CV_Winter_21

Alliance of Channel Women Elects Four Board Directorsw Alliance of Channel Women, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of female channel leaders in technology, has announced that four new directors have been elected by an electronic vote of the ACW membership to serve on the ACW board of directors. The new directors include Brittany Caito , senior manager – field engagement at Comcast Business; Lauren Grenier , marketing director at Granite and ACW communications committee co-chair; Bridget Kang , senior partner development manager at Telarus and ACW member- ship chair; and Mayka Rosales- Peterson , channel strategy manager at Telesystem and ACW communications committee co-chair. The four new directors join existing ACW board members, including Amy Bailey , senior vice president of marketing at Telarus and ACW president; Cassie Jeppson , director of North America channel programs at Lenovo and ACW vice presi- dent, secretary and tech commit- tee chair; Lori Graber , manager of sales operations at Telesys- tem, former ACW membership committee chair, and new ACW finance chair; Penny Thurnau , vice president – strategic alliances for Powernet and ACW local chapters committee chair; and Jasmina Muller , vice presi- dent of channel partnerships at Everbridge and ACW sponsor- ship committee chair. ICYMI This week Talkdesk announced two solutions that address significant challenges brought on by the corona- virus pandemic. To facilitate the rapid and accurate allocation of PPP loans to the small businesses that need it most and streamline the vaccination process worldwide, TalkDesk intro- duced its Small Business Lending Solution and its Vaccine Administra- tion Solution, respectively. Talkdesk Small Business Lending Solution is an omnichannel communi- cation suite that facilitates and stream- lines the administration of PPP loans by banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions. The program is designed to reimagine the borrower experience by reducing friction in the PPP loan distribution process by making it easy for firms to deliver the loans via more streamlined, synchro- nized, and efficient borrower communi - cation engagement. The Talkdesk Vaccine Administra- tion Solution streamlines communica- tion, coordination, and administration of the COVID-19 vaccine by healthcare providers. The solution makes it easier for hospitals and pharmacies to commu- nicate information in a more automated fashion. TalkDesk said it already has helped major providers deploy and get staff trained in less than a day. “General availability of these solutions creates an exciting opportunity for our partners to join us in helping companies, and our communities, during these historic and challenging times,” said the company. Granite Telecommunications announced that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will leverage Granite’s “Built-to-Order” managed SD-WAN solutions to deliver secure and always-on connectivity for voice and data communications. Redun- dancy and security are all vital requirements for the FTC’s communi- cations infrastructure, and Granite’s customized network solution achieves both of those objectives while reducing taxpayer costs, said the company. Granite’s “Built-to-Order” SD-WAN solution leverages an array of appli- ances to match a customer’s require- ments for performance, security, and price based on the customer’s appli- cations, connectivity, fault tolerance, and budget. For the FTC, Granite is delivering both a managed VMware SD-WAN service using primary and secondary wireline circuits with backup LTE connectivity as well as a VMware SD-WAN service for fully managed voice and data. The Granite solution also supports zero-trust network access and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISAs) Trusted Internet Connection (TIC 3.0) policy. “Granite’s contract with the FTC demonstrates the strengths of our ‘right- fit’ approach to SD-WAN, which meets our customer’s specific needs without being pinned to one technology vendor,” said Tim Heaps, general manager of Granite Government Solutions. “Our ability to deliver and manage the entire solution as well as provide reporting and reliable support also was key to the FTC’s decision to award the SD-WAN contract to Granite.” TalkDesk Unveils COVID Relief and Recovery Solutions Granite Selected by FTC to Deliver Always-On Network 64 CHANNEL V ISION | January - February, 2021