The Team Behind the Technology at CBT
An Interview with Rob Schaeffer, President
Meet Rob Schaeffer, President at CBT and former VP of Channel Sales at HPE. Rob talks about his journey at CBT, what’s to come for 2021, and what success means to our customers and CBT.
Transcript:
Who is CBT and what does it mean to be a Domain Expert Integrator?
I think Intel probably coined the equation or the the nomenclature of what we are best. And that is, they didn’t think we were a value added reseller in the traditional sense. They didn’t think that systems integrator was really the right term to call CBT. So they coined this term called a Domain Expert Integrator, and that really has stuck. And it’s really who we are. We have expertise around very specific domains that drive the acceleration of that transformation for our particular customers. But we have to do it together. And we love doing it together. It’s what we do.
What is special about CBT?
The things that I’m most proud of is the people at CBT. And that was a driving factor as to why I came to CBT. Our tagline is more than a tagline where we deliver technology with the human touch. When you look under the covers of who CBT is, and how we’re able to do what we do, for the largest corporations in the world, it is because our people are deeply talented. They are deeply committed to their success and the outcome; the successful outcome of our customer in our customers projects. So I would say first and foremost, that the culture here is phenomenal, people work together so seamlessly because it’s in their personal DNA that they want to help, and they’re capable of helping.
What’s on the horizon for CBT in 2021?
The things that I have seen grow in the last six months since I started at CBT is the reality that the operational technology journey that we’re on, has accelerated and matured so much in the last six months, some of it driven by the pandemic. But we’re finding that companies are really looking for new ways to work to be more productive, be more efficient, and do it at a cost structure that makes sense. So that they can provide a good work environment for their employees and deliver really good outcomes for their customers but do it in a safe and efficient manner. We’re seeing folks reach out to us that quite frankly we’ve been trying to talk to for some time. They are now calling us and saying hey, remember when we talked about this a year ago or two years ago? Well, I’m glad I kept the card because the time’s now.
What does success look like for CBT and our customers?
Success is defined by each of our customers; each one of them is on a unique and different journey. And one that makes this really kind of fun is because the notion of the art of possible. I was recently on a podcast with the OGGN network for oil and gas and they took that statement one step further. They said ‘the art of the possible becomes the art of the probable’ and it suggested to me in the closing of the podcast by the moderator that the reality of what CBT is doing with our industry-leading partners is we are creating the art of reality. So the success factors are “what does the transformation journey look like to you, Mr. and Mrs. corporate executive, IT and OT leaders?”. And then building the path that says we can do this, goes back to our core value of can do attitude, that gets shared by our customers. They tell us this is what we want to accomplish. And we’re employing you to help us get there because of your expertise and experience.
Most important takeaway
What I think is the most important message to take away here is we are making a market that these solutions don’t exist. They haven’t existed until today. Today they live a very productive life and in a production environment that happens to live at Refinery of the Future with our customer Texmark. It allows for our next customers to go and see how this looks in a production environment; how it might come to life for them. And it transcends across all industry verticals. And so that is what really gives me great confidence for what 2021 will bring, is that our journey for 3-4 years and lots of resources, financial and personnel, as well as creative ideas and partnership is now in production. And it is now for the consumption of anybody that has the idea, has the thought process to integrate it into their planning and go-to-market.
To learn more about Rob Schaeffer and the team, visit our about page.