What's Up in Toronto

💭 Charter Engage: Know IT Podcast – What’s Up in Toronto
 
 This podcast explores the market in Toronto, Ontario from a business and technical perspective. The program covers theoretical and practical business problems happening in the area with real-life customer scenarios, and advice on getting started and partnering with us. 
  
 Get to know some senior members of our Toronto team – Kenneth Bokor, Senior Account Manager;  Jeff Wilson, the General Manager, East; and Allan Wong, the Director, Business Development; along with Host, Mark George, the Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets as they discuss how things are progressing in the market; ways that companies are embracing technological change towards future growth, and how Charter is helping companies achieve positive business outcomes. 

Business Transformation’s three pillars of technology, process, and people are considered throughout the podcast. We’ll delve into some CEOs' predictions on market strength compared to how companies are faring right now. And, will also address the challenges of incorporating AI into business operations, and ways to do this correctly. 

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Transcript

Charter Engage: Know IT Podcast – 

What’s Up in Toronto 

[Recorded in Mississauga, ON]

October 16th, 2023

Presenters: (in order of Appearance)

·       Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

·       Jeff Wilson, Charter, General Manager of Charter (East)

·       Allan Wong, Charter, Director, Business Development

·       Kenneth Bokor, Charter, Senior Account Manager

[00:07] Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

Welcome to the latest episode of Charter's ongoing podcast series called Charter Engage: Know IT. Today's topic is called “What's up in Toronto,” and I'm your host, Mark George, the Director of Energy, Resources, and Industrial markets. 

For over twenty-five years, Charter’s built a very successful business as a reseller of networking, IT, security, and collaboration products and services. Last year, we made the strategic decision to invest in building a much broader solutions integration business, including creating specialty professional services practices in critical areas, such as App Development; App Modernization; Business Architecture; Cybersecurity; Governance, Risk, and Compliance; and Staff Augmentation. 

To do this Charter will take responsibility for customers achieving business outcomes leveraging best-in-class technology and a comprehensive portfolio of professional services to help them integrate and optimize across the traditional IT and operation technology (OT) infrastructures. To put these solutions together, Charter will partner with 3rd-parties to help our clients achieve their Digital Transformation and business objectives.

For those of you that tune in regularly, you'll see we continue to expand the range of topics we cover in our podcasts. Recently we've focused on critical business issues such as how we work together with industry partners to secure connected workers through to finding new ways to analyze data and make it much more valuable and make better, more informed decisions by moving beyond spreadsheets.

Today, we've invited senior members of the Charter team in Toronto to share their views on what's up in their market from a multi-industry perspective. They each have decades of experience, so, I'm sure we'll have a broad range of discussions including touching on some of the current business issues, as well as some of the hot technology topics in both the corporate world and the public sector. 

So, I’m pleased to welcome, Allan Wong. Allan is the Director of Charter’s Software Development Practice; Jeff Wilson, the General Manager of Charter (East); and Ken Boker, Senior Account Manager.

All of them have worked in the GTA market for the majority of their careers and are active and vibrant members of the community. So, let's get started. 

I'd like to ask each of you to provide a short introduction and share some insights, not only on yourselves but on the types of customers that you collaborate with in the market. Jeff, let's start with you. 

[3:04] Jeff Wilson, Charter, General Manager, East

Thank you, Mark. Glad to be here today and to my friends at the table here.

So, yes, Jeff, Wilson. I've been in the IT industry for well over thirty years, which says something about what my age is now. And, during that time of, being involved in all sorts of different levels of business from running businesses to supporting businesses, and you name it. And now, in a supporting cast member role as in sales. 

As far as the customers I focus on, the primary ones are the federal government, Ontario government, and some secondary schools in the Hamilton Wentworth district.

[3:50] Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

So, there's a life outside of work, Jeff. And it's an important part of the corporate values at Charter that we’re engaged in some way, shape or form. I know you have an extensive family. Maybe share some of those, a personal story of some of the things you're involved in with your family.

[4:08] Jeff Wilson, Charter, General Manager, East

It's interesting. Being married to an Italian, it's interesting when you go from, you know, my background is English and Irish and a very small family. My wife's extended family is hundreds, so it's always an adventure, every weekend as to what we're doing. One of the things my wife and her siblings do every month is having a sibling’s dinner, which is interesting because you have age ranges from seventy-eight to my wife, who’s - better not say her age. But it's a comedy of events, if I will, at the dinner table, and, by the way, a lot of really, really good cooking.  

[4:44] Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

And, if I understand correctly, you have five grandchildren. So, I'm sure that they keep you hopping all the time, not only at your family dinners but just in everyday life.

[4:51] Jeff Wilson, Charter, General Manager, East

I do. And my son's got three. His oldest is going to be twenty and his youngest is going to be one and a half. So, he's got a bit of a spread there. However, the new addition, the one and a half, she's, amazing, you know, just a going concern. My daughter has a boy and a girl and they're both very energetic and int all sorts of things. 

[5:08] Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

Well, Allan, let's say give you over to you. You're a new member of the Charter executive team and, obviously, you've been working in the market for some time. Please help our listeners again. Same two questions. One, help us understand the types of clients you work with in the marketplace, and as important, some of the things that you're doing - either in the community or, again, segue back to Jeff, even family oriented. You take us whatever direction you want to go, Allan. 

[5:38] Allan Wong, Charter, Director, Business Development

Oh, Hi, Mark. Nice to be here. 

And let me qualify the word “new.” I am indeed relatively new to Charter, as an employee, but I've worked with Charter before as a partner and I'm very familiar with everyone here, partly because I spent so much time with you folks before. It’s been a fantastic experience before, and after I joined Charter. 

So, I'm not going to say how many decades I've been in the business because once you get past twenty, you stop counting. But I've been in this computer business, especially in the item in services business for long time. And so, in terms of my market focus, is very much in financial services, health care, as well as manufacturing.

Now, at this moment, I'm working very, very, very hand-in-glove with you, Mark, in the energy sector. And we have some amazing opportunities out there. And I'm hoping to bring in some additional opportunities within the GTA into the Charter family because I see a lot of great clients out there that could use our help.

And in terms of outside Charter, first of all, I’m a fitness fanatic. I'm really into fitness. At the same time. I am also very fortunate because I have a deep interest in history and I was invited to join the board of directors of this very wonderful organization, a non- profit organ organization by the name of, “Facing History & Ourselves,” (https://www.facinghistory.org/) [1] And our goal is to bring in a lot of history lessons and reflection into the high school and primary school to help our students understand, how to interpret, like, a new advance in the news media, as far as to understand what human history is really all about.

[7:24] Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

So, Ken, we'll have you be the cleanup batter. 

[7:27] Kenneth Bokor, Senior Account Manager

Sure, well, thanks for having me as well.

Kenneth Bokor. I've been with Charter now for about eight years, and I've been in the industry, same with my fellow sales guys here for decades, servicing all kinds of different accounts here at Charter. I’m kind of a generalist, where I have, you know, small, medium, and large accounts in Ontario, the central area. So, a mixed bag, doing all kinds of services and technologies with them.

And on the personal side, I do follow the Charter mantra of trying to give back to the community. I've been in some form of volunteerism for well over thirty years in multiple different capacities and currently I do some stuff with the town of Caledon - proud to do that.

And I’m also an EV-angelist, electric vehicle evangelist. So, I have a Youtube channel that I will shamelessly promote, called the “EV Revolution Show,” (https://www.youtube.com/c/EVRevolution) [2] and some audio podcasts and stuff there to help educate the public, on that. So always busy.

And I'm proud father as well. We have one daughter who's almost thirty. So, we're past the university stuff now. 

[8:17] Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

Well, thank you, Ken. 

So now that you've got a better understanding of our panelists today, let's discuss some of the current business issues that you're seeing in the market.

Driving over to the office this morning, (by the way in my EV Uber vehicle, right?)  A little plug, shamelessly for you, Ken. Gosh, it's boyant out there. Lots of traffic. I'm not sure what's happened to the hybrid work environment, but there's clearly people going to the office. 

When you look at that kind of boyancy, maybe as an observation - I read a recent article that Tech Canada just released its most recent CEO confidence index. [3] Here are some of the things they found. Let's use this as kind of the context for the discussion. First, their CEOs, that belong to Tech Canada, said business conditions remain a serious challenge. They don't see much hope for recovery. They've remained very cautious on the twelve-month outlook for Canada's economy. And, although it's hard for me to believe, almost half of the tech CEOs believe that a recession is now either a certainty or is highly likely. So, obviously, not necessarily the most optimistic CEO group in that Tech Canada survey.

Jeff, in your market, you work a lot in the public sector. What are you seeing there? And maybe relate back to, as you drive around the market every day, what you're seeing.

[9:50] Jeff Wilson, Charter, General Manager, East

Sure. Absolutely, Mark.

When I talked to the governments, so the federal and the interior government, they're both spending. The federal government, specifically, is. Now, they were on a bit of a hiatus, only because they spent a lot of money pre- and during COVID; stopped for a year to, sort of, play catch up on collecting new materials that they had ordered because a lot of the material was, you know, three hundred and sixty- five days out. So now they're actually trying to play catch up on the deployment side of the materials they acquired. But they are now back into looking at acquiring new products and services.

The Ontario government, likewise. Charter’s just been successful in being added to the IT Security VOR (Vendor of Record), [4] which is great for us. That's something new. 

And beyond the government itself, the other customers I deal with are spending money to the, in one particular case, quite a bit of money. So, I would say that, that's something they're doing. 

I would also say that a lot of organizations, now, are back into acquiring and retrofitting their offices to support the people that are coming back. A lot of organizations started with, you know, people coming back on a trial basis, one or two days a week. But now they're asking their employees to come back, you know, three, four, even five days, a week. And, I believe Google and, both, Amazon are two examples of that. 

[11:16] Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

Well, in fact, even Zoom has asked their workers to come back to work. And, it's not an option, you know, it's a mandatory. And that's got to have an impact on, not only the transportation infrastructure of a community like the GTA, but also, then, on the infrastructure world, of course, that Charter’s historically played a deep role in, and I'm sure, continuing to evolve. 

So, let's segue from the kind of, the public sector, Ken, over to you to the corporate world. Again, same question. Overall, what kind of a confidence level are you seeing in your corporate client base and, more importantly, maybe, kind of continue to build on as they look at continuing to invest in products and services? What extent is that helping them, I guess, in their, quite frankly, their business transformation, maybe?

[12:10] Kenneth Bokor, Senior Account Manager

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think it's a cautious optimism that I'm seeing in my customers. Some of them, you know, are leaders in their industry and they want to maintain that leadership role, so they continue to invest in technology and services coming out of COVID to continue to maintain that role.

A lot of companies again are coming into this hybrid workforce as we've mentioned. So, they’ve restructured their business and their models to cope with that and how they can effectively increase their business and be more productive in these models. So, of course we helped a lot of customers during COVID secure and create these hybrid workforces and now they’re looking to expand beyond that, with different technologies and services. 

AI is the top of a lot of conversations now, especially with the medium- to larger-sized [businesses] as they start to invest and look at what could that do for them. What, types of applications could we look to deploy to help increase our business or change the dynamics of how we operate? 

So, even at that middle-level scale, we're starting to see those conversations and all-around frameworks of legislation, regulatory compliance, and things like that. Even the smaller companies, you know, realize they have to deal with those kinds of regulations that we can help them with. So, it's a really good, mixed bag of things that are happening. 

[13:24] Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

Let's, let's kind of go back to Charter's roots. From a network infrastructure perspective, there's got to be investment going on. Throughout the GTA [and] southwestern Ontario, you're seeing the public sector very active, you're seeing the corporate world very active. Overall, what kinds of things are you seeing being, you touched on Ken, Artificial Intelligence, - every day, we read about chat GPT. Overall, what kinds of things are you seeing being done in the marketplace to be able to support and advance, either from the surface-provider perspective (the types of services they provide), or as important, what some of the organizations are doing to support this continuing push on the hybrid-work environment?

Clearly, there's investment going on in the infrastructure, but that’s maybe even a small piece of what needs to go into place. Every day, we're hearing about generative AI digital twins, data analytics. Help our viewers understand how these things must go hand-in-hand that, you know, you almost have three legs of a stool to be able to make any of these things work. Give us some ideas on what you're seeing, again, in the GTA/ Southwestern Ontario?

[14:47] Allan Wong, Charter, Director, Business Development

More than happy to do that. So, there's a lot of points I see here. A lot of excitement.

And part of it has to do with the fact of the loss during the COVID period. Most of our clients went into a survival mode, let's call it. And they put a lot of projects, wider projects, on hold. They have the cash built up for it. They just, you know, didn't want to spend the money, at the time.

So, after the lockdown, we started to see a lot of projects being launched and we are still looking at these clients, trying to clear the backlog of these final projects. And these are essential things they have to do for renewal, for new initiatives, and so on. So, that's the background. That's ruling right now. That's why we're seeing a lot of activities.

But at the same time, though, Mark, like you mentioned, this whole AI thing is in the news every day. And what it's doing to our clients is that it puts them into another mode of thinking because they realize that they need to get into this business. Because they're afraid that their competitors will outrun them.

They also worry that if they do not use this new technology to improve their client experience, they will lose market share. So, the pressure is on. 

And to answer your question earlier, “How do we really take advantage of that?” And this is where we come in as an organization. 

Because to truly take advantage of Chat GPT and AI is not just to just a jump on Chat GPT and ask a bunch of questions, and pat yourself on the back, and say, “Yeah, I just used AI today.” The true key question, the true power of AI, is really the data. So, if your data inside your organization is not ready, it doesn't matter how good the AI is, they won’t get anything out of it.

So, when we get involved, as an organization, we start at the root. “What can we do with your data? How can we help you organize your data?” We make sure that you have one source of truth. From there, we build things on top of that. We have tools from the Microsoft world all the way to open-source world. We build applications around it to tie everything together so that at the helm, as a company, you have direct insight into what you didn't have before - deep insights into your data.

So, back to the original question, we are seeing a lot of activities, a lot of excitement very different from what the CEOs are seeing, perhaps. These are the CEOs - they're concerned about their own business, but their clients are doing quite well here in GTA. 

[17:18] Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

Well, and I suspect when you look at that group of executives across the country, they're also struggling with what it's going to take over the next three to five years to better serve their customers, to grow their business, to figure out how do they expand into new markets. And all that, kind of, ties back to one of the topics that Charter's been focusing on, in our podcast series [5] (and in our roadshow, in October [6]), is Business Transformation. 

So, let's talk a little bit about that. Our belief is that there are three pillars to Business Transformation. One is technology; one is process; and one is people.

Jeff, do you agree?

[18:05] Jeff Wilson, Charter, General Manager, East

Yes, I would agree. 

[18:06] Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

And, ultimately, as you're looking at the public sector market, what kinds of projects, for instance, might you, or your clients, be involved in that deal with people, process, and technology - transforming the way a ministry and the Ontario government operates or at the federal government level, perhaps how the supply chain is advancing? What kinds of things are you seeing, maybe, from a real-life customer experience in this Business Transformation area?

[18:42] Jeff Wilson, Charter, General Manager, East

Certainly. One particular customer, that is in the education sector, they are transforming their whole schools, all their schools. They're taking out the legacy analog, if you want, switching and wireless, and putting in AI-driven wireless and switches that integrate with those wireless products. Why? Because of the learnings that they can get, and that information being passed on to not only these students, but also to their parents in terms of what's going on in the, in the schools. They can take that information and they can modify the courses and the curriculum that each of the students are taking during that semester or, or year, or even beyond that at this point. 

And we've been able to demonstrate to them, by demos with the manufacturers, to show them how that actually can be advantageous. And it's not the least expensive option, but they're actually seeing that the benefits outweigh the costs. 

[19:41] Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

So, in Business Transformation, the three pillars are technology, process, and people. And one of the things, I know, we're certainly seeing throughout the Charter customer base is the idea of using end data better. I think in kind of a technical concept, it's called Data Management. 

But the thing, whether it's traditional IT data, or OT data, the thing that's probably the most topical today, cybersecurity. Maybe give some sense on what you're seeing across the IT and OT install base as it relates to cybersecurity and some of the initiatives that are going on that, certainly Charter, and in the cybersecurity practice at Charter, are talking about in the marketplace?

[20:39] Kenneth Bokor, Senior Account Manager

Security is important to all organizations. It's not just the big guys and the banks and finance companies that, you know, hackers and ransomware and these kinds of things are going after. It's all sorts of businesses and market sectors, now, that are wide open. 

You hear about attacks on companies that you would think, “Why are they attacking somebody like that?” You know, an agency, or a governing body or something like that, you know, it's not getting financial data. So, it's very important for customers to look at their security postures, overall. Whether they have to follow certain industry guidelines or regulatory compliance ends or not. It's very important just for business operations.

[21:17] Jeff Wilson, Charter, General Manager, East

One last thing, just to add to that. I think cybersecurity in general is, there's a lot of knowledge to the public, in terms of what that even means and how it affects them in day-to-day [life]. And I think that's something that organizations need to focus and pay attention to and help, you know, people understand that.

And by doing that, I think that'll actually help getting interest in, you know, involved in security as a career down the road, once they understand more about it. 

[21:43] Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

So, Allan. Let's pull all of this together. So, in Business Transformation, clearly, you've got to be able to use your data better. One of the things we all know is that well over seventy percent of data in an organization is not being used, today. [7] You're not making the best decisions you can because you either can't access it, or don't know how to use it. Can you give us a sense of Charter's view on where you start, as an organization, in a Business Transformation process, to start to better manage your data?

[22:25] Allan Wong, Charter, Director, Business Development

It's a very, very exciting topic and it ties very well to what we just talked about earlier. We're just people, process, and technology. And this is why I'm so excited to be here because we have this particular view, in terms of how to help out customers. 

So back to the data. To get at the data is a multi- prompt attack. You can't just say, “Today, I'm going to write this application and just drew into it, and we'll capture the data you want.” Ultimately what you want the clients to be able to do is to know when and how to ask the right questions. 

The problem is most of our clients don't even know what the right questions are. So, to get there, it takes a little bit of time. It takes a bit of patience. We start with understanding what their business requirements are all about. You start with Business Architecture - map out the future of the client's requirements, where they want to be in five years. And then you figure it out what the data looks like today. And behind all of that, you need a Data Architecture Assessment. You build a future for your data, a roadmap in terms of how to combine all the different pieces of data together into one stream. So, you have one truth. So, the data life cycle is well documented and fits into the requirements of the business.

And behind that is where this conversation just came in earlier, which is when we do all that, we have to make sure that we fit into the security standards and model. And behind all of that is the risk and compliance requirements. 

So, you map all of that stuff out, so you know what you're building for the client. How you really want to transform with the client. And when all of those things are settled and narrowed down, the easy part comes in - which is the application development. People usually think that “Oh, well, writing an application is hard.” Yeah, it is difficult, but it's not the hardest part. Doing it right is the hard part. But you can do it, right if you know what you're trying to do, how you fit it into the bigger picture. 

So, when we do it, right, we have a strategic view. We have a longer-term roadmap. And along the way we find the low hanging fruit. We go for the tactical wins at the same time. So, we have momentum going forward, we have immediate wins. We also have the longer-term success.

[24:47] Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

One of the things, I know, that in the Business Transformation work that Charter's been doing, at least in that part of the business that I'm involved every day, the key is having executive sponsorship and setting the right KPIs. 

Ken, I'm wondering whether in your part of the market, you have a client example of somebody who’s on a Business Transformation journey? 

Maybe share with our listening audience, some of the progress that they're making. You don't have to name the company specifically, but maybe give people some sense of, you know, these can be good, bad, or ugly types of adventures as you get into it. What are you seeing, if you have a good example?

[25:27] Kenneth Bokor, Senior Account Manager

Yeah, I can share one. I mean, Allan was great at summarizing, you know, what that whole process looks like. And it really is an educational process for customers because it's a new paradigm that we're into, now. 

We talked about AI and everything thrown into the mix and, you know, I have a customer that consistently looks to, they value their business as being the leader in the field that they're into. So, they're looking at technology refreshes on a fairly regular cycle. So that's one element that they're involved in is just upgrading their technology to be able to deliver their services and provide high levels of SLA (Service Level Agreements) to the clients that they service.

But beyond that we're also talking about different ways of looking at their data. Because they haven't really looked at it. So, Allan, you know, made a good point, trying to look at their data and analyze it and be able to find other ways of either increasing their revenue streams, or providing corporate savings through the use of this data, or other ways to market their business, or a combination of all of the above. And then, of course, adding the levels of security and compliance to that. 

Those are the kind of conversations that, I find, are really fascinating and invigorating because it’s a new venture and even, you know, mid-sized organizations are having to look at these things. And [I’m] happy to say that there are a lot of customers in this area who are having those conversations. 

[26:44] Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

Well, even Charter’s transforming. And when we made the strategic decision to become more of a solutions integrator, partnering in the market to put together the right combination of products and services - evolving from selling a product to being a trusted business advisor, overall, that transformation is hard work.

Maybe share some closing or parting comments, with our listening audience today, and some of the things you're thinking about from a messaging perspective? You've touched on some of them - the importance of Cybersecurity, Staff Augmentation, App Modernization. Those practices help put that solution integrator message together. But at the end of the day, it must be something that appealed to you to even join Charter as part of this phase in your career. 

Well, Ken, you've been here probably the longest of this group. 

[27:42] Kenneth Bokor, Senior Account Manager

Yeah, I guess I’m the old man, here. Yeah, eight years. And, you know, it really is an organization that is special, You know, we practice what we preach. And integrity and honesty of the company, you know, through and through. We’re, where, a hundred and thirty-plus people, now, across Canada. Tremendous growth over the last few years. But it really is, like, just a large, extended family, you know. (I think we're trying to get to Jeff's family’s size, you know, with all the cousin stuff that he has.) But it really is that sense that everybody is here to help the business, to help our customers. They're the number one aspect. 

But we do want to have a really good work-life balance. We even pride ourselves, you know. You asked about what we're doing in community, and involvements, and giving back that, that's very important to Charter, as well. We have an environmental stance in our passive build [building] that we have, from our HQ, [8] and just down to the practices that we do. [9] It really is a special organization that you don't find too often. 

[28:35] Mark George, Charter, Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator

Well, I couldn't figure out a better summary as we finish up our podcast today. Thank you for that, Ken. 

I feel very blessed. I think in around the table this morning, we have over a hundred and fifty years of wisdom. And as we continue to be trust advisors in the marketplace, I think that goes a long way to not only delivering on Charter’s corporate values, but adding value to our customers as they go on these Business Transformation journeys. [10]

So, I want to thank each of you for the insights that you provided to our audience.

We hope that today's podcast has been valuable and thank you for investing the time to listen to our program. The Charter team is already working on the next episode of Charter Engage: Know IT.


Presenter Information: (in order of Appearance)

· Mark George - Director – Energy, Resources & Industrial Markets, Moderator
Mark George is a proven business leader with global experience across multiple industries. He currently serves as the Director – Energy, Resources and Industrial Markets for Charter. Prior to that, he worked for five years as Managing Partner and Founder of EdgeMark Capital and Advisory Services Inc., a capital markets and financial advisory services firm.  Mark’s in-depth energy markets experience developed through leadership roles with Environmental Refueling Systems Inc. and with PricewaterhouseCoopers. From 2000 to 2010, he served as the Founder and President of the Cielo group of companies, a fully integrated residential and commercial construction and real estate development company in Arizona. Mark has an intense interest in emerging technologies, having spent 15 years with Nortel, Bay Networks, DEC, and Honeywell in progressive sales, management, and executive roles throughout the Americas and Asia Pacific. Mark proudly serves on the boards of several privately held companies and not-for-profit organizations. [ bit.ly/40T7GrH ]

· Jeff Wilson - General Manager of Charter (East)
A well-qualified Senior Leader with a broad experience in several key areas including managing high performance sales teams, sales operations, in the highly competitive technology distribution and Telephone Company environment. I am confident that my qualifications and experience will be of significant value to your firm. Please allow me to outline a few of my skills:
• Solid Analytical And Troubleshooting Talents – Effectively gather pertinent information to recognize key issues and form a base of information; by which to determine the correct course of action and resolution.
• Firm Leadership and Strong Work Ethic – I employ a wide range of resources, and organizational skills to define decision criteria; maintain and promote ethical and confidential standards in conducting business and maintaining high performance in an ever-changing environment.
• Initiative and Commitment – Establish objectives that set clear goals that are S.M.A.R.T. (specific, Measurable, Attainable, and Time-bound), and ensure that the teams I lead have a clear understanding of the quarterly and yearly objectives that are established. Specialties: Leading and growing sales teams.
Problem solving with positive results in Sales Operations. [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff1959/ ]

· Allan Wong - Director, Business Development
Allan is a veteran of the IT industry with over two decades of experience in growth strategy, organizational leadership, and business innovation. He consistently delivered 50+% growth in his previous organizations, and he was responsible for establishing a number of partner eco-systems that spanned the globe.

At Charter, he is tasked to expand and transform the Application Services practice and its portfolio of offerings. His goal is to build an agile organization ready to deliver to the client’s multi-discipline solutions in close cooperation with the talents across many practices within Charter. [ https://bit.ly/48a2C5s ]

· Kenneth Bokor - Senior Account Manager
I've been in the IT industry since 1987, selling various solutions from desktop/portable PCs during the personal computer push, Unix systems in the client-server rollouts, Enterprise Storage and Compute, Data Security for Storage in the 2000's and networking & security for infrastructures into the 2010's and current. My style is a non-aggressive approach to sales and maintaining honesty and integrity with all whom I deal with. I've also had some experience in dealing with Enterprise Software applications and many value-added services to offer my clients.

I am also a dedicated community activist and have volunteered with many organizations helping to make where I live, and my country, a better place. I currently produce and host a YouTube Channel on Electric Vehicles, as well as do a lot of public outreach in speaking and appearing about EVs. [ https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-bokor-evrevshow/]


About Charter
Charter is an award-winning technology solutions integrator established in 1997 in Victoria, BC, Canada. Our mission is to align people, process, and technologies to build better organizations, enhance communication, boost operational performance, and modernize businesses. Leveraging a design thinking methodology and a human-centered approach, our team of experts drives successful business transformation for clients. Charter offers a comprehensive range of IT, OT, and IoT products and professional services, including advisory and consulting, project management, and managed services, providing end-to-end solutions from planning and design to ongoing support and implementation. We extend knowledge and support beyond our clients’ businesses, empowering them to focus on core operations. Charter helps organizations generate new value, drive growth, and unlock opportunities, enabling faster and more effective market entry. Forward, Together with Charter, achieving your potential.

For more information on this podcast or on Charter, please contact:
Dawn van Galen
Marketing Manager
250-412-2517
mailto:DVANGALEN@CHARTER.CA
www.charter.ca

References
[1] Facing History & Ourselves. (n.d.). Facing History & Ourselves. https://www.facinghistory.org/

[2] Bokor, K. (n.d.). Ev revolution show. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/c/EVRevolution 

[3] Popescu, C. (2024, January 18). CEO Confidence Index - Q1 2024. TEC Canada. https://tec-canada.com/insights/ceo-confidence-index-q1-2024-tec-canada/

[4] VOR Details. (2016). Gov.on.ca. https://www.doingbusiness.mgs.gov.on.ca/mbs/psb/psb.nsf/VORDetails?OpenForm&Lang=EN&unid=24B922D60E579E5685258A69006F207E

[5] Charter Engage Podcast. (n.d.). Www.charter.ca. https://www.charter.ca/podcast

[6] Charter’s Business Transformation Roadshow 2023. (n.d.). Mailchi.mp. Retrieved January 31, 2024, from https://mailchi.mp/0091c7b44f53/charter-business-transformation-roadshow

[7] Barrett, J. (2018, April 12). Up to 73 Percent of Company Data Goes Unused for Analytics. Here’s How to Put It to Work. Inc.com; Inc. https://www.inc.com/jeff-barrett/misusing-data-could-be-costing-your-business-heres-how.html

[8] About. (n.d.). Www.charter.ca. Retrieved January 31, 2024, from https://www.charter.ca/about

[9] Digital Transformation. (n.d.). Www.charter.ca. https://www.charter.ca/advisory-services/digital-transformation

[10] Charter - Forward, Together. (n.d.). Www.charter.ca. Retrieved January 31, 2024, from https://www.charter.ca/post/business-transformation-transforming-beyond-technology