![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Greg-VanDeWalker.jpg\")
The senior vice president of IT channel and services for\nGreatAmerica Financial Services and Collabrance, VanDeWalker spends a good deal\nof time crunching numbers. However, it is his ongoing quest to find solutions\nnot only from a dollars and cents leasing standpoint, but also to devise a plan\nthat best suits the client\u2019s overall objectives, that adds fulfillment to the\nroles he serves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI get to be involved in two business units at\nGreatAmerica\u2014our IT leasing group as well as our services business unit, Collabrance,\u201d\nsaid VanDeWalker, a 2019 ENX Magazine<\/em>\nDifference Maker. \u201cThey are two different business models that serve the same\nchannel, so I am able to leverage ideas to serve both businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was the leasing side of business that brought VanDeWalker\ninto the industry. A former accountant with Arthur Andersen, he spent 11 years\nwith Business Credit Leasing (later acquired by US Bank), a general leasing\ncompany. During his time there, the company decided to focus its efforts on the\noffice equipment industry. That opened a window to GreatAmerica Financial\nServices, for which he has served in numerous capacities, culminating with his\ncurrent, dual roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2010, roughly seven years after joining GreatAmerica,\nVanDeWalker served as the inaugural chair of CompTIA\u2019s MPS Community. While\nthere, he helped spearhead the formation of the MPS Trustmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Making Connections<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For VanDeWalker, some of the greatest satisfaction has come\nfrom making connections with people and companies within the industries he\u2019s\nbeen involved in. \u201cOver the years, it has given me great joy to help two\ncompanies\/people get together who may have never met,\u201d he noted. \u201cI like\nmeeting new people and learning about what they do and how they help in the\nchannel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps VanDeWalker\u2019s greatest influence is longtime\nindustry friend Steven Power, who is now retired. The pair spent a great deal\nof time on the road, attending numerous events. Power was exceptionally skilled\nat giving presentations, and VanDeWalker picked up many tips along the way to\naugment his own presentations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The past year has been an exciting time for VanDeWalker.\nCollabrance evolved its managed security services provider (MSSP) offering for\nthe channel, which called for a great number of contributions in a condensed\ntime frame. In an effort to show IT solutions providers how to market and sell\ncybersecurity, Collabrance hosted an MSSP Accelerator event earlier this month,\nwith another slated for September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Steps Ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In building for the future, VanDeWalker feels the key is\nstaying attuned to customer needs and evolving the business to stay a few steps\nahead of what they will require in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe goal for the foreseeable future is to continue to grow\nat a fast pace,\u201d he noted. \u201cWe have very talented people throughout the entire\norganization and they are all committed to making Collabrance not the biggest,\nbut the best master MSP in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thoughtful and analytical, Greg VanDeWalker is one of the most intelligent members of the office technology stratosphere. The senior vice president of IT channel and services for GreatAmerica Financial Services and Collabrance, VanDeWalker spends a good deal of time crunching numbers. However, it is his ongoing quest to find solutions not only from a dollars and cents leasing standpoint, but also to devise a plan that best suits the client\u2019s overall objectives, that adds fulfillment to the roles he serves. \u201cI get to be involved in two business units at GreatAmerica\u2014our IT leasing group as well as our services business unit, Collabrance,\u201d said VanDeWalker, a 2019 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. \u201cThey are two different business models that serve the same channel, so I am able to leverage ideas to serve both businesses.\u201d It was the leasing side of business that brought VanDeWalker into the industry. A former accountant with Arthur Andersen, he spent 11 years with Business Credit Leasing (later acquired by US Bank), a general leasing company. During his time there, the company decided to focus its efforts on the office equipment industry. That opened a window to GreatAmerica Financial Services, for which he has served in numerous capacities, culminating with his current, dual roles. In 2010, roughly seven years after joining GreatAmerica, VanDeWalker served as the inaugural chair of CompTIA\u2019s MPS Community. While there, he helped spearhead the formation of the MPS Trustmark. Making Connections For VanDeWalker, some of the greatest satisfaction has come from making connections with people and companies within the industries he\u2019s been involved in. \u201cOver the years, it has given me great joy to help two companies\/people get together who may have never met,\u201d he noted. \u201cI like meeting new people and learning about what they do and how they help in the channel.\u201d Perhaps VanDeWalker\u2019s greatest influence is longtime industry friend Steven Power, who is now retired. The pair spent a great deal of time on the road, attending numerous events. Power was exceptionally skilled at giving presentations, and VanDeWalker picked up many tips along the way to augment his own presentations. The past year has been an exciting time for VanDeWalker. Collabrance evolved its managed security services provider (MSSP) offering for the channel, which called for a great number of contributions in a condensed time frame. In an effort to show IT solutions providers how to market and sell cybersecurity, Collabrance hosted an MSSP Accelerator event earlier this month, with another slated for September. Steps Ahead In building for the future, VanDeWalker feels the key is staying attuned to customer needs and evolving the business to stay a few steps ahead of what they will require in the future. \u201cThe goal for the foreseeable future is to continue to grow at a fast pace,\u201d he noted. \u201cWe have very talented people throughout the entire organization and they are all committed to making Collabrance not the biggest, but the best master MSP in the industry.\u201d VanDeWalker and his wife, Emily, have been married for 25 years. They have six children, who are being home-schooled through eighth grade. \u201cOne of the reasons we do that is so we can then travel to the part of the world we studied together,\u201d he said. \u201cOur kids have been exposed to many cultures around the world, with the hope of giving them a love to learn and see the world for themselves as they become adults.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":32964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,82,84,1638],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35304"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35304"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35306,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35304\/revisions\/35306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2019-Difference-Makers-emblem-1-286x300-2-200x200.png\")
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