CEO, iMiller Public Relations
Ilissa Miller is the CEO of iMiller Public Relations (iMPR); president of NEDAS, a grassroots association focused on wireline and wireless convergence; and a co-founder of the Independent Data Center Alliance, a consortium of global data center operators. Since 2011, iMPR has worked with over 300 global companies to refine and create brand messages, amplifying them in the market to garner unprecedented attention and reach. The results of these efforts are read in network and service expansions, M&A activities, and the introduction of revolutionary products and services.
How can telecommunications technologies help humanity?
The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us one great thing: technology is the greatest connector. The Internet has served as a tethered resource that enables businesses, educational institutions, and the whole of humanity to stay connected when “social distancing” — an absolute necessity. Without the Internet of today, the pandemic would have wreaked more havoc on our global economy and personal mental well-being, hindering the education, opportunity, and connections that keep us human. Beyond being a matter of “how can” telecommunications technologies help humanity, it’s a matter of “how ARE” telecommunications technologies helping humanity. We are experiencing and living within a telecom and technology-enabled world here and now.
What network-related development will have the greatest impact in our industry?
In my opinion, the greatest network-related development for our industry has been competition. The competition enabled through deregulation has offered a world of opportunity for innovation and advancements spirited from a competitive drive innate in humans. The evolution of technology is guided by the drive for better, smarter, faster, easier, more accessible, more cost-effective, and more everything solutions. Taking part in the communications infrastructure sector from a front-row seat, iMPR is honored to be an active participant in helping to bring to life new technologies and solutions that shape and enable the world to be both connected and more efficient. From the early days of code-based messaging to software-defined networking that takes the code out of the equation and simply puts the solution needed in the hands of a user, technology today is a modern-day revolution, reimaging how we manage our lives, homes, businesses, and explore the universe. Wireless technologies have become faster and more effective, evolving from lessons learned by the traditional fiber network world to enable secure solutions that power self-driving cars, manufacturing facilities, satellites, and spaceships. As our industry’s smartest people continue to embrace one another’s new technologies, innovation driven by competition will continue to have the greatest impact on our industry.
Is it important for companies to continue to innovate their organization or offerings, and why?
Each new technology sheds light on what is possible. Innovative solutions stretch the collective comfort zone, sparking ideas that are already reshaping the world as we know it. The rate of adoption of new technologies continues to accelerate. It took AWS nearly 10 years to reach a tipping point for cloud computing adoption, and now adoption rates of new technologies are at an average of two years. This indicates a strong desire for better, faster, smarter, cheaper solutions that could alleviate bottlenecks, improve performance, and positively impact personal and business bottom lines. Companies that are slow to adapt or reserved when it comes to innovation will be left behind.
How does PTC fit with your company’s goals or your overall career purpose?
PTC, as an organization, is a cornerstone of the communications infrastructure sector. Bringing together global operators and innovators to challenge our comfort zones and push the limits of our imaginations helps the industry to accomplish more as a collective. As a company providing services to this sector, PTC’s common collective goals align perfectly with iMPR’s. It’s about learning, growing, and enhancing technology solutions together to make the world a better and more connected place for everyone.
What important piece of information should people know about PTC?
PTC is one of only a few global organizations that can bring together the varied communications elements of our industry into a single association and make it work holistically. From voice to subsea, Internet to data centers, content and applications to cloud and artificial intelligence, PTC understands that these functional solutions are both separate and unified, working as an elaborate ecosystem. As an organization, PTC also looks beyond what we as an industry know to challenge these norms, introducing new technologies such as quantum physics, inter-spatial communications, and more. PTC understands what we need today and introduces solutions that make us dream and build bigger for tomorrow.
What advice would you share with current and future graduates interested in this field?
Technology is our future in the same way transportation reshaped our world in the past, and we have yet to — and will never — experience the end of what’s possible. If you’re excited about what’s possible, then our industry is the one for you. There are opportunities from DevOps (computer and network programming) to finance, operations, customer service, marketing, sales, and executive positions (and more) that will challenge and excite you every day. To ensure your success, become an industry historian. Read about the evolution of the industry and the technologies and learn how we got to where we are today. I promise you that it’s a blueprint for where we could go tomorrow and beyond. Advancements such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, cryptocurrencies/bitcoin, and blockchain are only a glimpse into what is expected and how we can evolve with technology. You can play a large, small, supporting, or driving role in anything you set your mind to. Our industry is truly exciting and cutting-edge, and it is evolving daily. If you want to be better every day, challenge the status quo and be part of the revolution.
What industry mogul or up-and-coming leader have you followed or are currently following, and why?
Hi Marc Ganzi, thanks for your vision and mission to bridge wireline and wireless with holistic capabilities end-to-end. It’s exciting to see what Ganzi’s leadership at Colony Capital and Digital Colony is making possible — keeping competition on their toes, evolving companies through M&A activities, and clearly setting forth with a vision. As the President of NEDAS, an association focused on wireline and wireless convergence, we bring together many of the same types of companies and people at a grassroots level, fostering the conversations that drive and enable businesses to align with Ganzi’s vision.
About iMiller Public Relations:
iMiller Public Relations (iMPR) is a public relations and marketing consultancy serving the global communications infrastructure sector. The company focuses on strategic communications, leveraging a deep understanding of the competitive market. Client messages are assured to be differentiated, clear, and conceptualized with the varied end-user decision makers in mind. Leveraging an array of tactical toolsets, iMPR’s team designs and implements go-to-market programs that tie in digital marketing, social media, event, and association participation to engage, educate, and resonate client solutions with the public.
