IT Time

Episode 11: The Most Selfless Job in IT Cathy Cottrell, former Director of IT at United Way Suncoast, talked with us about her spanning 30-year career in IT. Cathy, now Account Manager at United Way IT Collaborative, shares with us some of the unique challenges of IT in a nonprofit - the importance of investing in technology that not only enables her team to work more effectively but also leverages the trust of community donors.

Ep 10: The Mechanics of Launching VDI Brien Posey has been in the IT trenches for over 2 decades and is a 7-time Microsoft MVP. He joined us to discuss his theories on the transition from physical desktops to VDI. As a bonus, he shared his journey in becoming a Commercial Scientist-Astronaut Candidate.

Derek Gabbard of FourV Systems joined us in the studio to talk about the importance of protecting your investment with cyber security measures. Taking proper security measures is no longer about trying to sell fear, uncertainty and doubt. Today,

Matt Belardi of Education Affiliates has been in IT for nearly 20 years. He joined us in the studio to discuss his journey from implementing Excel to helping over 75 colleges convert to true information systems - a challenging task when it comes to tra...

The Return of the Start Button and Other 2016 Tech Trends This week’s podcast guest joins us from Spiceworks, a community of IT pros and platform that offers free tools to make the sysadmin’s life easier. Meet Peter Tsai, Spiceworks’ IT Content Guru who lends his experience in IT to unique technical content that IT pros can’t get enough of. Peter certainly knows the industry; he has a background that includes positions as a sysadmin, programmer, technical writer and server engineer, so the content he is creating (think webcasts, infographics, IT articles and reports) really engages the millions of community members he serves. Our last podcast featuring James Foster from ZeroFOX touched on the trends that we’re seeing in security and social media, so this week we wanted to keep the ‘trend’ ball rolling and see what Peter thinks will be big in IT in 2016. So, what’s Spiceworks? It’s a decade-old community that produces free applications for IT pros to help them do their jobs better. The community fosters conversations about important IT trends and technical topics and encourages members to share knowledge and experiences with the group. Peter mentions that, unlike many other groups and social platforms, the users on Spiceworks have a common career thread and are genuinely interested in helping others solve problems. What can we expect from the rest of 2016? Peter suggests considering the macro workplace conditions in IT: budgets probably aren’t going up, staffing probably won’t increase by much—but requests for things like BYOD and added security will. According to Spiceworks surveys, IT pros are placing malware and ransomware at the top of their concern lists. IT admins and the like will have to find solutions that save them time and accomplish the goals of the organization, all while maintaining the multitude of other tasks they’re responsible for. We believe that’s where simple, time-saving tools like Simplify Printing TX and Simplify Backup come into play. The Takeaway? Keep learning. You have chosen an industry that changes every day and not keeping up and adapting to new technologies will only hurt you in the long run. The more you learn, the more doors will open and opportunities you will find. Oh, and Internet trolls are inevitable. Spiceworks prides itself in having a friendly community of IT pros who are working to help each other, so check it out!

How vulnerable are you and and your organization to security attacks? If you or coworkers have social media accounts, you are more at risk than ever before. The accessibility of information has made it easier and faster for hackers to gain entry into y...

We caught up with our friend and mobile security expert Bryan Glancey of Optio Labs to hear his perspective on the Apple vs. FBI encryption case.

Bryan Glancey, CTO of Optio Labs, joins us to discuss a hot topic - mobile security. Bryan has over 20 years experience in the field of information security and, specifically, with mobile devices. We talk about the importance of being able to lock down...

What happens when folks want to improve their own productivity in the work place? They take it upon themselves to find ways to do something above and beyond the norm. That shouldn’t be punished, right? Absolutely not! However,

Craig Kalty of Custom Systems has 25 years experience in network integrations. Craig works with several large law firms that are striving towards a BYOD-friendly environment. However, his clients run into the same issue - security.

Christian Boucher, Director of Healthcare Solutions at Citrix, joins Matt to discuss how EMR applications and mobility initiatives are pushing healthcare facilities to expand their use cases for VDI solutions.

That’s right, Citrix Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is not a mythical creature. Calvin Hsu, Citrix’s VP of Product Marketing, talks with Matt about how the only “beastly” part of a VDI environment should be it’s proven efficiency.