IT Visionaries

There’s a whole new manner of interacting at work now, especially with the rise in remote and hybrid workflows. The digital transformation was already well under way and then, if the transition was a campfire, the pandemic poured lighter fluid on it. Fortunately, lots of companies responded by making s’mores rather than getting burned, and utilized the technological tools that were already developed to help.Main TakeawaysOrganizational Alignment: The pace of technological change is breathtaking. Companies must continually be making sure their entire organization is aligned with their mission. This requires working quickly and adapting accordingly. Communication via channels helps to ensure the right people in an organization all have access to the same info to allow for conversations to to quicken the pace of workMental Shift: Working in channels is significantly different than an email workflow. For those that liked the finality of responding to an email and closing it out, the channel system can feel like it is without an end. The positive aspect of this feeling could be that the information is always available and can be of easy access as needed. When it comes down to it, individual mindsets can be adjusted to reframe the channel experience in a manner that’s helpful.Focusing on Virtual and Physical Spaces: For a long time, companies primarily focused on physical places for employees to work and, in many cases, for customers to interact with a business too. Now, the focus is adjusting, partly based on necessity, to creating supportive virtual places. Moving forward, companies will need to integrate physical and digital spaces. In many businesses, and in most human interactions, there is a place for both the physical and digital spaces.IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s easy to feel unmoored in a fast-changing world with such choppy waves. With so much change, there’s a natural tendency to want to drop the anchor in the nearest calm waters and remain there, hoping this approach will be the most secure. But the water’s never really placid. There are extremely strong currents beneath the surface. Even the most gigantic anchor won’t be able to keep the ship from moving. It’ll just slow it down a little, and, maybe, even pull the vessel apart no matter the quality of how it was built. Joshua Scott, the Head of IT and Security for Postman, believes that accepting and planning for changes in technology is the best security strategy.Main TakeawaysEvolution of the API Market: The API market was often overlooked in the past but that’s no longer the case. Postman has about fifteen million developers on its site who are working on various API projects. Where API was treated as something less than before, it is now appreciated like any other application. The mentality concerning API security has also evolved. Previously, API security was more of an afterthought. Given the  amount of increasingly interconnected tools, the import of API security is now more greatly understood.Both Centralization and Decentralization: When maintaining security, there needs to be clear leadership; therefore, a level of centralization. A clear, centralized hierarchy establishes accountability for leadership. An aspect of security decentralization is building a culture of shared responsibility among all stakeholders. Additionally, decentralizing security by empowering those closest to the action increases the speed of decision-making.Compartmentalization is a Good thing: In one’s personal life, compartmentalization is a good thing in some respects but tends to have diminishing returns when overused. In the security arena, the capacity to compartmentalize mitigates risk from spreading from one spot to all aspects of the business. If a business is a ship, it’s never great to have a breach in the hull but it’s better if the gaping hole is limited to one compartment.IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Threats are not new to business. Whenever there has been a plentiful economic prize, there have also been pirates. In the swashbuckling days, the captain and the crew were charged with protecting the merchandise on board. The difference today is the sheer volume of cyber attacks inbound to companies. Carolyn Crandall, the Chief Security Advocate and CMO at Attivo Networks, describes the attack as an enormous wave.Main TakeawaysA Security Threat Tsunami: Cyber attacks are like giant perpetual waves. Businesses are constantly inundated with these threats. The first steps toward fighting back are recognizing the power of one’s adversaries, understanding how the company is being attacked, knowing where the company’s vulnerabilities are, and then devising a plan to combat the attacks.Strategy over Monitoring: Businesses tend to want to monitor their systems and that’s generally a good thing. Part of the method of attackers, however, is to overwhelm with data. Instead of only monitoring, companies have to decipher attacker techniques and then strategize on how to defend accordingly.Automate, Automate!: People can only do so much by themselves to defend against constant cyber attacks. Automation can be an answer to these attacks. Humans can’t protect against the deluge of attacks by themselves and must lean on A.I. and machine learning to help combat these nefarious attacks. When companies begin to deploy an A.I. defense strategy, the designed algorithms can begin to decipher what is normal activity on network servers and what is not.Data Cloak and Disrupt: Misusing credentials is a great way for attackers to gain access to resources. It is possible to have an automated system, such as Attivo, that can bait rogue elements, gain their trust, and then deny their access while hiding vital data.IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Freedom is not something to fear; in fact, it’s an essential component of creativity. Chaos is something to avoid, however. Many creative people confuse freedom with chaos and think a chaotic environment inspires creative passion. The most creative environments are those that provide enough order, and essential security, that allows individuals to stretch out to create something new. As security information management has evolved with the cloud, a new form of defense has been required. Dave Frampton, the VP/GM Cloud SIEM & Security Analytics at Sumo Logic, describes this system as living in the middle of the cloud chaos. “What you really need to do is rethink this and deliver this SIM from the cloud, like as a cloud service itself. So that’s it’s right there in the midst of all that chaos [and] able to ingest all of that data and it’s savvy and smart about all those different new threat surfaces, because, in and [of] itself, this service is built and made from all of these same components: microservices, and containers, and modular, modern software that communicates by APIs.”By living in the midst of the cloud chaos, a security platform such as Sumo Logic is in the middle of the action and is creating a secure place for business and creativity to flourish. In Greek mythology, Atlas was forced to hold up the sky as a punishment by Zeus. Cybersecurty forces must hold back those with ill intent and to do so they dwell inside the chaos and create a safe place there. They don’t do this because they are condemned to this fate. Instead, they do so because they have chosen this role of protector and this is their mission.On this episode of IT Visionaries, Dave chats about how cybersecurity has evolved to decrease silos and increase automation. He explains how humanity, and ethics, are required to make judgements on how A.I. and automation should be used to further security aims. Enjoy the episode!Main TakeawaysMoving Into the Cloud Chaos: If the action is in the cloud, then security needs to be in the cloud too to ingest necessary data and to disrupt attacks. The security product must be at the same level, and made with the same parts, as that which it is intended to protect. Platform Disrupts Silos: In companies, silos are often made out of a sense of necessity. People work in their areas with their specific knowledge and access. In security, however, it is important to have a platform that connects those on the application and security teams so they can work together to protect the company.  Automation with Ethics: There’s a drive to automate as much as possible in the security realm because there is so much data and so many threats with everything moving so fast. This is reasonable, but humanity must lead decision-making concerning automation. It’s a matter of ethics. People must choose when to automate and for what purpose. They must weigh the pros and cons of their actions and accept any consequences. Fear and Greed: People are often driven by fear and greed. This is the case when considering A.I. and automation advances in security. On the fear side, it’s reasonable to be concerned about potential technological overreaches and unintended consequences. On the greed side, A.I. and automation has vast potential to deal with so much incoming data and to make quick decisions.---IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform  -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Even when trying really hard to please people, it’s difficult. Most people don’t know exactly what they want. And when they do know, they often don’t know how to articulate it. In our personal lives, this can be frustrating, for sure. In the professional world, it can be crippling for a company if they don’t have a pulse on their customers’ wants; but, even more importantly, their needs. Michael Peachey, the VP of User Experience at RingCentral, suggests the best  practice for understanding customers is for a company to enhance their observational capabilities. Main TakeawaysUsing Powers of Observation: To design effectively, a company has to understand how customers are using their products. Surveys help and so do conversations, but observations are best. Tech tools won’t replace the power of human contact, but they can augment observational capacity. Seeing where people place their mouse on screen, for instance, can help strengthen design elements. Observing customers who are struggling with a specific aspect of an app can increase empathy from designers and motivate them to address the issue.Function Versus Beauty: It’s an age-old question as to whether function as opposed to beauty is paramount in design. Function is number one. Without it, products will definitely fail. Beauty is nice but not necessary. The ideal is design that has both function and beauty.BCB Demystified: Everything is interconnected as people who work in the business sector are also consumers. Apps often start in enterprise first. Then employees like them because of the functionality so they take them home and share them and the apps spread among consumers. Consumers also bring apps they like from home back into the business market because they want to use these products at work.IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Certain types of technology are easier to understand for some people than for others, and that’s okay. Passion is contagious; iIt attracts employees and customers. Strong, passionate leadership with clear vision increases employee satisfaction that then translates to satisfied customers. Developers who make products that build and maintain infrastructure toil to solve problems so their customers can pursue their own desires. Idit Levine, the Founder and CEO of Solo.io, shares her zeal for her company’s work as well as a belief in her team’s competitive nature.Main TakeawaysThe Power of Passion: Passion is often underrated. It is the engine of creativity and accomplishment. Lean into passion in order to educate others, gather phenomenal employees, and attract customers.  Creation from Competition: Competition can be something that people shy away from. Perhaps this is because they wrongly equate it to being domineering. True competition is about striving to be the best version of oneself and creating an environment for one’s entire team to do the same. Embrace competition to win.Knowing the Why of Founding: Founding a company is a huge endeavor. Knowing the reason to be a founder is essential. For Idit Levine, founding was about building on the successful things she had learned from previous stops but also learning from experiences she found wanting and believing she could do even better. Supporting the Team: A CEO should be obsessed with their employees. Leaders must make sure their employees are content and empowered to be their best. Happy employees lead to satisfied customers.  Listening to the Market but Pushing Too: Listen to the market, but don’t just listen to the market. Customers don’t always know what they need or the direction of where a technology must head. It’s the job of a CEO to lead and determine the company’s course and the products they must build.IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When a new technology with tremendous potential rolls out, expectations are sky high. It’s going to be a magical technology that changes the world, right? If it doesn't take off immediately with consumers, there can be a tendency to overreact, be let down, give up, and move on to the next new thing that’s supposed to change the world. But what if the technology is augmented reality and it does, truly, change the way people see the world? Even though everyone isn’t walking around every second, using AR, just yet, augmented reality has been making great strides over the last decade. And Peggy Johnson, the CEO of Magic Leap, explains that digital augmentation will be the norm eventually.“There will be a time again where we'll look back and say, ‘Remember when we didn't have digital augmentation in front of our eyes.’ Whether that'll be in the form of glasses that we'll wear or contacts maybe at some point, I do believe we will have that kind of capability as a tool to help us just get through our days, do our jobs, and to entertain us. This is the start of it.”The way to combat overreacting when a new technology is not immediately broadly used is to simply realize that it takes time to change the world; in particular, how people see the world. With augmented reality, the complex goal is to seamlessly integrate physical and digital spaces. That’s a real challenge. Technological advancement of this magnitude takes patienceents and there are always fits and starts. But it’s happening right now.On this episode of IT Visionaries, Peggy shares the state of AR today and where she sees it heading in the future. She also explains how technological advancement has a trajectory that can sometimes be misunderstood. If a technology does not immediately take off with consumers, some mistakenly write it off as a failure. She also discusses the journey trials and tribulations that Magic Leap has been through as a company, including how she’s helped the company pivot from a consumer-facing to product one that focuses solely on enterprise applications. Peggy clarifies that this is just part of the process as a powerful technology is often first directed toward consumers, then to enterprise, and then finally cycles back to consumers in a major way. Enjoy the episode!Main TakeawaysIt’s Okay to Pivot: Resisting change is like trying to try to stop the seasons. Magic Leap was first more consumer-focused but then pivoted to enterprise. Its initial consumer-facing approach helped to visually clarify what augmented reality could be. Now, there are many enterprise use cases for Magic Leap. Proving Value: For consumers, value is about having great content and then enough of it. For enterprise clients, proving value is also constant. Magic Leaps works with current application vendors of their enterprise clients to help heighten their existing applications with AR. Security and privacy are big concerns for companies that must be addressed too. In the enterprise-lane, the AR device typically needs to be used all day so it has to be very comfortable to wear: smaller, lighter, and not too hot. No one wants overheated employees.Creating Ahead of the Curve: Being out front with new technologies requires a bold mentality. When a company creates products ahead of the curve, they have to make things that have never been made before. A company culture of innovation supported by similarly oriented partners gets great work done.Vendors as Partners: There’s no doubt AR is complex and groundbreaking so new products and components need to be built all the time. In this sense, the supply chain is always having to catch up with very speedy tech. Having vendors that are more like partners help to keep the supply chain moving efficiently.IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The world has changed; work has too. Many people are reassessing both their personal and professional lives. The truth is that the personal and professional worlds have always been intertwined. People never left their humanity outside the front door of the office. Now, due to the increase in remote work, there may not even be a physical office. And the integration of personal and professional life is more obvious today than ever before. Work is being done at home, but so is taking care of the household or kids. There’s a lot of life for people to sort out. It’s a challenging time, for sure, but also one filled with potential.Companies have an opportunity to take care of their employees in new ways. Or, if they are reluctant to change, employees can leave for other opportunities. Instead of an outdated and unhelpful mentality about controlling workers, companies have to adjust to make sure employees have the freedom they need to do their best work.Part of this is making sure that work culture is good. Leaders don’t try to control employees; they make sure their path is smooth to do their work. It’s also about providing the right tools at the opportune time to get work done efficiently. Most people are decent and hard working. They want to be productive and to be respected. If companies take care of their core needs, employees will produce, increase ROI, innovate, and care for customers. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Preeti Somal, the VP of Engineering at HashiCorp and Mark Thiele, the CEO and Founder of Edgevana, discuss how companies can transform to create more productive work environments in this new era of increased personal and professional integration. Enjoy the episode!Takeaways:A Good Culture and the Right Tools: In this new world of increased remote work, companies must create an environment where workers feel satisfied and productive in order to retain them. First, create a work culture based on trust, freedom, and support. Then, provide the right technical tools that make work easier for employees to be their best.Control is a Mirage: Most employees care and do quality work. Trying to control workers based upon the fear of a few underperformers is counterproductive. Control isn’t even really possible nor should it be desirable. It restricts the freedom that is necessary for most workers to achieve their goals. Instead, performance must be evaluated through common sense and accomplishments rather than surveillance.New Wave of Internal Tools: Low-code and no-code developments are allowing for lots of new tools to be created within companies. These new tools can be micro-targeted to help a few employees, but also have the ability to be designed, developed, and integrated rapidly. With so many new internal applications, it’s important to develop an organizational team and platform to track them.---IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A lot of times people look at someone who changes the world and think that person must have known exactly what they were doing right from the very beginning. A lot of times, people are dead wrong. Creating comes from a place of not knowing exactly what comes next, and being willing to try to make something new anyway. Sure, trying something new takes courage; but, it’s more about being willing to try things and not be concerned with the outcome. Also, in reality, individuals don’t change culture — people join forces to do that. If a company wants to change the world, then they need to develop a culture that promotes creativity. Dieter Shirley, the Co-creator of CryptoKitties and the CTO and Lead Architect of Dapper Labs, explains the creative process he has learned to employ.“We would try all sorts of crazy stuff. Of course, most of it didn’t go anywhere. But that was how we learned. Even if CryptoKitties hadn’t taken off, we would have learned a ton and been able to try something else.”Creative people often make objects that other people collect. Creative-types do this because creating new things help them to interact with the materials of the world and then shape them into a certain type of order. Collectors collect because these items help provide meaning to their lives. In this way, both creators and collectors are attempting to create order. Today, these objects can be digital too. CyptoKitties — digital blockchain cats — the latest basketball sneaker, or the hottest painting are now all one in the same. People will queue up for digital collectibles just like they would stand in a line at the sneaker store. They’ll outbid each other for digital memorabilia just like they would for that painting.   On this episode of IT Visionaries, Dieter talks about all he and his team learned when they created CryptoKittes, the limitations that blockchains such as etherium placed on their ability to scale CryptoKitties or other similar products, and how they've applied that knowledge to NBA Top Shot — which are digital NBA and WNBA collectibles they build on their blockchain, Flow. Enjoy the episode!Main TakeawaysTry Crazy Things: Just create new things. Not knowing where everything is going is okay. The creation process is never wasted time even if a certain project isn’t considered successful. Creating is about learning. Regardless of the outcome, what’s learned can always be applied moving forward.The Power of Fun and Games: Having a spirit of playfulness in the creative process allows new things to be tried. It’s also really important to make technology that’s fun too. If consumers find the tech fun in itself, like a game, for instance, they’ll take the time to interact with the technology.If You Build it, They Will Come: Just build the tech and keep it simple. If you build something, that gives it a chance for consumers to use it. If it’s simple, even better. If it’s fun, that’s the best because people will take the time to actually use it. People don’t need to know everything about a certain technology to use it. They just need to be interested in it and be able to learn just enough to engage with it.If You Need To, Build It Yourself but Better: Sometimes, taking matters into your own hands is the best path forward. CryptoKitties crashed the Ethereum network. Rather than relying on Ethereum or any other blockchain, Dapper Labs built its own blockchain, Flow, that increased efficiency and met their requirements to scale.Something That Never Dies: Digital memorabilia is attractive because it never dies. Collectors collect items to create meaning for their lives. Digital items, that can live forever, can provide comfort to collectors in that they will always exist and be there for them to provide that meaning.Trust Your Team: As a leader, it’s imperative to trust the team. Even if a leader is initially very involved in the creative process of a certain project, over time the team members working on the project every day will likely develop greater expertise. When that happens, the best thing a leader can do is trust the team. This, of course, also opens up the leader to meet other responsibilities, including dreaming up new projects.---IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the sport’s world, some teams have all the talent they need to win championships, but, oftentimes they can’t seem to put it all together to be the last team standing at the end of the season. On the other hand, there have been moments when the most unlikely teams come together to shock the world. But when you look back, their success is not so surprising. It’s simply that their culture, their togetherness, was underrated. Championship teams don’t just appear; instead they are built. Company cultures are a lot like teams. Winning is the work, and work must get done. This is especially true when complex software products have to be created that solve problems for customers. Himanshu Palsule, the President and Chief Product and Technology Officer at Epicor, explains how the team works together at Epicor.“We operate pretty flat, including our CEO, Steve Murphy, who’s a process engineer himself. We  all roll up our sleeves and talk to the person that has the answer versus sort of go down a hierarchy of people. If you want to succeed at Epicor, you need to be comfortable with that.”Part of building a great team is when leaders are members of the team too and not above it, and everyone works together. Another aspect of being on a successful team is being able to define what the team does well, stick to that core identity, and then having respect for other teams for what they do best. Every game is a series of problems and then solutions. Solve enough problems and the game is won. Great teams create cultures that identify each problem correctly and then work together to solve them.On this episode of IT Visionaries, Himanshu discusses how the Epicor team works together to provide enterprise resource planning software. To do their job effectively, he describes a culture of teamwork that extends to even incorporating the fans, the customers, into the team too. Enjoy the episode!Main TakeawaysBeing a Vendor/Coach: Sales go ary when salespeople either push a client too hard to take on more than they need or allow a client to overcommit to more than they require. Rather than thinking from only a sales perspective, it is helpful for a vendor to think of themselves as the client’s coach. With this mindset, they seek to help educate and support the customer so that their business can succeed. This mentality allows long-standing relationships based upon respect to develop.Core Identity Versus Respecting Other Players: As a large player in an industry, it’s important to identify core company work and stick to that. If there are other players with a specific technology to solve a particular problem, it’s good to respect their product and allow them to do what they do best too. A large player in the industry doesn’t have to do everything; they just need to do their thing.Creating a Problem-Solving Culture: A constructive culture is essential to solve project problems and get work done. Creating an environment where hierarchy is not rigid and communication is fluid is one key. Another key is providing some guardrails to brainstorming sessions in a group of can-do people. Parameters can drive creativity.Fielding a Good Team: Team building involves creating places for people to learn. Partnerships with academic institutions certainly can help. It’s also important to look for potential employees who have a specific skillet that can be adaptable even if they haven’t done the exact type of work before. These sorts of workers can be trained to be very productive members of the team.---IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform  -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.