Features Region: Southwest

Got to make the in-house technology as reliable as the mechanical gadgets sold to consumers. So realized Nagarajan Muthusamy upon becoming chief information and chief technology officer—or, as he says, transformer in chief—at ReliableParts in early 2018. The Dallas-based company certainly lived up to its name as the official OEM parts distributor for major home […]

No matter what the calendar says, it’s pest season somewhere. Maybe it’s termites munching on wood-frame houses in the Southeast or mice setting up squatter’s rights in the northern buildings they entered when the mercury plunged last fall. There being 176 species of skeeters in the United States alone, they’re likely everywhere. All such vermin […]

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, many businesses didn’t know how they’d survive. Insperity’s nearly 40,000 customers, many of which are small businesses, were worried about how they’d handle payroll and take care of their employees. The professional employer organization, which manages back-office operations for its clients, knew it could ease the burden […]

When employees at Soleo Health call members of the internal IT service desk, they often discuss confidential information. To ensure patient and client data isn’t shared with the wrong person, Vice President of IT Chip Schutte is introducing new security measures. By spring, he plans to roll out a system requiring employees of the internal […]

While there was a time when Fairfax Community Hospital provided vital medical care to residents of Oklahoma’s Osage County, by 2019, it was in ill health itself. Though it was the only hospital within 30 miles and had been the area’s largest employer, it was unable to pay its staff and was $1 million in […]

Brandie Reynolds has learned a couple of things about the judicial system as deputy chief information officer for the Judicial Branch of Arizona in Maricopa County. First, court proceedings take much more coordination than what anyone sees. Second, connecting all the participants is complex work. Reynolds, whose 20-year career in tech includes working in health […]

According to legend (and a few historians), inside the Temple of Apollo at Delphi—one of Greece’s most famous ancient ruins—a simple, two-word phrase was once inscribed: “Know Thyself.”   It’s one of Susan Evangeline Bagh’s favorite quotes. For her, true wisdom involves not only understanding what’s happening in the moment but applying that knowledge to shape […]

Once a word most frequently used by performing musicians about their shows, “gig” is going mainstream in workplaces throughout the world. In the U.S., the gig economy grew by 33 percent in the U.S. in 2020, a rate 8.5 times as high as the economy. If it continues to grow at this pace, perhaps 50 […]

Shannon Lawson can chat at length about ways cybercriminals breach systems and networks. Chief information security officer and chief privacy officer for the city of Phoenix, he was trained in information warfare and cybersecurity by the U.S. Navy and National Security Agency and understands network breaches can result from simple mistakes. He also knows how […]

It’s a trade show the organizers have eagerly awaited—an in-person event that was impossible to consider before because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendees from around the U.S. are signing in at kiosks, smiling as they clip on nametags and greet colleagues they haven’t seen for so, so long. Here’s the catch: Just as many attendees […]