Business Convocation
Session included guest speakers from Mythics
Liberty University’s School of Business hosted a special Convocation, Oct. 25, featuring guest speakers from award-winning Oracle Platinum Partner, Mythics.
Held in the School of Law Supreme Court room, three members from Mythics took part in a question-and-answer session and described what Mythics does as a company.
According to Mythics website, Mythics is an award-winning Oracle systems integrator, consulting firm and elite Oracle platinum resale partner representing the entire Oracle product line of software, support, hardware, engineered systems and appliances.
Jennifer VanGraafeiland, vice president of support and education sales for Mythics, described how Mythics got its start and where the company is today.
“We were founded in 2000, so we’re a pretty young company,” VanGraafeiland said. “The founders of Mythics came from Oracle. They wanted to branch out and start this company on their foundations of great customer service … and really just branching out and becoming a partner with Oracle to provide Information Technology (IT) solutions from the beginning of implementation to the end.”
According to VanGraafeliand, Oracle has a lot of customers, so it is difficult for them to service all of their requests. But Oracle has a lot of partner companies, and the partnership program was formed to be an extension of their sales force.
“Obviously I’ve learned a lot throughout the years that IT initiatives are really important in every organization, whether you are a university or a government agency,” VanGraafeiland said.
Throughout the past 13-14 years, Oracle has grown tremendously. But VanGraafeiland says that the company is still relatively small.
“When I started, I was the 11th employee, and now with the consultant organization. I think that we’re about 200-plus strong,” VanGraafeiland said. “(We’re) still small, which I enjoy personally working for a smaller company, but it’s been a great experience.”
Michael Hart, chair of business management and information systems of Liberty University’s School of Business, headed the question-and-answer session. Throughout the session, Hart asked several questions relating to IT and the Mythics company.
One of the questions, which was directed toward Charlie Gunter, senior sales consultant and information and services at Mythics, dealt with how IT creates value.
“When you go to market with your IT, you’ve got to have key performance indicators,” Gunter said. “And to do that, you’ve got to bring it from multiple sources that (you) rely on to make those decisions.”
VanGraafeiland added that, regarding the IT initiative, every organization has to make sure that the information is secure and reliable.
“People need access to that information 24/7,” VanGraafeiland said. “I think that’s part of what Oracle’s value is, that they go to market and view themselves as unbreakable (and) reliable. I think security and reliability are really big as well when you’re talking about your IT infrastructure and initiative.”
John Iuliano, regional account manager of Mythics, expressed the importance of business students being able to communicate in technology and being able to present data and information to colleagues.
“I think it’s extremely important to have a strong, general knowledge of IT,” Iuliano said. “I mean, they use (technology) every day … Have a good general understanding no matter what department you’re in. Whether you’re in accounting, whether you’re in marketing, whether you’re in sales or whether you are actually behind the scenes in IT doing the actual development.
The members from Mythics went on to describe the positives and negatives of having a firm partnership with Oracle and the importance of data security and trust.
The School of Business Convocation closed with a few questions for the Mythics team members from the audience and a drawing for a $400 scholarship for Liberty business students in attendance.
For more information about Liberty University’s School of Business, visit liberty.edu/academics.