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NC Tech Talk by NCTA: Freudenberg IT

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Marc Montoro was joined by Kevin Diaz, Chief Customer Officer at Freudenberg IT. Kevin discussed FIT’s German heritage, long-standing history with SAP, building a booming presence in America, and what “IT Solutions. Simplified.” means. Then he talks about FIT’s upcoming Octoberfest event.

Freudenberg IT (FIT) believes extraordinary things happen when the complex is made simple.

Through its deep knowledge of SAP, FIT helps companies experience the value of their enterprise application investments—without the hassle of managing complicated infrastructures on their own. From hosting to cloud computing to disaster recovery, FIT provides the services – and security – organizations need to remain resilient in an increasingly complex world.

Customers choose FIT to improve operations, boost efficiency and reduce overall risks and costs. They stick with FIT because it does the many small things that add up to one extraordinary thing: FIT simplifies IT.

NC Tech Talk hosted by NCTA: Avalara

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Matt ?   Matt Tormollen, EVP/GM of Excise & CertCapture, Avalara

Avalara helps businesses of all sizes achieve compliance with sales tax, excise tax, and other transactional tax requirements by delivering comprehensive, automated, cloud-based solutions that are fast, accurate, and easy to use.  Avalara’s end-to-end suite of solutions is designed to effectively manage complicated and burdensome tax compliance obligations imposed by state, local, and other taxing authorities in the United States and internationally.

Avalara offers hundreds of pre-built connectors into leading accounting, ERP, ecommerce and other business applications. The company processes millions of tax transactions for customers and free users every day, files hundreds of thousands of transactional tax returns per year, and manages millions of exemption certificates and other compliance related documents.

Avalara employs more than 750 people at its headquarters on Bainbridge Island, WA and in offices across the U.S. and in London, England and Pune, India.

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NC Tech Talk by NCTA: AvidXchange and nCino

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Michael Praeger   Michael Praeger, CEO & Co-Founder, AvidXchange

Michael Praeger is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AvidXchange, Inc., the leading provider of on-demand accounts payables management and automated payment solutions. Since founding AvidXchange in 2000, Michael has been an active participant and speaker on “payables and payment automation” at various industry conferences and considered a thought leader within the industry in developing creative solutions and best practices for payables and payment automation.

Michael has spent the last 20 years founding, managing, merging and selling technology and web services-related companies. Prior to establishing AvidXchange, Michael was Co-Founder of PlanetResume.com, a technology career enhancement and recruiting site that successfully completed its merger with CareerShop.com and CareerTV.net in November 1999. Prior to that, he was Co-Founder and CEO of InfoLink Partners and InfoVentures, LP. Michael also served as an Associate with Summit Partners, a Boston-based Venture Capital and Buyout partnership with more than $1 billion under management. He received a B.S.B.A. in Finance from Georgetown University. Michael is also a graduate of the “Birthing of Giants” executive entrepreneurship program at MIT.

Michael is currently active in the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), as well as the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). Michael is also currently serving on the advisory board of the North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA), and on Comdata’s Customer Advisory Board. Michael is revered as a leading business-to-business provider of innovative electronic payment solutions.

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Pierre Naude   Pierre Naudé, CEO, nCino

Pierre Naudé has more than 34 years experience in the financial technology industry. Named CEO of nCino in 2012, Pierre played a key role in the initial founding and oversees all aspects of the organization including strategy, sales, marketing, professional services, customer support and product engineering. Prior to joining nCino, Pierre served as divisional president of Community Financial for S1 Corporation, a leading global financial services software company, until its acquisition by ACI Worldwide in February 2012. Prior to S1, Pierre was vice president and managing partner of the Global Channels and Alliances division at Unisys Corporation, a global technology services and solutions company. Pierre earned his degree from Upper Iowa University.

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NC Tech Talk hosted by NCTA: Rep. Tom Murry and Ed Turlington with Brooks Pierce Law Firm

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Brooks Raiford   Brooks Raiford, President & CEO, NCTA

Brooks Raiford has served as President & CEO of NCTA since 2008. NCTA is the statewide industry association for the tech sector, representing over 700 member companies and organizations that collectively employ over 100,000 North Carolinians.

In the early 1990s, he served as a policy aide in the North Carolina Governor’s Office, where a key focus area was information technology and its impact on a variety of public policy areas. Subsequently, Brooks served as Director of the Independent College Fund of North Carolina, and then President of Leadership North Carolina. Most recently, he was Business Development Director with Balfour Beatty Construction.

Brooks’ current and recent leadership activities include serving on the North Carolina eLearning Commission; the Board of Advisors of North Carolina New Schools; the Board of Directors of the Technology Councils of North America; the North Carolina Advisory Committee of the US Global Leadership Coalition; Member of the Guilford College Board of Visitors; and President of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at NC State University, where he is a former Student Body President and University Trustee.

Recently, the organization that represents the technology associations across North America named Brooks the 2014 “TechVoice Champion,” the first time an association CEO has received this award for advocacy on behalf of the tech sector.

Brooks’ wife Stephanie is a Principal in the Wake County Public School System, and they have two children, Lauren and Will.

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Rep. Tom Murry   Rep. Tom Murry, Representative, North Carolina House of Representatives

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Ed Turlington   Ed Turlington, Partner, Brooks Pierce Law Firm

Ed Turlington is a partner at Brooks Pierce, which is a business law firm of 90 attorneys with offices in Raleigh, Greensboro and Wilmington. He has served as State Government Counsel for over 10 years to NCTA and represents a number of IT companies on legal and regulatory matters. His background includes serving as Chief of Staff to the Governor of North Carolina and in various roles for five US Senators. He holds an undergraduate degree from Duke and a law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill.

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NC Tech Talk hosted by NCTA: The Select Group, Bronto Software, & DB Global

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Chris Rapley   Chris Rapley, Manager of Branch Operations, The Select Group

Chris Rapley has been with The Select Group for the last 4.5 years, joining in June 2010. After graduating from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, he accepted a role as a Technical Recruiter when the company only had 34 employees nationwide. In the last 4 years, Chris has moved from Recruiter to Account Manager and most recently into his role as Manager of Branch Operations where he oversees the sales and recruiting in the Raleigh office, which is The Select Group’s national headquarters where they now have 180 employees in 8 offices nationwide.

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Georgia Grant   Georgia Grant, Director of Human Resources, Bronto Software

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Melissa Crosby   Melissa Crosby, Senior Recruiter, Bronto Software

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Dan Minto   Dan Minto, CEO, DB Global Technology Inc.

Daniel Minto, is the CEO of DB Global Technology Inc., a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank that develops proprietary software solutions for the bank. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Dan was a Senior Vice President and Division Manager of Research and Development at SAS Institute Inc. He lead a global team of over 800, engineers, statisticians and testers in the development and manufacturing of business oriented software solution focused on Banking, Performance Management, Manufacturing, Information Technology, Retail and Communications. Dan has led several Technical acquisitions for SAS. As a speaker and educator, he has addressed top engineering Schools, on Analytics and Business Transformation, both in the United States and internationally. Dan serves on the board of directors for the North Carolina Technology Association, and is a leader in STEM legislation across the state.

Prior to joining SAS, Dan held senior leadership positions at Raytheon, AT&T and GTE. He has been in the information technology space for over 30 years, and holds undergraduate degrees from Averett University and a Graduate degree (MBA/MSEE) from Wake Forest University. Dan served in the United States Air Force and is the recipient of the numerous medals and honors. In his spare time, Dan is an avid pilot, and volunteers his time and services to help people who are in need of critical medical air transportation.

NC Tech Talk: Marc Montoro interviews Ray Carey with NeoNova and Stephanie Trunzo with PointSource

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Marc Montoro   Marc Montoro, Sr. Director of Programs & Communications, NCTA

Marc Montoro is the Sr. Director of Programs & Communications for the North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA).  NCTA is the statewide trade association that represents the tech sector through public affairs and workforce development initiatives, along with events.  Marc is responsible for the development and execution of NCTA’s events portfolio, including content creation, speaker coordination and sponsorship sales.  He also leads NCTA’s communications strategy, including web and social media presence, digital marketing and media relations.

Marc has over 14 years of marketing and communications experience, mostly in technology.  The first five years were as a recruiter.  He started in IT staffing and solutions for TEKsystems, then working for Lucas Group, placing finance/accounting professionals.  He moved to North Carolina in 2004, where he started with NCTA, serving as the Programs Manager for two and a half years.  Then, he held marketing roles with WRAL Tech Wire and Restaurant.com, before returning to NCTA, where he has been in his current role for over four years.

Marc has a BA in Industrial Relations from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, where he played football for the Tarheels.  He lives in Hillsborough with his wife (Natalie) and two daughters (Molly and Daphne).

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Ray Carey   Ray Carey, CEO, NeoNova

Ray Carey has been the Chief Executive Officer at NeoNova since 2010 and, after NeoNova’s acquisition by NRTC last year he took on responsibility for all of the National Rural Telephone Cooperative’s Broadband efforts.

Prior to taking the helm at NeoNova, Ray was a General Partner at Azure Capital Partners in San Francisco where he spent over a decade working and investing in entrepreneurial technology and service companies including Broadlight, Calix Networks, Cyan Optics, Fonality, SlideRocket, Vapps, and World Wide Packets. He remains a Venture Partner with Azure Capital, a firm he joined in 2001. While at Azure in 2008, Ray led the investment in NeoNova, served on its Board of Directors and was named CEO.

Prior to Azure, Ray worked at Credit Suisse First Boston & Robertson Stephens, focused on public and private financings, and mergers and acquisitions for technology companies. He provided strategic advice to several companies, including ADC Telecommunications, Cerent (acquired by Cisco), Efficient Networks, Juniper Networks, Next Level Communications and many others.

Ray represented the United States by swimming in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, and he received his A.B. and M.A. degrees from Stanford University.

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Stephanie Trunzo   Stephanie Trunzo, CCO, PointSource

Stephanie Lynn Trunzo is the Chief Creative Officer for PointSource, helping drive the vision and messaging, and bringing operational excellence to this growing IBM Premier Business Partner. She manages the design and client experience organizations, creating intuitive experiences built on cutting edge technology, while also crafting Agile and efficient development patterns. Previously, Stephanie was with IBM for 13 years, most recently as a director running the development organization for the IBM Rational Jazz Platform, and the integration strategy for the ALM ecosystem.

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NC Tech Talk: Brooks Raiford interviews Geoff Lang of MetLife and Bob Hawkins of EMC Corp.

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Brooks Raiford   Brooks Raiford, President and CEO, NCTA

Brooks Raiford has served as President & CEO of NCTA since 2008. NCTA is the statewide industry association for the tech sector, representing over 700 member companies and organizations that employ over 100,000 North Carolinians.

In the early 1990s, he served as a policy aide in the North Carolina Governor’s Office, where a key focus area was information technology and its impact on a variety of public policy areas. Subsequently, Brooks served as Director of the Independent College Fund of North Carolina, and then President of Leadership North Carolina. Most recently, he was Business Development Director with Balfour Beatty Construction.

Brooks’ current leadership activities include serving on the North Carolina eLearning Commission; the Board of Advisors of North Carolina New Schools; the Board of Directors of the Technology Councils of North America; the North Carolina Advisory Committee of the US Global Leadership Coalition; and President of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at NC State University, where he is a former Student Body President and University Trustee.

Recently, the organization that represents the technology associations across North America named Brooks the 2014 “TechVoice Champion,” the first time an association CEO has received this award for advocacy on behalf of the tech sector.

Brooks’ wife Stephanie is a Principal in the Wake County Public School System, and they have two children, Lauren and Will.

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Geoff Lang   Geoff Lang, VP & General Manager of Global Technology & Operations, MetLife

Geoff is Vice President and General Manager of MetLife Global Technology and Operations (GTO), a leading global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. As its first employee, Geoff is the ambassador for GTO in Raleigh where MetLife is committed to delivering innovative solutions and infrastructure that help MetLife deliver a world-class customer experience. Geoff is responsible for overall site management, community and university relations, talent recruiting, new hire onboarding, and employee support for GTO Raleigh.

Prior to MetLife, Geoff worked at IBM for 22 years and then at RBC Bank in Raleigh where he was responsible for all information technology of the regional bank. Geoff holds a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

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Bob Hawkins   Bob Hawkins, VP of North Carolina Operations, EMC Corp.

Bob Hawkins is the Vice President of North Carolina Operations at EMC Corporation, the world leader in products, services and solutions for information storage and management. In this role, he is responsible for strategic s manufacturing plant in Apex, with executive responsibility for the software development facility in RTP and data center / lab in Durham. He is also responsible for developing partnerships with business and education, and is active in NCTA and local Chambers of Commerce.

Mr. Hawkins joined EMC in 2005 with more than 29 years’ experience in high-tech manufacturing. Prior to coming to EMC, Mr. Hawkins held executive positions at Solectron and NCR in manufacturing and information technology. Mr. Hawkins is past chairman of the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Technology Association, where he currently serves on the Board. He is also a member of the Board of Advisors of the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce.

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NC Tech Talk with North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA)

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Brooks Raiford   Brooks Raiford, President and CEO, NCTA

Brooks Raiford has served as President & CEO of NCTA since 2008. NCTA is the statewide industry association for the tech sector, representing over 700 member companies and organizations that employ over 100,000 North Carolinians.

In the early 1990s, he served as a policy aide in the North Carolina Governor’s Office, where a key focus area was information technology and its impact on a variety of public policy areas. Subsequently, Brooks served as Director of the Independent College Fund of North Carolina, and then President of Leadership North Carolina. Most recently, he was Business Development Director with Balfour Beatty Construction.

Brooks’ current leadership activities include serving on the North Carolina eLearning Commission; the Board of Advisors of North Carolina New Schools; the Board of Directors of the Technology Councils of North America; the North Carolina Advisory Committee of the US Global Leadership Coalition; and President of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at NC State University, where he is a former Student Body President and University Trustee.

Recently, the organization that represents the technology associations across North America named Brooks the 2014 “TechVoice Champion,” the first time an association CEO has received this award for advocacy on behalf of the tech sector.

Brooks’ wife Stephanie is a Principal in the Wake County Public School System, and they have two children, Lauren and Will.

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Michelle Calton   Michelle Calton, VP, Membership Development, NCTA

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Marc Montoro   Marc Montoro, Sr. Director, Programs & Communications, NCTA

Marc Montoro is the Sr. Director of Programs & Communications for the North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA).  NCTA is the statewide trade association that represents the tech sector through public affairs and workforce development initiatives, along with events.  Marc is responsible for the development and execution of NCTA’s events portfolio, including content creation, speaker coordination and sponsorship sales.  He also leads NCTA’s communications strategy, including web and social media presence, digital marketing and media relations.

Marc has over 14 years of marketing and communications experience, mostly in technology.  The first five years were as a recruiter.  He started in IT staffing and solutions for TEKsystems, then working for Lucas Group, placing finance/accounting professionals.  He moved to North Carolina in 2004, where he started with NCTA, serving as the Programs Manager for two and a half years.  Then, he held marketing roles with WRAL Tech Wire and Restaurant.com, before returning to NCTA, where he has been in his current role for over four years.

Marc has a BA in Industrial Relations from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, where he played football for the Tarheels.  He lives in Hillsborough with his wife (Natalie) and two daughters (Molly and Daphne).

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Craig Scates    Craig Scates, Partner, Resolvit

Craig Scates created, and leads, Resolvit’s Southern Region, which currently includes branch offices in Raleigh/Durham, NC, San Jose, Calif., and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Craig has Profit & Loss management experience in both small and large company environments, serving the information technology, telecommunications, homeland security, law enforcement, defense, and intelligence industries.

Craig’s background features 15 years with GTE Data Services and GTE Government Systems in an array of disciplines including sales, business development, systems development and integration, strategic planning, and financial management. Prior to joining Resolvit, Craig served for 4 years as President and General Manager with Digital Audio Corporation, a Triangle-based company that creates specialized technology for global forensic and intelligence communities.

Outside of Resolvit, Craig is an avid golfer and cook captain of a local competition BBQ team, The Kings of Q. He and his wife, Susan, have lived in the Triangle area since 2000 with their 15-year-old triplet boys.

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Steve Chase   Steve Chase, Senior VP of Global Sales, Alphanumeric Systems, Inc.

As Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Steve Chase ensures that Alphanumeric delivers solutions to its customers that enable better, faster, and more efficient business operations. By building future opportunities for Alphanumeric, Steve identifies new and leading technologies to satisfy the current and future needs of customers.

With 26 years experience in the technology industry, including 22 years at Alphanumeric, Steve offers his unique combination of broad technical expertise and wealth of business knowledge to ensure the company provides each client with a good customer experience at a good value. With a long-standing career in the technology arena beginning in the early ‘80s days of PCs, Steve has consistently lowered costs, increased revenue, and mitigated risk for Alphanumeric’s customers. His diverse background also includes business development success in Alphanumeric’s document imaging and staffing services. As a testament to his knowledge and expertise in the technology field, Steve is a sought-after speaker for information technology trends and how technology will impact the workplace.

Steve currently serves as an active member of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce Board of Advisors and the North Carolina Technology Association. He also serves as a founding member of the Rex Patriots, a key component of the Rex Healthcare Foundation.

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