bmurphy@cleartechnologies.net[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Brian Murphy joined Clear Technologies in April 2018 as Chief Innovation Officer and Cognitive Practice Leader. In this role, Brian is focused on driving new business within the domains of artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT and analytics. Brian brings a business-first approach with conversations focused on solving business problems to drive both top and bottom lines of the clients P&L.
Prior to joining Clear Technologies, Brian led client success for global strategic accounts at SAP, served as SVP and CIO for Dean Foods, led IT integration for merger and acquisitions and large ERP implementations for several companies, and held various positions in IT and line of business at companies such as Whirlpool, T-Mobile, Colgate, Palmolive and PPG Industries. Brian has also served on the board of both profit and non-profit organizations.
Brian originates from the United Kingdom, but has been in the United States for the last 14 years; 10 of those years in Dallas. He received his BSc from Loughborough University in the UK. Brian is a passionate cook, retro arcade game player, animal foster, and traveler. He enjoys spending time with his family and his 2 dogs, 2 cats and snake he rescued.
Don’t have a twitter profile? That’s okay! Now you can keep up with Clear Technologies activity on twitter through our monthly newsletter.
Below are our top tweets for April – May 2018.
"Clear Technologies’ story is one of adaptation and transformation. Without a solid focus of concentrating on our clients, we would not be here to celebrate our 25 years in business and the many great years to come" – @phil_vsi#Clear25thhttps://t.co/rrEjdI5kYW
Reaching 25 years is a major milestone for our organization. THANK YOU to our clients and partners who have made this possible. We look forward to the next 25! #Clear25th#AI#IoThttps://t.co/s3yHxX7XIi
We are proud to announce we have won the Horizon Award for Outstanding Partner Performance from @West_UC! Congratulations, team! #UCaaShttps://t.co/Fseed3zUkh
DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Clear Technologies, a Dallas-area based Information Technology Services and Solutions Provider, celebrates its 25th Anniversary.
Clear Technologies, founded in 1993 as Strategic Solutions Southwest, is a Value-Added Reseller, Managed & Professional Services Provider, and Software Publisher dedicated to driving business value through technology.
“Clear Technologies’ story is one of adaptation and transformation. Without a solid focus of concentrating on our clients, we would not be here to celebrate our 25 years in business and the many great years to come,” said COO & President, Phil Godwin.
Clear Technologies began purely as a hardware reseller of IBM’s Power line of data center infrastructure, such as the AS/400 line of servers. Clear added a multitude of other product lines to its resell portfolio over the next 15 years including Storage and Networking, while also creating a successful professional services practice. In 2010, Clear launched its first homegrown product, Visual One Intelligence®, as part of its first true transformation as a company.
“Visual One Intelligence® allows us to differentiate ourselves from what has become a sea of sameness amongst partners. We are able to quickly add value to many different types of organizations through Visual One’s many capabilities around planning, analysis and reporting of storage and other datacenter devices from all the major manufacturers,” according to Godwin.
Visual One Intelligence® is a cloud-based systems reporting and analytics service that provides data-driven analytics addressing performance, capacity, and governance challenges for informed decision making. Visual One Intelligence® has been awarded numerous accolades over the years including being named “Value Leader” and “Best Capacity Management” in 2017 by EMA Storage Intelligence Radar Report.
As a result of its successful transformation, COO & President, Phil Godwin, was invited to join IBM Senior Vice President of Global Markets, Martin Schroeter, on stage at IBM’s premier conference, THINK 2018, to discuss how Clear has successfully adapted and transformed its business and how other partners could follow suit. Phil also discussed Clear Technologies’ most recent investments around Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning and how they can have substantial business impacts.
“It is great to look back and see how far we have come since we started 25 years ago. With our continued investment in Visual One Intelligence® and our latest investment in our AI and IOT practice, I am confident we will continue to provide our clients with the technology and services that will provide significant value and profit to their business,” said Godwin.
[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1523316797678{background-image: url(https://www.cleartechnologies.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Screen-Shot-2018-02-09-at-12.06.22-PM.png?id=5540) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]Melvin Eugene joined Clear Technologies after a successful 28 year career in Sales & Management at IBM .
Melvin is a proven leader with over two decades in Sales/Marketing and Executive Sales Management in the Information Technology Industry. He departed IBM as the Director of Response Lead Management where he led an organization of over 275 Inside Sales Professionals focused on new business and revenue growth.
As an experienced business professional, his success throughout his career was built on creating long lasting relationships and finding ways to motivate and inspire individuals to excel in both their personal and professional endeavors.
Melvin brings with him to Clear Technologies a diverse set of Cross-Industry skills from Industrial/Automotive and Manufacturing to Distribution having worked with large Fortune 500 organizations in addition to fast-growing midsize companies. At Clear, he will be responsible for New Business Account growth focusing on helping those new clients solve their most complex business requirements using Clear’s vast experience in the datacenter along with new solutions in IOT and AI.
As a purpose-driven leader, Melvin extended his personal talents beyond the office and into the community.
Melvin is a former Board Member for the West Dallas Community Centers (WDCC) his enthusiasm for the WAR against illiteracy propelled him to assist in getting computers donated and networked across the centers for educational training and skills development for their after-school programs.
Melvin was also Co-Chairman for Youth Empowerment at the Jordan Community Development Corporation, a non-profit where he was involved in initiatives to empower youth through education and skills based training. While serving as Co-Chairman he led fundraising activities for events such as their Annual Benefit Golf Tournament which was designed to raise funds for College Scholarships.
Melvin is an avid golfer and sport fan who received his BA from Austin College in Sherman, TX. He is married with 3 adult children and resides in the DFW area.
[vc_section css=”.vc_custom_1522427373507{background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]ADDISON, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Clear Technologies, a leading IT solution provider, has been selected as the winner of the IBM Business Unit Excellence Award for IBM Global Financing (IGF) presented on March 20, 2018 at IBM PartnerWorld at Think in Las Vegas, NV. Clear was selected for this award based on its excellence and commitment to IBM Global Financing.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”6184″ img_size=”large”][vc_column_text]Clear Technologies receives their IBM Global Financing Excellence Award at IBM Think 2018 (pictured from l to r): John Teltsch (IBM), Debbie Nevin (IBM), James Hargis (Clear Technologies), Jonathan Long (Clear Technologies), Jacqueline Woods (IBM), Steve Nichols (IBM).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]The IBM Business Unit Excellence Award for IBM Global Financing recognizes one IBM Business Partner worldwide who showed significant investment, partnership, and achievements with IBM Global Financing during the previous year. Clear Technologies’ leadership in developing financing expertise and success in the market set it apart as a true value-added resource for its clients who benefit from Clear’s ability to help them leverage the IBM financing options as they look to invest in new Cloud and Data solutions. Clear Technologies was the first partner worldwide to achieve IBM’s Global Financing Expert Competency which is achieved through revenue attainment, skills development, and client satisfaction.
“IBM Global Financing has been a key piece of our business since its founding 25 years ago. IGF allows our clients the flexibility and long-term partnership needed in today’s financial environment. As we move further into the Artificial Intelligence and Data era, project-based financing from IBM Global Financing will be key in allowing our clients to fund the value they receive from the great work we are doing. We are proud to have won the Excellence Award from IGF and look forward to the continued partnership for years to come,” said Phil Godwin, Clear Technologies President & COO.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Contact
[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1523030684691{background-image: url(https://www.cleartechnologies.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Screen-Shot-2018-02-09-at-12.06.22-PM.png?id=5540) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]IBM’s inaugural mega-conference took place in Las Vegas, NV, the week of March 18, 2018, and Clear Technologies was there en masse. Clear sent a group of sales reps, technical specialists, marketing professionals and company executives to see what is new in the industry, grow our partnership with IBM and other partners, and most importantly, host our many clients that were there for the conference. For the first time, IBM consolidated its many industry and platform specific conferences into one large conference.
There were many interesting and innovative sessions and conversations. Here are five exciting takeaways we at Clear Technologies left with:[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Artificial Intelligence
Deploying AI applications can get very complicated very quickly, which is why IBM’s PowerAI Platform is so interesting.
Now with the addition of Power 9 Cloud support, AI deployments can be spun up, tested, verified and decommissioned quickly – enabling the agility enterprise IT needs these days to keep up with new workloads. Here are some of the highlights of the IBM PowerAI Platform:
At Clear, we are working on some incredible opportunities with clients to solve real business issues with substantial business impact. We would love the opportunity to discuss how AI and Machine Learning can impact your organization.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Cloud
IBM is leading the way with their cloud solutions that go beyond just offering a place to land your virtual machines at a low-cost.
IBM is offering transformative solutions that help address the exponential growth of data and the tools to make sense of that data. IBM also leads the way with hybrid and new cloud offerings such as IBM Cloud Private. IBM Cloud Private offers the benefits of the public cloud such as scalability and ease of deployment but with increased control, security and much more predictable costs.
We are working with IBM to architect agile technology strategies that are able to solve business problems quickly and efficiently using platforms such as Cloud.
Storage
Storage continues to be an exciting piece of IBM’s portfolio as it looks to capitalize on its position as the #1 Storage Software Company in the World. New products such as Spectrum Protect Plus, which delivers modern data protection for digital business (go here for a free 30 day trial), are wildly different from IBM’s storage software products of old.
IBM’s industry leading Storage Software portfolio also enables its world-class Storage Hardware product line. IBM’s Flash and flash-enabled line of products continue to see great success over spinning disk and SSD-based solutions. IBM’s Cloud Object Storage allow organizations to create the ocean of data needed in today’s environment. As Eric Herzog, IBM Storage VP, said, “The most valuable asset today is not oil, not gold, not uranium, it is data.”
Blockchain
You can’t watch the news these days without hearing about Blockchain in some form or facet. While some just associate it with cryptocurrencies or say it’s a solution looking for a problem, IBM is at the forefront of bringing the power and security of Blockchain to business.
This year, the use cases for Blockchain seemed almost endless. IBM is using Blockchain to combat fraud, ensure food safety, create more intelligent supply chains, change the way we buy insurance, and much more. Blockchain is just starting the gain traction in the corporate world, but the momentum is rising fast.
Interested in working with Clear on Blockchain? Join us as we develop, test and deploy Blockchain apps utilizing IBM’s Blockchain Platform.
Transformation
Business transformation was a popular topic at IBM THINK. One area of transformation was especially close to Clear Technologies. Clear’s President & COO, Phil Godwin, took the stage on Wednesday morning with IBM Senior Vice President of Global Markets, Martin Schroeter, to discuss transformation, including Clear’s multiple transformations over the last 25 years. Phil took the audience of thousands through the growth from just a reseller of IBM technologies during our founding in 1993, to becoming a true valued partner with the development of Visual One Intelligence®, to where we are going now with our focus on solving business issues.
You can read more about Phil’s thoughts on transformation and success in the future in his interview with CRN here.
[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1520886794600{background-image: url(https://www.cleartechnologies.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Screen-Shot-2018-02-09-at-12.06.22-PM.png?id=5540) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”fadeInUp”][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]What is SD-WAN?
Software-defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN) is an exciting new technology that distributes network traffic across wide area networks utilizing software-defined networking to automatically route traffic to and from disparate sites such as remote offices, datacenters and distribution centers. SD-WAN significantly improves application performance and user experience by providing optimized paths for client data seamlessly through multiple different types of WAN connections. No longer are organizations forced to suffer with limited bandwidth or face expensive and delayed increases in their service. SD-WAN offers a cost-optimized, consistent solution that takes the stress out of your organizations connectivity.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”fadeInUp”][vc_column][vc_column_text]SD-WAN Benefits
Organizations face many problems in today’s Cloud-era: legacy organizations are locked into expensive single-carrier agreements with little flexibility while born-in-the-cloud organizations face enormously complex networks with mediocre performance. SD-WAN bridges the gap for both types of companies and offers the following benefits:
Better user experience – built-in WAN optimization improves performance for applications and connections between SaaS deployments allowing for more consistent response times and higher quality engagements with your users
Greater agility – dedicated networks can take weeks and even months to install while SD-WAN solutions can enable a location to be live within just days allowing your organization greater speed to market and time to value
Reduced costs – no longer are expensive MPLS circuits a requirement for all locations as SD-WAN enables service provider independence and the ability to utilize low-cost broadband and wireless in addition to dedicated networks under a single management experience optimized for a your traffic
Improved security – SD-WAN solutions include embedded security to better protect your and your user’s data through an consolidated management interface for all connectivity within your organization
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”fadeInUp”][vc_column][vc_column_text]How to get started with SD-WAN
Request a demo today
Clear Technologies partners with leading industry providers of SD-WAN solutions. We offer expertise and experience with many different appliances and cloud-based managed services and can assist in finding the best product to meet your company’s needs.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
There are an endless number of options for clouds and cloud services in the market and the major cloud providers such as IBM, Amazon and Microsoft offer a myriad of solutions within their cloud portfolios. Clear Technologies can help wade through the multitude of options and find the best cloud implementation for your companies specific needs.
Why go Cloud?
Cloud offers an extreme amount of flexibility and scalability for both new and existing workloads. There are many benefits of Cloud including:
Ability to turn up and turn down workloads based on the needs of the business
Rolling out new projects quickly and easily without significant investments
Collaboration with users worldwide without the need for expensive networks connecting them
Options for all types of workloads – resource-intensive applications such as high-performance computing, virtualized environments spread across thousands of servers, and long-term backups
Lower costs when managed appropriately than on-prem hardware
How to choose the right Cloud?
Choosing the right Cloud (or Clouds) is a tough decision. Let Clear Technologies’ team of Cloud experts help you through the journey of identifying your needs, configuring the solution, migrating to the cloud and long-term management. At Clear Technologies, we believe organizations should consider the following when looking for the right Cloud for them:
Select the Cloud provider that is flexible and can adjust their offerings to fit your needs.
Find a Cloud that offers industry specialization and recognizes that all companies are not built the same.
Leverage Clouds with access to the latest technologies such as AI and Blockchain.
Let your Cloud transform with you – innovation starts with a partnership and both organizations should try to improve each other.
Interested in learning more about how Clear Technologies can help you with your Cloud search?
[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1520888811486{background-image: url(https://www.cleartechnologies.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Screen-Shot-2018-02-09-at-12.06.22-PM.png?id=5540) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”22px”][vc_column_text]Data Protection and Availability for Virtual Environments
Virtualization reduces infrastructure costs and allows for faster provisioning and deployment; however Virtual Machines (VMs) still require protection like traditional infrastructure needs. High Availability solutions enable automated failover and instantaneous recovery; however, replication tools can be an expensive proposition for organizations with hundreds and thousands of VMs, which is why many companies turn to backup solutions for virtual environments.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Spectrum Protect Plus
One of the leading solutions for virtual backups is IBM’s Spectrum Protect. Recently, IBM has added additional benefits to Spectrum Protect with its newest release – Spectrum Protect Plus. Spectrum Protect Plus simplifies data protection using intuitive self-service portals and SLA-based backup templates to remove the complexity of doing virtual backups and restores. There are four key benefits of Spectrum Protect Plus that differentiate it from competing tools:
Ease of Use – portal and policy-driven protection that anyone can manage and utilize.
Simplified Deployment – a solution that can be implemented in minutes and offering industry-leading protection in an hour.
Quick Recovery – easy management enables instant search and restoration.
Advanced Data Governance – achieve maximum efficiency by utilizing a complete storage strategy of disk, tape and cloud.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/5qdzZpbENWQ”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Try Spectrum Protect Plus Today
Why wait, IBM is offering complimentary trials just by signing up for a limited time.
Click Here to Sign Up for a Free Trial [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Contact us to learn more about the benefits of the leading data protection and availability solution and see what it can do for your business today![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1517861643117{background-image: url(https://www.cleartechnologies.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AdobeStock_126353528-Converted.png?id=4821) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”45px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”20″][vc_column_text]Congratulations, Shawn Bodily – Our IBM Champion[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Shawn Bodily, Clear Technologies’ resident AIX, PowerHA, Linux and Resiliency expert, was declared an IBM Champion for Power this past month. This is Shawn’s third year in a row to be chosen as an IBM Champion for Power. Shawn has over twenty years experience with the Power platform and we are excited his hard work and dedication to not only Clear and its clients, but also the greater IBM Power community continues to be recognized.
The IBM Champion program recognizes innovation and thought leadership within the IBM technical community. The program rewards these contributors by amplifying their voice and increasing their sphere of influence through speaking opportunities, blogs and other social interactions both virtual and at various conferences.
Shawn joined Clear Technologies in 2014 from IBM and has been a thought leader and overall technical guru for Clear’s Power practice as well as storage and other areas of our business since. Shawn is known in the IBM ecosystem through evangelization of IBM solutions through social media through on platforms such as Twitter and YouTube. Shawn is typically involved in our most strategic implementations for clients’ enterprise environments and one of the foremost experts on disaster recovery and high availability. When he is not spending time with clients, Clear, and his family, Shawn manages the PowerHA wiki (and is a writer of IBM Redbooks, which are technical documents that develop and deliver skills, technical know-how and materials to technical professionals of IBM, Business Partners and clients. He has co-written numerous Redbooks on topics such as PowerHA and Geographically Dispersed Resiliency (GDR).
Clear Technologies services organization is comprised of many technical subject matter experts like Shawn. We provide the skills and resources needed to design, architect, implement and manage complex solutions for enterprises of all sizes. Clear Technologies’ professional and managed services increase productivity, improve quality and decrease costs while adding expert-level skills to client organizations.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1517861703516{background-color: #e8e8e8 !important;}”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][vc_column_text]Want to meet with Shawn to discuss your enterprise systems or business continuity plans?
Contact Clear Technologies here or meet us at IBM Think or one of IBM’s Technical Universities in 2018![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
