Kelly Ireland from CBT Named on CRN’s 2022 Women of the Channel Power 70 Solution Providers List
We’re proud to announce that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Kelly Ireland (our Founder) to its 2022 Power 70 Solution Providers list, an elite subset of honorees chosen from the annual CRN Women of the Channel list.
Through strong business acumen, innovation, and strategic thinking, these extraordinary women support their solution provider businesses and customers with exceptional leadership. CRN celebrates these women, who are so deserving of recognition, for their constant dedication to channel excellence.
The annual Power 70 Solution Provider honorees, an incredible group of distinguished female channel leaders, are chosen by the CRN editorial team based on their expertise and contributions to building strong solution provider businesses. This exclusive list features elite industry professionals who drive success every day through leadership and a deep dedication to their organizations and the entire IT channel.
Kelly founded CBT in 2001 as a value-added reseller (VAR) focused on unparalleled client service. Having been in tech for most of her life and having a keen eye for technology trends and an open heart for listening to industry leaders, she assessed the impending changes in the industry and started pivoting CBT well ahead of their competition. She built up CBT’s OT and IT engineering expertise, data science practice, and both OT and IT partnerships to revolutionize the company’s offerings and make the difficult transition from VAR to Domain Expert Integrator.
CBT has accomplished bridging the gap between operational technologies (OT) and information technologies (IT) with groundbreaking projects like the Refinery of the Future (RotF) at Texmark Chemicals. Successful initiatives like RotF in Industrial IoT and High-Performance Computing have positioned CBT as a key partner to industry-leading companies such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise, ABB, PTC, Intel, Antea, AMD, NVIDIA, RealWear, GuardHat, and more. This has spurred explosive new-logo growth for CBT.
Kelly’s leadership has also led to a myriad of accolades, including the 2021 PTC Partner Network Award for Best Ecosystem Project, the 2020 Triple Crown Award from CRN, nine consecutive Boeing Performance Excellence Awards, five consecutive CRN IoT Innovators awards, and the 2020 Women Presidents’ Organization’s 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies. Kelly has also achieved numerous personal awards, including CRN’s Women of the Channel and Power Solution Providers for the last several years.
“It is always an honor to see my name listed with such a remarkable group of women. It is even nicer to know that we are all here to support each other to help accomplish great things together in this industry,” said Kelly. “It also takes a team to achieve the success we have at CBT, and as always, I believe I have the best. Without their unselfish pursuit of always delivering the ultimate level of service to all of our customers, we would not be where we are today and I would not be on this list.”
“We are proud to once again recognize the remarkable leaders on this year’s Women of the Channel list. Their influence, confidence, and diligence continue to accelerate channel success significantly,” said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. “Their accomplishments will inspire others, and we look forward to witnessing their future contributions to the channel.”
CRN’s 2022 Women of the Channel and Power 70 lists will be featured in the June issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/WOTC.