The technology industry is dynamic, and for leaders to remain relevant for a long time, they must possess vision, an innovative spirit, and the ability to adapt. Mark Galyardt, President of XIOSSX, Inc., demonstrates these qualities; therefore, it is no surprise that he has been an achiever, trailblazer, and empowering leader in the technology space for nearly two decades. Since 2008, Mark has successfully maintained viable businesses despite the housing market implosion and other major economic disruptions. He considers this his greatest professional achievement.
In the ever-changing industry where relevance is never guaranteed, Mark’s leadership has consistently delivered impressive results and success.
The Professional Journey
Following his undergraduate degree in industrial engineering, Mark began his professional journey with Frito-Lay in Dallas, Texas. He recalls that he did shift work, supervising production and packaging lines at the manufacturing facility in Irving, Texas. After his first job, he returned to school, entering the one-year accelerated MBA program at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Upon graduating from SMU with an MBA, Mark accepted a position with BellSouth in Atlanta, GA. “This job built the foundation for my Telco background,” he points out. “I started selling Watts lines and Key Systems door-to-door in strip malls and calling on local SMB accounts.”
Mark then moved into the National Accounts Group, negotiating volume and term agreements with the top 50, by revenue, accounts BellSouth had. According to him, the top 50 were headquartered across the United States, and he was required to meet with top negotiators at each of these accounts.
Then, Mark went on to become an “Executive on Loan” from BellSouth to build the Managed Network Solutions Group (MNS Division) in partnership with EDS based in Plano, Texas. He says that he had an excellent experience and received mentorship from people he reported to and looked up to, like Bill Baker, Ron Freeman, and Phil Jacobs.
Later, Mark worked at Computer Associates in the Telco Accounts Group as part of their Strategic Accounts Group. He was responsible for selling Computer Associates mainframe, open systems, and professional services to the big telco accounts in the U.S. “I also had the pleasure of a good group of national account managers who helped me with these huge telco accounts,” he says. “I was blessed again to have excellent leadership at CA, such as Jeff Gaster and Jim Berryhill in Atlanta and Kurt Laug in Dallas.”
Mark believes the combination of his experience at BellSouth and Computer Associates laid a solid foundation for him to consult and craft solutions relevant to complex, enterprise customers in the telco and IT spaces. Additionally, he learned to apply these skills across different verticals of enterprise accounts to help them bend the cost curves down while improving systems speeds, cost, and efficiencies.
Proud Moments
Mark says that he will always be proud of his college summer engineering internship at Quaker Oats, as well as his work as a college intern in Washington, DC, for Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole during Ronald Reagan’s presidency.
Some of the other proud moments of his long, stellar career include his manufacturing experience at Frito-Lay; the telecom experience he gained at BellSouth, ranging from selling Watts lines to assisting with negotiations over intellectual property and work product definitions in contracts; and the “unbelievable” variations of many IT systems he worked with across numerous verticals and Fortune 500 accounts.
Launching multiple companies after venturing out on his own is also a proud moment for Mark. He also looks back with pride on the time when in 2012, XIOSS, Inc. was ranked as the fastest-growing solution provider in the United States by CRN Magazine.
Additionally, Mark is proud that he developed a robust partner ecosystem capable of handling all types of technologies for rapid delivery of customer benefits. “XIOSSX, Inc. has a unique ‘Just-In-Time Technology’ (JITT) business model,” he points out.
Learning from Challenges
Mark has encountered multiple challenges over the years. For him, a major challenge is managing the ever-evolving pressures to remain relevant and innovative while dealing with relentless cost pressures that can rapidly erode company margins. When he was working at BellSouth, he learned that he could close most deals when representing a monopoly position in key aspects of the telecom business — “the last mile” exhibit A.
“This taught me to always provide differentiated and disruptive technologies of unquestionable benefit,” Mark says. “This path removes the constant ‘Knife Fight in a Phone Booth’ syndrome of selling “me to” technologies or services.”
Brief Introduction to XIOSSX
XIOSSX is a solutions provider specializing in differentiating technologies, professional services, consulting, and business credit solutions. Its differentiating solutions are designed to scale with the business needs of customers without disruption. The company ensures that its solutions fit the way its customers’ organizations do business, rather than dictating how their business needs to be done. According to Mark, XIOSSX helps businesses optimize cash flow and manage growth.
XIOSSX uses best-of-breed technologies and provides organizations with a competitive advantage, thereby ensuring maximum business productivity and a reduction in operating costs. And the company’s expert business advisors and finance teams helps customers through all aspects of obtaining corporate credit and acquiring business capital.
Moreover, the company’s unique model of Just-In-Time Technology (JITT) delivers ultimate flexibility without the traditional issues of vendors “stuffing” enterprise accounts with junior resources, which leads to the use of project budget dollars to train a vendor’s resources. Mark explains that the JITT model brings what is needed, delivered within the agreed timeframe and on or below budget.
Under Mark’s leadership, XIOSSX has always partnered with diverse suppliers, including WBENC-certified companies, Asian woman-owned small disadvantaged businesses, and African American veteran-owned businesses as part of the XX Companies. “Using companies that reflect the customers of the businesses we serve is also a key priority,” Mark says.
Evolution of XIOSSX
XIOSSX, Inc. began as a reseller of IT hardware, software, and services. Because of customer requests, it gradually changed its model and became a full-fledged solution provider that was defined by Gartner as a System Integrator. “This is the model that was adopted by XIOSS, Inc.,” Mark says, “and carried into the model for launching XIOSSX, Inc.”
He has served as President for both companies – the forward model is XX Companies, LLC. He accepted the role of CEO of XX – a short form for the companies he leads – going forward. Mark explains that this provides greater flexibility to adapt quickly, without the need to address legacy concerns related to technologies from quantum encryption and computing to cognitive and generative AI.
Responsibilities and Balance
As President of XIOSSX, Inc., Mark is primarily responsible for continual enhancements to their partner ecosystem. He focuses on identifying differentiated and disruptive technologies that deliver “unquestioned value” to their enterprise customers. According to Mark, he also maintains his personal network of board members, C-Suite executives, and other leaders and personnel across various accounts and verticals.
Marks keeps a small team to coordinate their Partner Ecosystem, consisting of experts in different areas of technology delivery. He says they are not brought into an opportunity without proper credentials, resources, and cost alignment.
Most leaders struggle to maintain a work-life balance, but that is not the case for Mark. As a single, empty nester, he finds that easy. “I enjoy solving problems for my clients, so I feel like I’m enjoying everything I do, not just working,” he says.
People and Inspirational Women
Mark is passionate about people. As he genuinely “enjoys” connecting with them, he gravitates toward volunteering to make a difference in any small way he can.
Women in his family had influenced him significantly, shaping his values and aspirations. “I have a wonderful family of successful women, starting with my mom, who was number one in her journalism class at K-State,” Mark shares. “My aunt, Dr. Irene Carswell Peden, has an extensive Wikipedia page highlighting her achievements as the first woman to earn both a Master’s and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford.” His sister, Susan, inspired him to follow in her footsteps by earning an industrial engineering degree from K-State.
“My sons, Jackson, age 27, and Brock, age 25, are both Eagle Scouts and continue to thrive and succeed every day,” Mark says.
Evolution of the Technology Industry
In the technology industry, the lines continue to blur as technologies become less siloed. Mark believes this is a positive trend, enabling the delivery of innovation at acceptable costs while offering tremendous potential for growth.
Advice to Aspiring Leaders
Mark advises aspiring leaders in the telecommunications and IT solutions industry to have a firm grasp on what customer needs, requirements, timelines, and available budgets. He encourages them to be always upfront and honest about what can be delivered. Explain possible variances well, he tells them.
“Avoid saying you have the magic bullet that nobody has,” Mark points out to aspiring leaders. According to him, they will gain more respect if they are honest and upfront about the fact that technologies – whether hardware or software – can always break. “Should this happen, take ownership, explain the path to rapid remediation, and work with your customers’ experts on affected systems,” he adds.
