The Channel Company – Q & A with Dan Latendre
Alicia Stein, Associate Editor for The Channel Company, recently sat down with Igloo’s CEO, Dan Latendre where she covers his reaction to being featured on the Top 50 Midmarket IT Vendor Executive List.
I had the opportunity to interview with Dan Latendre, CEO of Igloo Software, in which he shares his reaction to his inclusion on the Top 50 Midmarket IT Vendor Executive list, a compilation of the leading IT vendor executives focused on the needs of midmarket IT executives. Congratulations to Dan and the rest of the Igloo team on this great honor!
Q: What was your reaction to being included on this inaugural list?
A: I was surprised, but I am ecstatic about it. I am actually more honored than if I was named one of the top global Fortune 500 influencers because the midmarket the fundamental driver of the business economy today.
I think for any executive you’re really trying to execute on your strategy that you set forth for the company and, as you know, we focus primarily on the midmarket so this kind of feedback on the solutions that we provide and our thought leadership is humbling. I don’t think it’s me, per say, but the entire company and what we are doing in the midmarket that should be honored.
Q: Specifically, how do you and your team at Igloo cater to the midmarket and its unique challenges?
A: There are many challenges that we find in the midmarket–it’s very competitive and midmarket companies are trying to grow and survive yet, on average, 42 percent of these companies have little or no IT. Midmarket business owners are looking for creative ways to improve the way they work, and turn to cloud solutions like Igloo to help them collaborate and share information, drive productivity, improve innovation and create competitive advantage. By providing midmarket companies with those three things, Igloo helps them prosper and survive.
Q: From a personal standpoint, what do you take away from your inclusion on the list?
A: I have taken away the idea that we are doing here at Igloo Software matters, especially in the midmarket matters. When you look at the United States alone, there are roughly over 100,000 midmarket companies that comprise roughly over 30 percent of IT spending, so what we do really does matter. Social Internets and employee collaboration is important to these companies to be competitive in the global market.
Q: What is your message to midmarket CIOs?
A: First and foremost, I would say that they really have to understand that there are three fundamental pillars that drive their business: understanding business process automation, the information that staff needs to do their job, and your company is only as successful as how successful your people are. We are truly now in a people society and companies need to put emphasis on their most important asset–their people. And, we at Igloo help them do just that.
To read the full article, click here.