July 01, 2021
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was brutally murdered, his last words and breath caught on tape. While not the first murder of a Black person at the hands of police to be recorded and exposed, this video in conjunction with the world being forced to pay attention at home because of the pandemic, ignited a turning point and exposed a truth that many were already aware of – racism is alive, and it is systemic. George Floyd was a father, a son, and a friend, but more importantly he was a human being whose life was taken without consideration for his humanity.
July 01, 2021
Bill Gates inspired ‘Think Week’ I first learned about Bill Gate's 'Think Week' from the Netflix documentary Inside Bill's Brain. I liked the idea and checked with my coach, Kurt Graves, to get his opinion about it. He immediately said I should do it. It was a much more difficult task to explain it to my family :) It is funny that business trips and vacations are easily understood, but something like locking up inside a remote cabin and reading for seven days straight sounded weird when I explained it to my family.
June 15, 2021
Looking for a good summer read? Check out these recommendations from NC TECH members.
June 01, 2021
As the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the migration of public instruction and areas of commerce online, it has also highlighted the digital divide between those who do and don’t have reliable high-speed internet. Currently, at least 14.5 million Americans, many in rural areas, lack access to high-speed internet. In North Carolina, it is estimated that 40% of homes don’t have high-speed internet, either because the areas they live in lack the infrastructure, or because they can’t afford it.
June 01, 2021
For SMBs and enterprises in need of secure, predictable, and customized IT solutions and services, RapidScale provides a one-stop cloud platform and enablement team with which to outsource some, or all, components of an organization's IT. RapidScale sets itself apart from MSPs and other managed cloud services providers with its expertise in application delivery, focus on security and compliance, and commitments to the "people" side of technology. RapidScale is a subsidiary of Cox Business, the commercial division of Cox Communications.
April 30, 2021
ImagineX Consulting is a business and technology consulting firm, with cyber security at its core. Our goal is to help clients transform their businesses by embracing emerging technologies such as devops, cloud, and white glove technology consulting. The ImagineX culture thrives on entrepreneurship, risk taking, mutual trust, teamwork, encouraging change, and letting our consultants own their way of working. Founded in 2015, the firm has six locations across the country, including two in North Carolina. Raleigh and Charlotte are home to two of the company's co-founders and a handful of consultants.
March 31, 2021
Racepoint and The Diversity Movement were involved in the recent virtual Diversity + Inclusion in Tech Summit held on March 24 and 25. After listening to all the informative discussions at the Summit, they walked away with ideas for incorporating DEI in their organizations’ plans. But, since every company is different, what is the best way to evaluate how to get started and where to begin? It may be time to bring in some experts. Click the title above to read the complete analysis.
March 31, 2021
Larry Pickett is the April Executive Spotlight and the CIO and Digital Officer for Syneos Health, an NC TECH member. Larry, born in Asheboro, has lived in North Carolina all his life and moved away to spend 20 years in New Jersey. He moved back in 2015 to start a company in Research Triangle Park. He is married with three kids, with the youngest attending UNC Chapel Hill as a senior. Click the title above to read our Q+A session with Larry.
February 26, 2021
Jackie Ferguson is an author, multicultural marketing consultant, certified diversity executive, global business specialist, lead course writer and human rights advocate. and the author of this month's guest blog - Privilege is Not A Dirty World. As a diversity professional and a teacher, uncomfortable conversations are part of my job. Every day is a new opportunity to explore the words and topics that make people feel awkward, to think about why that discomfort exists, and to lead the teams I’m working with toward more inclusive language and actions. We talk about racism, disability, unconscious bias, microaggressions, and exclusion. We talk about prejudice and otherness and identity. That is such vulnerable and emotional work. But I’ll tell you, privilege is the one word and topic that always elicits a strong allergic reaction.
February 15, 2021
NC TECH Chair Mark Dirks, President of Beacon Technologies, is the inaugural participant in our new "Meet A Leader" series. Click to view the entire blog. Describe your day job. I get to be the head coach of a very talented team of creative, technical and business professionals that enjoy working together to help other businesses successfully utilize web technology. After working 15 years with big corporations, I am part of a team that gets to see the direct impact and value of our work on a daily basis. It really doesn’t get any better than that for the last 22 years.
January 01, 2021
Founded in 1996, Raptek is a boutique consulting firm. Rapid Technologies (Raptek) provides expert level ServiceNow implementation & services with a mission of building community in 3 areas: Community of Clients: Providing our clients with the highest level of service and expertise for ServiceNow solutions. Community of People: Taking great pride in the longevity and experience of our employees. Community to support a Cause: Partnered with the Children's Miracle Network to support Children's Hospitals across the US & Canada.
December 29, 2020
Kurt Merriweather, Head of Products at The Diversity Movement and a Certified Diversity Executive (CDE), is an accomplished product strategist and marketing executive with a passion for helping leaders and organizations identify and implement growth strategies. Innovation requires exploring, and sometimes ignoring, what is around us and imagining a new future. Organizations and leaders that are able to blend proven product development practices with new ideas and perspectives are able to create breakthrough business ideas and outcomes. Building an engine for creativity requires cultivating multicultural, multigenerational teams that have access to information and possibilities to reach customers in new ways. This is the key to delivering sustainable business results and this is where diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and innovation intersect. The heart of diversity, equity and inclusion is to have the right people (diversity), supported by the right policies (equity) and integrated with collaboration practices (inclusion). Accessing the superior output of a diverse team requires inclusive leadership.
November 29, 2020
Racepoint, an NC TECH member, provides a summary of the recent Accessibility Hackathon in partnership with their company Ablr. In October, our company Ablr had the opportunity to work with the North Carolina Technology Association (NC TECH) to shine a spotlight on digital accessibility. Together, we brainstormed to figure out how to engage NC Tech’s members in this effort. The big idea? Host an Accessibility Hackathon during the month of October, which coincided with National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Typically, a hackathon is an event in which developers or other IT professionals band together and, over the course of a short time period, set out to uncover bugs in a software project. In the case of the Accessibility Hackathon, we offered a website audit worth $5,000 to three randomly chosen NC Tech members. These website audits uncovered accessibility violations and identified barriers that would make it difficult for users with disabilities to fully utilize the site.
October 29, 2020
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) is a mission-driven organization. Every day nearly 5,000 of us show up with one goal: to improve the health and well-being of our customers and communities. To fully achieve this goal, we must have a more equitable health care system. We know that racism and discrimination lead to health disparities. Simply put, no community can truly be healthy until racism no longer exists. Our diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work focuses on three areas: within our company, the health care system, and North Carolina communities.
October 29, 2020
The School of Data Science is an industry-university partnership, committed to growing exemplary talent through research and education. As the only School of Data Science in the Carolinas, SDS offers several interdisciplinary graduate programs and the first data science undergraduate program in the state. The inaugural cohort of data science undergraduate students began classes in fall 2020.
October 14, 2020
NC TECH will host a Virtual Tech Job Fair on October 14 for tech employers to connect with job candidates. The ‘Live’ job fair will take place on October 14, utilizing an online platform, that will allow candidates to visit virtual rooms or ‘booth’ hosted by each employer to learn more about why it’s a great place to work and to view available job opportunities. Employers will be able to customize a virtual room to showcase their organization and job opportunities, access candidate resumes and connect via chat or zoom on the event day, and then view the traffic to their ‘booth’ and follow up with candidates post event.
September 29, 2020
In February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the Week of March 8, 1980 as National Women’s History Week. President Carter wrote, “From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who be-friended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.” Seven years later, Congress declared March as National Women’s History Month. The month is set aside to honor women’s contributions to American history. Since it is National Women’s History Month, it seems only fitting to take a look back at some of the amazing women who have made significant contributions to the world of technology.
September 29, 2020
Stacauto, founded in 2020, is a digital platform enabling consumers to test drive vehicles on their own at local dealerships without requiring in-person contact. They are a distributed team, founded and organized in North Carolina.
September 29, 2020
Last week, we all learned of the news of the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsberg – a true leader, patriot and pioneer. Her death has given us the opportunity to reflect, especially as we at NC TECH launched our inaugural Summit for Women in Tech over the past couple of days. While opportunities for women have certainly improved over the past few decades, there is still a lag in job opportunities, promotion and pay – especially in the tech sector. North Carolina ranks 1st among the states in the percentage of women in IT positions, but the total percentage, 35.5%, is not where it should be. There is much work to be done to fill our tech jobs pipeline with more women, especially women of color.
August 03, 2020
Founded in 2014, Linker Logic Technologies is a software development company based out of Raleigh, North Carolina. We help startups and enterprises launch their products by providing award-winning consulting, design, development, and support services. Since its inception in 2014, Linker Logic Technologies has helped hundreds of founders bring their vision to life.
July 06, 2020
Founded in 2012, Apparo bridges Charlotte's corporate and nonprofit communities, enabling corporations to fulfill their corporate social responsibility priorities by delivering affordable, sustainable technology solutions to nonprofits. As a result, lives in Charlotte are improves, as nonprofits can do more towards fulfilling their missions.
June 30, 2020
NC TECH Director of Programs and Sponsorships Tracy Sternbig gives a recap of our June Virtual Diversity + Inclusion in Tech Summit.
May 28, 2020
June's Guest Blog is written by Kim Chapman, President of Network Services Inc. on Women in Technology Leadership. The technology industry has historically been a difficult industry for women aspiring to executive positions. For those of us who started our careers in the ‘80’s, we have certainly seen a shift in the direction of more inclusiveness and a growing diversity in upper management. But there is still a long way to go. Read more...
May 28, 2020
HaystackCRM was originally created to manage our customer relationships for our software company. We quickly realized this fresh approach to customer relationship management would be valuable for other small businesses, particularly for sales professionals that tend not to work from an office. It offers a clean, intuitive layout that is approachable for users of all technical abilities.
April 30, 2020
May's Executive Spotlight is Keir Davis. He is President and Founder with Xtern Software and Haystack CRM. Click the title above to view our conversation with this month's executive.
March 31, 2020
People are up to all kinds of things during the pandemic; perhaps even starting companies. Our April Guest Blog explores entrepreneurship in times of crisis -- from business considerations to mindset. Editor’s note: Billy Warden is a writer and the co-founder, with Greg Behr, of the p.r./marketing firm GBW Strategies.
March 30, 2020
Stromasys virtualizes and modernizes IT operations by migrating vital operating systems and applications to modern platforms or the cloud…and away from aging legacy hardware. Legacy systems pose an increasing cost and risk for organizations due to lack of support and parts availability. We were founded in 1999.
March 01, 2020
The Gig East Exchange is a space that seeks to create a home for inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship in our community. To provide low cost space to early stage businesses, and to bring together diverse people from within our community and across the region to share and collaborate.
March 01, 2020
In February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the Week of March 8, 1980 as National Women’s History Week. President Carter wrote, “From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who be-friended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.” Seven years later, Congress declared March as National Women’s History Month. The month is set aside to honor women’s contributions to American history. Since it is National Women’s History Month, it seems only fitting to take a look back at some of the amazing women who have made significant contributions to the world of technology.
January 31, 2020
MicroBachelors Programs: A Viable Solution for Upskilling - North Carolina employers are acutely aware of the shortage of skilled IT workers in our state. According to NC TECH, there were 28,312 IT job postings statewide in December 2019. North Carolina’s overall job growth is on track to outstrip its population growth by 2024, and we can’t rely on in-migration of talent to solve this problem – we must train and upskill the residents who are already here.
January 31, 2020
RevelOne is a marketing specialized talent advisory and recruiting firm. We are founded and lead by marketers. We help companies sharpen their marketing talent strategies and hire the best people to achieve their growth goals.
January 03, 2020
Rapidops is a full-service and full-scale digital transformation and software innovation company. We’re digital partners to forward-thinking companies looking to build business value through the creative application of the latest tech by building digital products & platforms, business process automations and AI/ML data analytics.
December 01, 2019
Pashara Black, Events and Community Outreach Manager for StrongKey, has written an event recap of AfroTech conference in Oakland. The groundbreaking, revolutionary experience for Black techies, startups and entrepreneurs.
November 07, 2019
NC TECH' held a Women in Tech panel on Friday, November 1 in the Triangle with a focus on female leaders on tech and entrepreneurship. Dr. Sarah Glover of RIoT wrote a in depth recap of the event. Panelists from Bandwidth, Metlife, NC State University, Mobile Reach and Cloud Giants all participated in the discussion.
November 01, 2019
NC TECH's November Women in Tech spotlight focuses on Kelly Pfrommer, CEO + Founder of Cloud Giants.
October 30, 2019
November Member Spotlight: ColorTokens provides Zero Trust, simplified Micro-segmentation Security that gives granular Visibility into every interaction between processes, files, users and workloads. A new generation of agile Cyber Defense for the protection of Critical Enterprise Data, regardless of where the information resides.
October 29, 2019
The NC Tech Awards "Top 10 Startups to Watch" are selected from applications submitted earlier this summer. They must be a technology startup founded in NC within the past four years that has demonstrated a foundation for success. We asked each startup to answer a brief questionnaire to provide insight into their journey towards success. Below are their responses. The startups will be recognized at the NC Tech Awards Gala on November 21 at the Raleigh Convention Center.
September 30, 2019
October Guest Blog: Getting Back to Live Hands-on Training to Meet Competitive Demands There are vast arrays of solutions currently that offer just in time eLearning. From YouTube videos, to MOOCs, to short courses on Pluralsight, CBT Nuggets or LinkedIn Learning. Each of these options will allow you a quick and easy way to curate the content you need, take it and move on. In reality pretty powerful but it does come with flaws. Click to read more...
September 30, 2019
NC TECH features interviews with tech executives as part of our 'In the Spotlight' Series. North Carolina native, NCSU grad and CEO of Lithios DeShawn Brown is our Executive Spotlight this month. DeShawn shares insights about the company, business challenges and tells us some of his personal favorites and areas of interest.
September 01, 2019
September Guest Blog - DevOpsDays Raleigh Returns for Fourth Year at McKimmon Center October 1-2, 2019
September 01, 2019
September Guest Blog - Every Company is a Technology Company:Embracing the Technology Imperative to Transform Your Brand and Elevate Customer Experience.
July 31, 2019
August Executive Spotlight: Maurice Hagar with Solution Focused Agile
June 28, 2019
NC TECH's July Women in Tech spotlight focuses on Phaedra Boinodiris - IBM.
May 30, 2019
June Guest Blog: Spurring high-tech entrepreneurship in rural North Carolina by Catherine Truitt, Chancellor, WGU North Carolina
May 02, 2019
NC TECH is highlighting our State of Tech Startup Showcase participants. Each participant was asked to provide a spotlight on their startup and give our readers insights into their venture!
April 30, 2019
NC TECH is highlighting our State of Tech Startup Showcase participants. Each participant was asked to provide a spotlight on their startup and give our readers insights into their venture!
April 30, 2019
NC TECH's May Member Spotlight is Blue Acorn iCi
April 01, 2019
NC TECH's Guest Blog is submitted by Racepoint Global's RJ Bardsley, Chief Strategist, Global Technology Practice.
March 31, 2019
NC TECH's April Women in Tech spotlight focuses on Maria Thompson with the NC Dept of IT.
February 28, 2019
NC TECH's March Women in Tech spotlight focuses on Melissa Wittner, VP of Software Engineering at Inmar.
January 31, 2019
Technology as a Force for Good: The New Moral Code Every Technology Company Must Abide By - by Larry Weber, Chairman & CEO, Racepoint Global
January 31, 2019
NC TECH's February Guest Blog by The TEK Raleigh on Password Management: The Struggle is Real.
January 31, 2019
NC TECH's February Women in Tech spotlight will focus on Fatma Mili of UNC Charlotte.
January 03, 2019
NC TECH's January Women in Tech spotlight will focus on Jo Abernathy of BCBSNC.
December 01, 2018
December Member Spotlight with NC TECH member, VRG Components.
December 01, 2018
December Member Spotlight with NC TECH member, ROVE.
November 01, 2018
November Executive Spotlight: Dan Brawley, Chief Instigating Officer - Duke University
November 01, 2018
iCiDIGITAL Guest Blog: 3 WAYS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR DATA
November 01, 2018
NC TECH partnered with First NC again this year to offer members the chance to compete in the 2018 Robot Rumble!
October 15, 2018
In 2018, CBRE listed Raleigh as the eighth best city in North America for tech talent. For those of us who live or work in the area the accolade rubber stamped something that many of us already knew - Raleigh is a great city for tech.
October 01, 2018
Is your company performing research and development, but failing to claim a tax benefit associated with that activity?
September 01, 2018
Our September Member Update is from Beacon regarding their efforts in helping the people of Rawanda.
August 01, 2018
The Veracity Equation by the Racepoint Global team.
August 01, 2018
Our August Member Spotlight is Lockstep Technology Group.
July 01, 2018
Ann Brooks with Crown Castle submitted our July Guest Blog: Benefits of a Better Connected Community
June 01, 2018
Our June Guest Blog with author Cliff Reeves of the NC Center for Economic Development on Riding the Tiger – a guide for cloud developers.
June 01, 2018
Our June Executive Spotlight is Tim Humphrey with IBM.
May 01, 2018
Our May Member Spotlight is AHEAD, creating tailored solutions at all stages of the enterprise cloud journey.
May 01, 2018
Richard Boyd, CEO of Tanjo and an upcoming speaker at our State of Tech Conference focusing on Artificial Intelligence gives his perspective on the topic in our April Guest Blog post.
April 24, 2018
Come learn the basics of Blockchain for Business over lunch. See how leaders in different industries are leveraging this hot technology. Discover what some of the typical essential elements are needed to make a good case for a blockchain-based solution. Understand the concepts associated with building a blockchain network. Play an interactive supply chain game built on IBM Blockchain.
April 01, 2018
RJ Bardsley of Racepoint Global submitted a piece on Artificial Intelligence for our April Guest Blog. NC TECH will host our annual State of Tech conference in early May focusing on Artificial Intelligence.
February 28, 2018
NC TECH hosted an "Ethics in Artificial Intelligence" panel presentation during a Tech Talk Live event. Our moderator, Jonathan Kraftchick of Cherry Bekaert, put together a recap of the presentation.
February 28, 2018
NC TECH recently had a Q&A with our March Member Spotlight, Dimensional Fund Advisor.
January 30, 2018
NC TECH recently had a Q&A with Burk Wyatt, Chief Legal Counsel with Commscope and NC TECH's 2018 Chairman of the Board.
January 26, 2018
An excerpt from Magnificent Leadership: Transform Uncertainty, Transcend Circumstance, Claim the Future by Sarah Levitt. Published by Business Expert Press, New York, NY, Copyright 2018. All Rights Reserved.
January 24, 2018
NC TECH has launched a monthly IT jobs snapshot, NC Tech Talent Trends Alert, that captures the environment for tech employment in North Carolina.
