Wayne Hunter is the co-founder and CEO of AvTek Solutions, Inc., an Amazon #1 bestselling author, a speaker, and a leader in the IT industry. Providing cutting-edge information technology solutions to customers, he brings over thirty years of experience and expertise to the table. Focused on storage and data systems, IT management and systems integration, and mitigating risk, Wayne has a passion for solving IT problems, which has established a reputation of trust in him among colleagues and customers. His mission is to provide the best possible solution to every customer, with a vision of tying his customers' success directly to AvTek's success.
Prior to starting AvTek Solutions, Wayne served six years in the Navy, where he spent two years going through the Navy's Electronics Training Program (one of the best training programs in the world) and four years on the USS Dallas (SSN 700) submarine. After the Navy, Wayne worked for a supercomputer company in Dallas, Texas, where he noticed many businesses didn't have the technology in place to address their large-scale automated backup operation requirements. In response, he launched Lexicon Information Concepts, LLC, which, after seven years of success, he sold to one of his vendors, Legato Systems, Inc. Wayne continued as Legato's Vice President of Customer Solutions and then as Vice President of Enterprise Solutions when Legato was purchased by EMC. Soon after the acquisition, he realized that entrepreneurship was in his blood, leading him to co-found AvTek Solutions in 2004.
With over ten years of experience specializing in banks, Wayne has led AvTek to become one of the premier IT experts in the financial services industry. As a veteran who is always willing to adapt to the ever-changing technology landscape, Wayne quickly put the wheels in motion for AvTek to become a Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Registered Provider Organization to help Department of Defense contractors and subcontractors become CMMC compliant when the DoD announced CMMC back in 2020.
Wayne stays ahead of the curve and ensures he brings the right type of technology to his clients to keep them up to date by serving on boards such as the Cytracom Partner Advisory Council, which is a leading voice focused on driving the best future for modern communications, the Channel Company XChange Advisory Board and the technical advisory board of the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) Group. He has also been tapped into for his cybersecurity and compliance expertise and has co-authored two previous books: Exploited! and The Compliance Formula: Successful Strategies of CMMC Compliant Companies.
In the community, Wayne is a longtime supporter of the Special Olympics and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He also supports his clients' community services in any way he can. For instance, along with Austin Bank employees, Wayne helped build beds for children at homeless shelters. Wayne and Susan, his wife of thirty-six years, live on a thirty-four-acre Texas farm, where they enjoy time on the lake or in the woods. You can also catch them at a Rangers game.
Konrad Martin is the CEO of Tech Advisors, a firm he founded in 2005 with his twin brother, Kevin. Tech Advisors is a complete technology solutions provider, 100% committed to seeing that business owners have the most reliable, professional IT service. Under Konrad's leadership, the firm has achieved steady growth and expansion of services offered?including cybersecurity, compliance, cloud computing, and more?to growing businesses across a wide range of industries.
Tech Advisors was named one of the world's premier managed services providers (MSPs) in 2022 and 2021 in the prestigious Channel Futures MSP 501 rankings, as well as a Top 250 MSP in 2022 and a Top 250 MSSP (managed security services providers) in 2021. Originally focused on the Greater Boston area, the company has grown to offer services throughout the East Coast and maintains offices in Boston, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; Marlborough, Massachusetts; and Palm Beach, Florida.
A nationally recognized authority in the field of cybersecurity, Konrad was recently featured in the documentary Cyber Crime 2: The Dark Web Uncovered. He and nine other national cybersecurity experts were selected for the film, in which they explore the psychology and techniques of cybercrime and offer tips on how to avoid becoming a victim.
Konrad is also the co-author of Cyber Storm, an Amazon #1 bestseller, and the author of Hacked! How To Protect Your Business from the Fines, Lawsuits, Customer Loss, and PR Nightmare Resulting from Data Breach and Cybercrime, which offers strategies for staying one step ahead of cybercriminals, and The IT Factor, a comprehensive guide for the small business owner who seeks to find a professional, competent IT provider. Konrad has authored additional cybersecurity articles for a number of regional and national magazines and was featured in MSP Success Magazine's spring 2021 special edition with his article ?The CPA Turned IT Consultant Every CPA Firm Wants to Know.?
Konrad uses his publications and other platforms to educate audiences about the field of cybersecurity and the reality that cybercrime is a sophisticated and organized industry. He believes strongly that education and empathy are critical and that teams that are unified and knowledgeable are the best way to fight against the growing danger.
Before founding Tech Advisors, Konrad worked as a CPA; this background gives him an understanding and appreciation of the financial side of technology, and he enjoys helping Tech Advisors' clients connect the value of a well-managed IT infrastructure with business efficiency and profitability. His background also led him to become a trusted advisor to the Massachusetts Society of CPAs; he wrote the Written Information Security Plan for their organization and its hundreds of members.
The Bangor, Maine, native is a graduate of the University of Maine, where he competed and became a nationally ranked swimmer. He enjoys several outdoor activities, including hiking, golfing, and triathlons. Konrad splits his time between Medway, Massachusetts, and Lantana, Florida, with his wife, Jeannie. They are parents to Rebecca, Adam, and Fritz.
Pervez Delawalla has been working in the technology sector since 1991. His talent was recognized early, and he began consulting right out of high school. His early work focused on implementing and managing networks. These were the early days of the Internet, and networks were the main form of security. After seven years of consulting, he formed his first company, Net2EZ, which focused on co-location and data center solutions. He landed his first big contract with Myspace, where his company was responsible for managing all the behind-the-scenes hosting operations. Net2EZ continued to grow under his leadership and went on to manage seven data centers and hosted some very large multinational corporations. He decided to sell the company in 2016 and look for a new challenge.
In 2017, Pervez started VegaNext. VegaNext is a managed services provider, but more specifically, a managed security services provider, where security is at the forefront of their offerings. Within just a couple of months of starting VegaNext, they landed some large contracts, which they still have today. They currently have fifty-plus clients on their roster. Pervez likes to refer to them as partners rather than clients or customers. He sees the relationship as one where they rely on each other to be successful. At VegaNext, they treat every partner's network as if it were their own, and they see an attack on a partner's network as an attack on them.
When not busy keeping his clients safe from the bad guys, you can find Pervez spending quality time with his wife and two sons. When his schedule permits, he likes to spend time on the course playing golf or on the court playing basketball. Pervez also has a passion for flying and is working on getting his private pilot license.
Matt Horning, along with his wife, Isadora, are co-owners of Blue Tree Technology, a full-service technology solution provider that focuses on the technology needs of small to medium-sized businesses in and around the Kansas City, Missouri, area. They provide managed IT services, networking, security, and co-managed IT services.
Matt points to the core values of Blue Tree Technology and readily admits they are not the IT provider for everyone. They spend time finding clients who align with their mission of ?class-leading, security-focused IT support? and their core values. ?Our support needs to be a win-win-win,? he says. ?A win for the Blue Tree Technology company. A win for the client company. And finally, a win for the staff of both organizations. If we can find the triple win, everyone is happy, and we can expect the relationship to last for years. We enjoy long-term clients, and we strive to acquire them.?
After graduating high school in 1990, Matt went to college to appease his mom but quickly realized it wasn't for him. He worked odd jobs to pay the bills but hadn't found his calling. In the late '90s, he was presented with an opportunity to work with an IT company installing desktop computers in a local school district. Matt really enjoyed the job, especially seeing how excited students and teachers were about technology. He picked up that enthusiasm for technology and knew he had found his calling.
He next moved on to the corporate world of IT, initially as a network administrator, where he honed his skills and soaked up as much knowledge as possible. After working a couple corporate jobs, he knew it wasn't the environment he wanted to be in. Matt had never cared for the politics of corporate life and will admit that he struggled to keep his opinions to himself, which didn't always go over well.
In the early 2000s, Matt decided it was time to take the knowledge he had accumulated and start his own business. He had a client willing to write a letter espousing his skills and business acumen, and he sent it out to 500 local businesses. Within two months, Matt had more business than he was prepared for. He ran that company for fifteen years until he bought a business named Velocity Computer Tech, which came with employees and a storefront. Just before the pandemic, Matt had the opportunity to purchase an IT support company called KC Computer Support, which complemented the existing services they offered. As part of the merger, they rebranded to Blue Tree Technology.
Ron Shoe and his business partner, Frank Moles, founded SIP Oasis in 2007 to serve the needs of customers in Birmingham, Alabama, and beyond and to give clients what they so desperately needed but struggled to find?someone who could FINALLY make IT and telecom EASY.
SIP Oasis provides white-glove technology and security services with top-line solutions engineered to help small and midsize companies meet business goals while managing costs.
Every business they serve?whether it's a car dealership, financial planner, mortgage company, or multifamily complex, to name a few?first and foremost wants their technology to work. That was what they were promised when they signed up for service. And when it doesn't work, they want ONE phone number to call, which had better be answered by someone who CAN and genuinely WANTS to help.
For whatever reason, when it comes to working with the managed services industry, it always seems to be the other guy's problem. The Internet provider blames the router, the network guy blames the Internet, the phone guy blames the carrier, the carrier blames the phone system . . .
SIP Oasis takes responsibility and accountability for ALL OF IT because you should only have one throat to choke. You want your technology to work FOR your business, and you only want to have to make one call to fix things if it doesn't.
You can count on SIP Oasis to support your network infrastructure, Internet services, Wi-Fi, mobile phones, email, storage, security, disaster recovery, and applications?all via ONE RELATIONSHIP.
Plus, they'll work with you in a way that's both fun and free of all the jargon and computer-speak. Ron is passionate about getting the message out about compliance and security in ways that cut through the oppressive techno-fog?with crazy content, videos, haikus, songs . . . whatever it takes. (They've even released their own craft beer, named ?Breached Blonde Ale.?)
Known as the ?Weird Al Yankovic of Cybersecurity,? Ron is a guitarist and musician and has written a number of songs about keeping your business safe from hackers. He met his wife, Kristin, in college, and they now have two grown kids. Along with music, they love to travel.
Ron graduated in 1992 from Furman University with a Bachelor of Arts in history. He also attended Indiana University Bloomington in 1991 for Russian language immersion and lived in Russia during the summers of 1992 and 1993.
Specialties include:
· Network Management
· Managed Security
· Security Operations Center (SOC)
· IT Help Desk
· CIO
· Dark Web Monitoring
· Managed HIPAA Compliance
· Managed FTC Safeguards Compliance
· VoIP
· Telecommunications
· Cloud Services
· Microsoft 365
· Unified Communications
· Customer Service
· Call Centers
· Systems Integration
· Hosted PBX
· SIP Trunking
Ray Riddle is the chief operations officer of TeleComp and the former COO of Beasley Technology. Prior to his position as COO, he worked for major computer manufacturers Sun Microsystems and Data General.
Ray is also the supervisor of Professional Services at TeleComp. This role manages the network engineering, unified communications, carrier services, virtual schools, and project management teams.
TeleComp was founded in 2003 in Northwest Arkansas, a unique entrepreneurial hotspot in the Midwest. Since 2018, the company has expanded deeply into South Central United States to become one of the largest MSPs in the region. Their goal is to provide high-quality, customizable IT solutions with an emphasis on customer service.
Gino Capito is the chief technology officer of TeleComp. He oversees the company's internal data and security infrastructure and heads the Software Development and Solution Architects divisions. Prior to co-founding TeleComp, Gino founded Platinum Technologies, a company focused on networking, servers, and Cisco VoIP. Later, after acquiring another company with a business partner, he co-founded TeleComp in 2003.
TeleComp was founded in 2003 in Northwest Arkansas, a unique entrepreneurial hotspot in the Midwest. Since 2018, the company has expanded deeply into South Central United States to become one of the largest MSPs in the region. Their goal is to provide high-quality, customizable IT solutions with an emphasis on customer service.
The first thing you notice when talking to Lisa Brown is her passion for business and technology. One of her early clients mistook that passion for being pushy, which led her to coin the slogan ?Passionate, NOT Pushy? to describe her business. Her love for technology and for her clients is clear, and it shows in the quality of her company's work.
Lisa started CST Group Inc. in 2000, and her husband joined her in 2004. Together, they are an amazing team and balance each other's strengths and weaknesses. With Lisa's background in government and compliance and Shawn's knowledge of networking and security, they have the experience and skills to keep your business running smoothly. CST offers a full catalog of IT services. CST can manage all your IT needs or just the parts you need help with. They offer tailored services such as compliance, networking, security, backup/recovery, and even vendor management.
Lisa and her company have extensive experience working in heavily regulated industries and governments, and they've made a career of helping companies address compliance issues. They've done work in local government, insurance, automotive, legal, and accounting industries?just to name a few. CST Group has helped companies create compliance plans from the ground up, and they also step in to help businesses that just need support to stay on course.
Lisa is a perfectionist when it comes to her clients. She believes that customer service, high service levels, and educating clients make CST a true leader in technology, which has led to their year-over-year growth. If you read the testimonials on their website, you'll see that her customers agree.
Chad M. Brush is the founder and CEO of BE Connected, a technology management firm focusing on cybersecurity and compliance solutions in Nashville, Tennessee, and the surrounding area. He's also the founder and CEO of Brush Enterprises, an IT consulting company. Chad has been in IT since 1994, starting his career with Nashville-based Concepts In Communications. Chad worked his way up in various technology companies, becoming well-versed in the technology that companies need in order to thrive and protect themselves in today's rapidly changing business environment.
Chad founded BE Connected in 2017 because, throughout his years in the industry, he noticed that when a technology company would land a large enterprise company as a client, many of their smaller clients wouldn't get the attention they deserve. He was determined to change that. Chad is an advocate for companies that have been underserviced and oversold in the technology arena. When he told one of his clients how much his recommendations would save her business each month, she told him that dealing with him was ?like winning the IT lottery.?
The best part of Chad's job is that he gets to help people and ease their stress. He loves the relationships he has built with his clients, some of whom he initially met in the late 1990s and are now clients of BE Connected. That many of his clients have come from referrals is a tribute to the trust he's built up over the years with businesses in the Nashville area. A loyal and dependable professional, Chad consistently strives to improve himself and his BE Connected team daily.
Chad's drive to succeed was instilled in him at an early age. The firstborn son of a single mother, Chad was determined to help his mother put food on the table for him and his two older sisters and younger brother. Starting when he was eleven, Chad worked evenings and weekends, helping his mother succeed in her wallpapering business, one of three jobs she worked to make ends meet. This instilled in Chad a strong work ethic and a deep sense of loyalty and commitment. His detail-oriented attitude and trustworthiness make him an incredible asset to his clients and team.
Chad is very proud of the work BE Connected does with nonprofits such as Children Are People, which provides a safe, structured space where at-risk youth can learn, play, and flourish without their families being charged fees. Chad is passionate about working with and speaking to young entrepreneurial organizations about business IT, compliance, cybersecurity, and how to be an entrepreneur.
Chad and his wife, Kedran, live in Brentwood, Tennessee, with their dog, Bella. They are Tennessee Titans season ticket holders and big fans of the Nashville SC soccer club.
Paul Marchese is the president and owner of Marchese Computer Products, Inc. Founded in 1981, MCP is the oldest technology consultant and managed services provider in Western New York.
Marchese Computer Products specializes in security and technology solutions for small and medium-sized businesses in the Western and Central New York areas.
Paul's expertise in IT began when he founded MCP even before he finished his college career. He specialized in information technology and telecommunications and spent much of his time helping companies use technology as a tool to move their businesses forward. In 1997, he designed and developed the only data- and web-hosting facility in Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, and Wyoming Counties of Western New York.
Today, Paul has built Marchese Computer Products into one of WNY's most responsive and reliable managed services providers, serving more than two hundred small and medium-sized businesses that use technology to maximize their growth and opportunities. His technical team of eight has extensive industry expertise in a wide range of services and skills, including workstations, servers, networks, phone systems, video systems, software, and printers.
Paul holds a Bachelor of Arts in computer science and mathematics from the University of Rochester and has more than forty years of experience in information technology.
He is the author of Business Owner's Guide To Cyber Security, published in October 2020, a guide with tips and strategies on maximizing technology to create better business outcomes. He followed up in early 2022 with Social Media Cyber Attacks: The New Frontier, detailing how hackers are using social media to gain access.
Paul was chosen as a featured presenter of the first annual Small Business Tech Day in 2022 in Buffalo, New York, alongside celebrity presenters like Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary, former FBI counterterrorism and counterintelligence operative Eric O'Neill, and bestselling author and entrepreneur Mike Michalowicz. When Paul isn't working, he volunteers his time as a member of the board of directors for the Genesee County YMCA (GLOW YMCA) and as the IT administrator for Rotary District 7090.
Zac Abdulkadir realized the critical role of cybersecurity in business earlier than most managed services providers in the IT industry. Zac founded his Los Angeles-based cybersecurity firm, Netready, in 1995. By 2009, Zac was considered a trusted cybersecurity expert in the field by many companies across dozens of industries while many IT companies were still operating as break-fixes. During this time, Zac often explored security boundaries through hobby hacking. When he revealed an exploit in the major Internet services provider EarthLink, he became concerned. If he could expose a critical system vulnerability with relative ease, so could hackers with more malicious motivations. Zac knew small and midsized businesses were unprepared for what was coming and made it his mission to ensure they were protected.
As technology advanced over the following decade, so did the prevalence of cyberattacks and the need for businesses to implement robust security measures to defend against cyberthreats. Zac remembers receiving a call from a CPA too late: Without the necessary protections, his firm was breached. There was nothing he could do, and Zac was devastated as he watched the business owner close the doors of his CPA firm after two successful decades of operation. Zac believes catastrophic loss like this doesn't have to happen, and he's committed himself and the skilled Netready team to safeguard organizations from preventable cyber risks.
Today, as CEO and chief information security officer of Netready, Zac relentlessly pursues the most effective and innovative strategies, using cutting-edge technologies in the field. Zac's team has earned some of the highest certifications in the industry, including CISSP, CISA, CISM, CRISC, MCSE, CCNA, VCP, and ITIL.
While robust technology is essential in an effective security framework, Zac firmly believes that employees are the first line of defense in any company's security. He champions the concept that practical employee awareness training is the cornerstone of effective cybersecurity. Drawing on his extensive expertise, Zac educates his clients on the importance of user training and dismisses the misconception that it needs to be overly complex. Instead, he highlights the power of short, relevant videos that teach employees how to identify and mitigate the most common cyberthreats. By instilling this culture of alertness and education, organizations can significantly reduce the risk of costly cyber incidents and prevent disastrous attacks.
As an accomplished cybersecurity professional with over twenty-five years of experience, Zac leverages his expertise to design innovative solutions for all Netready clients. The cybersecurity firm's holistic approach encompasses technical defenses, as well as comprehensive training and education programs, to empower employees as the first line of defense. By combining his extensive industry knowledge, real-world insights, and passionate drive to protect businesses, Zac is dedicated to helping organizations fortify their security and prevent cyber incidents before they ever happen.
Ham radio and a high school science project (where he designed and built an analog computer) sparked T. Robin Cole III's early interest in math and science. Those experiences led him to his Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering. During his college years, as Robin's initial fascination with digital computing first gained traction, he also embarked on another lifelong passion?flying. As a general aviation pilot, Robin is exhilarated each time he sheds the surly bonds of Earth.
Upon completing his undergraduate studies, Robin ventured from the Midwest to New York City, where he enrolled at New York University, seeking to extend his expertise beyond engineering into corporate finance. At first, he worked as a systems engineer on cutting-edge military aviation electronics until an inviting opportunity appeared for him to pivot onto Wall Street. Leveraging his education, Robin spent two decades working in high levels of the bond market, advising large institutional investors. Years of observing how large businesses identify, evaluate, finance, and adopt innovative technologies to enhance their competitive strengths prepared him to help small and medium businesses do the same.
During his early years of professional growth, Robin also married, raised two wonderful children, and joined two school boards, acting on his belief in education and community engagement. In 2003, Robin was drawn back to his family's business, the Rite Group, which has operated in the Southeast Missouri region since 1967. As president of the Rite Group, Robin reignited his love for digital technology. He dedicates his knowledge and experience to helping small and medium businesses leverage digital technologies that advance and strengthen their competitive advantages.
Robin feels grateful for the many fulfilling opportunities he enjoys, and he devotes time to volunteer service with nonprofit organizations, including Cape Area Habitat for Humanity, Cape Girardeau Public Schools Foundation, Cape Girardeau Airport Advisory Board, AOPA's Airport Support Network, United Way of Southeast Missouri, Cape Girardeau Career & Technology Center, Southeast Missouri State University/Donald L. Harrison College of Business and Computing, and the Rotary Club of Cape Girardeau.
In 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration distinguished Robin with its prestigious Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. When Robin is not dancing the skies on laughter-silvered wings or spending time with his children and grandson, he satisfies an insatiable thirst for knowledge, seeking new avenues for exploration. Robin eagerly anticipates the future and the endless possibilities that technology and personal growth will bring, fully embracing the best days of his life.
Like many tech innovators, Greg Mauer's love of technology started with a
