As a passionate historian, I’ve come to realize that events of the past fail to garner as much attention as they used to. “Living in the now” seems to be today’s philosophy when it comes to information gathering. In the information age, that instant access to information, news and research seems to fulfill the needs of most. Historical references in the IT channel are often centered on the previous year or two, though that can stretch out five years in the right situation.
That restricted vision of our past not only limits the information we have access to, but it ignores many of the lessons solution providers, vendors and others in our industry could learn from. While practically everyone has heard of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, how many members of the IT community know the true “trials and tribulations” they endured when building their respective organizations? Tech entrepreneurs can learn a lot from these innovators’ motivations, ideas and experiences.
Vint Cerf is one of our most well-known IT pioneers. While his name may be familiar to those with a solid foundation in Internet history, many in our own channel community don’t realize the obstacles he had to overcome developing packet network interconnection protocols. The lessons he could teach about collaboration and dealing with international governing bodies would surely fill an entire undergraduate curriculum.
Looking for a more comprehensive education on adversity? Learn how Grace Hopper tackled numerous challenges in her quest to push the boundaries of high tech. A true computer pioneer, she invented the compiler and, in the process, created a new programming language (COBOL) — all while serving her country. She was a consultant and lecturer for the United States Naval Reserve until retiring in 1966, but was recalled to active duty a year later and achieved the rank of Rear Admiral, Lower Half before retiring for good in 1986. Her success is impressive considering the hurdles women faced in the military and in their civilian lives during the formative years of her career.
These stories of perseverance are not only inspiring, but should serve as educational reference for channel professionals. Since those who forget history are bound to repeat it, how many solution providers have used lessons learned from others’ past failures to build better processes and business models? Quite a few.
A Gathering of Innovators
The stories of channel success are readily available to those who take the time to look. Just glance through the inductee list of the IT Hall of Fame to learn more about Grace Hopper or Vint Cerf, or more than 100 other innovators and inventors. Founded by CRN and now administered by CompTIA, the designation is bestowed on individuals, living or deceased, who have made significant contributions to either the channel or technology in general. In effect, the Hall of Fame gives IT professionals a roll call of the movers and shakers whose work ethics and methods they may wish to emulate.
The 2015 inductee class includes two industry professionals who fit that description to a T.
Scott Cook, Founder of Intuit and Sam Palmisano, former CEO of IBM will be welcomed into the IT Hall of Fame during the CompTIA Annual Member Meeting March 24-26, 2015 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Cook will go into the IT Innovator Wing of the IT Hall of Fame for fulfilling his vision of helping individuals and small business owners simplify, organize and automate their finances. As a co-founder of Intuit, he merged his computer science skills with a strong branding aptitude and a passion for entrepreneurship. Cook started off working for Procter & Gamble, where he gained experience in product development, market research, and marketing before taking a managing role at the consulting firm Bain & Company.
With his vision and their combined expertise, he and Tom Proulx started Intuit in a small room not far from the Stanford campus. Theirs wasn’t just another Silicon Valley success story; the duo faced numerous competitors in the financial software space and struggled their way through some tough times thanks to Cook’s savvy business expertise and a few insightful investments. Those trials and tribulations are detailed very well in the book Inside Intuit for those interested in learning more.
Channel Visionaries
The other inductee to the IT Hall of Fame this year is Sam Palmisano. The former CEO of IBM (2002-2011) was elected to the IT Channel Wing based on his broad support of the partner community. During his tenure, he oversaw the push into outsourcing and cloud services, and was responsible for launching IBM’s Smarter Planet Initiative (Big Data and IoT). He wasn’t afraid to do things differently, as he clearly demonstrated by selling IBM’s personal computing business to Lenovo in 2005. Palmisano lessened the company’s reliance on hardware and purchased dozens of companies to diversify its portfolio.
In retrospect, he did what many solution providers are doing themselves today; lessening their dependence on product and building up their services. Palmisano was a major proponent of channel loyalty and put a significant emphasis on mutual success during his tenure.
The IT Hall of Fame is a comprehensive collection of IT legends and, in several cases, their inventions. Channel professionals can learn a lot from their stories of triumph and failure, and gain valuable advice to keep them from repeating others previous mistakes. History truly does matter to those in the IT business community, especially for those who know how to leverage that knowledge to achieve their own success.
Brian Sherman is founder of Tech Success Communications, specializing in editorial content and consulting for the IT channel. His previous roles include chief editor at Business Solutions magazine and senior director of industry alliances with Autotask. Contact Brian at Bsherman@techsuccesscommunications.com.
