20 Stimulating Scenes From XChange Government Integrator

XChange Government Integrator returned to the Gaylord National Hotel And Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. -- just outside Washington, D.C., proper -- for Everything Channel's annual summit of top public sector thinkers and channel executives. On everyone's mind? Stimulus, stimulus, stimulus. Here's what the hundreds of VARs, integrators, vendors and analysts saw in two-and-a-half action-packed days.

Andrew Bartels, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, had words of caution for public sector VARs hunting for stimulus cash.

"Money is available, but it may be smaller than you expected, and it's going to be hard to get at," Bartels said. "You're going to have to do some real digging."

Early arrival attendees at XGI got a chance to tour Symantec's nearby Security Operations Center (SOC) to see firsthand how the security vendor monitors round the clock for threats.

Everything Channel Assistant Managing Editor Chad Berndtson brought a panel of public sector end user executives -- including state CIOs -- to the Thursday morning general session. An XChange Government Integrator tradition, the State of SLED panel updated attendees on IT spending priorities of state and local governments for this year and beyond.

"I suggest you invest in reading through it," said Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart (center), CIO of New York State, when asked about how solution providers can best engage stimulus opportunities in the public sector. "We have a plan for 2010. We have other strategy documents. Do your research."





Mayberry-Stewart spoke alongside fellow panelists Liza Lowery Massey (left), a senior fellow at the Center for Digital Government and former CIO of Los Angeles and San Francisco, and Eric Swanson (right), director of the Center for Shared Solutions and Technology Partnerships For the State of Michigan.

"Time is a more scarce commodity than money for government employees," Lowery Massey advised. "If you approach a state or local government [agency] or school district and say, 'How can I help you?' you've lost them right there. If you come at them with questions like that you're going to get off on the wrong foot."

"We know ARRA won't solve all the problems," Mayberry-Stewart said. "It's seed money. The goal is to have it spent, but there is the opportunity to accelerate achieving those [long-term] goals, too."

Swanson described how an integrator had come directly to his department with a grant opportunity. The VAR had not only done all the background work, he said, but also had offered to help Swanson write the application. According to Swanson, with the VAR's help, the agency landed $2.8 million in funding.







"That's what it's going to take to get through some of these things," Swanson said.

Kodak's Brian Fox decides to turn the tables on our intrepid photographer, Kim Kulish.

Donna Ison, distribution account manager at SAP Business Objects, takes a few moments to mug with the MarketStar crew.

Synnex brought along a masseuse, providing much-needed (if momentary) relief to busy attendees with knotted shoulders.

D-Link's Michael Fox has routers on the brain.

Jill Aitoro, senior reporter for Government Executive and Nextgov.com and a former CRN and Channelweb.com editor, urged VARs to become social networking-savvy if they wanted to participate in President Barack Obama's "open and transparent" government initiative.







"It's time to understand that these tools can be used to develop [solutions] for the federal government," Aitoro said, examining popular social networking platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and SlideShare.

Aitoro also was quick to remind government VARs that Integrated Technology Service funding, the traditional technology budget for Schedule 70 procurement, will see a $21 billion increase in the new fiscal year.





"There is more money out there," Aitoro said. "It is coming through. It is just a matter of getting your hands on it. You are going to need to delve into some of the new media technologies."

Sheila O'Neil, Panasonic's vice president of channel sales, had tough talk for anyone who doubted Panasonic's Toughbook notebooks. She decided to back up the resiliency of Panasonic offerings such as the new Toughbook H1 by live testing the notebooks against dust, water and other elements.

Everything Channel Senior Vice President and Editorial Director Robert DeMarzo introduced world premiere sessions by Hewlett-Packard and IBM.

Mike Humke, senior vice president of public sector for HP's Solution Partners Organization, urged federal integrators to "think out of the box" as they approach 21st century solutions for public sector customers.





"They want you to understand their business better than they do," Humke said. "They want you to come to the table with ideas, quite frankly, that they have not thought of."

Gerry Mooney, general manager of global government and education at IBM, detailed IBM's Smarter Planet initiative, an effort by IBM to use instrumented, interconnected and intelligent technology to create innovative solutions around the world.







"This is real," Mooney said. "There is opportunity here for everyone in this room. Everyone is looking at the economic downturn and the turmoil the world is in. We're looking at it as an opportunity to reshape the world we live in."

On the last morning of XGI, DeMarzo convened a panel of government VARs and vendor channel executives to talk about public sector business dynamics. From left to right: DeMarzo; Nancy Hedrick, president and CEO of CSI Technology Outfitters; Pam Kaplan, vice president of Marketing for IBM's Global Public Sector business; Richard Hutton, senior channel marketing manager at Samsung; and Mike Humke, vice president of public sector for HP's Solution Partners Organization. Not pictured: Sean Burke, president of GovPlace.

New York State CIO Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart (left) did find time to make the scene following a well-received SLED topics panel at XGI.

The XGI Awards Gala honored winners in nine categories, including (left to right), Humke, GreenPages' Glen Jones, Microsoft's Vince Menzione, Panasonic's Stoney White Jr., FishNet Security's Dave Gilden, VMware's Alex Hart and Oracle's Dennis Morgan. Not pictured: InfoLogix's Matt Lane and DLT Solutions' Ed Jones.





For a longer look at the XGI Awards dinner and presentations, check out a slide show from the gala evening.





For more on XGI, check out the following stories:



Input CEO: First 100 Days of Stimulus Disappointing







HP VP: Innovation Will Drive Public Sector Sales





Public CIOs: Prepared VARs Will Win More Stimulus Deals





Social Networking VARs Will Be Big Winners Under Obama Initiative





Stimulus Package Not 'Piece of Gold' VARs Expect: Forrester





Products And Solutions From XGI's Vendor Pavilion