2013 Annese Annual Report

A VIEW

FROM THE MOUND

2013 Annual R

eport

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First Base: A Whole New Ballgame

Second Base: Going to Bat for our Customers

Third Base: Building a Team of MVPs

6 | President’s Message

16 | Customer Intimacy

8 | Financial Scorecard

18 | Virtualization Success Story: Le Moyne College

24 | Annese Keeps the Door Open to

Comeback Kids

10 | Annese Gives Back 12 | Strategy Update

19 | Virtualization Success Story: Monroe

Community College

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Home Plate: Highlight Reel 32 | Touch Base with Annese

26 | Annese Hall of Fame 28 | Meet the Rookies

20 | Project Management Success Story: Northeastern Regional Information Center 21 | Collaboration Success Story: Baptist Health System

Our core philosophy remains simple; we take care of our people by providing a great work environment and a rich culture of integrity. If we do right by our people, we know that they will, in turn, extend that same individual level of relationship and care to our customers. It’s a win/win!

—Francine Annese Apy, VP of Human Resources

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A Whole New Ballgame Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday’s success or put its failures behind and start over again. That’s the way life is, with a new game every day, and that’s the way baseball is.

—Bob Feller #19, Former Pitcher Cleveland Indians

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A Page From the Annese Playbook

Ray Apy, President & CEO

As many of you know, Annese & Associates, Inc. launched a new corporate strategy in January of 2013 to bring us successfully through the next five years in business and lay the foundation for the next strategy rebuild. Fundamental changes to our company’s organization were put into motion—changes that will ultimately take Annese from a reseller and solutions provider, to one that offers its own brands of multi-year contracted services, spanning the realms of managed, hosted, cloud and ultimately, pure consultative offerings. Companies that have made this transition establish their own destiny, and that is what we see in the future for Annese & Associates, Inc. The theme of our Annual Report is A View from the Mound, a look back at the culmination of our year’s efforts and the success stories that have abound across all regions and departments. You will find several of these stories underscored on the pages that follow. The photos you will see throughout this report were captured at our All Employee Conference held in Cooperstown last October, when all employees came together for a two-day retreat centered around collaboration, camaraderie, and what else? Baseball.

A few highlights that I am most proud of from 2013 are: • Annese’s Data Center Virtualization practice has grown 337% in the four years it has been a part of our business portfolio.

• Annese Managed Services (AMS) revenue has increased 51% since 2012 and is aligned with the direction of our corporate strategy for long-term success.

• Sales in the private sector as a percentage of total revenue increased nearly four points to 35.2% in 2013 and we have proven that the professional service, financial, commercial, and healthcare industries have serious need for the types of solutions and services that Annese can deliver.

• Annese achieved over 6% net profit in 2013 which drove a 7% profit sharing bonus back to each of our employees. This is a huge success story for our company!

Everything that we are doing is mapped to our strategy and tied to our vision. We are a viable, financially healthy $84M company with a strong foundation for reinvestment and growth. Our working capital is at approximately 10% of our revenue, which allows us to continue to offer an excellent employee benefits package, and also creates a buffer during market downturn.

We have proven our ability to play in the big leagues by growing our company and our offerings cautiously and conservatively over the last decade. Our efforts are paying off but there is still work to be done.

Annese has a deep bench of players; a strong starting rotation and a steady bullpen. Leadership is deliberate and focused with a clear strategy for advancing our company...one base at a time.

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1| Drive High Customer and Employee Satisfaction The more we change, the more we stay the same. Annese’s commitment to both employee and customer satisfaction remains top of mind.

Results: • Annese was ranked #3 Best Company to Work for in NYS for 2013 • Annese attained a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 82 – exceedingly high based on industry standards

Strategy Highlights 2| Develop a Serviceled Culture

3| Drive Net Profit Higher

By focusing on our core solution competencies of Infrastructure, Collaboration, and Data Center Virtualization, Annese is strategically positioned for the future.

Through our service-led sales strategy we expect to consistently drive net profits higher than 5% which will impact employee profit sharing goals.

Results:

Results:

• 337% year-over-year growth from Data Center Virtualization practice since 2009 • Added new engineering talent to build out practice areas

• Drove 18% to 82% in service to product ratio sales • 1.5M in Managed Services revenue, up from 958K in 2012

4| Drive Growth through Sales Excellence Annese is committed to ensuring that each of our geographies are supported by top engineering talent.

Results: • Private sector revenue grew to 35.2% of total revenue • Acquired new customers and market share within regional service coverage areas

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Financial Scorecard 2013 by the stats

25.6%

Growth from 2012

$85M $80M $75M $70M $65M $60M $55M $50M $45M 08

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Annese Revenue Growth

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Public $46.0M | up 19.6%

Private $29.5M | up 39.1%

Joe LoRe, CFO “We had a very successful year and are proud to be in a position to give back to our employees by sharing profits with them. Profit share goals are based on a net income scale and the 2013 year end net income allowed for a profit share attainment to the second highest goal; to date, the highest in company history.

Annese’s profit sharing pay out exceeded $700K.”

Annese Revenue by Sector

Rochester $11.9M | up 20.6% Metro $14.4M | up 20.3%

Syracuse $13.4 | down 10.5%

Buffalo $18.3M | up 131.8%

Albany $25.9M | up 17.8%

Annese Revenue by Region

3 Party Maintenance/Services $16.9M | up 10% rd

Maintenance Services $3.8M | up 26%

Collaboration $9.6M | up 22%

Data Center Virtualization $11.1M | up 52% Managed Services $1.5M | up 51% Professional Services

Infrastructure $36.4M | up 18%

Annese Revenue by Practice Area

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The Herkimer ARC is governed by a voluntary Board of Directors, which is comprised of members of the community. The organization is a resource for people with disabilities and their families in the community. www.herkimerarc.org

Capital District Respite is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to assist children and youth to remain in their communities through the provision of respite, skill, family support, pre-vocational, special needs advocacy, and crisis avoidance services. www.capitaldistrictrespite.com

The spirit of our company vision is present in all of our engagements, not only as a business, but as individuals, through the ways in which we give back to our communities. In 2013, Annese continued to support its corporate charities of focus, as depicted below, and partnered with Albany Medical Center for some very special initiatives...

For more than 100 years, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has worked relentlessly to save lives and create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. Together with millions of its supporters worldwide, the ACS helps people stay well, help people get well, find cures, and fight back against cancer. www.cancer.org

The mission of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central New York is to create, identify, and support programs that directly improve the health and well being of children and families in the community. www.cnyronaldmcdonaldhouse.org

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Caring Together is an ovarian cancer support, education, and awareness group located in the Capital District of New York State dedicated to supporting research efforts aimed at finding an early detection test and a cure. www.caringtogetherny.org

Annese Gives Back

In July, Annese donated one high-tech neonatal intensive care unit bed called a “giraffe” to The Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center.

Giraffes hold premature infants, allowing the babies to be monitored, kept warm, and undergo surgery—all within the tiny cocoon.

Read more: www.annese.com/Giraffe

My sisters and I had the fortunate opportunity to tour the new facility and we were moved to tears. What Albany Med is able to do from a healthcare standpoint is nothing less than groundbreaking. Albany Med’s innovative technology will have a far-reaching impact on many families within the Capital Region and well beyond.

—Francine Annese Apy, Co-Owner/VP of Human Resources

Santa Connection In December, Annese teamed up with Cisco to bring the North Pole to children at Albany Med. The Cisco Santa Connection Program was developed to provide hospitalized children and their families the chance to visit with Santa through the magic of Cisco’s mobile and video collaboration technology.

2,890 children in hospitals across the nation participated in this special day. This was Annese’s first time participating in the event and looks forward to continuing the tradition for many years to come.

Read more: www.annese.com/SantaConnection

Jeremy Annese & Scott Dion Santa Connection Volunteers “You had kids of all ages who just could not be more excited to see Santa, who you knew may not make it to next year, and are as excited as can be because they are able to have a real Christmas experience. There is no doubt that we will do this again next year and hopefully every year. It’s just an amazing day.”

—Jeremy Annese, Account Manager

“When I arrived home from work that night, I held my two daughters together in my recliner for most of the night. As I explained the experiences I encountered throughout the day to my wife, she and I both realized how much we have to be thankful for. The experience was intended to be happy and exciting for the children, but ended up being very eye opening and emotional for me as well.”

—Scott Dion, Solutions Architect

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Strategy Update

As Annese embarked on a new strategic plan, growth in services was at the forefront. Tireless work by both the sales and service teams enabled Annese to recognize tremendous levels of growth in all areas of services—break-fix maintenance, professional services, and managed services. This growth fueled Annese’s stellar operating and net profit results in 2013.

—Jamie Aiello, VP of Services

2013 Services Growth: Revenue

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31% Increase

26% Increase

30% Increase

51% Increase

Branded Services

Maintenance Services

Professional Services

Managed Services

2013 $10,007,402

2013 $3,810,335

2013 $4,745,627

2013 $1,451,440

2012 $7,615,671

2012 $3,014,458

2012 $3,642,480

2012 $958,732

Growth in Services Fuels Company Results

Annese’s five year business plan, rooted in its services capabilities, was established to support deeper customer engagements and set the foundation for the company’s long-term growth and sustainability.

Albany

Syracuse

Buffalo

Herkimer

Rochester

Binghamton Brewster Chester

Practice

SYSTEMS ENGINEER

COLLABORATION

SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT

DATA CENTER

PROJECT MANAGER

INFRASTRUCTURE

PRESALES COORDINATOR

ENTERPRISE

BREAK/FIX

Regional Service Coverage Map

2013 Services Growth: Gross Profit 75% Increase

29% Increase

187% Increase

27% Increase

Branded Services

Maintenance Services

Professional Services

Managed Services

2013 $3,097,305

2013 $1,134,312

2013 $1,313,902

2013 $649,091

2012 $1,764,598

2012 $815,430

2012 $457,511

2012 $511,968 13 13

Going to Bat for our Customers There are three types of baseball players: Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happens. —Tommy Lasorda #2, Former Manager LA Dodgers

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Customer Intimacy

Q&A with Jon Leach, Salesman of the Year

What is your customer intimacy philosophy?

I was told by Dominick Annese a long time ago, “Take care of the customer and everything else will fall into place.”

How do you create value for your customers?

We provide our customers with solid solutions, good products, and reasonable prices.

Which Annese core value do you most associate your strengths with and why?

Integrity. I will always try to do what’s right, what’s best for the customer and what’s best for Annese; I truly tell it like it is. It is important to be truthful because I never want to come off as a “salesman”. I want to show myself as a partner, advocate, and solution provider.

How do you partner with your customers so they can make the best decisions possible?

I provide them with solutions that are in line with industry best practices. I give my customers at least a couple of options so they can make informed decisions.

What is one example of a customer relationship you are most proud of?

All of my customer relationships are important to my business and I try to provide each individual customer with the care and attention they need to meet their goals and to look to us in the future.

How do you build customer loyalty and continued engagement?

Customer loyalty is built by always having a formal solution that doesn’t cause the customer any problems. I try to guide them down their technology path and help them meet their objectives or provide solutions to their business challenges.

How do you feel Annese’s customer intimacy model makes us different from our competitors?

As an Account Manager, I don’t get wrapped up in what my competition does. I know many of my current customers I have acquired from the competition, and that gives me the satisfaction in knowing here at Annese we are doing it right! I will continue to stick to the family values and appreciate my customers with those same qualities that this company was built on over 40 years ago.

What do you consider to be Annese’s strongest asset in meeting customer needs?

Annese’s strongest asset is the ability to provide technical solutions with a group of highly trained experts in our field that meet customer business objectives.

What do you feel customer intimacy is not?

Customer intimacy is not about bending over backwords for someone for no reason. It isn’t about being fake or untrue to yourself, or untrue to the Annese business.

Customer Service Policy

Annese measures our success in part, by the relationships we have built. This mentality is reflected in our Customer Service Policy: Respect Honor Engage Guide

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We respect our customers’ questions, comments, and concerns. We work to answer and provide explanations on any matters which we feel our customer is unsure of.

We honor and value the customer-partner relationship we have built.

We engage our customer and its employees in situations where the requirements or specifications of a project have changed, adjusted, or realigned.

We guide our customers in all steps, phases, and processes where we believe our customer will benefit from our service experience and product knowledge.

We stand by the philosophy that our founder, Frank J. Annese, imparted decades ago: Products will come and go, but people will continue to do business with people.

82: It’s not just a score; it’s a measure of how to best meet the needs of our customers.

The Net Promoter Score, or NPS®, is a straightforward metric that holds companies and employees accountable for how they treat customers. It has gained popularity thanks to its simplicity and its linkage to profitable growth.

We ask our customers to rate how likely they are to recommend us to a colleague using a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high).

NPS Score = % OF PROMOTERS (9&10) - % OF DETRACTORS (1-6) Learn more about Annese’s NPS Score at: www.annese.com/NPS

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“Annese has been instrumental during this process. We wouldn’t be where we are today without their unmatched level of professionalism and experience. As a result, we hope for a long-lasting partnership.”

—Shaun Black Acting Director of IT, Le Moyne College

Le Moyne College Le Moyne College provisioned its campus-wide data center to expand Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and support 300+ virtual desktop users, eventually scaling to 1,200 machines.

Objective

Challenges

To implement a robust data center and VMware infrastructure capable of supporting a campus-wide Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) deployment.

• Manually installing or upgrading software onto each campus desktop • Inconsistent user experience • IT staff bogged down by technical support issues

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Read more: www.annese.com/HigherEd

Results • Cost savings: $200,000+ per year on hardware • Time savings: IT is more accessible to work with students and faculty directly • Longer hardware lifecycle: PC refresh cycle is roughly two years longer • Faster software updates: Can be completed in as little as three hours • Heightened security: Anytime, anywhere access to campus network resources

“Through each project phase, we worked with a member of the Annese team to track equipment, replace end-of-life products, and ensure that we got the most value out of our investment. This implementation has enabled the College’s growth plan to scale.”

—James Clement Associate Director of Communications and Network Services, MCC

Monroe Community College MCC, Annese, and Cisco upgraded 50 data closets to Cisco 2960 switches, virtualizing the UC environment and swapping out 125 access points for centrally managed wireless.

Objective

Challenges

To deliver a high-speed, highly available, reliable academic environment experience for MCC faculty and students.

• A single non-redundant firewall • Lag-time between personal desktop sign-on • Inability to perform modular upgrades without disrupting core network services like VoIP telephony or emergency broadcast

Results • Increased network resiliency and performance • High-speed throughput across campus • Intrusion prevention • Highly available, redundant infrastructure • Network speed increased by a factor of 20

Read more: www.annese.com/HigherEd

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“We have built a network operation center (NOC) that is a carrier-class 24x7 operation. Because of the sheer scope of this project, we decided as an organization that the orchestrating of the move required a dedicated resource, someone whose sole purpose would be to manage not just the installation of the equipment, but also tie together the technical aspects and logistics of the data center move. This project was a true partnership amongst multiple groups of people to get us to an architecture that was going to fit our needs today and into the future.”

—David Versocki Assistant Director, NERIC

NERIC The Northeastern Regional Information Center (NERIC) leveraged Annese’s Project Management as a Service to orchestrate its data center move to a larger facility. The project also included a series of upgrades to increase capacity, reliability, and scalability of services.

Objective To relocate the facility’s data center into a larger location down the road as a means of increasing capacity, allowing room for growth, and better positioning itself to meet the needs of its districts.

Challenges • Limited space • Environmental factors such as power and cooling • Aging equipment • Increased demands from component districts

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Read more: www.annese.com/K12

Results • Run internet traffic efficiently via redundant path • More usable space (triple the footprint) • Better positioned to deliver disaster recovery services and to be a hosting provider to districts • Data center move completed within the time-frame promised with minimal disruption to users

“Baptist Health’s IT team is relatively small, but our vision for the future is rather grand.

Our IT system, with the help of Annese, will be fully integrated and interconnected so that not only is there redundancy and back-up between buildings, but the services will all be able to talk to one another.”

—Tony Alotta, Administrator, Baptist Health System

Baptist Health System As Baptist Health doubled the size of its facilities, they engaged Annese to build a fiber-optic collaboration infrastructure from the ground up which has improved the safety, security, and overall quality of life for patients and residents.

Objective To enable a Cisco powered, high-speed network with fully integrated voice, video, and cloud wireless services, proactively monitored and maintained by the Annese Remote Managed Service (ARMS) team.

Challenges • Limited IT resources • Disparate technology devices; lack of integration • Migration to electronic medical records (EMR) required secure, reliable network

Results • Video enabled remote keypad entry • Robust, expandable unified communications platform • Secure patient health information/ HIPPA compliant • Hosted wireless coverage Read more: www.annese.com/Healthcare

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Building a Team of MVPs The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.

—Babe Ruth #3, Former Outfielder New York Yankees

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Annese Keeps the Door Open to “Comeback Kids”

Company rehires four employees in the last 18 months

Ray Apy, President & CEO “The return to Annese by these great people is a testament to our company’s culture and benefits, and the open mindedness of its leadership and management. Our door is always open to those who have talent, a strong work ethic and a propensity and interest in lifelong learning! We also understand that it is human nature to assess for one’s self whether or not the grass is any greener on the other side.”

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Mike Decker Director of Managed Services Albany Office

“After a two year leave, I was thrilled at the opportunity to rejoin the Annese family. I have been in the IT industry for 25 years and have worked at several companies, from very small to very large. Annese is certainly one of the premier IT service providers in the industry that I have experienced; they just get it. I have never seen a company built so strongly on the foundation of family values as Annese. The company is focused on supporting customers and doing the right thing, and everything else will fall into place.

In reality it’s not quite that simple as the company has a great management team that continues to pave the strategic path for the company. It’s a great place to be an employee or a valued customer.”

“Annese has a plan for how it will continue to succeed as a company. And, it works hard on implementing that plan. With that, it isn’t a “let’s be everything to everyone” type of reseller. It’s focused. Even as it expands its capabilities, it does so in a methodical and thoughtful manner so as not to overextend the company. Though Annese’s vision for how it moves forward as a company is special, it isn’t just about profit (though that’s important). It includes how to continue to provide for the needs of its employees. Annese feels like a family. We help one another, work through things together, and try to help one another succeed.”

Jason Boyers Senior Systems Engineer, Infrastructure Rochester Office “Annese hired me right out of college as a field engineer in the services department. I enjoyed everything about the company—the people, the family atmosphere, and the compensation. Because of my need to keep advancing in my career, I left Annese for other opportunities that were opening up. I spent the next three years at three different companies. While I gained something essential from each place, none of them could compare with what I had left behind at Annese. I’m thankful for what I gained in those three years away, and I’m thankful I can bring those skills back ‘home’ and contribute here where I got my start, and where I fully expect to end.”

Joe Simpson Systems Engineer, Collaboration Albany Office

Mike Hurley Senior Systems Engineer Brewster Office

“The personal and professional relationships I built during my previous time at Annese did not end when I left the company. I heard a lot about the great changes happening at Annese, and how much the company has been growing. The outlook of the company is extremely strong, which can be seen in the attitudes of its employees as well as read about in many industry publications. When Annese approached me with an offer to join the team again, I was impressed with the short and long term goals shared with me. The company has made multiple process improvements since I had left, which led to both a better experience for the customer, and a more balanced lifestyle for the engineers.

It didn’t take very long for me to realize that I belonged back at Annese, and I happily accepted the position.”

Read more: www.annese.com/Benefits

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Annese

Hall of Fame

Annese instituted a Peer to Peer employee recognition program allowing external colleagues to notify the management team of an employee’s hard work and dedication to the Annese Core Values.

Mike Ferrante, Sales

Maria Martusewicz, Contracts

Kelly Glath, Human Resources

“I have been working on a couple deals now with Mike and I must say he is one of my favorite reps in the partner community that I work with. He is very responsive and keeps me in the loop at all times in terms of feedback from the customer. We already have one verbal commit for a deal to close early next year and I look forward to closing many more in the future.”

“Thank you for all your hard work and perseverance through the entire process.

Moving forward, I believe Annese will own the majority of the maintenance contracts which should make things much easier. The Annese team has been phenomenal and special thanks to you, Maria, for turning things around so quickly and for getting me what I needed when I needed it.”

“Kelly is a pleasure to deal with. Her interpersonal skill sets make it easy for me to understand why she is positioned to deal with the public. Keep up the good work, Kelly.”

Nominated by Martin Anthony, Applicant

Nominated by Zachary Allison, NetApp

Nominated by Dan Wallenbeck, Greater Southern Tier BOCES

Lou Conte, Project Management “Lou was on the ball every step of the way. I never felt out of the loop, and his timelines were spot on. His coordination on this project was a key aspect in staying on task and on time.”

Nominated by Gregory Jablonsky, New York Power Authority

Dan Reichert & Jason Henderson, Service “Dan Reichert and Jason Henderson were instrumental to this project. I worked closely with Dan and Jason, and I can honestly say that these two men exemplify professionalism, technical knowledge, and personality. I was extremely impressed with the knowledge they had on this technology.

I learned a lot from Dan and Jason, and the New York Power Authority is a better company because of it.”

Nominated by Gregory Jablonsky, New York Power Authority

Rocky Luppino, Service “Rocky is very prompt and polite and always has the information we need. He is an outstanding Annese employee that deserves to be recognized for his quality service!”

Nominated by Justine Lysack, Ulster BOCES

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Jamie Bogert, Sales “I retired on June 30th this year after 30 years with IBM and 20 years of teaching.

The past several months have given me ample time to reflect over the past 50 years. I would be remiss if I did not take the opportunity to compliment your employee, Jamie Bogert, on her professionalism and willingness to share her experiences with others. With absolutely no reservations whatsoever, I can say that I rank Jamie as one of the top business employees that I have managed or interfaced with during my two careers. Please understand that I managed several hundred employees over my thirty years with IBM so this is no small comparison. I also rank her as one of my top students. Her willingness to help her peer students and then return to counsel current students was not equaled by any of my other several hundred students.

Although she won’t admit it I’m sure, she helped me teach subnetting to several students who were struggling. I miss teaching, but I miss even more interfacing with someone like Jamie who I feel extremely proud to have worked with. My compliments and thanks to her as well as to your organization for encouraging her to help guide younger adults.”

Nominated by Charles Flint, Retired IBMer and teacher, Orange-Ulster CTEC

Ginger Skinner, Administration “Ginger was very efficient in helping clarify a quote that we received, helped clarify its purpose and was very professional.”

Nominated by Mark Pope, CVPH Medical Center

David Taurisano, Sales “David is Great! He responds right away and gets the info that I need.”

Nominated by Jeremy Gibbs, Utica College

Josh Meier, Service “Josh was wonderful. He is a great asset to your team. Very knowledgeable and patient, which we needed at this time of transition.”

Nominated by Darlene Wells, Judson Meadows Assisted Living

Brett Lombardo, Service “Brett is our go-to individual; no matter what we ask of him he has an, ‘I will get this done attitude’. Over the years we have had many good people we deal with from Annese but I feel Brett always gives 110%.”

Nominated by Dale Anderson, Erie 1 BOCES

Matt Bollow “Matt responded immediately to my questions. He was respectful and courteous.”

Nominated by Darlene Wells, Judson Meadows Assisted Living

Andy Enright, Sales

Charlie Miller, Project Management

“Very knowledgeable and informative, understood the concept we needed, and easy to converse with.”

“Always very helpful and in a timely manner.”

Nominated by Justin Catucci ,Swipets

Matt Bollow, David Butler, Greg Brousseau, Dan Fleming, John McGinty, Jim McIntyre, Josh Meier, & Rob Updyke, Service

Nominated by Marge Bosket, CPP School District

Jefferson Wilson, Service “He has been extremely knowledgeable and helpful during the installation of the new phone system at F-M. He fits right in and has been a part of the team. Kudos to Jefferson!”

“Please express my gratitude for your coworkers who helped me pick up some switches today from the warehouse in Clifton Park.

I came unannounced, because I was able to get a ride in a state vehicle at the last minute. I thought I would call on the way up but the number I had for Annese in my cellphone was out of service.

The guys dropped what they were doing and helped me pick up the switches and were very helpful and courteous throughout. They knew me from seeing me previously and Rob Updyke graciously directed them to where the switches were located as he was offsite on an ITS install. I forgot to get their names while I was there but I do want you to know how appreciative I am and how helpful everybody in the chain of events were. I apologized for coming unannounced and won’t do that again and they made an extra effort to make sure everything went smoothly.”

Nominated by Rita Wright & Wanda Lentner, Fayetteville-Manlius Schools

Darren Dizak, Service “I just wanted to let you know Darren was a huge help!! We got the auto attendant set, the paging set, and he showed me how to use the system for minor changes that I can make in-house! He also changed some things around to make the system a little more user friendly with our auto attendant. I just want to let you know he took care of everything! Thanks so much for scheduling him to come in.”

Nominated by Jennifer Gray, Pro-Tech

Nominated by Louis Perry, ITS

2013 Frank J. Annese Award Winner We are proud to announce the recipient of the 2013 Frank J. Annese Award for Customer Excellence to Contract Services Associate Manager, Heather Golden.

management to develop new policies and procedures as needed.

The Contracts Team provides many value added services, including inventory database and Customer Portal, as well as Customer moves, adds, and changes. The team has grown from one person to three people in just under four years.”

The Frank J. Annese Award, named after and presented by the company’s founder, was initiated in 2009 and is distributed each year at the annual All Employee Conference which took place at The Otesaga Resort Hotel in Cooperstown on October 15th and 16th. Employees have an opportunity to nominate a co-worker who they feel most exemplifies the Annese Customer Service Policy and who demonstrates the corporate values of Integrity, Innovation, Excellence, Teamwork, and Leadership consistently in their dealings with customers and colleagues. The winner is then voted on and selected by the Annese Leadership Team.

It was such an honor to be nominated for the Frank J. Annese Award. The Annese culture is such a rare commodity and I am very fortunate to be part of such a great team.

After working at Annese for almost twelve years, it’s impossible not to see the hard work and dedication by so many employees. I look forward to being part of the continued growth and success at Annese & Associates, Inc. —Heather Golden, FJA Award Winner

An excerpt from Heather’s nomination reads: “Heather, throughout her more than eleven years of service, continues to raise her hand to help out in an area, whenever needed. Heather’s role as the Contract Services Associate Manager is to provide guidance and training to Contracts Department personnel, as well as Annese Sales and Service teams. She works closely with sales personnel to maintain an effective and efficient level of support, and works with

In addition to being Annese’s Contract Services Associate Manager, Heather is a wife and mother to two young daughters.

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Meet the Rookies

Annese welcomes our newest employees hired in 2013!

Mike Decker January

Albany Office

Steve Heath February VP of Sales Syracuse Office

Bill Kelly March Solutions Architect Albany Office

Rob Buckland March IT Manager Syracuse Office

Kelly Glath May HR Generalist Syracuse Office

Ron Terra June Senior Account Manager Syracuse Office

Jason Gurnett June Account Manager Rochester Office

David Taurisano June Senior Account Manager Herkimer Office

Jon Foster June Pre Sales Coordinator Herkimer Office

Bob Winters July Solutions Architect Albany Office

Rob Updyke July Network Engineer Albany Office

Joline Lucas July Pre Sales Coordinator Albany Office

Director of Managed Services

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Scott Anania July Solutions Architect Syracuse Office

Aaron Kenney August Systems Engineer Herkimer Office

Kate Scosta August Pre Sales Coordinator Brewster Office

Mark Dingee August Systems Engineer Brewster Office

Gina Campese September Design & Copy Specialist Syracuse Office

Rich Kessler September Systems Engineer Brewster Office

Mohamed Issa October Systems Engineer Albany Office

Peter Zalla October Contract Administrator Syracuse Office

Bob Drouin November Solutions Architect Brewster Office

Joe Simpson July Systems Engineer Albany Office

Amy Manning December Systems Engineer Buffalo Office

Jackie Meyers December Sales & Service Specialist

Syracuse Office

Read more: www.annese.com/Careers

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Mark Amyot, Data Center Virtualization The Musings of a Roaming SCCM Consultant

Merry Bhattacharjee, HR 6 Key Factors that Influence Employee Culture

Mike Decker, Managed Services What Would Happen to your Business in an IT Shutdown?

Highlight Reel Several of Annese’s subject matter experts contributed byline articles and blog posts in 2013 that demonstrated their thought leadership around today’s hot topics and industry trends.

Visit www.annese.com/ExpertShowcase to read the full articles referenced above and stay connected by subscribing to the Annese Family Secrets Blog at blog.annese.com.

Jason Beiter, Data Center Virtualization 3 Wireless Networking Pitfalls to Avoid

Tom Gdula, Data Center Virtualization What Business Leaders Need to Know about Virtualization

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Rob Buckland, IT Supporting Today’s Anywhere Workers

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