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    WELCOME TO THE
    Texas Technology Summit
    LARGEST REGIONAL IT & SECURITY
    CONFERENCE IN HOUSTON

    Strategically Accelerating our Businesses through IT and Security

    March 26, 2025
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    WIN THE DREAM VACATION YOU ALWAYS WANTED
    Attend our Conference to Enter our Grand Prize
    All of our attendees can get the chance to win a free trip & other giveaways!

Overview

The 16th Annual Texas Technology Summit will be held on Wednesday, March 26th, 2025 at the Norris Conference Center - Houston/CityCentre (816 Town & Country Blvd, Suite 210, Houston, TX 77024) from 8am-4pm.

This B-B event is targeted for the Technology and Security community.  Attendees consist of IT/IS Executives and Direct reports across all verticals within the state of Texas interested in Networking, Researching/Learning, Career Advancement, and Purchasing. Attend the Texas Technology Summit to get the right tools and make vital connections to best prepare your company for the broad spectrum of ever-changing technology trends.

 

Governing Body Members

Mario Chiock
Board of Directors - Membership Director
ISSA South Texas

Mark Combs
Director of Security and Facilities
Harris County Clerk

Marc Crudgington
VP of IT Infrastructure & Cybersecurity
Crane Worldwide Logistics

Randy Frazier
CTO
Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County

Karen Fuller
Director of Technology Innovation
iSphere

Sebastian T. Gass
Chief Technology Officer
Quantum Energy Partners

Jessica Getz
Partner
AXIA Partners

Brooke Grammier
Principal, CIO
CannonDesign

Michael Gregg
Chief Information Security Officer
State of North Dakota

Gene Janiszewski
CEO
Paradigm Group, Inc.

Mark Lennon
Chief Information & Digital Officer
NET Power

Carolyn Lightfoot
CIO Information Technology Division
Lee College

Marcus Manning
Chief Information Officer
Smart Financial

David Mosley
Vice President Information Technology
Waukesha-Pearce Industries

Michael Oberlaender
CISO
Board Member ISACA Greater Houston Chapter

Hellmut Ometzberger
Senior Director Information Technology
MRC Global

Mike Prochaska
VP of IT
Allied Group

Alexander Rosca
Director of IT
RNWBL

Andres Ruz
CISO
5 Factor Technology

Boyan Vukicevich
Founder & Principal
Vuk, LLC

Mike Wangsmo
Director of Operations
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Walter Wilkerson
Senior VP Information Technology
First Community Credit Union

Linda White
Director Information Security
Axiom Medical

Jason Williams
Executive Director Global Infrastructure & Operations
JB Poindexter & Co

Troy Williams
Director, ISD Business Solutions
Memorial Hermann Health Systems

Sponsors

We would like to thank our all of our sponsors for being a part of this year's Texas Technology Summit. From being a sponsor, you will be recognized for the education and mission your company contributes to our tradeshow, panels, and sessions. Many of our sponsors have been a part of our annual summit for many years and we are proud to support them.

Platinum Sponsors

https://www.veeam.com

Veeam®, the #1 global market leader in data protection and ransomware recovery, is on a mission to empower every organization to not just bounce back from a data outage or loss but bounce forward. With Veeam, organizations achieve radical resilience through data security, data recovery, and data freedom for their hybrid cloud. The Veeam Data Platform delivers a single solution for cloud, virtual, physical, SaaS, and Kubernetes environments that gives IT and security leaders peace of mind that their apps and data are protected and always available. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with offices in more than 30 countries, Veeam protects over 450,000 customers worldwide, including 73% of the Global 2000, who trust Veeam to keep their businesses running. Radical resilience starts with Veeam.

Gold Sponsors

https://www.rubrik.com

Rubrik, the Zero Trust Data Security Company™, delivers data security and operational resilience for enterprises. Rubrik’s big idea is to provide data security and data protection on a single platform, including: Zero Trust Data Protection, ransomware investigation, incident containment, sensitive data discovery, and orchestrated application recovery.

Eat & Learn Sponsors

https://commvault.com

Commvault (NASDAQ: CVLT) is the gold standard in cyber resilience, helping more than 100,000 organizations to uncover, take action, and rapidly recover from cyber attacks—keeping data safe and businesses resilient and moving forward. Today, Commvault offers the only cyber resilience platform that combines the best data security and rapid recovery at enterprise scale across any workload, anywhere with advanced AI-driven automation—at the lowest TCO.

https://cyberfox.com

CyberFOX is a global cybersecurity solutions provider focused on identity access management (IAM) for IT professionals. Our two flagship products – Password Boss for password management and AutoElevate for privilege access management – supply two critical elements of a comprehensive IAM security strategy. This ability to monitor, manage and mitigate risks by controlling user access to critical information ensures organizations can tighten security defenses for themselves and their end-users. Built for the unique needs of today’s IT professionals, CyberFOX solutions simplify and improve the end-user experience by providing affordable, practicable security. To learn more about how CyberFOX helps protect businesses in more than 175 countries, visit www.cyberfox.com.

https://sentinel.com

For over 40 years, Sentinel Technologies has been a trusted partner with over 450 engineers in cyber security, data center, cloud, collaboration, and consulting. Our diverse portfolio provides both tailored in-house and vendor solutions. Our mature managed infrastructure and security services offering helps our customers focus on their core business while providing 24/7 support. Our award-winning managed security brand ( SOC, MSSP), Fortis by Sentinel, safeguards our customers against ever-evolving modern threats and hazards.

https://thalesgroup.com

Thales is the worldwide leader in data protection, providing everything an organization needs to protect and manage its data, identities and intellectual property – through encryption, advanced key management, tokenization, and authentication and access management. Whether it’s securing the cloud, digital payments, blockchain or the Internet of Things, security professionals around the globe rely on Thales to confidently accelerate their organization’s digital transformation.

https://tpx.com

TPx is a leading managed services provider, redefining the way enterprises grow, compete and communicate. Offering a full suite of managed IT, unified communications, network connectivity and security services, TPx has the experience and know-how to solve even the most complicated IT challenges. TPx’s team of experts help businesses simplify operations, optimize networks, improve productivity, reduce costs and keep environments secure. TPx makes IT easy.

Happy Hour & Beverage Sponsors

https://nasuni.com

Nasuni® is a file services platform built for the cloud, powered by the world’s only global file system, UniFS®. Nasuni consolidates Network Attached Storage (NAS) and file server silos in cloud storage, delivering infinite scale, built-in backup, global file sharing, and local file server performance, all at half the cost of traditional file infrastructures.

https://procomservices.com

Procom is one of North America’s leading staffing and contract workforce services providers. Successfully meeting the needs of Fortune 500 clients since 1978, we have 18 offices across North America, with over 12,500 skilled professionals currently on assignment. We are an award winning staffing firm. Procom has long been recognized as a market-leading source of high-performing services and solutions that transform how our clients acquire and manage the very best talent.

Silver Sponsors

https://catonetworks.com

Cato provides the world’s most robust single-vendor SASE platform, converging Cato SD-WAN and a complete cloud-native security service edge, Cato SSE 360, including Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Data Loss Prevention (DLP), and Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) into a global cloud service. Cato. Ready for Whatever’s Next.

https://dynatrace.com

Dynatrace provides software intelligence to simplify cloud complexity and accelerate digital transformation. With advanced observability, AI and complete automation, our all-in-one platform provides answers, not just data, about the performance of applications, the underlying infrastructure, and experience of all users.

https://NETdepot.com

Launch your transformative AWS cloud journey with Sotyra. From seamless migration and optimized cloud operations to the innovative realm of generative AI. Our services are your compass to navigate the complexities of cloud adoption, ensuring your success every step of the way.

https://www.threatlocker.com

Stop Ransomware! ThreatLocker® improves enterprise-level server and endpoint security with Zero Trust controls, including Allowlisting, Ringfencing™, Elevation, Storage, Network Control, Configuration Management, and Detect EDR and MDR solutions.

https://www.tierpoint.com

As more organizations adopt hybrid, multi-platform approaches to their IT infrastructure, TierPoint is a champion for untangling the complexity. Taking a platform-agnostic approach to helping clients achieve their most pressing business objectives, TierPoint draws on a comprehensive portfolio of services, from public to private to multitenant cloud, from colocation to disaster recovery, security, and more.

Presentation Sponsors

https://www.absolute.com

Absolute Software is the only provider of self-healing, intelligent security solutions. Embedded in more than 600 million devices, Absolute is the only platform offering a permanent digital connection that applies visibility, control and self-healing capabilities to endpoints, applications, and network connections - helping customers to strengthen cyber resilience.

https://www.arcticwolf.com

Arctic Wolf® is a global leader in security operations, delivering the first cloud-native security operations platform to end cyber risk. Powered by threat telemetry spanning endpoint, network, and cloud sources, the Arctic Wolf® Security Operations Cloud ingests and analyzes more than 1.9 trillion security events a week across the globe, enabling critical outcomes for most security use cases and optimizing customers’ disparate security solutions.

https://www.c1sttech.com

C1st Technologies is a leading Information Technology solutions provider based in Denver, Colorado where C1st stands for Customer First! As a Microsoft Certified Solutions Provider for Office 365 and Azure, we offer comprehensive and tailored solutions that optimize productivity and streamline business operations. Our expertise extends beyond software solutions, as we also provide managed networking and security services, ensuring robust and reliable connectivity while safeguarding valuable data. Additionally, our capabilities encompass IT hardware and software procurement, enabling us to deliver end-to-end solutions that meet our clients' specific needs. With our extensive knowledge and experience, C1st Technologies stands out in the marketplace as a trusted partner, dedicated to empowering businesses with cutting-edge technology solutions.

https://www.ericsson.com

Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Solutions, enables the freedom to securely connect people, places, and things that drive more experiences, new ways to work, and better business results. The company offers 4G/5G Wireless WAN routers and adapters — controlled through Cradlepoint NetCloudTM — and solutions for security and private cellular networking.

https://www.ironedgegroup.com

IronEdge is the premier IT solutions provider for small and medium-sized businesses. We provide client-centric strategy and support to eliminate the frustration companies face with technology. Our offerings include local help desk support, cybersecurity strategy and services, cloud solutions, project planning and implementation, backup and recovery services, reporting and automation.

https://www.varonis.com

Varonis is a leader in data security, fighting a different battle than conventional cybersecurity companies. Our cloud-native Data Security Platform continuously discovers and classifies critical data, removes exposures, and detects advanced threats with AI-powered automation.

Texas Technology Summit Agenda

Wednesday, March 26, 2025 {below you will find the 2024 agenda, the 2025 agenda is a work-in-progress - keep checking back for the latest updates}

8:00 AM

Exhibit Hall

Registration Opens / Exhibit Hall Opens


10:00 - 11:00 AM

Main Stage

How to Create Successful Malware and How to Defend with Zero Trust

Rob Allen, Chief Product Officer - ThreatLocker
Sponsored by: ThreatLocker
Presentation Giveaway: ThreatLocker Swag Box


10:00 - 11:00 AM

Tech Theater I

Lessons from 2023 and Predictions for 2024

Jim Johnson, Engineering Director - Arctic Wolf
Sponsored by: Arctic Wolf


10:00 - 11:00 AM

Tech Theater II

Browser Isolation – The WD-40 of the Security Industry

Bruce Johnson, Senior Product & Security Manager - Cradlepoint
Sponsored by: Cradlepoint
Presentation Giveaway: Cradlepoint Yeti Mug


10:00 - 11:00 AM

Security Theater I

AI-Powered Attacks & Defenses

Kent Fagan, Co-Founder - C1st Technologies
Sponsored by: C1st Technologies


10:00 - 11:00 AM

VIP Theater

CIO Roundtable

**For IT Executives with VIP Badges**
Moderated By: Marcus Manning, CIO - Smart Financial Credit Union


11:00 - 11:30 AM

Exhibit Hall

Networking / Tour Exhibits


11:30 - 12:30 PM

Main Stage

Backup is Not Equal to Cyber Resilience

Jason Cook, AVP Engineering, Worldwide Global Partner Organization - Rubrik
Sponsored by: Rubrik


11:30 - 12:30 PM

Tech Theater I

Achieving Radical Resilience with Veeam Data Platform

Andy Perkins, Senior Systems Engineer - Veeam
Sponsored by: Veeam


11:30 - 12:30 PM

Tech Theater II

Advantages of Using Microsoft Co-Pilot for AI Enhanced Work

Andrew Moore, COO - IronEdge Group
Sponsored by: IronEdge Group


11:30 - 12:30 PM

Security Theater I

Mitigate Risk in the Age of AI

Scott Shafer, Technical Evangelist - Varonis
Sponsored by: Varonis


11:30 - 12:30 PM

VIP Theater

CISO Forum: Hot Topics from the Trenches

**For IT Executives with VIP Badges**
Mario Chiock, CXO Advisor & Board Member - ISSA South Texas Chapter
John Driggers, CISO - SLB
Chris Wolski, Former CISO & Board Member - ISSA South Texas Chapter
Barry Beckett, CISO - Navitus


12:30 - 1:30 PM

Main Stage

Building Your PQC Lab: Trust but Verify Your PQC Ecosystem (Lunch Included)

Blair Canavan, Director of Business Development - Thale Group
Sponsored by: Thales Group
Presentation Giveaway: Summer Survival Kit


12:30 - 1:30 PM

Tech Theater I

Ancient Wisdom, Modern Warfare: Sun Tzu's Influence on Cybersecurity (Lunch Included)

David Hagen, Security Evangelist - TPx
Sponsored by: TPx
Presentation Giveaway: $100 E-Gift Card


12:30 - 1:30 PM

Tech Theater II

You Inherited an Identity Mess, Now What? (Lunch Included)

Michael Soule, National Director of Enterprise Architecture & Innovation - Sentinel Technologies
Sponsored by: Sentinel Technologies

12:30 - 1:30 PM

Security Theater I

Best of Both Worlds: Privileged Access Management (Lunch Included)

Wes Spencer, VP of Cybersecurity Strategy - CyberFOX
Sponsored by: CyberFOX
Presentation Giveaway: $100 Gift Card


12:30 - 1:30 PM

VIP Theater

The Missing Ingredient in Cyber Resilience (Lunch Included)

Vidya Shankaran, Field CTO - Commvault
Sponsored by: Commvault
Presentation Giveaway: Yeti Utility Tote


1:30 - 2:30 PM

Main Stage

IT & Cyber Security - Why Organizations Need to Foster Better Collaboration

Aaron Murphy, Field CTO - Veeam
Sponsored by: Veeam


1:30 - 2:30 PM

Tech Theater I

Panel Discussion: Perils of the AI Journey: The Path to Implementing AI in your Company

Moderated By: Marcus Manning, CIO - Smart Financial Credit Union
Panelists: Mark Lennon, Chief Information & Digital Officer - NET Power | Carlos Carlos, Director, Data Security - Oportun | Charles Jessup, Product Management Consultant - Slalom


1:30 - 2:30 PM

Tech Theater II

Secure Synergy

Pat Nurre, Engineer - Absolute Software
Sponsored by: Absolute Software
Presentation Giveaway: SMONET Portable Movie Projector


1:30 - 2:30 PM

Security Theater

Houston Hiring Trends & Compensation Report

James Del Monte, CPC CERS, President - JDA Professional Services


2:30 - 6:00 PM

Exhibit Hall

Networking / Tour Exhibits / Happy Hour / Sponsor Giveaways


3:00 - 4:00 PM

Main Stage

Panel Discussion: Women in Technology - Benefits of a Diverse Workforce


Moderated By: Karen Fuller, Director of Technology Innovation - iSphere
Panelists: Linda White, Director of Information Security - Axiom Medical


3:00 - 4:00 PM

Tech Theater I

Panel Discussion: Cybersecurity, Cyberaudit, Privacy, & AI Governance

Moderated By: Harvey Nusz, Data Protection & Privacy Architect - Capgemini
Panelists: David Sledge, Director of Cybersecurity - Avelo Airlines | Clif Triplett, Executive Director Cybersecurity & Risk Management - Kearney | Chris Nicolaou, CISO - Cloudspace USA


4:00 PM

Main Stage

Vacation Giveaway & Conference Wrap-Up


6:00 - 7:30 PM

Main Stage

SIM Houston Meeting: Cultivating Next Level IT Leadership (Dinner Included)

**For SIM Members + Managers & Above**

Moderated by: Clif Triplett, Executive Director Cybersecurity & Risk Management - Kearney | Panelists: Anthony Dayao, CIO - Motiva Enterprises | Steven Kahla, VP of Instruction - Lone Star College | Daphane Carter, CEO & Founder - Daphane Carter Consulting
Sponsored by: Texas Technology Summit


Exhibitors

 

Supporting Sponsors