The Silicon Review has published an issue of 50 Leading Companies of The Year 2020

1. Leadership Technology Business Features CIOs
www.thesiliconreview.com
Mihai Ivascu, CEO & Founder
Guarding Cybersecurity Space: Modex BCDB Writes
a New Chapter in Blockchain Technology
Guarding Cybersecurity Space: Modex BCDB Writes
a New Chapter in Blockchain Technology
Companies
oftheYear
2020
50Leading
US Special
Mihai Ivascu, CEO & Founder

2. T
he concept of adding sensors
and intelligence to basic
everyday objects was an often
discussed concept during the 1980s
and 1990s but apart from some
early projects like the internet-
connected vending machine, the
progress in this industry was
slow as the technology was not
developed enough to accommodate
the ideology behind the Internet
of Things (IoT). It took technology
around a decade to catch up with
the ideology and MultiTech became
one of the first companies to grab on
to the venture and develop it beyond
what was thought to be possible.
MultiTech designs, develops, and
manufactures communication
equipment for the industrial
Internet of Things — connecting
physical assets to business
processes to deliver enhanced value.
The company was incorporated
in 1970 and is headquartered in
Mounds View, Minnesota.
MultiTech Synopsis
Factors Keeping MultiTech
Ahead in the Race
MultiTech has consistently
connected businesses in previously
unimagined ways, from the earliest
analog systems, to the cellular
heart of today’s industrial IoT, to
the lowest low-power wireless
technology and beyond. MultiTech’s
excellent service and products are
trusted by its loyal clients across
the globe to address their needs. Its
history of innovation assures that
MultiTech stays ahead of the curve
with the latest technology and will
see your solution to the end.
The IoT is creating new customer
experiences and unparalleled
economic values while improving
the quality of life for countless
individuals around the globe. By
providing the means to connect
‘things’ to the internet, MultiTech
delivers a deep understanding
of businesses and governmental
organizations, which transform the
way we live and work. The benefits
of IoT can be sorted into three broad
categories:
Making Money — Creating new
services that leverage new, remote,
or on-demand data leads to the
invention of new products and
services, optimizing customer
experiences, and reducing labor-
intensive tasks to focus the
manpower towards revenue-
generating activities.
Saving Money — Enabling
predictive and preventive
maintenance, enacting process
optimization, and monitoring
exceptions result in reduced
operational costs, fewer truck rolls,
and a higher return on investments.
Compliance — IoT enables tracking
and reporting on industry-specific
regulations.
While designing and manufacturing
communication equipment, the
products need to meet a unique set
of standards like extended lifecycles,
high quality and reliability, high
availability, extended temperature
ranges, and ruggedness. Having
these factors incorporated into
the design from the earliest stage
of manufacture ensures that they
are addressed throughout the
manufacturing and assembling
process, hence ensuring an
unmatched reputation for quality
and service. MultiTech adopts this
mantra for the production of all its
products resulting in high quality
while meeting the needs of industry
standards.
Outshining Competition: The
Right Way
Superior Quality: From its U.S.-
based manufacturing plant to
countless product and process
certifications, MultiTech is
committed to the utmost quality
in everything it does. That’s why
you can find more than 25 Million
MultiTech products performing
essential duties for businesses
around the globe.
Service Excellence: From its
comprehensive portfolio to the
“Our mission is to make connected technology easy to adopt and use by focusing on
customer needs, developing innovative solutions, outpacing market change, leveraging
best-in-class processes, and empowering our team to achieve and grow.”
MultiTech—A Pioneer in the Hardware and
Communication Technology Industry Armed with
a Complete Family of IoT Products and Services
“Our commitment to quality and service excellence means you can count on
MultiTech products and its people to address your needs.”
T
he concept of adding sensors
and intelligence to basic
everyday objects was an often
discussed concept during the 1980s
and 1990s but apart from some
early projects like the internet-
connected vending machine, the
progress in this industry was
slow as the technology was not
developed enough to accommodate
the ideology behind the Internet
of Things (IoT). It took technology
around a decade to catch up with
the ideology and MultiTech became
one of the first companies to grab on
to the venture and develop it beyond
what was thought to be possible.
MultiTech designs, develops, and
manufactures communication
equipment for the industrial
Internet of Things — connecting
physical assets to business
processes to deliver enhanced
value.
The company was incorporated
in 1970 and is headquartered in
Mounds View, Minnesota.
MultiTech Synopsis
Factors Keeping MultiTech
Ahead in the Race
MultiTech has consistently
connected businesses in previously
unimagined ways, from the earliest
analog systems, to the cellular
heart of today’s industrial IoT, to
the lowest low-power wireless
technology and beyond. MultiTech’s
excellent service and products are
trusted by its loyal clients across
the globe to address their needs. Its
history of innovation assures that
MultiTech stays ahead of the curve
with the latest technology and will
see your solution to the end.
The IoT is creating new customer
experiences and unparalleled
economic values while improving
the quality of life for countless
individuals around the globe. By
providing the means to connect
‘things’ to the internet, MultiTech
delivers a deep understanding
of businesses and governmental
organizations, which transform
the way we live and work. The
benefits of IoT can be sorted into
three broad categories:
Making Money — Creating new
services that leverage new, remote,
or on-demand data leads to the
invention of new products and
services, optimizing customer
experiences, and reducing labor-
intensive tasks to focus the
manpower towards revenue-
generating activities.
Saving Money — Enabling
predictive and preventive
maintenance, enacting process
optimization, and monitoring
exceptions result in reduced
operational costs, fewer truck
rolls, and a higher return on
investments.
Compliance — IoT enables tracking
and reporting on industry-specific
regulations.
While designing and manufacturing
communication equipment, the
products need to meet a unique set
of standards like extended lifecycles,
high quality and reliability, high
availability, extended temperature
ranges, and ruggedness. Having
these factors incorporated into
the design from the earliest stage
of manufacture ensures that they
are addressed throughout the
manufacturing and assembling
process, hence ensuring an
unmatched reputation for quality
and service. MultiTech adopts this
mantra for the production of all its
products resulting in high quality
while meeting the needs of industry
standards.
Outshining Competition: The
Right Way
Superior Quality: From its U.S.-
based manufacturing plant to
countless product and process
certifications, MultiTech is
committed to the utmost quality
in everything it does. That’s why
you can find more than 25 Million
MultiTech products performing
essential duties for businesses
around the globe.
Service Excellence: From its
comprehensive portfolio to the
2

3. extensive reach of its distribution
network, MultiTech is easy to choose
and easy to buy. Thanks to in-house
manufacturing and custom design
services; broad-reaching expertise
and fast, agile development, the
company delivers customization
and �lexibility you simply can’t get
anywhere else.
History of Innovation: From the
earliest analog systems to the
cellular heart of today’s industrial
IoT to the latest low-power
wireless technology, MultiTech has
consistently connected businesses in
ways previously unimaginable – and
has been doing so for 50 years. The
company is continuing its legacy
of �irsts with innovative devices
supporting edge intelligence, LPWA,
Private LTE, and 5G.
Tapping into Future Trends
Demand for robust and agile local
connectivity with cost-ef�icient
deployment architecture, paired with
the need for secure, on-premise data
management is driving the appetite
for private enterprise networks to
support digital transformation and
the IoT. Pair that trend with the
liberalization of mid-band spectrum
policy in the US and abroad and we
are facing a paradigm shift in the
way cellular networks are deployed;
from thousands of wireless
operators to millions of sites with
their own cellular network, including
sports venues, airports, malls, hotels,
mines, manufacturing facility, and
enterprise of�ice spaces.
Other industry trends that MultiTech
plans on addressing this year is
enhancing the computing power
of its edge devices to support local
decision making and optimizing
communications and cloud usage
along with supporting robust
security for connected devices.
MultiTech is among the �irst few
companies to commercialize routers
to facilitate such
deployments building
on its experience of deploying
private enterprise LoRaWAN
networks.
Future Roadmap
While focusing on edge intelligence,
security, and streamlining the
customer experience, particularly
around the deployment and
management of private IoT
networks, MultiTech draws a
roadmap addressing its customers’
biggest IoT painpoints through
a combination of product
enhancements, targeted support
services, and tailored bundled
solutions.
Moreover, the company will be
celebrating its 50th Anniversary this
year; commemorating �ive decades
spent leading the industry while
gazing at a brighter
future.
Leadership | MultiTech
Late Raghu Sharma, Founder: Dr. Raghu Sharma received his Bachelor’s
degree in Physics from the University of Delhi in 1957. He also earned a Bachelor’s
degree and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the prestigious
Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India. While working as a Senior Science
Fellow at the National Physics Laboratory on microwave technology, he decided
to seek a Ph.D. Although accepted by both Harvard and MIT, he chose to attend
the University of Minnesota where he earned a Master of Science in Electrical
Engineering and a Ph.D.
In 1970, he sold his �irst acoustic coupler and Multi-Tech Systems, Inc. was launched. By
1978, sales had reached over one million dollars.
Stefan Lindvall, CEO: Stefan Lindvall brings more than 20 years of
high-level experience in the wireless industry to MultiTech. Mr. Lindvall
founded Connected Development, one of the leading wireless design
services companies in the U.S. Before Connected Development, he served
as President of the Americas at Wavecom and before that held various
leadership positions at Sony-Ericsson and Ericsson including, Vice
President m2m Sales, Americas. Mr. Lindvall received his MSin Industrial
Engineering and Management from the University of Linkoping, Sweden.
Raghu Sharma
Founder
Stefan Lindvall, CEO
SR

4. Andrew Simpson: A Formidable
Leader
Andrew Simpson is the Chief Operating Officer
(COO) of CaseWare RCM Inc. with more than 20 years of
experience building businesses in the fields of information
systems audit and security, data analytics, anti-money
laundering, and forensics. He is a regular thought-leader and
contributor to conferences. Andrew was the founder and CEO
of SymSure Ltd. and is the founder and Chairman of Symptai
Consulting, an IT security and consulting firm.
Alessa by CaseWare RCM - Simplifying the Fight
against Money Laundering, Fraud and
Other Financial Crimes
“Do not get obsessed with your creations because you are going to have to recreate
them in a few years as the market changes.”
Financial
institutions have high
volumes of transactions,
offering a huge variety
of products and are held to
certain stringent regulations. Rigid
reporting and EDD (Enhanced Due
Diligence) requirements also need
these institutions to perform careful
screening and ongoing monitoring of
all transactions and customers.
CaseWare RCM Inc, a division of
CaseWare International, focuses
on building great software to fight
financial crimes.
Alessa (formerly known as CaseWare
Monitor) is CaseWare RCM’s flagship
product. It is used in more than 20
countries by banking, insurance,
FinTech, gaming, manufacturing, and
retail companies. Alessa integrates
with existing systems to detect
suspicious activities, automate
processes, reduce false-positives,
decrease repetitive tasks, and engage
the entire organization in a culture
of compliance.
In addition to these, Alessa
offers due diligence, sanctions
screening, transaction
monitoring, and screening,
regulatory reporting, advanced
analytics and workflow automation,
and case management.
Andrew Simpson:
Interview Highlights
Why was the company set
up? And how did you expand
your company and its
offerings over the years?
When we started CaseWare RCM, the
focus was on providing technologies
that would automate the role of
internal auditors by leveraging data
analytics. The initial concept was
Andrew Simpson
COO
“Do not get obsessed with your creations because you are going to have to recreate
them in a few years as the market changes.”
F
inancial
institutions have
high volumes of
transactions, offering a huge
variety of products and are held to
certain stringent regulations. Rigid
reporting and EDD (Enhanced Due
Diligence) requirements also need
these institutions to perform careful
screening and ongoing monitoring of
all transactions and customers.
CaseWare RCM Inc, a division of
CaseWare International, focuses
on building great software to fight
financial crimes.
Alessa (formerly known as CaseWare
Monitor) is CaseWare RCM’s flagship
product. It is used in more than 20
countries by banking, insurance,
FinTech, gaming, manufacturing, and
retail companies. Alessa integrates
with existing systems to detect
suspicious activities, automate
processes, reduce false-positives,
decrease repetitive tasks, and engage
the entire organization in a culture of
compliance.
In addition to these, Alessa offers
due diligence, sanctions screening,
transaction monitoring, and screening,
regulatory reporting, advanced
analytics and workflow automation,
and case management.
Andrew Simpson:
Interview Highlights
Why was the company set up?
And how did you expand your
company and its offerings
over the years?
When we started CaseWare RCM, the
focus was on providing technologies
that would automate the role of
internal auditors by leveraging data
analytics. The initial concept was
Continuous Controls Monitoring
Andrew Simpson: A Formidable
Leader
Andrew Simpson is the Chief Operating Officer (COO)
of CaseWare RCM Inc. with more than 20 years of experience
building businesses in the fields of information systems
audit and security, data analytics, anti-money laundering,
and forensics. He is a regular thought-leader and contributor
to conferences. Andrew was the Founder and CEO of
SymSure Ltd. and is the founder and Chairman of Symptai
Consulting, an IT security and consulting firm
Andrew Simpson: A Formidable
Leader
Andrew Simpson is the Chief Operating Officer
(COO) of CaseWare RCM Inc. with more than 20 years of
experience building businesses in the fields of information
systems audit and security, data analytics, anti-money
laundering, and forensics. He is a regular thought-leader and
contributor to conferences. Andrew was the founder and CEO
of SymSure Ltd. and is the founder and Chairman of Symptai
Consulting, an IT security and consulting firm.
Alessa by CaseWare RCM - Simplifying the Fight
against Money Laundering, Fraud and
Other Financial Crimes
“Do not get obsessed with your creations because you are going to have to recreate
them in a few years as the market changes.”
Financial
institutions have high
volumes of transactions,
offering a huge variety
of products and are held to
certain stringent regulations. Rigid
reporting and EDD (Enhanced Due
Diligence) requirements also need
these institutions to perform careful
screening and ongoing monitoring of
all transactions and customers.
CaseWare RCM Inc, a division of
CaseWare International, focuses
on building great software to fight
financial crimes.
Alessa (formerly known as CaseWare
Monitor) is CaseWare RCM’s flagship
product. It is used in more than 20
countries by banking, insurance,
FinTech, gaming, manufacturing, and
retail companies. Alessa integrates
with existing systems to detect
suspicious activities, automate
processes, reduce false-positives,
decrease repetitive tasks, and engage
the entire organization in a culture
of compliance.
In addition to these, Alessa
offers due diligence, sanctions
screening, transaction
monitoring, and screening,
regulatory reporting, advanced
analytics and workflow automation,
and case management.
Andrew Simpson:
Interview Highlights
Why was the company set
up? And how did you expand
your company and its
offerings over the years?
When we started CaseWare RCM, the
focus was on providing technologies
that would automate the role of
internal auditors by leveraging data
analytics. The initial concept was
Andrew Simpson
COO
4

5. Continuous Controls Monitoring
(CCM), and we expanded it into
ive
years, primarily by having strong
partnerships in countries such as
Australia, Germany, United States,
the Caribbean, and Latin America.
However, in more recent years we
realized that the technology was
primarily being used by compliance
departments, whether they are
looking at Anti-Bribery, Anti-
Corruption (ABAC), or Anti-Money
Laundering (AML). Therefore, this
has been the area where we have
expanded the most by extending
our capabilities into customer
due diligence (sanctions and PEP
screening, identity v
transaction monitoring, and
regulatory reporting to bodies like
FinCEN and FINTRAC.
How successful was your
roject?
roject in 2010 was quite
successful as CCM was a hot topic…
and using analytics to automate the
audit process was a key pursuit for
many companies.
The project was to automate
the audit of the bills at a utility
company in Canada. We were
reading the printed bills and
looking to identify any errors that
would lead to revenue losses.
Using data analytics, we were also
trying t
themselves that could potentially
lead to bad press. The system
would identify the handful of bills
that needed closer scrutiny and
allow the company to complete its
billing process mor ly. We
had a lot of good success, but we
also had some failures.
How do you manage to serve
the needs of a highly volatile
market?
By embracing it. One of our value
statements is: “Don’t be afraid of
chaos and discomfort”. It is going to
be volatile and changing all the time.
You just have to embrace it. Do not
get obsessed with your creations
because you are going to have to
recreate them in a few years as the
market changes. Make sure you are
not too in love with your products
because that leads to complacency.
You have to get over yourself and
recognize that you have put a lot
of effort into something that in
the ne ive years may become
obsolete. If that is not what you
want to be doing, you shouldn’t be
in this business.
If you have to list factors
that are the biggest asset
to your organization, what
would they be and why?
The three biggest assets in our
company: people, people, and
people. What has been fascinating
to me over all these years is that no
matter how businesses, processes,
and technology change, in the end,
what drives success is people.
Everything is always about people.
How do you stay relevant to
the consumer interests and
needs in this highly volatile
market?
Curiosity. I always want to know
what is happening. How are things
changing? We embrace the change.
Therefore, we’re not afraid. The
key is to create simple solutions
to detect and prevent complex
What factors
make your
company lead
the current market?
We succeed in areas such as
anti-money laundering by
keeping it simple and easy-
to-use for our customers and
their employ
crime software solution,
Alessa, is a continuous control
monit
crime detection, prevention,
and management solution.
Of course, we have advanced
analytics that are AI-driven
which we employ to detect
complex fraud and AML
schemes across multiple
departments and systems.
But the key is that they have
rable wor ows and
easy-to-use case management
tools for investigations and
remediation. This helps when
you need to enroll the entire
organization in a culture
of compliance. That’s why
Alessa is used in more than
20 countries b
institutions, FinTechs,
corporations, and casinos.
Where do you see your
company a couple of
years from now?
We will o
software market in two years.
There are no shortcuts or
tricks, just a long tough road,
but we will continue to be
unreasonable in pursuing big
audacious goals.
“We succeed in areas such as anti-money laundering
by keeping it simple and easy-to-use for our
customers and their employees.”
(CCM), and we expanded it into
about 20 countries in the first five
years, primarily by having strong
partnerships in countries such as
Australia, Germany, United States,
the Caribbean, and Latin America.
However, in more recent years we
realized that the technology was
primarily being used by compliance
departments, whether they are
looking at Anti-Bribery, Anti-
Corruption (ABAC), or Anti-Money
Laundering (AML). Therefore, this
has been the area where we have
expanded the most by extending
our capabilities into customer
due diligence (sanctions and PEP
screening, identity verification)
transaction monitoring, and
regulatory reporting to bodies like
FinCEN and FINTRAC.
How successful was your
first project?
Our first project in 2010 was quite
successful as CCM was a hot topic…
and using analytics to automate the
audit process was a key pursuit for
many companies.
The project was to automate
the audit of the bills at a utility
company in Canada. We were
reading the printed bills and
looking to identify any errors that
would lead to revenue losses.
Using data analytics, we were also
trying to find anomalies in the bills
themselves that could potentially
lead to bad press. The system
would identify the handful of bills
that needed closer scrutiny and
allow the company to complete its
billing process more efficiently. We
had a lot of good success, but we
also had some failures.
How do you manage to serve
the needs of a highly volatile
market?
By embracing it. One of our value
statements is: “Don’t be afraid of
chaos and discomfort”. It is going to
be volatile and changing all the time.
You just have to embrace it. Do not get
obsessed with your creations because
you are going to have to recreate them
in a few years as the market changes.
Make sure you are not too in love with
your products because that leads to
complacency. You have to get over
yourself and recognize that you have
put a lot of effort into something that
in the next five years may become
obsolete. If that is not what you want
to be doing, you shouldn’t be in this
business.
If you have to list factors that
are the biggest asset to your
organization, what would they
be and why?
The three biggest assets in our
company: people, people, and people.
What has been fascinating to me over
all these years is that no matter how
businesses, processes, and technology
change, in the end, what drives
success is people. Everything is always
about people.
How do you stay relevant to
the consumer interests and
needs in this highly volatile
market?
Curiosity. I always want to know
what is happening. How are things
changing? We embrace the change.
Therefore, we’re not afraid. The key
is to create simple solutions to detect
and prevent complex financial crimes.
What factors make
your company lead
the current market?
We succeed in areas such as
anti-money laundering by
keeping it simple and easy-
to-use for our customers and
their employees. Our financial
crime software solution,
Alessa, is a continuous
control monitoring and
financial crime detection,
prevention, and management
solution. Of course, we have
advanced analytics that are
AI-driven which we employ
to detect complex fraud and
AML schemes across multiple
departments and systems.
But the key is that they have
configurable workflows and
easy-to-use case management
tools for investigations and
remediation. This helps when
you need to enroll the entire
organization in a culture
of compliance. That’s why
Alessa is used in more than
20 countries by financial
institutions, FinTechs,
corporations, and casinos.
Where do you see your
company a couple of
years from now?
We will own a significant
chunk of the financial crime
software market in two years.
There are no shortcuts or
tricks, just a long tough road,
but we will continue to be
unreasonable in pursuing big
audacious goals.
“We succeed in areas such as anti-money
laundering by keeping it simple and easy-to-use
for our customers and their employees.”
5
March- 2020
SR
Continuous Controls Monitoring
(CCM), and we expanded it into
about 20 countries in the �irst �ive
years, primarily by having strong
partnerships in countries such as
Australia, Germany, United States,
the Caribbean, and Latin America.
However, in more recent years we
realized that the technology was
primarily being used by compliance
departments, whether they are
looking at Anti-Bribery, Anti-
Corruption (ABAC), or Anti-Money
Laundering (AML). Therefore, this
has been the area where we have
expanded the most by extending
our capabilities into customer
due diligence (sanctions and PEP
screening, identity veri�ication)
transaction monitoring, and
regulatory reporting to bodies like
FinCEN and FINTRAC.
How successful was your
�irst project?
Our �irst project in 2010 was quite
successful as CCM was a hot topic…
and using analytics to automate the
audit process was a key pursuit for
many companies.
The project was to automate
the audit of the bills at a utility
company in Canada. We were
reading the printed bills and
looking to identify any errors that
would lead to revenue losses.
Using data analytics, we were also
trying to �ind anomalies in the bills
themselves that could potentially
lead to bad press. The system
would identify the handful of bills
that needed closer scrutiny and
allow the company to complete its
billing process more ef�iciently. We
had a lot of good success, but we
also had some failures.
How do you manage to serve
the needs of a highly volatile
market?
By embracing it. One of our value
statements is: “Don’t be afraid of
chaos and discomfort”. It is going to
be volatile and changing all the time.
You just have to embrace it. Do not
get obsessed with your creations
because you are going to have to
recreate them in a few years as the
market changes. Make sure you are
not too in love with your products
because that leads to complacency.
You have to get over yourself and
recognize that you have put a lot
of effort into something that in
the next �ive years may become
obsolete. If that is not what you
want to be doing, you shouldn’t be
in this business.
If you have to list factors
that are the biggest asset
to your organization, what
would they be and why?
The three biggest assets in our
company: people, people, and
people. What has been fascinating
to me over all these years is that no
matter how businesses, processes,
and technology change, in the end,
what drives success is people.
Everything is always about people.
How do you stay relevant to
the consumer interests and
needs in this highly volatile
market?
Curiosity. I always want to know
what is happening. How are things
changing? We embrace the change.
Therefore, we’re not afraid. The
key is to create simple solutions
to detect and prevent complex
�inancial crimes.
What factors
make your
company lead
the current market?
We succeed in areas such as
anti-money laundering by
keeping it simple and easy-
to-use for our customers and
their employees. Our �inancial
crime software solution,
Alessa, is a continuous control
monitoring and �inancial
crime detection, prevention,
and management solution.
Of course, we have advanced
analytics that are AI-driven
which we employ to detect
complex fraud and AML
schemes across multiple
departments and systems.
But the key is that they have
con�igurable work�lows and
easy-to-use case management
tools for investigations and
remediation. This helps when
you need to enroll the entire
organization in a culture
of compliance. That’s why
Alessa is used in more than
20 countries by �inancial
institutions, FinTechs,
corporations, and casinos.
Where do you see your
company a couple of
years from now?
We will own a signi�icant
chunk of the �inancial crime
software market in two years.
There are no shortcuts or
tricks, just a long tough road,
but we will continue to be
unreasonable in pursuing big
audacious goals.
“We succeed in areas such as anti-money laundering
by keeping it simple and easy-to-use for our
customers and their employees.”
SR
5

6. ‘We Use Our Experience and Leading-Edge Technology to Ensure
Valuable Systems and Data are as Secure as They Possibly Can Be’—
Charlie Regan, Nerds On Site Inc CEO
“The need to remain secure, and the potential costs of not doing so, is something that cannot be overstated, let
alone overlooked.”
B
y 1995, technology was
becoming prevalent as people
were becoming more and more
connected. Service and support for
this technology came mostly from
the manufacturers and retailers
and could be arduous and not so
consumer-friendly. There was a
rising need for tech support services
that could help consumers after
they have bought a certain product
and provide aftercare services. With
the boom in technology came the
advancements in cybercrimes as well.
People needed protection against the
various acts of cybercrime.
Nerds On Site Inc was founded
during this period in 1995. It’s
an international IT support and
cybercrime solutions company based
in Ontario, Canada. Nerds On Site
strives to make itself an effective
technology partner of choice for
SMEs .
In Conversation with
Charlie Regan, Nerds On
Site Inc CEO
Tell us about an early success
story and how it helped to
shape the company.
One of our first large SME client and
client projects came as a result of
a referral from a home service call.
The homeowner’s local business, an
engineering firm, was in need of a
major technology overhaul. The nerd
pulled together the required talent
across the team and we responded
with a coordinated effort to upgrade
almost every aspect of the client’s
technology. This was one of the
first experiences that highlighted
the power of the team and led us to
develop systems that promoted and
supported the team approach with
our Clients.
What kind of evolving client
needs have you recognized
over the years? How have
they motivated you to shape
your offerings/grow the
company?
Cybercriminals are reinvesting
their profits and have the distinct
advantage of only needing
to find a single vulnerability while
clients must identify and defend all
potential vulnerabilities. The rise of
the criminal element and the ‘dark
creep’ of the internet over the
years is just now being realized by
many business owners. The need
to remain secure, and the potential
costs of not doing so, is something
that cannot be overstated, let alone
overlooked. We have maintained a
strong focus on securing our client’s
technology, going so far as to
create a security solution (Adam:
ONE, a DNS-based gateway) that
protects clients in a way that we’ve
not found possible with any other
solution.
Many IT leaders don’t know
what they really have even
when they think they do. How
do you manage to serve the
needs of a highly volatile
market?
We effectively serve the needs
of the market by first identifying
what those needs are, or, more
specifically, what the primary need
is. Considering today’s dangerous
internet landscape, that primary
need, for every business and
individual, is security. Having
identified security as the number one
priority and, getting customer buy-in
and agreement, it is easy to
resist going down the path of
traditional IT solutions that we know
just don’t work.
If you have to list five
factors that have been/are
the biggest asset to your
organization, what would
they be and why?
• Power of Team – Access/
leverage the combined
knowledge and experience of the
entire Nerds Team,
• Proactive Service – Monitor
client systems and take care
of issues before they become
problems,
“Considering today’s dangerous internet landscape, that primary need,
for every business and individual, is security. Having identified security as the number one
priority and, getting customer buy-in and agreement, it is easy to resist going down the
path of traditional IT solutions that we know just don’t work.”

7. • Agility – Quickly respond to
client concerns,
• Adaptability – Change with the
circumstances, being always
forward-thinking, playing
whatever role the client requires,
• Integrity – Ensure all of our
Nerds are the kind of people who
do the right thing, even when no
one is watching. Customers see
it. Customers trust it.
How do you stay relevant to
the consumer interests and
needs in this highly volatile
market?
We stay relevant by first defining
what the customer interests and
needs actually are, often before they
are fully aware of themselves. Then
we demonstrate our adaptability
by filling those needs. It might be
through Outsourced IT and Security
services where we become their
entire IT and Security department
or through Supplemental IT and
Security services to help their
in-house team fill in the gaps,
pick up the slack when they are
implementing new projects or
provide boots on the ground at
remote locations.
Do you have any new
products ready to be
launched?
We are in the early stages of
releasing Adam: ONE, a cutting
edge, DNS-based firewall and
gateway solutions software
with the potential to
revolutionize cybersecurity by
starting from a zero-trust
position at the internet
gateway position.
Charlie Regan,
CEO/Co-Founder: Charlie Regan is
the owner and CEO of a number of
interesting and growing enterprises
—Nerds On Site, Tactical Marketing
Solutions, and Augusta Business Coaching
RAF Enterprising, among others. He also
works closely with several more Canadian
and American based firms. Mr. Regan
guest lectured for a number of years at
the University of Windsor as part of their
Co-op M.B.A. program, as well as the
University of Michigan.
David Redekop, Co-Founder:
The rise of cybercrime has landed
Mr. Redekop squarely in the cybersecurity
industry with a strong focus on incident
response and prevention of security
lapses by implementing practical, yet
strong policies that use the latest that
gateway security and endpoint protection
are able to offer, including his own patent-
pending solutions applied to the Zero
Trust Model.
John Harbarenko, Co-Founder:
In 1995, John was working as a computer
technician at an electronics big-box store
when he saw a need in the marketplace
for ‘personalized’ technology service, and
an opportunity to break the ice between
computer owners, and computer nerds.
That same year, John, along with David
Redekop, co-founded ‘Nerds On Site’ to fill
this void in the market and provide onsite
services to homes and businesses.
Meet the Nerds Behind Nerds On Site Inc
Charlie Regan
CEO & Co-Founder
John Harbarenko
Co-founder
David Redekop
Co-founder
Where do you see your
company a couple of years
from now?
We are currently focused on USA
expansion. By growing our network of
highly trained and vastly experienced
Nerds across the United States, we see
ourselves, in a couple of years from
now, as the Managed Security and
Services Provider (MSSP) of choice
among SMEs across North America.
SR

8. “Virtusa’s unique value comes from the combination of deep technical expertise and an intense
industry focus that results in holistic, humanistic, and highly effective business solutions.”
Kris Canekeratne: A Visionary Leader
Kris Canekeratne Co-founder/Chairman, serves as the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of Virtusa Corporation, a leading global
digital engineering company. He plays a key role in defining the
company strategy and continuously pushing next-generation
technologies and organizational innovation to bolster its
leadership position in the industry. In 1989,
Mr. Canekeratne was one of the founding team
members of INSCI Corporation, a supplier of digital document
repositories and integrated output management products and
services and served as its senior vice president from 1992
to 1996. In 1996, he co-founded Virtusa and in 1997,
he co-founded eDocs, Inc., a provider of electronic
account management and customer care, later
acquired by Oracle Corporation.
Mr. Canekeratne obtained his B.S.
in Computer Science from
Syracuse University.
Virtusa:
Sparking Digital Innovation,
One Sprint at a Time by
Challenging Norms
Kris Canekeratne
Co-founder/Chairman & CEO
“Virtusa’s unique value comes from the combination of deep technical expertise and an intense
industry focus that results in holistic, humanistic, and highly effective business solutions.”

9. D
igital transformation is the
profound transformation of
business and organizational
activities, processes, competencies,
and models to fully leverage the
changes and opportunities of a mix
of digital technologies. Outsourcing
plays a vital part in a company’s
evolving service delivery model
and it is increasingly being used
to capture market innovations in
digital transformation. Companies
must be capable of adapting their
sourcing cycle to capture value
being created in the marketplace.
Virtusa Corporationis a global
provider of digital business
transformation, digital engineering,
and information technology
outsourcing services that accelerate
its clients’ journey to their digital
future. Virtusa engages its clients
to re-imagine their business
models and develop strategies to
defend and grow their business by
introducing innovative products
and services, developing distinctive
digital consumer experiences,
creating oper
using digital labor, and rationalizing
and modernizing their existing IT
applications infrastructure.
The company was founded in
1996 and is headquartered in
Southborough, MA.
Kris Canekeratne:
Interview Highlights
What was the reason behind
the genesis of Virtusa?
I co-founded Virtusa based on a
belief that the software industry
was ready for transformation; that
the gro gacy IT
systems and the emergence of the
Internet and digital were going to
require global corporations to re-
think their entire IT infrastructure
and how they interface with their
customers. Today, we partner with
some of the world’s most venerable
brands to help them accelerate
innovation and transform into
while
simultaneously applying the latest
technologies to improve business
reduce technical
and process risk.
Coming out of university, I
was both in love with software
engineering and convinced that
it was an industry ripe for radical
transformation. Me, with some of
my engineering friends, discussed
gacy IT systems
and the need to move from on-
premise to off-premise, online
models. Those early conversations,
a chunk of personal savings, and at
least three maxed-out credit card
accounts, ultimately turned into
Virtusa.
How successful was your
roject roll on? Share
the experience.
roject was two steps
from being a failure and ended up
being a huge success. I started my
career in an entry-level developer
position for a division of ADP. It
was just a job, and I must confess
working on mainframes wasn’t very
exciting. I thought about quitting,
a lot. One day I ended up having
an impromptu conversation with
my manager when I brought up
the potential of an open systems
approach, at the time a pretty
radical idea. He gave me the
green light to play around with
the concept, which resulted in me
building a solution that was two
times faster and fully scalable. The
project became a big deal for the
department and an even bigger deal
for me. I was hooked
on open systems
innovation.
Fostering a culture of
feedback is crucial to
the success of every
organization. How is this
true with your company?
Let’s start b what culture
is. In my experience, culture is
a derivative, meaning it is the
consequence of policies, decisions,
and most importantly, behaviors
of leadership. If you want your
organization to have a more open
culture, leaders need to be more
open. Any 21st-century organization
has to be an innovative organization,
which really means it has to be
an open organization. As I shared
earlier, the pace of change is only
going to accelerate, and the only way
to keep up is to learn constantly,
share honestly, and collaborate
always. It needs to be open to ideas,
to different perspectives, and yes, to
feedback, both positive and not so
positive.
What are the factors that
make your company stand
out from the competition?
I’d point t ive factors that I
shared earlier and to this: Virtusa’s
unique value comes from the
combination of deep technical
expertise and an intense industry
focus that results in holistic,
humanistic, and highly effective
business solutions. We empower
our agile engineering teams to
achieve unparalleled velocity
using our open innovation assets
D
igital transformation is the
profound transformation of
business and organizational
activities, processes, competencies,
and models to fully leverage the
changes and opportunities of a mix
of digital technologies. Outsourcing
plays a vital part in a company’s
evolving service delivery model
and it is increasingly being used
to capture market innovations in
digital transformation. Companies
must be capable of adapting their
sourcing cycle to capture value
being created in the marketplace.
Virtusa Corporationis a global
provider of digital business
transformation, digital engineering,
and information technology
outsourcing services that accelerate
its clients’ journey to their digital
future. Virtusa engages its clients
to re-imagine their business
models and develop strategies to
defend and grow their business by
introducing innovative products
and services, developing distinctive
digital consumer experiences,
creating operational efficiency
using digital labor, and rationalizing
and modernizing their existing IT
applications infrastructure.
The company was founded in
1996 and is headquartered in
Southborough, MA.
Kris Canekeratne:
Interview Highlights
What was the reason behind
the genesis of Virtusa?
I co-founded Virtusa based on a
belief that the software industry
was ready for transformation; that
the growing inefficiency of legacy IT
systems and the emergence of the
Internet and digital were going to
require global corporations to re-
think their entire IT infrastructure
and how they interface with their
customers. Today, we partner with
some of the world’s most venerable
brands to help them accelerate
innovation and transform into
digital-first businesses, while
simultaneously applying the latest
technologies to improve business
efficiencies and reduce technical
and process risk.
Coming out of university, I
was both in love with software
engineering and convinced that
it was an industry ripe for radical
transformation. Me, with some of
my engineering friends, discussed
the inefficiency of legacy IT systems
and the need to move from on-
premise to off-premise, online
models. Those early conversations,
a chunk of personal savings, and at
least three maxed-out credit card
accounts, ultimately turned into
Virtusa.
How successful was your
first project roll on? Share
the experience.
My first project was two steps
from being a failure and ended up
being a huge success. I started my
career in an entry-level developer
position for a division of ADP. It
was just a job, and I must confess
working on mainframes wasn’t very
exciting. I thought about quitting,
a lot. One day I ended up having
an impromptu conversation with
my manager when I brought up
the potential of an open systems
approach, at the time a pretty
radical idea. He gave me the
green light to play around with
the concept, which resulted in me
building a solution that was two
times faster and fully scalable. The
project became a big deal for the
department and an even bigger
deal for me. I was hooked on open
systems innovation.
Fostering a culture
of feedback is
crucial to the success of
every organization. How
is this true with your
company?
Let’s start by defining what culture
is. In my experience, culture is
a derivative, meaning it is the
consequence of policies, decisions,
and most importantly, behaviors
of leadership. If you want your
organization to have a more open
culture, leaders need to be more
open. Any 21st-century organization
has to be an innovative organization,
which really means it has to be
an open organization. As I shared
earlier, the pace of change is only
going to accelerate, and the only way
to keep up is to learn constantly,
share honestly, and collaborate
always. It needs to be open to ideas,
to different perspectives, and yes, to
feedback, both positive and not so
positive.
What are the factors that
make your company stand
out from the competition?
I’d point to the five factors that I
shared earlier and to this: Virtusa’s
unique value comes from the
combination of deep technical
expertise and an intense industry
focus that results in holistic,
humanistic, and highly effective
business solutions. We empower our
agile engineering teams to achieve
unparalleled velocity using our open
innovation assets
9