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Event Summary 10.16.2014

Trexin’s Thriving Through Disruption Dinner Series 2014

Thriving Through Disruption in Minneapolis

Trexin Disruption Dinner Series

On October 6th, Trexin hosted its fifth Thriving Through Disruption event in Minneapolis, at the Pittsburgh Blue Steakhouse in Edina’s glamorous Galleria. The event was attended by 12 senior executives from leading Twin Cities businesses in healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and new media. Marvin Richardson, Managing Director and co-Founder of Trexin, provided an overview of the event series and then introduced the two guest speakers for the evening.

The first presenter was Randi Kelley, Senior Vice President of R&D for PTC. Randi described how PTC, a leading Product Lifecycle Management vendor, is extending itself into the exciting new “Internet of Things” (IoT) marketplace, to enable the creation of smart, connected products. She explained the strategic significance of PTC’s recent acquisitions of Axeda, a pioneer in the development of solutions to securely connect machines and sensors to the cloud, and ThingWorx, a framework to rapidly develop and deploy IoT applications.

PTC Image

 

The second presenter was Mike McKuras, VP of Enterprise Infrastructure at ATK. Mike wowed the audience with how he and his team turned a seemingly mundane disruption event into a transformative win for ATK. When the Federal Government and NASA replaced cost-plus contracts with fixed-cost contracts, he and his team used the challenge to systemically reengineer and modernize ATK’s IT infrastructure, without adding any cost.

 ATK Image
The presentations were followed by extensive professional and personal conversations over an excellent dinner. Our attendees left with their thinking challenged, networks enhanced and calorie budget filled.

Trexin continuously studies the impact of disruptive change, which can come in the form of technological innovation, government regulation, organizational restructuring, and business-model shifts. Although these disruptions can be threats, there is also great opportunity for organizations to capitalize on these moments through new business strategies. If you would like further information on Trexin’s Thriving Through Disruption event series, please contact Jenna Smith at [email protected].

Tagged in: Program Execution, Strategy & Innovation, Technology