IT Hall of Fame Inductions Highlight Final Day of CompTIA Annual Member Meeting

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Induction of the Class of 2011 into the IT Industry Hall of Fame and educational sessions on opportunities for technology companies in healthcare IT, security and cloud computing highlighted day two of the second CompTIA Annual Member Meeting here this week.

“Clearly it’s an under-served market from the standpoint of computer support and service”

The new IT Hall of Fame Class inducted Thursday includes the late Phil Katz, creator of the .ZIP file format, and Earl Pace, co-founder and president of Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA). Both men were inducted into the IT Innovators Wing of the hall.

Pace guided the expansion of BDPA’s activities from a Philadelphia-based organization to a national initiative. Today, BDPA is the largest U.S. professional organization representing minorities in the IT industry. Pace continues to promote the mission of BDPA, telling meeting attendees the organization “gives underserved youth the soft skills and expertise needed to move up in IT industry.”

Inducted into the IT Channel Wing of the IT Hall of Fame were the CompTIA A+ Originators, the group that guided the development of CompTIA A+ certification in 1993. Members of the CompTIA A+ Originators are James Brann (deceased), Richard Bulot, Dennis Cagan, Joe Ciulla, Julie Faster, Dave Garcia, Mark Hiltz, John Hlavac, Alan Hupp, Gus Kolias, Tim Kuhlman, Terry Morrison, Dennis O’Leary, Sara Parks, Marshall Toplansky, Aaron Woods, Tricia Wurts and Bill York.

Thursday’s keynote address was delivered by Daniel Burrus, best-selling author, futurist and chief executive officer of Burrus Research. Burrus shared with the audience seven radical principals to accelerate growth and transform a business. He recommends that companies plan based on certainty – what you are sure will happen in the future – because strategy based on certainty carries a low risk and high reward. Another piece of advice from Burrus is to pay attention to the signs around you. He cited the growing and significant shift to greater reliance on mobile technology, which is altering the way people work and interact together.

The CompTIA Annual Member Meeting offered extensive opportunities for owners and executives of IT channel businesses to network with their peers; discuss and strategize on issues affecting the industry. Among the education tracks Thursday were sessions on healthcare IT, IT security and cloud computing.

During the session “Value Selling and the Deal Economics of Healthcare IT” Patrick Wilson, chief executive officer and founder of Vital Signs Technology, said there some 750,000 physicians in private care practices, but they’re supported by a small fraction of IT professionals.

“Clearly it’s an under-served market from the standpoint of computer support and service,” he said. “There’s a huge need for VARs in the marketplace.”

Wilson’s bottom line advice to the IT community: “Make it simple and relate it to their practice.”

Chris Adams, vice president, sales, for GreatAmerica Leasing Corporation’s Healthcare Group, offered similar counsel to IT companies interested in doing business with healthcare customers. Understand the healthcare environments before you walk in the door, and make it make it easy for physicians to understand, buy and use the products and services you’re selling..

Also on Thursday, CompTIA recognized a group of Blue Ribbon Volunteers for their contributions to the association. The group includes Doriana Allyn, Brother International Corp.; Sandy Ashworth, Unisys Corp.; Jacob Braun, Waka Digital Media Corp.; Lance Gray, Lexmark Canada, Inc.; Rick Gray, DecisionOne Canada; Susan Krautbauer, Elcoteq SE; Terry Morrison, Lenovo Americas; Gordon Pelosse, HP: Jeff Priestman, CCSI Technology Solutions; Ted Roller, Intronis; Michael Schuler, Micro Products Distributors; Mike Semel, Business Continuity Technologies; MJ Shoer, Jenaly Technology Group; Gerry Skipwith, Compugen; David Smith, CompuCom Systems; Ron Southall, Oki Data Americas, Inc.; Scott Storm, Storm Computer; Dan Wensley, LPI Level Platforms; and Aaron Woods, Xerox Corp.

Visit the CompTIA Blog for more on the CompTIA Annual Member Meeting.

About CompTIA

CompTIA is the voice of the world’s information technology (IT) industry. Its members are the companies at the forefront of innovation; and the professionals responsible for maximizing the benefits organizations receive from their investments in technology. CompTIA is dedicated to advancing industry growth through its educational programs, market research, networking events, professional certifications, and public policy advocacy. For more information, visit www.comptia.org or follow CompTIA on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/comptia.