Online Tech Exhibits Michigan Hosting Solutions at 2013 Midwest Technology Leaders

Michigan data center operator Online Tech will be exhibiting a range of secure hosting solutions for mission critical applications, including cloud hosting, colocation, managed servers, compliant hosting and disaster recovery, at the Midwest Technology Leaders 2013 symposium for IT executives and CIOs held in Detroit, Michigan.

Online Tech’s Director of Operations Jason Yaeger will be speaking on a CIO panel at the event. Most recently, Jason was the recipient of the 2012 Crain’s Detroit Business CIO of the Year, exemplifying innovation in technology strategy, industry leadership and a track record of “going beyond the call of duty.”

Jason Yaeger is also Online Tech’s Risk Management and Security Officer. Jason has guided the company through the successful completion of many audits, including SAS 70 Type I, SAS 70 Type II, SSAE 16, HIPAA and PCI.

Jason also led the investment in energy efficient improvements last year on Online Tech’s Mid-Michigan data center facility. As a result, Online Tech became the first Michigan data center operator to earn the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR certification, putting Online Tech in the top 25 percent of facilities in the nation regarding energy performance.

Jason also led the successful UPS infrastructure upgrade in 2011; read Online Tech Invests $1 Million in Mid-Michigan Data Center Expansion. In addition to overseeing operations across all of Online Tech’s data centers, Jason is also the Vice President of the Southeast Michigan Chapter of 7×24 Exchange. Prior to Online Tech, Jason was Director of Internet Operations at 20/20 Communications where he spent 8 years developing the company’s wireless and internet initiatives.

Held at the Inn at St. John’s on May 21-22, the two-day conference features several other sessions and speakers; a few highlighted ones below:

Leadership XChange
Speaker: Niel Nickolaisen, CIO, Western Governors University
The need is clear, IT must deliver both innovation and operational excellence. But, how can a CIO deliver on these sometimes-competing objectives? In this focused, interactive, pragmatic session, Niel Nickolaisen presents a set of proven, immediately-implementable IT best practices that IT leaders can use to transform IT’s performance and their own IT leadership roles. These tools are designed to help IT leaders:

Pick and fight the right battles.
Do things right the first time.
Deliver incredible customer service.

This workshop uses case studies, examples, and exercises to ensure that participants leave the session with specific things they can and will do to drive innovation and improve operational excellence.

Competencies of the New CIO
Speaker: Larry Bonfante, CIO, USTA
The opportunities for a CIO to truly add business value have never been greater. IT is a mission critical element in ensuring direct engagement with the consumers of our products and services. While CIOs have finally gotten that elusive “seat at the table” many struggle with a new set of expectations that come along with this visibility.

IT executives have had a great deal of experience in their areas of functional responsibility, however, many of them struggle with the “human dynamics” required to drive transformational change as these competencies aren’t taught in business school and don’t always come naturally to CIOs . During this session, some critical components of leadership that will be discussed will include:

Getting diverse groups of people to align around a common vision
Leveraging technology to drive tangible business value
Leading major change management initiatives
Developing effective communication skills
Marketing the value of IT
Effective Relationship Management
Developing Human capital
Partnering for Success
Developing common qualities of great leaders

Collaboration and Mobility
Speaker: Ron Utterbeck, CIO, GE Corporate & Managing Director, AMSTC
Social media is incessantly changing and CIOs are challenged with the task of finding the best way to leverage social tools across the enterprise. At companies across the globe, employees and customers measure the technology they work with against the standards set by popular consumer tools. They expect their digital experiences to be intuitive, fun, interactive, mobile, fast, social, sharable, easily personalized, multi-platform, integrated and more.

GE understands this and is leading the way with several intuitive collaboration and mobile application platforms. Ron Utterbeck will share details behind GE’s journey, the tangible value brought to the business, and methods for today’s CIO to accelerate the adoption of social technologies across the enterprise. Join Utterbeck to learn how you can harness the power of social tools.

Reinventing Michigan through IT
Speaker: David Behen, CIO, State of Michigan

David Behen plays a critical role in the development of IT resources to meet the needs of Michigan’s citizens. CIO Behen holds a seat on Governor Snyder’s Cabinet, is an executive in the Department of Technology, Management and Budget and leads an IT assessment and alignment process that will shape DTMB’s path to the future. Behen was recently chosen as the winner of Crain’s Detroit Business CIO Awards in the government category. He holds various board positions and chairs the Detroit CIO Executive Summit and co-chairs the NASCIO State and Local Collaboration Committee.

Dell Keynote
Speaker: Adriana Karaboutis, VP & Global CIO, Dell

Adriana Karaboutis is VP and Global CIO for Dell, responsible for managing an efficient and innovative global IT enterprise focused on technology breakthroughs for the company and its customers. Previously, Ms. Karaboutis was Dell’s vice president of IT supporting the product groups, manufacturing, procurement and supply chain operations. Previous to Dell, Ms. Karaboutis spent over 20 years at Ford Motor Company and General Motors in various global IT and business operations leadership positions. Ms. Karaboutis received a B.S. in Computer Science as a Merit Scholar from Wayne State University, and has completed the Marketing Strategy Program at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

For more information about the symposium, visit MidwestTechnologyLeaders.com.