2012 Annese Annual Report
Contents 04 | President’s Message
Preparing for Continued Longevity 10 | Financial Highlights 12 | Philanthropic Endeavors 15 | Three Industry Transitions Drive New Annese Corporate Strategy 16 | Focus and Clarity
Teaming to Reach Common Goals 21 | The Three Building Blocks of Customer Intimacy 22 | Implementing a Virtualization Strategy Positions School for Efficiency Gains 23 | Video Content Management Platform Brings Higher Education Coursework to Life 24 | Cloud-Based Solution Provides Silver Lining for a Community in the Dark 25 | Investment in Communication Improves Employee Workflow and Fields High Customer Satisfaction 26 | Resiliency Tested When Record Rainfall Inundates Rockland County 27 | Protecting Patient Records through Secure Wireless Connectivity
About Us With a full-circle approach to integrating communications systems, Annese wraps professional and managed services around Collaboration and Data Center Virtualization solutions. Guided by our services methodology, we design an end-to-end IT experience for our clients, implementing the tools of today and administering a plan for tomorrow. Our business is the art, science, and passion of connecting devices to networks, people to people, and ideas to action.
28 | Partnering for Success
Scaling to Greater Heights 33 | Annese Ranks in Top 3 as a Best Company to Work For 34 | 6 Key Factors that Influence Corporate Culture 36 | Employee Excellence 38 | Annese Leadership 39 | Welcome to the Family 40 | Stay Connected
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State of the Industry
President’s Message Chalk Talk: Annese Corporate Game Plan for 2013 and Beyond
“The satisfaction of the employees in our company is the most important metric that we track and manage to. We know that happy employees help us provide a great experience for our clients. We wouldn’t have it any other way.” —Ray Apy, President & CEO
2012 was a year in which Annese struck a balance between focus on our core competencies, and reinventing various aspects of the business to support long-term profitability. We are proud that we did what we set out to do – build and launch a new business strategy with clarity, vision, and alignment with our shareholders’ goal to balance growth with culture, lifestyle, and sustainability. Annese, as a VAR and systems integrator, operates in a constricted margin industry where rapid revenue growth is the commonly accepted performance success metric. We charted our own course, with the help of our trusted advisors, board members, and leaders to build something that stands unique and strong in a world where companies come and go, shrink or grow, almost overnight. We stand firm on the principles of our founder, Frank J. Annese, to remain ever focused on our employees, clients, and business culture first, knowing that good things will follow.
Fiscally, 2012 began as a challenging year. The first quarter was tough. Predictions at mid-year were for a 1 or 2 percent net income close for the year. We are very proud to have recovered from a difficult start, to finish at a net profit of over $2M, at a ratio of 3.23% of revenue. That recovery did not happen by accident. As our new business strategy began to emerge, we were already targeting improvement in specific areas such as:
With the new fiscal year well underway, we remain highly focused on the execution of our business strategy in a complex macroeconomic environment. We believe we are in an excellent position to deliver on our fiscal year goals and priorities, and we continue to strive to deliver profitable growth and to generate long-term shareholder value.
• selling more of our Annese Branded Services to drive our average margins up, • controlling our Cost of Goods Sold through careful and consistent price negotiations with suppliers, • improving our pricing strategy in targeted verticals, and • making a deliberate effort to move into mid-market healthcare and professional services who see a greater value in both the solutions and services that round out the integrated communications systems we provide.
Raymond H. Apy President & CEO
“Our fiscal goals are in complete alignment with our growth strategies. These strategies meet the needs of our customers and include Annese Branded Services and Data Center Virtualization solutions. As we continue to focus on our existing customers, we are successfully growing our revenues in the commercial and healthcare markets as well.” —Joe LoRe, CFO
Preparing for Continued Longevity “Stay close to your company, stay close to your customers, and the rest will follow.” —Dominick Annese (Retired, VP of Sales in WNY and current Annese Customer Intimacy Trainer)
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2012 Year in Review With Continual Change, Our Foundation is Constant 2012 was met with some historic milestones for Annese & Associates. We reached 100 employees for the first time in our company’s 40+ year history. We moved our corporate headquarters from Herkimer, NY—where the company was founded in 1970— to Clifton Park, the state’s epicenter of technological progression. Annese is a company fortunate to be built on a number of strengths—our strong people-oriented culture and shared vision for customer service top the list. We will continue the journey forward, investing in key partnerships to advance our skills and qualifications and re-engineering our service offerings to ensure the highest level of relevance and value to our clients and their changing business landscapes. The more we change, the more we stay the same. For four decades we have had a front row seat to this ever-advancing field of telecommunications and have watched players, products, and trends come and go; yet our fundamental purpose as an organization has been to make connections. We foster connections between devices, networks, people, and ideas. That passion is fueled by a commitment to making the communities we serve better places to work, to learn, and to live.
Watch the Annese Commercial that Aired in Albany
01 | Corporate Headquarters Moves from Herkimer to Clifton Park, NY
02 | Growth In Metro Region Leads Annese To Open New Location In Brewster
“Annese & Associates, Inc. has called the greater Albany area home for nearly four decades. In keeping with our commitment to sustain and further develop our viable New York State business, we have relocated our corporate headquarters to the Capital Region. Opening a new flagship office in Clifton Park provides our employees and clients with a great atmosphere in which to conduct business. In recognizing that our company has grown most over the years in the Capital District, the decision to formally consolidate our presence here in the state’s epicenter of technology is a plausible next step for us.”—Ray Apy, President & CEO.
“We are very proud to say that Annese is growing rapidly in the Metro region in terms of customer acquisition, staffing, and business opportunity,” said Mike Stepkoski, Regional Sales Manager. In the past four years, Annese has grown from 9 employees to 17 in the Metro region alone, with a 38% growth in cumulative revenue during that timeframe. As a result, the new facility serves two strategic purposes: closer proximity to Annese’s current customers in Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess counties, and the satellite headquarters across Connecticut as part of Annese’s New England expansion efforts.
03 | Managed Wireless Service Launches with Cisco Support
04 | Annese Releases Hosted Unified Communications Offering
Annese developed the practice around Cisco borderless networking architecture and is the first Cisco partner in the Northeast to lay claim to a multi-tenant cloud-based wireless managed service.
Annese has augmented its unified communications (UC) repertoire by partnering to offer a Hosted UC alternative to its traditional on-premise solutions.
“It is a tremendous value to Cisco to have Annese fill this void through tapping into their considerable mobility expertise and launching this crucial new service,” said Mike Glew, Business Development Manager at Cisco. “We are excited about Annese’s unique wireless managed service offer and we will be working closely with Annese to ensure it is successful.”
“Whether we are able to develop these managed offerings internally or partner out, we will make the necessary investments to ensure bestin-breed solutions for our customers,” acknowledges Jamie Aiello, VP of Services. “Annese feels that with the addition of this cloud solution, we are strongly positioned to offer a comprehensive hosted UC solution to any market.” Unified communications, a subset of Annese’s Collaboration Practice, is one of its longest standing foundational competencies.
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Financial Highlights In 2007, leadership at Annese began to directly align the company’s financial metrics with its strategic business initiatives. Putting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in place, we examined the current state of the industry and determined market opportunities and key technologies to focus on for innovation. With our long-standing state and local government and education (SLED) markets continuing to grow, we turned our emphasis toward the healthcare and commercial sectors. The traction we have made in these new markets is attributed to our expanding technology portfolio of Infrastructure, Collaboration, and Data Center Virtualization solutions coupled with our own Annese Branded Services. Our goal to increase annual gross profits was not only met, but surpassed expectation, as we realized a 61% jump over a five year window. In this time-frame, the revenue increase spurred new offices within and outside of New York State, the hiring of additional employees, and an investment in professional development and training for our staff.
Healthcare Government
Commercial
Data Center Virtualization
6.87%
Growth from 2011
$70M
Maintenance Services Higher Education
$65M $60M
Collaboration K-12 Education
Managed Services
Annese Revenue by Market Segment
$55M Professional Services
$50M
Infrastructure
$45M $40M
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Annese Revenue by Practice Area
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Annese Revenue Growth
Ranking on the Inc. 5000 list, as well as being recognized as a fastest growing technology integrator in the country on the Solution Provider 500, underscores the expertise, relationships, and innovation Annese strives for. With a focused 5-year strategy to prepare us, a clear long-term vision to lead us, and our strong Customer Intimacy foundation to guide us, Annese is well positioned to build upon our strengths and rise to the next level of organizational efficiency.
$67.2M in revenue for 2012 Annese revenue grew from 2011 to 2012 by 6.87% with key growth attributed to new business opportunities in the private sector and investments in Data Center Virtualization.
In 2008, Frank J. Annese transferred company ownership to his four daughters, Michelle, Yvonne, Francine, and Andrea (pictured right respectively). These women bring over 56 years of combined experience to multiple facets of the business. Read More about Annese’s WBE Status
245 4,278 out of 5,000 US companies Annese once again ranked in the Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Companies in the U.S.
out of 500 VARs in NA Annese ranked 245 on CRN’s 2012 Solution Provider 500 list of top technology integrators in North America. This list ranks the highest producing solution provider organizations in the IT channel from hardware sales, software sales, and managed IT services.
10 102 employees Annese hit an employment milestone in 2012 reaching 100 employees for the first time in company history.
offices locations Purposeful and focused growth with attention to operational efficiency provides strong performance.
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Corporate Giving
Philanthropic Endeavors At Annese, we strive to bring about positive change for the future by creating partnerships that promise not only advances in technology but invoke a yearning for knowledge and a passion for the work we do.
CNY Employees Race For Charity in the 2012 Chase Corporate Challenge June | Syracuse
Albany Supports the Saratoga Hospital Foundation’s Run for the Roc September | Albany
Annese Raises A Glass with the HARC at the Annual New York International Wine Auction November | Herkimer
Employees from Annese’s Syracuse office participated in the 30th Annual JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge which drew a record 7,900 runners and walkers representing 283 companies and school districts across the region. As first time participants, Annese was proud to come out and show support to the local community while building company pride and morale.
Annese lent its support to The Saratoga Hospital Foundation’s Greno Industries Run For The ROC, a 5K run and community walk held at the Saratoga Race Track. All proceeds benefited the patient programs and services of the Mollie Wilmot Radiation Oncology Center at Saratoga Hospital.
As co-sponsor of the New York International Wine Auction (NYIWA), an annual premier wine and culinary event, Annese was proud to show support to the Herkimer Area Resource Center (HARC).
The JPMorgan Chase Foundation in honor of Corporate Challenge participants will make a donation to the American Red Cross of Central New York, part of more than $600k that will be donated in Corporate Challenge cities throughout 2012. According to their official Facebook page, the Foundation defines this annual summer tradition as a global celebration of corporate teamwork, camaraderie, and community giving.
Annese is closely aligned with many non-profit organizations throughout the Capital District and New York State as a whole. The initiative was driven by Andrea Annese-Como, the company’s co-owner and Wellness Advisor who is a cancer survivor and advocate, herself. “At Annese, we make a conscious effort around philanthropy and look forward to getting out into the local community and showing our support for these important causes,” said Andrea Annese-Como. “We had a group of employees teaming up for the run.“
The black tie auction took place at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, NY featuring live and silent auctions. HARC is a not-for-profit organization that provides premier services and resources for people with disabilities and others in the community. Kevin Crosley, President/CEO of Herkimer Arc thanks Annese for its continued support; “The success of a monumental event such as the NYIWA depends upon great leadership and passionate supporters. Frank and Dominica Annese and Annese & Associates have graciously and generously filled both those roles over many, many years. We broke two records by securing the most sponsorship support ever and fundraising over $250,000 to help unfunded and underfunded programs for people with disabilities.”
CNY Ronald McDonald House’s 30th Anniversary Celebration November | Syracuse Annese was proud to join the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) Charities of Central New York at its annual homecoming party and 30th anniversary celebration. The event took place at the SRC Arena and Events Center at Onondaga Community College and honored McDonald’s Operators Association of Central New York and Northern Pennsylvania. A live and silent auction was also held. Annese has been a long-time supporter of the Ronald McDonald House Charities. Yvonne Annese LoRe, Co-Owner and VP of Corporate Projects, sits on the RMH Board of Directors and spearheads the company’s commitment to the cause; “The spirit of community engagement and social responsibility is emblematic of Annese’s brand and corporate culture. We are proud to champion the efforts of the Ronald McDonald House here in Central New York.” As a result of The CNY Ronald McDonald House Capital Project, more than $5.9M has been raised to expand services for new populations and guest families in the counties in which the agency serves. A new, larger house officially opened its doors on November 19th to better meet the diverse needs of the RMH families.
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Vision and Strategy
Three Industry Transitions Drive New Annese Corporate Strategy Annese Vision Statement Investing in our three founding principles—advancing our expertise, deepening our relationships, and fueling continuous innovation—Annese will ensure ongoing business success by: 01 | Continuing to be an Employer of Choice: recognizing our employees’ achievements, caring deeply for their welfare, and creating opportunities for advancement. 02 | Driving a services-led strategy and culture to enable deeper customer interaction and engagement. 03 | Focusing our business around two core practice areas of Collaboration and Data Center Virtualization to provide our customers with unparalleled knowledge and industry expertise. 04 | Leveraging strategic partnerships to provide our customers with strong core practice portfolios.
Over the past 10 years, Annese has made tremendous strides in our development as a service provider and systems integrator. Our new five year business plan is rooted deeply in this services-led culture. The culmination of Annese’s new corporate vision is inspired by the key market transitions rapidly impacting our industry today.
01 | Networking technology products and related services are becoming highly commoditized. Unified communications, one of Annese’s foundational core competencies, is starting to cross over the top of the adoption curve. We understand that in order to continue growing, we cannot be complacent in our capabilities. We will continue to build upon our expertise, advance our technical skillset, and achieve the necessary training and certifications to ensure our clients are receiving more than just the boxes and wires; rather, an end-to-end IT experience.
We have tailored our professional service approach to address and support every facet of a clients’ project. With our proven five-step professional services methodology Annese will consult, assess, design, implement, and administer the project through its entire lifecycle.
02 |
The movement to the cloud and hosted delivery model, especially as they relate to our Collaboration and Data Center Virtualization practices, is driving new opportunities. The term “cloud” means a lot of things to a lot of people, but simply stated: A cloud service provider delivers IT services over the public or private internet to their client from an off-site data center. Annese has begun to adopt, build, and partner with companies that enable us to bring those services to clients via the cloud.
Annese’s cloud-based services include: • Voice Communications • Video Conferencing • Video Content Management • Wireless Networking
03 |
Mid-market companies which typically do not have as well developed of an IT staff, are actively pursuing companies like Annese to outsource their implementation, consulting, and managed services. Outsourcing enables them to run their business efficiently while controlling costs. Specifically, in the healthcare and financial markets, these opportunities are primarily driven by compliance. Applications such as electronic health records drive technology requirements that Annese can fulfill.
Annese Remote Managed Services (ARMS) allows companies to offload routine maintenance, break/fix, and other day-to-day IT activities to our highly trained and certified engineers, freeing up technical staff to focus on more strategic initiatives. Our team is often described as an extension of our clients’ internal IT staff. As we head into Q2, Annese is moving full steam ahead and engaging deeper in the next wave of our corporate business model.
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Focus and Clarity “Annese is so much more than phones, switches, and routers. Our customers continuously tell us that Annese’s core differentiator is our ability to deliver assessment, design, and implementation services; our ability to provide value beyond the boxes and wires that make up a network. This is what sets us apart from the rest. As we embark, on the new strategic plan we are placing an even greater emphasis on these services by investing in talent, resources, and training to provide uniform capability across our various regions. We are committed to delivering best-in-breed, scalable solutions within our two focus practice areas: Collaboration and Data Center Virtualization.” —Jamie Aiello, VP of Sales
Practice Management
Collaboration
Data Center Virtualization
For more than four decades, Annese has embraced the ever-changing telecommunications industry and adapted to evolve into the integrated communications systems provider we are today.
Annese’s Collaboration Practice enables employers to support dynamic, real-time collaborative experiences. The practice aggregates a diverse set of voice, video, and messaging technologies that can satisfy varying degrees of objectives, challenges, and budgets.
Today, a balance must be struck between business needs, IT, and end-users. Annese’s Data Center Virtualization Practice delivers a complete user experience, transforming the traditional computing experience into a next-generation virtual workspace that unifies voice, video, and applications.
Voice:
Server Virtualization:
Access the full features of your phone system from anywhere at anytime with the ability to use mobile phones as an extension of the main line.
Reduce power consumption and operational costs by consolidating servers into a smaller and more elastic footprint.
To remain highly relevant to our customers, it is imperative to stay abreast of new technologies and the transformative impact they have when paired with our clients’ business objectives. Our commitment to our customers is that, through us, they can obtain access to the most advanced solutions and services the market has to offer. Annese’s new business strategy has us refocusing our efforts around two core competencies: Collaboration and Data Center Virtualization. Executing on this model will serve to strengthen our position as a Trusted Advisor by providing: • Focus and clarity around our sales and service capability. • Increased expertise by promoting dedicated subject matter experts within each area. • Unified partner engagement with the manufacturers driving today’s market leadership. Annese has and will continue to invest the time, talent, and energy to ensure the success of these key areas and, to that point, has identified a dedicated lead to spearhead each practice. We are confident that this long-term sustainable business strategy will serve Annese, our partners, and our clients well.
• Unified Communications • Call Reporting/Call Accounting • Call Center
Video collaboration can deliver immediate benefits to your organization, saving time and money while providing a platform for face-to-face interaction. • Video Content Management • Video Security
• Application Virtualization • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
Store and archive data in compliance with regulatory and governance requirements.
• Digital Signage
• Archiving
Messaging: Disseminate information, quickly, simply, and efficiently across multiple mediums for maximum reach.
• Unified Messaging
Deliver a high-performance virtual user experience, and reduce costs by minimizing the number of required servers.
Storage:
• Web Conferencing
• Emergency Notification
• Infrastructure as a Service
• Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
• Video Conferencing
• IP Paging
• High Availability
Desktop Virtualization:
Video:
• Notification and Presence
• Server Consolidation
• Backup • Recovery • Replication
Disaster Preparedness: With high availability and recovery, enable resilient service mobility and reduce recovery time after a disaster.
“We continue to choose Annese because it feels like we’re dealing with a small, family business in terms of the service and personal contact we receive, yet we also get the diversity and depth of service of a much larger company.” —Mac Carlton, Bethlehem CSD
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“Business will take care of itself, but the relationships we create and sustain with our clients, with our partners, with our communities, and with each other, are the ultimate drivers of success for an organization.” —Steve Heath, VP of Sales
Teaming to Reach Common Goals With just over 100 employees dispersed across 10 offices, the Annese Team rows in the same direction when it comes to the care and quality of service our customers receive from us.
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Customer Intimacy
The Three Building Blocks of Customer Intimacy Vito Lovecchio, 2012 Salesman of the Year, shares his personal approach to business and the impact of the Annese Customer Intimacy model.
Learn More about the Annese Net Promote Score
Customer Intimacy is one of those terms that get thrown around haphazardly by resellers. What is the real definition of Customer Intimacy and how do you achieve it? I believe Customer Intimacy isn’t something you achieve; it’s something you earn. Let me first tell you what Customer Intimacy is not – it is not repeat business. Repeat business could be the result of many things: lowest price, good products, free consulting services. Let’s face it, many of our products and even some of our services have become commoditized. In every industry, your customers (whoever they may be) are being pursued by and occasionally meeting with your competitors. Even as consumers ourselves, we know how many different buying options we have available to us. So, as an Account Manager, how can I be confident that my customers will continue to work with me? I think the key is differentiation; differentiating yourself and your company from the competition is what helps build the genuine relationship that you foster with your clients. Intimacy is when the customer chooses you in the face of competition, whether it’s features, benefits, services, products, or simply price. The solution lies in your management of the relationship,
understanding and appealing to their strategies, team, and vision. In my opinion, there are three ways to build Customer Intimacy.
01 | Build Emotional Loyalty In today’s cost-conscious climate, a customer who often purchases many products from you may stray if a new reseller comes along offering cheaper prices. If the customer, however, has a personal relationship with you and your team, you’re intimately familiar with the inner workings of their systems. Because of that acquired knowledge, your engineers are invaluable when it comes to delivering smooth and seamless project deployments. New providers are less likely to have the depth of knowledge necessary to provide that same level of service. Best case scenario: When new competition comes calling, your customers choose to continue doing business with you. That is emotional loyalty, a true partnership.
02 | Ensure You Are Highly Relevant Aside from being able to provide what my clients need today, I try to continually
build that emotional bond by taking what our team knows about the inner workings of their network and proposing solutions that can solve problems that my customers have yet to anticipate. In most cases your foresight is appreciated, as these ideas will typically wind up saving money or headaches down the road. I have adapted the philosophy “Business First, Technology Second” when consulting with our customers. One example that comes to mind was a project with a SUNY college concerned about safety and security on campus. This college was looking to replace their campus-wide paging system. An RFP was issued asking for a similar solution to their older and somewhat obsolete system. Several responses were submitted offering the traditional analog paging system, but when the Annese team really thought through the root of the issues, we proposed a solution that would tackle the paging requirement, as well as replacing another non-related system that the college also had on their list to upgrade in the near future. Upon presenting our proposal and explaining the additional capabilities of a unified system, we were offered the opportunity immediately. Emotional loyalty and relevance build the bridge to Customer Intimacy. Forget about the immediate need for a second; sit with your internal team and zoom
out of the tactical discussion. Pursue a solution that satisfies or enables multiple initiatives. This extra time and thoughtfulness is always appreciated and often unforgettable.
03 | Know Your Customers Knowing and understanding the needs of your customers beyond just the basics takes time and tenacity. It means a lot to me when a customer shares their personal life stories, goals, and aspirations in addition to what their company really needs. I consider many of my contacts within the accounts I manage my friends. This level of detail and intimate knowledge of my contacts’ personal needs or restrictions fuels me to reciprocate that loyalty and trust. I know it sounds simple, but getting to know your customer is crucial to establishing trust and building relationships. Understand who your customer is, and, what, why, and how they buy. With each conversation, I try to: A. Learn more about who my customer is by understanding their market, the trends, the frustrations, the gating barriers to success. B. Ask what the reasoning is for each buying decision. A hospital would deploy wireless for a completely different reason a school district
might. Technology is often the same, but the use case is generally very different. To be relevant, I always want to know more about the “what” to get to the “why”. C. Understand why my customer is buying a particular solution or service, as everyone has a reason why they make a specific choice. I try not to assume I know what their needs are or reasoning is. D. Determine how the buying decision is made. Sometimes knowing “how” is equally as important as knowing “what” and “why”. If your solution is the right fit but you know there is no money or resources available, you can look at other ways to approach the situation instead of postponing the project. Our industry will continue to increase in complexity, but taking the Customer Intimacy approach has helped me to build a loyalty and trust with my customers. I push myself to be relevant and get to know the people behind the decisions and the brand. Frank (Annese, our founder) once said, people buy from people, and it stuck with me.
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Customer Success Stories
Implementing a Virtualization Strategy Positions School for Efficiency Gains Success Story | Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Washingtonville Central School District was ready to replace over 700 campus workstations as part of their regular equipment refresh program. This antiquated method of ensuring that students and faculty maintain access to modern technology came with a heavy pricetag. The District began to explore different ways to allocate those funds in exchange for a longterm return on investment.
Annese implemented Cisco UCS Servers, an EMC2 storage area network, Cisco core switching infrastructure, VMware View 5 software, and Trend Micro agentless antivirus software. The project will scale to support approximately 1100 workstations in their environment; eventually the workstations will be swapped with zero client terminals, a much less expensive alternative to PC replacement.
A long-time customer of Annese, Washingtonville made the decision to adopt a virtualization strategy across three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. By making this kind of investment in the infrastructure, as opposed to merely replacing the desktop hardware, Washingtonville was positioning itself wisely for significant cost savings down the road by extending the lifespan of their existing workstations. Additionally, the district set the foundation for a more efficient use of their IT department’s time and resources.
The deployment became especially opportune when the District was preparing to administer a statemandated online assessment test to elementary level students. Before it’s VDI deployment, this task would have required a manual software installation onto each PC for students to be able to access the application. With virtual desktop however, IT was able to load the software onto one machine which all the other desktops retrieve.
Video Content Management Platform Brings Higher Education Coursework to Life Success Story | Video Content Management Platform As New England Institute of Technology (NEIT) faculty began injecting more video content into their lectures, the College’s learning management system (LMS), Blackboard, struggled to keep up with the increased demands on the network
hours of time and labor. Washingtonville is now positioned to support a BringYour-Own-Device (BYOD) environment in conjunction with its wireless infrastructure. Remote users will be able to access their applications and data from anywhere on the device of their choosing. “Our District and stakeholders have benefited from this relationship as we strive to provide the best educational services even within these challenging economic times,” said Justin Schaef, the District’s Director of Data Management and Technology. Annese will provide continued support to Washingtonville in their new investment. The District currently utilizes Annese Managed Services to provide an additional layer of expertise and support to their technical environment.
The entire process was completed in a couple mouse clicks, saving IT staff
Annese’s commitment to the technological needs of the Washingtonville School District is unprecedented. It has far surpassed any previously seen with other vendor partners. They have demonstrated the importance of customer success by creating strong and enduring relationships through persistent dedication and hard work.” —Justin Schaef, Ed.D., Washingtonville CSD
“Ensemble Video has quickly become a part of our online presence here at New England Tech. It is working out great!”
—Tom Thibodeau, Assistant Provost
Blackboard serves as an effective centralized learning portal for students to access course-related information, lectures, and assignments beyond class hours. The system is widely employed by colleges and universities across the country. Many educators embraced the opportunity to supplement heavy text with rich media content to drive a higher level of student engagement; however, they quickly realized that importing large video files bogged down the campus server and required a great deal of manual effort and upload time. While Blackboard can support integration with YouTube, the College’s administration was weary of relying solely on the popular free video-sharing site because of privacy settings and accessibility control. Ensemble Video eased those concerns with its private online video framework allowing users in various departments to individually manage their own digital libraries. The system supports centralized and
distributed webbased video publishing in any length and any format, and administrators can decide who can view which videos, and how long they remain active. By deciding to proceed with Annese’s hosted alternative, the College’s MIS staff did not need to add an additional server to their workload to manage, update, and troubleshoot. “Ensemble was at a great price point where it just made perfect sense to offload to someone who really knows what they’re doing,” Tom Thibodeau, Assistant Provost at the College, stated. In roughly 18 months, NEIT has been able to host over 500 video files and, as Tom noted, more departments are being trained on how to use the product all the time. “Before Ensemble, we were clogging our LMS with video files that took up a lot of space and performed poorly,” said Tom. “With Ensemble, we have solved that problem quickly and simply. Video files are now easily uploaded, converted, and streamed for playback directly within our LMS.”
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Cloud-Based Solution Provides Silver Lining for a Community in the Dark Success Story | Cloud Wireless Service When Superstorm Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane on record, blew through Putnam County in late October, 2012, thousands of people found themselves without power. With so many schools, offices, and homes left without electricity, people turned out in droves to Mahopac Public Library where they could work remotely, entertain their children with movies and video games, pay their bills, and let family members know they were okay. The facility’s 31 physical machines were occupied at all times, and tables and hallways were inundated with patrons charging phones and laptops, and latching to the Library’s public internet. “Just as moths are drawn to flames, people with laptops are drawn to outlets,” quips Don Icken, the Library’s on-site technician, an Annese subcontractor. He explains that the first day after the storm rolled through, the Library served a record 1200 patrons. IP addresses were bumped up from 150 to 1,000 in a matter of three short hours. “The Library is normally open Sunday through Saturday for a total of 65 hours per week. Average attendance is 6,108 visits per week,” notes Pat Kaufman, Library Director. “From October 28th
Investment in Communication Improves Employee Workflow and Fields High Customer Satisfaction Success Story | Unified Communications and Contact Center
through November 3rd the Library was open a fraction of those hours, 32.5 to be exact, and attendance rose to 6,827 visits.” “Before, we had a lot of (connectivity) issues and people complained bitterly about their inability to connect in a timely fashion; those complaints have since disappeared,” affirms Pat. “So many people came to the Library to stay warm, to access the internet, charge their laptops, tablets, and cell phones (and in at least one case, to charge an oxygen machine), to study, work, borrow books, read newspapers and magazines, entertain their children while the schools were closed, and meet up with their friends and loved ones,”
observes Alice Walsh, a Trustee of the Library who penned a heartfelt note of gratitude which was later published in the editorials of the Mahopac News. She continues, “Thanks to the Library’s IT company, Annese & Associates, who were on-site to expand the capacity of the wireless computer access to meet the increased demand.” Mahopac Library is an ARMS customer as well and utilizes the Annese Remote Managed Help Desk for outsourced IT support as needed.
“The wireless access was critical to our success (during the storm). There is no way we could have supported even half the number of people that came through our doors during that time period. Annese’s understanding of contemporary technology and long-term vision of Mahopac Library’s needs gave us the capabilities we didn’t even know we needed.” —Pat Kaufman, Mahopac Public Library
“Annese has not only provided Casella with the technical resources that have enabled us to standardize our customer communication process, they have become a strong extension of our MIS team and true partner to our organization.” —Mary St. Peter, MIS Director
In 2009, Casella Waste began experiencing support issues with their service provider. The Contact Center, which houses more than 33 people and is responsible for fielding calls from 26 different service centers, was encountering call handling and call flow inconsistencies which hindered productivity and lowered customer satisfaction. Customers and employees were growing increasingly frustrated, and Casella knew that a change was needed. After assessing Casella’s existing challenges and desired objectives, Annese proposed to enhance their current investment in Cisco Unified Communications by centralizing approximately 42 Call Center employees. As a result, Casella was more proficient in resolving customer concerns by having the ability to quickly filter incoming questions and route them to the correct point of contact. This investment has proven successful through
higher customer satisfaction ratings while at the same time, positioning Casella to continually increase their market share within the industry and reduce their operating expenses. Casella is pleased with its new Call Center and the consistent service they are able to deliver their customers. With 26 locations pulled into one Contact Center, Casella is realizing savings through standard practices of IP telephony, as well as in labor. Casella’s decision to leverage advanced technology is a major differentiator between the company and its competitors. Casella continues to meet primary customer service objectives and has brought over 30 new jobs to the Rutland, Vermont community.
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Resiliency Tested When Record Rainfall Inundates Rockland County Success Story | Annese Remote Managed Service In September of 2011, Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc up and down the East Coast. Towns were flooded, roads were closed, trees were down, bridges had collapsed, and hundreds of thousands of people from Virginia to Vermont found themselves without electricity. The storm deluged Rockland County and the surrounding area just a few days before the new school year was set to begin. With major towns incapacitated, several schools questioned whether they would be able to commence as scheduled. A month prior, Annese had installed Cisco CallManager and Cisco Unity Connection throughout Rockland BOCES’ multibuilding district to replace its antiquated phone system. School administrators were adamant that the cutover occur before classes resumed in the Fall. With safety and security driving Rockland’s decision to improve its communications network, Annese integrated Singlewire’s CallAware
application into the new CallManager. CallAware will send audio or text notifications to groups of recipients if an emergency call has been placed on campus. The application will also trigger follow-up actions as necessary. A disparate paging system was already in place at the BOCES so Annese expanded its capability by positioning new IP speakers around the campus and integrating them with Singlewire. When the storm hit, Rockland’s server had gone down and the school and administrative buildings were without power for almost four days. When the campus regained electricity, its CallManager was corrupt and needed rebuilding. Annese’s ARMS desk was alerted to the issue at 11 p.m. Despite the fact that it was not on contract with ARMS at the time, Annese knew that Rockland was mere hours away from its first day of school and needed immediate remediation assistance.
Protecting Patient Records through Secure Wireless Connectivity Success Story | Managed Wireless Services
Two Annese engineers worked through the night to repair the damage. They were on campus first thing the next morning to ensure all outstanding phone issues had been resolved so the students’ first day of school was not impacted. “Mother Nature can be unpredictable and we suddenly found ourselves in a very unique situation,” noted the Annese Project Manager. “There was no ARMS agreement in place at this time but we had the responsibility of ensuring that Rockland BOCES’ phone system was intact. We had a very strong relationship with them and knew it was the right thing to do.” Rockland is currently working with Annese on a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) project and has since become an ARMS customer.
“I have to commend the Annese team on their commitment and professionalism during installation and implementation of this project. The staff at Annese is always prompt and effective to the on-going needs of our District.” —Kaushika Patel, Rockland BOCES
“Having a consistently reliable network is key to the success of electronic medical records (EMR) systems, especially when multiple kinds of devices are utilized. After considerable initial frustration, switching to an Annese managed wireless platform enabled us to obtain problem-free use of our EMR.” —Jorge Cerda, M.D. Capital District Renal Physicians
Doctors at Capital District Renal Physicians (CDRP) were experiencing difficulty in maintaining consistent connectivity to their wireless network through various endpoints including iPads, laptops, and smart phones. A project completed by a previous networking partner had left the facility with a non-Cisco based wireless solution consisting of only two endpoints. If the connection dropped, all information, including patient data, was irretrievable. After a referral from St. Peter’s Hospital, Annese stepped in to deploy its AnyAccess managed wireless offering, installing four access points on-premise to increase coverage. The installation included a firewall to manage traffic flow and send notifications back to Annese’s service team. AnyAccess has enabled CDRP to maintain its coverage levels across the entire environment as well as proactively troubleshoot issues before business continuity is affected. “Annese’s reliable, secure office network has greatly enhanced patient care and facilitated
communication among providers, while the availability of a guest network for patients has led to enhanced patient satisfaction,” confirms Jorge Cerda,M.D. at CDRP. AnyAccess provides centralized management of WiFi resources through a cloud-based Cisco Cloud Controller and reduces the cost and complexity that typically accompanies traditional wireless infrastructure. The service was codeveloped with Cisco as the first managed wireless offering of its kind by a partner in the Northeast. “It is a tremendous value to Cisco to have Annese fill this void through tapping into their considerable mobility expertise and launching this crucial new service,” comments Mike Glew, Business Development Manager at Cisco. “We are excited about Annese’s unique wireless managed service offer and we will be working closely with Annese to ensure it is successful.” Annese will continue to support CDRP’s wireless networking needs as the facility moves forward with plans to open a second location.
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Depth and Capability
Partnering for Success With a mission to provide an excellent customer experience, Annese looks to partner with like organizations. Guided by our services methodology, Annese selects partners to offer solutions for which we can design an end-to-end IT experience for our clients. We have developed a partnering program to ensure that our customers get access to today’s leading manufacturers coupled with the capabilities, expertise, and relationships that Annese brings to every engagement.
Annese has dedicated four decades to creating and sustaining our expertise within the industry, staying abreast of new technology and correlating its benefits to the unique working aspects of various verticals. We rely on the strong relationships we foster with our partners, which enable us to deliver transformative solutions that impact the way our clients run their businesses. The Annese Partner Program presents a strategic and focused alignment of the strengths and skills of our team to the competencies and innovation of our partners.
Collaboration
Data Center Virtualization
This relationship between Annese and our partners provides customers with a cohesive sales and service approach, enabling an excellent customer experience upon which the foundation for long-term relationships are built. The program formalizes Annese’s relationships with key technology manufacturers and application providers while promoting partner enablement and joint solution selling. This program better aligns our partners to the respective Annese practice areas as denoted right.
“The level of professionalism coupled with their eagerness to work with NetApp has yielded instant results and we foresee a bright future in partnering with Annese & Associates, Inc.” —Mark Matera Channel Manager, NetApp
View Recent Partner News
Infrastructure
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“My Dad (founder, Frank J. Annese) has always promoted the concept that great people are what make companies successful.” —Francine Annese Apy, VP of HR Read the Annese History
Scaling to Greater Heights Frank J. Annese’s founding principle was this: Take care of your employees and they will, in turn, take care of your customers. Guided by that philosophy, Annese recruits and retains the most talented individuals in the industry who harbor passion, integrity, and a customer intimate approach to business, to ensure that you receive an excellent experience, each and every time you work with us.
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Employer of Choice
Annese Ranks in the Top 3 as a Best Company to Work For in New York State
“I am so proud of the hard work of the Annese team, their dedication to our clients, and their loyalty to the company. We have a unique culture where people truly care about one another and where the business is set up to care for its own with unusually strong benefits and compensation. Our score of 96% speaks volumes to this. I sleep like a baby at night knowing we are doing the right thing as an employer, and I know this translates directly into our very high client satisfaction ratings.” — Ray Apy, President & CEO
Best in Class
How We Ranked:
Annese strives to remain an Employer of Choice through our unique corporate culture which promotes employee recognition, a comprehensive benefits package, family atmosphere, and work-life balance. The company’s efforts are reflected in the minimal turn-over rate we have experienced since its inception in 1970. In fact, a number of Annese employees have been providing quality service to our customers for 10 years or more. Annese places a strong emphasis on professional development, encouraging employees to grow in their positions and reach their highest potential, both personally and professionally.
This celebrated annual award identifies the best places of employment based on a two-part survey process evaluating employee satisfaction and engagement, as well as workplace practices and policies.
To that end, Annese is thrilled to once again be honored by Best Companies Group as one of the top 2013 Best Companies to Work For in New York State. We ranked third out of 30 in the small to medium sized business category. This is Annese’s third inclusion on the list; in 2008, we ranked 7th place before climbing up to 2nd in 2009. To be considered, companies are required to: • Be a for-profit or not-for-profit business or government entity. • Be a publicly or privately held business. • Have at least one facility in the state of New York • Have a minimum of 15 employees working in the state of New York. • Be in business a minimum of one (1) year.
Here is a sampling of how Annese ranked:
99% | Overall Engagement This category measures the depth of employees’ emotional commitment to their workplace and their willingness to contribute beyond what is expected of them to improve the company’s productivity and bottom-line.
98% | Leadership and Planning This focus area measures employee confidence in leadership, relative to planning and follow-through on corporate and departmental objectives.
97% | Work Environment This question measures the amenities of the physical workplace: whether it is clean, comfortable, safe, and conducive to work performance.
97% | Relationship with Supervisor
88% | Training and Development
This category evaluates employee perceptions of whether their supervisor provides constructive feedback, allows two-way communication, deals appropriately with personal and workrelated issues, and treats the employee with the fairness and respect required to establish a positive working relationship.
This objective critiques the level of satisfaction in new employee orientation, ongoing professional development, cross-training within the company, and opportunities for career advancement.
93% | Pay and Benefits This area focuses on employee satisfaction as it relates to fair compensation and company provided benefits.
95% | Role Satisfaction This category identifies to what level employees enjoy the work that they do, believe they are appropriately compensated, are adequately recognized and rewarded for their efforts, and are able to maintain a satisfactory work/life balance.
97% | Corporate Culture and Communications In this section, Annese was graded on the frequency, clarity, and credibility of internal corporate communications. Additionally, it probes into whether employees feel ‘quality’ and ‘safety’ are primary concerns at Annese, and whether they believe they are treated fairly and with high regard.
Read the Newspaper Article
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6 Key Factors that Influence Corporate Culture Our employee culture is our baseline for our “High Performance Organization.” I feel lucky to be working at Annese where corporate culture is important at every level of the organization Employee satisfaction grounds Annese in every decision making process.
Merry Bhattacharjee, PHR, Annese’s HR Manager, shares her tips on the importance of cultivating a fun and engaging, yet accountable workplace.
So what’s the glue to the corporate culture; it’s not the big defining pieces that make an organization unique, it’s the little everyday pieces that hold it all together.
01 | Communication I can appreciate brevity, but nobody likes a surprise when it comes to the workplace. Open and honest communication elicits trust in leadership. There are plenty of venues for communication, and at Annese, an Integrated COMMUNICATIONS Systems provider, the word communication means SEVERAL things. At Annese, we have an open policy about communication. Staff share opinions with managers, through suggestion boxes, during meetings such as the annual All Employee Conference, video calls, internal newsletters, announcements... the list goes on. Bottom line, share information!! It is the key for everyone to be successful.
that we work with and for to do the right thing. Trust in your co-workers that you all are working together, in the same direction. Trust in leadership and the direction they are steering the company; they see the big picture and all the moving parts. Good leaders do not want to work in a vacuum, so they solicit opinions and options, and once they have gathered them, they make the best decision for all involved.
03 | Teamwork We all have a to-do list that keeps us busy each day. Some joke and refer to it as job security, others dread the never ending list, and some just always seem to have their priorities in order. Regardless of what your list is made up of, find time to ask those that you support and that support you, as well as the person that sits by you, how they are doing. Is there anything that you could help out with? Would it make a difference in their day if you were able to help with a small task so they could address something else on their plate, or be able to take a longer lunch, or just come up for air. For those of you who do this, it feels kind of cool to lend a hand every now and then. Doesn’t it?
02 | Trust
04 | Transparency
I believe that 99.99% of the time, we make decisions with the best interest of others (and ourselves) at heart. We do try to look out for the bigger picture and although we cannot please everyone with every decision, we do need to trust those
I know someone that is affectionately nicknamed, “Fibs,” short for fibbing. Not that they outright lie or are deceitful, but they add on that little extra “umph” to a story, or omit a small piece that has an impact on the big picture.
That kind of storytelling can be cute coming from my two year old. It can be fun from my Grandpa when he is embellishing a memory from long ago. However, it is not okay in the workplace, not okay from co-workers, and not okay from management. We make the best decisions we can with the information we have – and it is only as good as the data itself.
05 | Recognition “Thank you” are two very powerful words when combined with sincerity and gratitude. Appreciation for a job well done publicly or privately is important for individuals to know that they are on the right track, they did it right, and someone took notice! Annese provides many avenues for recognition that embody the philosophy of public praise from peer-topeer shout outs, personal service awards as employees embrace the Corporate Values, as well as celebrating anniversary milestones with the company. Each award expresses the company’s thanks for work performed on the job, in the community, and with clients.
06 | Playtime Growing up, my dad would always say, “Glad to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor,” when I would laugh at his numerous jokes and gags that usually left me as the punchline. I think this is very relevant in the workplace. We need to have a sense of humor, put a smile on our face, forgive ourselves and colleagues when we make mistakes, and find humor in small things. There is plenty of time to be serious when we get down to business, but enjoy who you work for and those you work with, make ‘em smile every now and then. I strongly believe that when a company creates a corporate culture in which employees know they are cared about, each employee is proud to represent their company in a positive way.
Read the Full Blog Article
2012 Frank J. Annese Award Winner Congratulations to Mark Coffey, Director of Engineering and Jobs Project Management, for winning the 2012 Frank J. Annese Award for Customer Excellence. The award, named after and presented by the company’s founder, was initiated in 2009 and is distributed each year at the annual Annese All Employee Conference. Employees have an opportunity to nominate a coworker 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. Mark has been instrumental in growing Annese’s Project Management Office (PMO) from its inception in 2008. Mark started his career with Annese as the company’s first Project Manager. He quickly rose to the position of Manager of the Project Management Office, and was then promoted again to his current role, Director of Engineering and Project Management. In four short years, Mark has tripled the size of the PMO department and currently oversees roughly 40 members of Annese’s service team. The role of the PMO is to facilitate tasks, determine timelines, coordinate resources, and lead the project team through each phase of the implementation so that it is a smooth and seamless process for customers, guided by a methodology of project processes, tools, and techniques. An Annese customer who worked closely with Mark through an intense campus-wide network upgrade shared her sentiments. “Mark Coffey was phenomenal. He kept the project running on time. He tracked equipment and kept track of every little detail we needed to do. We love project management! One of the biggest selling points from a management level was having a PM component, that we would see someone on-site or by phone every week to keep all those loose ends on track.”
Get a glimpse into the culture at Annese. Watch the 2012 All Employee Conference Video
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Appreciation and Recognition
Employee Excellence Christina Nordquist, Marketing
Andy Enright, Sales
Greg Brousseau, Service
Dan Sanborn, Service
Bob Royal, PMO
Josh Meier, Service
Christina was a pleasure to do business with and I would gladly work with her again in the future. She communicates effectively, is very prompt, and carries herself in a professional manner. I am sure she is a huge asset to the Annese team and any organization is lucky to have her. Nominated by: Colby Hawthorne, Vocus
I just wanted to pass along my appreciation for the work that Andy has put into helping us get off the ground with Ensemble Video. Andy has been responsive (like no other vendor I have worked with in the past), organized, and knowledgeable. He is a credit to Annese and Associates and a great strategic ally in our effort to leverage video to connect with our members. Thanks for a job well done! Nominated by: Austin Moran Director, NY State Association of REALTORS, Inc.
He has gone above and beyond the call of duty helping me with our wireless infrastructure, VoIP phones, network routing issues, and Cisco switch programming. He has always been helpful and has always returned my calls/emails. I would just like to say thanks for such great service. Nominated by: Andy Anderson, FEH BOCES
Dan installed our telephone system here at Sloatsburg Elementary School and answered every question I had (and there were A LOT of them). He was extremely knowledgeable and fixed every “glitch” in an extremely timely manner. Even after he left here, I e-mailed him, I received an answer and “fix” within minutes. The system is working perfectly. Dan should definitely be commended. Nominated by: Michele Zeidman, Ramapo CSD
I really appreciate all that you do for us – you are amazing in your job and Annese is so blessed to have someone with your talent and work ethic working with them – and Churchville is so blessed to have you on our team! Nominated by: Donna Kepler, ChurchvilleChili SD
Josh was very helpful in getting a laptop hooked up for a client in a time of need! Way to go Josh for having our clients notice all that we bring to the table! Nominated by: Sue Martino, Glenmere Mansion
Dan Fleming, Service I would like to formally thank you, on behalf of myself, and the FEH BOCES for all of your help, and assistance with the wireless connectivity at the annual Administrator’s Leadership Conference, held in Lake Placid. You and your folks did an outstanding job. Nominated by: Kevin Kerr, FEH Boces
Joe Bleichert, Sales Joe is awesome to work with. It is a pleasure to speak with him as well. Nominated By: Carol Small, Cisco
Rocky Luppino, Service When working with Rocky, it is always an exceptional experience. He is professional and does his job very well. Nominated by: Charles Wyant, Eldred CSD
Jamie Bogert, Sales Jamie is almost as recognizable in my classroom as I am. She has been supportive of my program every time I ask her (and I ask her a lot). Seeing her growth from a student to a professional is one of the reasons I keep on teaching. Nominated by: Chuck Flint: Orange-Ulster BOCES
Elissa Soulia, Administration Not being afraid to get things done with great follow up. Nominated by: Donald Conklin, SUNY Delhi
Maria Albanese, PMO I wanted you to know that it has been a pleasure working with you and Annese! You are mature beyond your years, a true professional with a positive attitude, and a consultant that never points the blame at anyone else but is more interested in solving the problem at hand. Thanks for all your help and I wish you all the best! Nominated by: Joe Laurenzo, Guilderland CS
Scott Dion, Service He is knowledgeable and very cooperative. Nominated by: Tom Tamvada, CWI
Jason Boyers, Service He is a great customer of ours - he’s asking questions about cutting edge technology which is also relatively new for us as a support-team. He’s still very patient and gives us the space to look out for a correct and relevant answer - it’s good to have Jason as a customer. I really would like to give him the best answers as quickly as possible, although it’s not easy on these latest technologies and sometimes I feel guilty that it takes more time than expected - still Jason never gets impatient and keeps us motivated to work the best we can for him. Nominated by: Gert Vanderstraeten, Cisco
Marisa Lamanna, Finance Marisa does a great job in getting invoices to me promptly upon request. Most of the time she emails them to me even before I have a chance to make the request. It’s a big help, especially now, when we are trying to close out end of the year POs. Nominated by: Becky Roulstin, SUNY Cortland
Becky Gawlik, Administration You were specifically called out by several of our Regions separately for the outstanding job you do every day! I just wanted to let you know that the regular AMs in the field really wanted to express their thanks. Nominated by: John Andolina, Cisco
Eric Peterson, Service I wanted to pass along compliments on Eric Peterson. He was most helpful and professional discussing our wireless options and completing an assessment of the two buildings. We look forward to working with Eric as we expand our wireless network in a secured manor utilizing a controller. Thanks again for helping to procure the controller device from Cisco. I am confident it will be a good investment from their perspective as we purchase additional equipment from Cisco in the future. Nominated by: Adam Zehr, Indian River CSD
Elizabeth Conte, Administration Promptness in answering my questions and tracking items in question. Nominated by: Josephine Perrino, Hyde Park, CSD
As a workplace committed to excellence, Annese instituted a Peer to Peer Recognition program allowing external colleagues to notify the management team of an employee’s hard work and dedication to the Annese Core Values. Nominate an Employee
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Meet the Team
Annese Leadership
Welcome to the Family Tom Gdula
Data Center Virtualization Practice Manager
Ray Apy
Joe LoRe
Jamie Aiello
Steve Heath
President and Chief Executive Officer
Chief Financial Officer
VP of Services
VP of Sales
As CEO, Ray is responsible for the design and execution of all corporate strategies and the development of growth, profit, and operating objectives.
Joe directs the activities of the organization’s operational policies, finances, and initiatives in alignment with the Annese mission, strategic goals, and tactical objectives.
Jamie is responsible for the efficient operation of the company’s professional and managed service departments, as well as developing new services to bring to market.
Steve is responsible for the direction and management of all sales operations and for sales performance against the company’s business strategy.
“I’m honored to join such a high performing team like Annese,” said Tom. “I’m looking forward to contributing to the Data Center Practice as our industry continues to leverage the efficiency and advantages of virtualization.”
Kelly Johst
Account Manager “Annese’s commitment to both customer intimacy and personal success made my decision to join the family an easy one,” said Kelly.
Dan Taylor
Network Engineer
“I am excited to work for a company who is as passionate about their employees as they are about their business,” Dan said on his first day.
Elizabeth Conte Francine Annese Apy
Yvonne Annese LoRe
Kara Rudy
Maura Peddle
VP of Human Resources
VP of Corporate Projects
Director of Marketing
Chief of Staff
Yvonne organizes and leads endeavors on behalf of the company and it’s subsidiary Properties-4-Annese, in alignment with the company’s strategic plan.
Kara develops and executes annual marketing and communications plans in alignment with the business strategy to drive growth and enhance the company brand.
Francine directs all employee functions of Annese and closely manages the strategic resource planning to recruit and retain the best human talent available.
Maura plans and directs operational activities as well as key business engagements, for the President, and acts as a liaison to leadership and management.
Account Service Representative “We are very excited to have Elizabeth join our team,” comments Shalla Pelloni, Account Services Supervisor. “Her previous experience will add to the strength and knowledge of our Account Service Team. Her drive to provide a high level of customer satisfaction will be a great asset to the team.”
Brandon Kuras
Merry Bhattacharjee
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with several Annese employees in my previous employment,” Brandon said, “I am very excited to join the team and contribute to its success.”
“I am looking forward to working with the high caliber talent at Annese.. I have been very impressed with the leadership and stakeholder support of employee development, coaching, and connections, said Merry.
Network Consultant
Eryn Brady
Project Manager “We are very glad to have Eryn join the PMO team,” said Chris Tully, the Manager of the PMO. “Eryn has significant experience in project management from her previous position, and her enthusiasm and focus on customer satisfaction are a perfect fit for our culture here at Annese.”
Jonathan Franks
Network Consultant “I’m very excited to join the team here at Annese,” Jonathan said at his new hire orientation. “As a former customer, I know the quality of the service that they provide, and I look forward to being a part of this great team.”
Joshua Meier AMS Engineer
HR Manager
Kyle Ruggaber
Contract Administrator “I am excited to finally be a permanent employee of Annese. I am also happy to start my career with a company as great as Annese, and becoming part of the family,” states Kyle.
Elizabeth Kapfer
Financial Operations Analyst “The simple gestures of extended hands and smiles were the greetings I expected my first few days at Annese. What I didn’t expect was how genuine and natural the words ‘welcome to the family’ would sound on my second day. I believe everyone is searching for a job they enjoy enough to make it a career, and it is rare to find a place where you have fun with your career,” shared Elizabeth.
Joshua says; “I am excited to be a part of a company that emphasizes personal growth and is a dominant force in the industry.”
Do you know any great people? Help Annese continue to provide excellent customer service by referring candidates to our growing team. See Current Open Positions
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Stay Connected
Office Locations
Numbers to Know
Buffalo
Albany
Annese Managed Service Desk
(716) 972-0076
(518) 371-9000
(866) 581-9718
Rochester
Chester
Annese Service Help Desk
(585) 292-5590
(845) 988-5400
(800) 723-2213
Syracuse
Brewster
Finance Office
(315) 457-4333
(845) 207-8000
(315) 866-2213
Binghamton
Connecticut
(607) 821-4798
(203) 701-7990
Herkimer
Rhode Island
(315) 866-2213
(401) 234-4063
Join the Conversation
/AnneseAssoc /company/annese-&-associates-inc @Annese_Assoc
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