Strategic Analysis: Using Technology to Stay Adaptable E30
In a constantly changing world, businesses must stay adaptable by performing periodic strategic analyses. Through this process, company leaders can review historical data to not only inform their long-term strategy but identify the technology solutions to stay ahead of the curve.
The September 2022 episode of the Arizona Technology Council’s AZTechCast podcast featured experts including Julie Gable, CEO and founder of BusinessWhys; Bob Interdonato, general manager at Lumen; and Melati Lee-Parker, founder and CEO of Macroscope Studios. These leaders joined Karen Nowicki, president and owner of Phoenix Business RadioX, and Bianca Buliga, director of marketing and communications at the Arizona Technology Council, in discussing how to successfully conduct strategic business analysis and prepare for an unpredictable business environment.
Throughout this hour-long episode, the panel of three experts convened at the Phoenix Business RadioX studio at MAC6 in Tempe to define what strategic business analysis looks like and explain why it’s important for companies of all sizes to get familiar with, particularly in today’s day and age. Although they all play a direct role in helping companies determine how to use technology to stay future-proof, each one has a distinct theory of change that set them apart from the others.
Macroscope Studios partners with companies and teams to Host, Facilitate, and Produce business retreats and off-sites, engineered with kindness and focused on value.
Modeled after the Nashville recording studio industry, MacroScope Studios offers their clients access to premium facilitation, IT Product Design and Development consulting, along with a suite of beautifully designed turn-key studios that accommodate teams from 2 – 100.
If you need help planning and running your next (or first) Board Retreat, Strategic Planning Meeting, Product and Sales Strategy Meeting, or Company Meeting, Macroscope Studios will give YOU time back and YOUR TEAM the tools they need to succeed.
Melati Lee-Parker started designing simple tools for herself back in the late 1900s to make her financial and actuarial analyst jobs easier. She then discovered the joy of sharing those tools and coded solutions with her teammates in workshops so they could all go to happy hour at 4pm.
The solutions got more complicated and the workshops got bigger until she moved from building solutions, to building and scaling Product Management organizations, which she most recently did at DaVita, leading Product Management, Product Operations, and Business Analysis teams.
Throughout Melati’s entire career, she found that facilitating collaborative sessions was a force multiplier in getting stuff done, and also her most favorite days at work – which led her to come up with the concept of making every day her favorite day at MacroScope Studios.
When she’s not designing kick-ass sessions for her clients, you can find her learning new 80’s power ballads on the piano or cooking her favorite Indonesian dishes for her family.
Connect with Melati on LinkedIn.
BusinessWhys is a woman-owned consultancy focused on helping their clients solve complex business problems and drive meaningful and sustained traction toward their goals.
All BusinessWhys consultants possess deep expertise as well as broad versatility that comes from working in strategic business and technical roles across industries with start-ups, mid-size, and Fortune 100 companies. They leverage industry-leading frameworks and relentlessly focus on the WHY to drive ROI.
Julie Gable brings over 20 years of IT and business consulting experience to her role as CEO and founder of BusinessWhys.
Passionate about innovative and accountable problem solving, she has a proven track record of helping companies drive meaningful and sustained traction toward their goals. In addition to her BusinessWhys responsibilities, she is a proud mother of two amazing girls and sits on multiple non-profit boards.
Julie is a firm believer that a diverse team is a strong team and is proud to have received awards from two separate publications for her commitment and contributions to recruiting and developing women into technical and leadership positions.
Follow BusinessWhys on LinkedIn.
Lumen is a multinational technology company that enables companies to capitalize on emerging applications and power the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR). This revolution is redefining how we live and work, creating an unprecedented need for an advanced application delivery architecture—designed specifically to handle the complex and data-intensive workloads of next-gen technology and businesses.
We integrate network assets, cloud connectivity, security solutions and voice and collaboration tools into one platform that enables businesses to leverage their data and adopt next-generation technologies.
Lumen brings together the talent, experience, infrastructure and capabilities of CenturyLink, Level 3 and 25+ other technology companies to create a new kind of company—one designed specifically to address the dynamic data and application needs of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
Personal relationships are very important to me and that is true of my professional life. As Lumen’s General Manager of the Southwestern US region, my passion also includes my customers’ success.
Bob Interdonato works with companies from Arizona to Nevada and New Mexico. These areas are incredibly economically diverse, and Lumen has participated in the region’s massive growth with healthcare providers, major retailers, manufacturing and Nevada’s gaming and hospitality industries.
The recent pandemic has accelerated their evolutions within their business environments and how they serve their customers. My team helps them navigate those challenges and opportunities utilizing the Lumen Platform of Adaptive Networking, Edge Computing, Connected Security and Collaboration Services. Their success is our passion.
Businesses are passionate about what they do and what makes them unique. Our customers do not come to us looking for a specific piece of infrastructure, product, or service anymore. They are reimagining their businesses and want help with both strategy and implementation.
Together we focus on the most important aspects of their business, which is servicing their clients. Helping them envision the possibilities and showing them the roadmap to make it a reality requires sharing their passion.
Bob believes that in today’s ever-changing technology landscape, it is important to be nimble, fast, and agile. The Lumen Edge Platform enables that agility.
Follow Lumen on LinkedIn and Twitter.
About AZ TechCast
AZ TechCast is dedicated to covering innovation and technology in Arizona and beyond.
Through the art of connected conversation, AZ TechCast’s guests will share their expertise, success stories, news and analysis about the region’s leading startups, companies and emerging technologies, as well as the latest industry trends and critical issues propelling the state’s growing technology ecosystem.
About Your Hosts
Steve Zylstra serves as president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, a role he assumed in 2007. He is responsible for strategy, operations, finance and policy development. Zylstra is a vocal spokesman for the value technology can provide in raising social and economic standards in Arizona.
Zylstra serves on numerous councils, committees and boards, was named “Leader of the Year, Technology,” by the Arizona Capitol Times, and “Most Admired Leader” by the Phoenix Business Journal. In addition, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of science in technology from the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Ariz.
Zylstra earned a bachelor’s degree in automotive engineering technology from Western Michigan University.
Karen Nowicki is a successful author, speaker and the creator of Deep Impact Leadership™ and SoulMarks Coaching™. She is a two-time recipient of the prestigious national Choice Award® for her book and personal development retreat. Karen was crowned the first-ever “Mompreneur of the Year” Award in 2010 for the southwestern states. She was recognized for her leadership, business acumen, and work-life balance.
Karen has been an expert guest on regional TV and radio shows, including Fox Phoenix Morning Show, Sonoran Living, Good Morning Arizona, The Chat Room, and Mid-Day Arizona. She has been a regular contributor to many print and online magazines – publishing articles and blogs for business and education.
In addition to working with private coaching clients, Karen is also the Owner & President of Phoenix Business RadioX. The Business RadioX Network amplifies the voice of business – serving the Fortune 500,000, not just the Fortune 500. Phoenix Business RadioX helps local businesses and professional associations get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, profession, and community.
Of all the experiences Karen has had the privilege of participating in over her vast career, she shares that Phoenix Business RadioX is a pinnacle adventure!
Connect with Karen on LinkedIn and follow Phoenix Business RadioX on Facebook and Instagram.
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Bianca Buliga is a trilingual first-generation American of Romanian ethnicity. A marketing professional with experience in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, Bianca currently works as Director, Marketing & Communications for the Arizona Technology Council.
Previously, Bianca worked as Marketing Communications Lead at Proctorio, a learning integrity platform that offers remote proctoring software ensuring exam integrity for learners around the world.
Bianca also worked as Senior Marketing Manager at SEED SPOT, a social impact incubator that educates, accelerates, and invests in impact-driven entrepreneurs creating market-based solutions to social problems. In January of 2020, Bianca was selected as an awardee of the Mandela Washington Reciprocal Exchange Program and traveled to the African island of Mauritius to run entrepreneurship programming for 15 impact-driven ecopreneurs on behalf of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Bianca has also completed comprehensive consulting projects for IBM, ESAN Business School, and the Peruvian government, and interned at the Arizona House of Representatives and U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania.
Bianca earned her Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from Northern Arizona University in 2014 and her Master’s degree in Global Affairs and Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in 2017. She is an avid reader, yogi, and world traveler always planning her next trip.
Connect with Bianca on LinkedIn.
About Our Sponsor
The Arizona Technology Council, Arizona’s only statewide organization serving the technology sector, fosters a climate of innovation to enhance technology in Arizona.
A trusted resource in strengthening Arizona’s technology industry, the Council proactively eliminates impediments that companies face, accelerates the entrepreneurial mindset in the state’s expanding innovation ecosystem, and works to create a destination for companies to be, thrive and stay.
Follow Arizona Technology Council on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
