The Catalyst by Softchoice

From dial up to high-speed connectivity, the Internet has come a long way in shaping and shifting how we connect with people and business.  Host Erika Van Noort meets with Softchoice’s Vice President of Digital Acceleration Craig McQueen to discuss the internet’s next big wave: Web3. He explains what exactly Web3 will entail, how it differs from Web 1.0 and 2.0, and why IT leaders need to be payin...

Is it really time to get rid of the IT department? According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, it may just be. In this episode, Erika Van Noort sits down to discuss a 2021 article where the author warns that our traditional concept of the IT department and the way it’s set up is not only outdated, but it’s also putting the way we grow business and drive innovation at risk. For a deeper look...

In this episode, Erika Van Noort welcomes Oguo Atuanya, General Manager of Global Scale and Global Partner Solutions at Microsoft. As a Senior Executive leading Microsoft’s global cloud scale services, Oguo weaves together a mixed cultural background from his education in three different continents and passion for democratization in technology. He talks about how the Microsoft workforce is more di...

In this episode, fill-in host  Nicole Francis steps in and meets with Softchoice’s Jeffersen Sylvia to discuss how Russia and Ukraine are using cybersecurity in this modern-day war – and why businesses and IT leaders in North America should take note. Jeffersen takes us through his journey to cybersecurity as an enterprise architect and how the traditional way of thinking about security has shifte...

Just in time for Earth Day, we’re launching Season 4 of The Catalyst by Softchoice with a look at why the world’s biggest innovators are putting sustainability first.  Erika Van Noort meets VMware’s Nicola Peill-Moelter and Google’s Trinity Lloyd to discuss the growing need for green technology. From new regulatory burdens to an increasing sense of urgency, corporate responsibility is something to...

The Catalyst podcast first launched way back in the first wave of the pandemic. And as we enter our fourth season, we’re keenly aware this is a very different world than the one we started out in. With host Erika Van Noort at the helm, we speak to the business leaders who are helping drive some amazing change across industries and exploring why this might just be the most exciting time to be in IT...

There’s no shortage of disheartening statistics when it comes to women in STEM. But there’s also a new wave of opportunities, momentum and interest coming from young women, looking to grow a career. So, where’s the disconnect?  For our Season 3 finale, Dawn Armstrong, Head of IT and Mission Operations at ABL Space Systems, joins Erika to explore the inspiring ways she’s grown her career in STEM, t...

There is a lot of innovation happening in the sports entertainment space. One of the ways sports fans love to engage is through sports betting, and the sports betting space in the US alone has quadrupled in the last 3 year! So, why now and what exactly is being disrupted?  Omer Dor, CEO at Sports IQ Analytics, joins Erika to discuss how his company has innovated a static industry using amazing, cl...

In the last two years, organizations have moved over to a remote and hybrid workplace structure faster than they ever could have imagined. Now, companies are seeing that many of their people are struggling with longer work days and less work/life balance. But despite all the downsides, studies and surveys suggestthat most people still prefer to work from home, or at least like having that option. ...

Over the last two years, we’ve adjusted to a digital life. But our daily life has also become a lot lonelier because of it, and people don’t want to do everything from home.   In this episode, Erika Van Noort is joined by Kyle Gibson, Co-founder and CEO of the Canadian spin studio, Wheelhouse Cycle Club, to expand the conversation around hybrid models to more than our professional lives. When the...

From rooting out government corruption to taking down some of the world’s worst criminals, hacktivists often say they are motivated by the greater good. But the legality of their methods – and the outcomes they deliver – aren’t always so black and white.  Erika dives into the fascinating world of white-hat hackers, OpSec Groups and all the moral questions and curiosities in between, with Crowdstri...

There are currently trillions of dollars' worth of government funding in the US  being processed every day through cities, counties and states, all aimed at bettering the communities who need it. But the reality is that despite the best intentions, all the administrative work needed to actually roll out that funding is slowing everything down.   That means that government funding is not going...

The demands to move to the cloud faster are increasing as IT leaders face growing pressure to address mounting operational and business challenges. Now, they’re looking across the entirety of their infrastructure with a new lens and a push to challenge the status quo.  However, skills developed in the traditional data center or private cloud environment don’t translate easily to public cloud infra...

Only 24% of households in Indigenous communities across Canada have access to modern, highspeed Internet, which means students in these places aren’t getting the same new digital learning experiences as kids throughout the most of the country. Now, a program called Connected North is aiming to change all of that.   In this episode, Michael Furdyk joins Erika Van Noort to discuss how Connected Nort...

The nature of ransomware attacks is evolving to a level of viciousness that impacts humanity as we know it. While the end game is typically money, today ransomware attacks threaten  people’s lives and our world. Ransomware has become a service and an industry. So, what can we do about it?  In this episode, Andrea Knoblauch joins Erika Van Noort to share the big picture on the ransomware landscape...

The new normal is here, and that means the gap between humanity and technology is quickly disappearing.  While the pandemic was a catalyst for tech innovations making record speed, it doesn’t seem like things are slowing down any time soon. Tech leaders of the 2020’s across all industries and sectors are still busy, shaping our future and our world as we know it.  This season, we’re exploring digi...

The pandemic caused a major change to retail tech and the customer experience, from eCommerce, to in-store, to mobile apps. In this episode Erika is joined by retail veteran, Michael LeBlanc, to unpack how these changes worked out. What is the future of retail going to look like, post-pandemic?  Featuring:      Michael LeBlanc, Founder, Strategic Advisor, Keynote Speaker and Host at the Remarkable...

Recently we've been hearing the same story from Softchoice customers: they’re concerned about how to prepare their people for the journey back to the office. Today, “the office” is a tool among other workplace tools –  and we need to reimagine how that space is best used .    In this episode, Softchoice colleagues, Jeff Gwinnett and David Erlich, join Erika Van Noort to get the insider scoop...

The shift to digital collaboration in the workplace hasn’t just impacted regular office-goers – it changed the game for frontline healthcare workers, too. Katie Poolton, Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft is one of the people guiding the healthcare industry through this massive change, and joins Erika Van Noort to discuss how the pandemic helped radically evolve digital healthcare collaboratio...

In order to power the major shift to the remote workplace, enterprises drastically changed the tools and applications we use to get work done - and faster than they ever anticipated! As a result, organizations are now dealing with employee burnout and overheating laptops filled with apps wondering where they went wrong.   Luisa Colmenares, Director of Workplace Innovation at Softchoice joins Erika...

The pandemic might have accelerated the journey to Cloud – but it hasn’t made the road there any less bumpy. We speak to Craig McQueen about the pitfalls – new and old – of cloud migration, and the amazing value and innovation you can unlock with a well-executed cloud strategy.  Featuring:     Craig McQueen, Vice President of Innovation at Softchoice    The Catalyst by Softchoice is the podcast sh...

The tech sector has an important role to play in the efforts toward an inclusive and equitable world for all, giving us a unique opportunity to re-evaluate what “innovation” truly means. In this episode, we meet up with Cisco Canada’s President Shannon Leininger to discuss how the world of DE&I has evolved in the technology industry and how IT leaders can amplify Diversity, Equity and Inclusio...

A few episodes ago, we talked to David Kennedy about the new obstacles that IT leaders are facing - as cybersecurity threats get more advanced and even more dangerous. But there was a lot more to this conversation that we had to unpack.   Why are employees and people still the weakest link? What part of security awareness training isn’t sticking?  Erika Van Noort meets up with Sharyl Givens, Chief...

The major shift to a digital world over the last year created innovations and mindset changes that people with disabilities have been waiting on for years. Today, our values and dollars have never been more connected, and that means that organizations that are prioritizing accessibility are seeing some big benefits!   So how important is accessibility to both your culture and bottom line? Ricardo...

The year 2020 was one of many turning points in the IT industry, so when it comes to cybersecurity, you’d hope there were some silver linings, right? Well, we might have some bad news.  In the year since the global pandemic hit, hackers have gotten more sophisticated and dangerous. In this episode, David Kennedy, renowned cybersecurity leader and best-selling author, returns to the podcast to take...