solution providers are finding opportunities to help their customers manage the increasing complexity cloud brings to their infrastructures.
Those opportunities are especially presenting themselves in the SMB market, where businesses need that outside expertise, according to a recent report by the industry group CompTIA.
Jim Sherriff (pictured) is the CEO of Tech Qualled, based in Fort Worth, Texas, an organization committed to vetting and training military veterans for careers in sales. He previously served in sales roles for Cisco, including senior vice president for its partner organization in the Americas. He also served as global vice president of Hewlett-Packard Consulting.
Politics has long been a "third rail" of workplace discussion topics, even more so after a highly vitriolic presidential election campaign last year crossed paths with a deeply divided electorate.
(NOTE: This story was originally posted to CRN.com Jan. 19.)
The Strategy
SADA Systems, a Los Angeles-based partner of Google, Microsoft and Facebook, is placing a large bet this year - $11 million - on the booming cloud industry.
Cybersecurity climbed the ladder of urgency last year as it spread from the world of corporate data breaches to the playing field of U.S. presidential politics.
As solution providers and their customers combat the many incoming threats, they also have to face another harsh reality: having enough skilled professionals to do the fighting.
U.S. employers particularly face this issue in what is a global problem, according to the job search website Indeed.
The last quarter-century in the technology industry provides more than a history lesson in how companies rise and how others fall. There are a few stories to tell of companies that have endured the many waves of change and are still standing today.