Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/267166
32 | I nsIgh t • M a r c h 2 0 14 w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m F eeling a strong sense of urgency is a key to continuous innovation, says Efrem Z. stringfellow, vice president of the U.s. Central Region for Corporate Accounts at Microso. "Knowing that your competition is looking to gain on you by implementing new technologies" helps fuel the development of new devices and new processes, stringfellow says. Based in Chicago and working as a partner for the past three years with skyline technologies in Appleton and green Bay, stringfellow has had his finger on the pulse of new technologies throughout his 33-year career. Representing the industry giant Microso since 2007, he also looks out a window into the future for what devices and processes many of us will inevitably use in our everyday lives. stringfellow will deliver the keynote speech at the third annual thInC! event hosted by Insight Publications LLC the aernoon of May 20 in Menasha. e first Insight Innovation Award winners will also be announced at thInC! (see related story, next page). In stringfellow's talk, sponsored by skyline technologies, he will discuss the role of innovation at Microso. e pace of change relative to innovation is only going to get Technology guru from Microso to keynote THINC! Insight hosts third annual innovation event May 20 in Menasha B y M a r g a r e t L e B r u n a service and devices company. "It will require innovation in how they bring technology to the client," Weckop says. "Efrem has the personal self- confidence and courage to have the 'B-hag' (big, hairy audacious goal) about great big goals," he adds. "We're all trying to do more with less, and when you move the bar high, or when the 'with less' side gap is bigger, it forces you to say 'We can't keep doing the same things we're doing. We have to find different technology, different people processes in order to accomplish greater things.' It requires you to innovate in terms of how you do your work." With Microso, stringfellow is responsible for the central U.s. region that includes 7,400 commercial customers across an 18-state geography. ey partner with about 525 companies, including skyline, that they manage directly or assign resources with which to work directly. Before he was promoted to vice president, stringfellow served four years as general manager for sales and marketing at Microso, based in Malvern, Penn. he was previously vice president at nEC solutions (America) Inc., based in san Jose, Calif., leading a team of senior sales professionals, systems engineers and marketing professionals in the sale, installation and implementation of hardware, soware and service offerings across north America. faster, stringfellow believes. "I've been in this industry 33 years, so I've seen the different transformations," he says. "We'll see more over the next 10 years than we have the last 35." e millennial generation, which has grown up with technology, has high expectations, he says, and employers will need to provide them the tools they expect if they want to retain talent. "Quite frankly, they are expecting these technologies," stringfellow says. "And in order for businesses to remain competitive, as it relates to talent, they're going to have to showcase that they are equipped to address that requirement. If you don't have it, they'll go elsewhere. ey don't have that allegiance baby boomers had when they were coming out of school, to be loyal to a company. at just doesn't fit anymore." What's intriguing about technology, he says, is not so much new gadgets themselves but how we as humans relate to them. "how do you leverage the technology as a vehicle to do innovative things around your business?" he asks. It's a question he hopes to explore at thInC! Mitch Weckop, CEO of skyline technologies, says stringfellow is in a unique position to help lead Microso from a product company to 3-6 p.m. May 20 James W. Perry Hall , UW-Fox Valley, Menasha THINC! (Technology & Human Innovation Networking Conference) "How do you leverage the technology as a vehicle to do innovative things around your business?" – E f r e m Z . S t r i n g f e l l o w ( k e y n o t e ) , v i c e p r e s i d e n t o f t h e U. S . C e n t r a l R e g i o n f o r C o r p o r a t e A c c o u n t s a t M i c r o s o f t