Tech 50 Awards PreNominations Underway

Posted on 23, May 2013 by Jonathan Kersting

Do you know of a business that epitomizes the role that Pittsburgh’s innovation economy is playing in the region and in the world? Please consider nominating that business as part of this year’s Pre-Call for Tech 50 Awards nominations.

This year, the Pittsburgh Technology Council has made major changes to both the nominations and the judging process.

As a key priority for this year’s Tech 50, we are looking to honor businesses that are creating the biggest economic impact in our region, but who are also using innovation to solve big problems. As such, past requirements for businesses to submit financial data are being lifted in favor of a more open process.

We need your help in identifying businesses to showcase as part of this year’s Tech 50. This year’s Awards will be held on October 10^th.

For the first time ever, we are having a Tech 50 Pre-Call for nominations. We encourage everyone to fill out THIS FORM and email to Michele Greenway atmgreenway@pghtech.org. The deadline for the Pre-Call is May 31. Nominations will begin on June 3.

Why Nominate?

We encourage all tech companies to enter a nomination. Not a tech company? Nominate a client or business associate. Tech 50 has competitive categories no matter a company’s size or industry niche. Here are this year’s categories:

Solution Provider of the Year
The finalists in this category assist companies with the integration and adoption of technologies that support their operations, improve their customer experience, and ultimately improve the production of an organization. Among examples of qualified businesses include integrators and hardware producers/distributors. Companies will be evaluated on growth and the impact of their products or services.

Advanced Manufacturing Company of the Year
These companies manufacture advanced components and products for use in all industries. This category is also for companies employing leading-edge technologies throughout their manufacturing processes.

Innovator of the Year
These companies have developed unique technologies and solutions that have the potential of changing global marketplaces and to generate substantial regional economic impact. Companies can be from any core technology cluster (health care, advanced manufacturing, information technology, energy, creative technology etc.) Companies can be any size in revenue or employee count.

Tech Titan of the Year
This category is designed for companies generating more than $50 million in revenue. These businesses span the fields of manufacturing, life sciences, green technology and information technology but are recognized in their own category as regional leaders in revenue generation.

Life Sciences Company of the Year
Life Sciences category companies improve our health and environment. Candidates deliver medical equipment; pharmaceuticals; health services; and biomedical, agricultural and environmental products and services.

Start-Up of the Year
Start-Up of the Year candidates are the future of southwestern Pennsylvania. Burgeoning entrepreneurial firms no more than five years old are eligible. Entrants should offer innovative products or unique services and show promise of becoming major economic forces.

Interactive and Application Developer of the Year
This category is open to any company that develops or designs applications, web design, software, branding, games, media production and/or social media as part of their business.

CEO of the Year
These are the people in the corner office who everyone looks to for direction. Entrants should be CEOs of tech companies in any cluster who make substantial contributions to company performance and demonstrate outstanding leadership and high levels of peer esteem.
Nominations will be open on June 3 and it is easier than ever to participate!

We have streamlined the nomination process. One quick application gets the ball rolling. So why not nominate two or three deserving companies?

Benefits

There are so many benefits of submitting a nomination. If you’re selected as a finalist you’ll enjoy:

Pre and post-event media coverage in TEQ, TechVibe Radio, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and more
Networking with more than 600 top tech execs/stakeholders
Presentation booth at Tech 50 Showcase of Innovation
Time to celebrate your achievements

Thank you for nominating and save the date for Tech 50!

SMI Announces Appointment of Chris Gormley as Chief Executive Officer

Posted on 22, May 2013 by Jonathan Kersting

Chris Gromley

SMI announced that its board of directors has unanimously elected Chris Gormley as Chief Executive Officer. Gormley brings extensive social media, cloud, and big data marketing, operations, and development experience to the company.

SMI is a Pittsburgh-based tech company that collects and deciphers publicly available information on social media and open Internet sites for clients to use for anything from pre-employment background checks to due diligence on global alternative investments.

Chris Randall, co-founder and leader of the CEO search committee said, “We are pleased to have someone of Chris Gormley’s talent and technology experience to take the CEO role at SMI. He uniquely blends big data, social media, and cloud software experience. He knows what it takes to build a large, sustainable software and services company.”

Gormley said, “I am deeply honored and thrilled to join and to lead the SMI team, expanding on the product and core customers they have already established.”

Gormley is an experienced technology director playing an executive role in his fifth early stage software technology company. His prior experience includes VP Product Management at FreeMarkets – which went public in 1999 and sold to Ariba in 2004, Chief Operating Officer at Tiversa, VP Marketing & Strategy at Haley Systems – later sold to Oracle, Omnyx /GE Healthcare, GE Plastics, and international management consulting firm McKinsey and Company. Mr. Gormley holds an M.B.A. in Finance and Strategy from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

SMI is expanding rapidly, serving several hundreds of users in 15 different countries including one of the world’s largest asset management companies. The company offers three types of fully automated, customizable search and analysis products: Eploy™ Solution for pre-employment screening, Egle™ Solution for legal research and investment diligence, and Social Fingerprint™ Solution for personal reputation management.

Gormley expects SMI to grow much larger.

“We are quickly adding to our core software development and commercial teams including Internet search and data analytics. We see strong demand across employment, investigation, competitive intelligence, sourcing and supply chain management, and legal markets. Professionals in these markets want a set-and-forget way of searching for publicly available social media and internet information that doesn’t involve endless commercial search engine use, IT or complicated ‘big data’ projects. SMI makes finding information easy and contextually relevant to their professional use.”

Gormley succeeds co-founder Chris Randall as CEO of SMI. Mr. Randall remains as a member of the Board and will continue to be actively involved in the company.

Net Health Acquires Integritas

Posted on 21, May 2013 by Jonathan Kersting

Net Health, the leading provider of clinical solutions for outpatient specialty care, announced today the acquisition of Integritas, Inc., a provider of integrated clinical EMR and practice management solutions for the growing urgent care, occupational health, and hospital employee health markets.

“Strategically, we were drawn to the rapidly growing and underserved Urgent Care and Occupational Health segments of the healthcare delivery continuum,” said Anthony Sanzo, Net Health’s Chief Executive Officer. “The quality of their products, their impact on patients and patient flow, and the quality of their team drew us to Integritas. With Integritas, Net Health is positioned to better serve the outpatient specialty care market. Their team’s expertise in Urgent Care and Occupational Health made them the perfect partner, and culturally, they are a great match.”

“Net Health is a great partner for both our team and our clients,” added Mary Stroupe, Integritas President. “Leveraging their infrastructure will advance our mission to provide an incredible client experience and will strengthen our expansion in the Urgent Care/Occupational Health market.”

The transaction by Net Health, a Spectrum Equity portfolio company, is the second acquisition in the last nine months designed to create a best in class platform for outpatient specialty care.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

TechVibe Radio to Feature Avere Systems and Sierra w/o Wires

Posted on 21, May 2013 by Jonathan Kersting

Be sure to tune in to TechVibe Radio this Saturday at noon on FM News Talk 104.7.

Get a double dose of serial entrepreneur Ron Bianchini from Avere Systems. We have two segments detailing how he has grown the company from an idea to a company that it is redefining data storage architecture. Also stopping by is Sierra w/o Wires to introduce its new President of Sierra Connectivity Services Stan Stanek.

Hosted by the PTC’s CEO Audrey Russo and Director Visibility Initiatives Jonathan Kersting with cohost Charlie Batch, TechVibe is on the air every Saturday at noon bringing you interviews and conversations from the Pittsburgh region’s fast-moving technology and entrepreneurial communities.

Stream TechVibe Radio on www.wpgb.com or iHeart Radio. Get TechVibe Radio on demand at stitcher.com.

Missed a previous broadcast? We have a massive library of podcasts right here.

TechVibe Radio is sponsored by Bill Few Associates, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, Chorus Call, EyeFlow, Lincoln Financial, PTC Employee Benefits Group, Pittsburgh International Airport and PNC.

Wombat to Help with Corporate Phishing Problems

Posted on 20, May 2013 by Jonathan Kersting

Have a phishing problem?

You are not alone. The number of phishing attacks have increased 59% between 2011 and 2012, with global losses estimated at $1.5 billion in 2012. (1)

What was the cost to your business?

According to a recent PwC report, 82% of large organizations had staff-driven incidents. (2)

Are you frustrated that your users keep falling for phishing attacks?

For a fraction of the money it costs you to clean infected PCs Wombat Security Technologies can teach your employees to avoid phishing attacks. Developed at Carnegie Mellon University, Wombat Security offers the most effective Anti-Phishing training solution available.

Wombat’s customers have experienced greater than 80% reduction in susceptibility to attack when using our anti-phishing assessment and training modules as part of a Continuous Security Training Program.
There are three simple steps to teach your workforce to avoid phishing attacks.

Don’t wait! The phishing problem is only getting worse and you need to educate your employees . . .fast.

Click here to sign-up for a live demo and to see how easy it is to change user behavior.