How it Started... How it's Going, with Julius Azarcon
Meet Julius Azarcon, Vice President of Professional and Managed Services at CDW. Julius currently leads the professional and managed services portfolio for CDW Canada, where he manages a national team of tech experts delivering complex solutions.
Julius was born and raised in Toronto, where his parents moved after immigrating from the Philippines, with his three siblings. “The work ethic I saw early on with my parents, as immigrants, having to work hard in a new country and make sacrifices, was inspirational,” he recalled.
How It Started
Julius started his first job, delivering the Toronto Star, at 11 years old — and he hasn’t stopped working since. Although it wasn’t easy to deliver on Saturday mornings in the middle of winter, his first job taught him about entrepreneurship and the value of earning a dollar. “It was an interesting exposure to how the business process worked for me,” he said.
From there, Julius attended York University to follow his plan of attending med school. In 1997, his friend needed a ride to IBM’s career fair, so Julius tagged along. At the career fair, an IBM recruiter started a conversation with him.
Julius shared that he built his own computer and as a child wrote his first program on his Commodore 64. He quickly realized that the conversation was an initial interview, and the recruiter asked if he’d be interested in working with IBM. “I got into IT by accident,” he said. “I didn’t know what I was doing.”
After the career fair, Julius faxed his resume to IBM, planning to work for IBM for a year to see where it took him. A few days later, he was chosen for an interview and hired as a Product Specialist to support customers with internet connectivity. “It was a great launching pad for me,” he said.
After graduating from college and navigating the workforce for a few years, Julius started working at ADP Canada in 2001. A few years later, in 2007, he was asked to transfer from Toronto to New Jersey. Julius found the separation from his safe space and family difficult, and he decided to leave ADP in 2007 and turn his focus toward consulting.
“That’s when I founded my company, Eosensa,” said Julius. Over the years, Eosensa grew into a multi-million dollar consultancy firm that provided Cyber Risk Advisory services. His success at Eosensa led the company to be acquired by Scalar Decisions in 2015, where Eosensa became a key component of Scalar’s security portfolio.
In 2019, Scalar was acquired by CDW, and Julius was asked to lead the cyber security services profile. At CDW, Julius was promoted to a senior leadership role to enhance the existing operations of CDW’s professional and managed services portfolio.
How It’s Going
Julius leads the professional and managed services portfolio for CDW Canada, where he manages a national team of hybrid cloud, cyber security, enterprise infrastructure, customer success, and project management experts. He believes that coworkers are his number one customer, and it’s important for him to see his team grow in their professional careers and as individuals.
Although the acquisition of Scalar was challenging amid the pandemic, Julius is proud of what his team has accomplished. “If you look at where we’ve been and where we are, 2020 was really the year we were supposed to be integrated. It was challenging, but it forced the team to work through those challenges.”
“To summarize 2022 and what we’re coming into in 2023, customer sentiment is at the highest level we’ve seen,” said Julius. Looking forward to the future, he’s excited about the opportunities in store for CDW. “We’re able to be disruptive,” he said. “We’re not just driving architectural outcomes; we’re also driving business outcomes.”
His advice for future coworkers? “Focus on what’s close to your heart, the purpose and mission behind what you do every day and the relationships you build along the way.”
His advice for future coworkers? “Focus on what’s close to your heart, the purpose and mission behind what you do every day and the relationships you build along the way. Salary and title, while important, can be a distraction.”
– CDW Team
Explore Technology and Engineering careers at CDW.
Meet Julius Azarcon, Vice President of Professional and Managed Services at CDW. Julius currently leads the professional and managed services portfolio for CDW Canada, where he manages a national team of tech experts delivering complex solutions.
Julius was born and raised in Toronto, where his parents moved after immigrating from the Philippines, with his three siblings. “The work ethic I saw early on with my parents, as immigrants, having to work hard in a new country and make sacrifices, was inspirational,” he recalled.
How It Started
Julius started his first job, delivering the Toronto Star, at 11 years old — and he hasn’t stopped working since. Although it wasn’t easy to deliver on Saturday mornings in the middle of winter, his first job taught him about entrepreneurship and the value of earning a dollar. “It was an interesting exposure to how the business process worked for me,” he said.
From there, Julius attended York University to follow his plan of attending med school. In 1997, his friend needed a ride to IBM’s career fair, so Julius tagged along. At the career fair, an IBM recruiter started a conversation with him.
Julius shared that he built his own computer and as a child wrote his first program on his Commodore 64. He quickly realized that the conversation was an initial interview, and the recruiter asked if he’d be interested in working with IBM. “I got into IT by accident,” he said. “I didn’t know what I was doing.”
After the career fair, Julius faxed his resume to IBM, planning to work for IBM for a year to see where it took him. A few days later, he was chosen for an interview and hired as a Product Specialist to support customers with internet connectivity. “It was a great launching pad for me,” he said.
After graduating from college and navigating the workforce for a few years, Julius started working at ADP Canada in 2001. A few years later, in 2007, he was asked to transfer from Toronto to New Jersey. Julius found the separation from his safe space and family difficult, and he decided to leave ADP in 2007 and turn his focus toward consulting.
“That’s when I founded my company, Eosensa,” said Julius. Over the years, Eosensa grew into a multi-million dollar consultancy firm that provided Cyber Risk Advisory services. His success at Eosensa led the company to be acquired by Scalar Decisions in 2015, where Eosensa became a key component of Scalar’s security portfolio.
In 2019, Scalar was acquired by CDW, and Julius was asked to lead the cyber security services profile. At CDW, Julius was promoted to a senior leadership role to enhance the existing operations of CDW’s professional and managed services portfolio.
How It’s Going
Julius leads the professional and managed services portfolio for CDW Canada, where he manages a national team of hybrid cloud, cyber security, enterprise infrastructure, customer success, and project management experts. He believes that coworkers are his number one customer, and it’s important for him to see his team grow in their professional careers and as individuals.
Although the acquisition of Scalar was challenging amid the pandemic, Julius is proud of what his team has accomplished. “If you look at where we’ve been and where we are, 2020 was really the year we were supposed to be integrated. It was challenging, but it forced the team to work through those challenges.”
“To summarize 2022 and what we’re coming into in 2023, customer sentiment is at the highest level we’ve seen,” said Julius. Looking forward to the future, he’s excited about the opportunities in store for CDW. “We’re able to be disruptive,” he said. “We’re not just driving architectural outcomes; we’re also driving business outcomes.”
His advice for future coworkers? “Focus on what’s close to your heart, the purpose and mission behind what you do every day and the relationships you build along the way.”
His advice for future coworkers? “Focus on what’s close to your heart, the purpose and mission behind what you do every day and the relationships you build along the way. Salary and title, while important, can be a distraction.”
– CDW Team
