Our Women Influencers content this summer is very, well, synergistic. As “Outside the Box” Columnist Petra Diener references, dealership succession planning often clearly demonstrates the progression of more women leading within the office technology industry. Diener points out that, three years ago, when The Cannata Report featured Chelsey Bode of Pearson-Kelly Technology, Melissa Confalone of Fraser Advanced Information Systems, and Liz Sumner of SumnerOne as Women Influencers, we “highlighted a trend often overlooked by the broader business press: Women are taking over family businesses and actively modernizing and expanding them by adding managed IT, production print, and new verticals.”
Our 2026 WI choices are variations on that theme. In the feature story, you can read more about how Janene Aul, Jocelyn Gorman, and Lauren Hanna are sustaining and growing businesses built by their fathers: Keith Allison of Systel Business Equipment (North Carolina), Phil Houser of DSI (New Mexico), and Paul Hanna of Blue Technologies (Ohio). You can listen to the women on video, too. In our latest “Coffee with Carol” column, Senior VP of Client Services Carol C. Cannata features Mary Jo Johnson, whose late father, Emery O. Johnson, started up his independent dealership (EO Johnson Business Technologies) in 1957 in Wausau, Wisconsin. The seasoned dealer-owner offers some interesting insights into the changes she has witnessed in the business over the past three decades.
Additionally, CEO CJ Cannata conducted an in-depth Q&A with Jennie Fisher, who recently retired as president of the Office Equipment Group within GreatAmerica Financial Services. Fisher discusses leadership, legacy, diversification, technology, talent, and what comes next for her. For this month’s CR-CONNECT DEALER TOUR, Filomena Tamburri features Barlop Business Systems, a women/minority-owned business in Miami, Florida, run by sisters Mallory, Michele, and Monica Lopez, along with their mother and father, Madelyn and Jose Lopez. Last but not least, Founder Frank G. Cannata’s newest VETERANS WAY interview subject is Hannalora Van Nevel, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst who now solves problems for U.S. Bank customers.
Additional content beyond women influencers
- Contributor Ed Finkel provides an update on the quantum computing trend, including what hackers already know—and what dealers need to know. P3iD Technologies’ Kevin Neal and Spectral Capital’s Sean Brehm chime in on the tech topic.
- In the second part of our ongoing series on improving dealer profi tability, Noel Ward looks at operations, outmoding, attracting talent, and prospecting. To round out the coverage, he chatted with Kate Kingston of Kingston Training Group and Laryssa Alexander of ECI Software Solutions.
- “Japanese Headlines,” by overseas correspondent Tetsuo Kubo, explores Toshiba Tec’s management policy for fiscal year 2026. President Hironobu Nishikori says the company’s three main goals are strengthening software, data, and services; shifting from a traditional business model centered on hardware and maintenance to becoming a solutions partner; and improving profi tability through recurring business. In Toshiba’s workplace business, the ETRIA-developed integrated MFP hardware model is set to arrive in the second half of ‘27.
- Greg Walter’s latest “Office Tech & AI” column is titled, “The Buyer Has a Machine Now, Too.” The selling-buying dynamic has evolved, he writes. How many of your prospects are using AI and LLMs to facilitate the process? He shares some related data.
Plus, special guest Gee Ranasinha of Kexino takes dealers to marketing school. He examines what tactics are working in the channel and why so many office technology marketing efforts do not meet new business expectations. Watch for his article, coming online later this month, along with a virtual panel spotlighting some more of our women influencers in the channel.
Happy summer and happy reading!
