Cloud4SMB Expo | Speaker List

ADTRAN, Inc.

Barry Derrick
Product Marketing Manager

Barry Derrick has more than 12 years of experience in technical marketing as well as marketing communications. He currently serves as Marketing Manager for ADTRAN’s NetVanta Unified Communications solutions and highly successful cloud connectivity line of products, which include: NetVanta and Total Access IP Business Gateways, NetVanta access routers, and eSBC. Barry’s efforts have helped ADTRAN maintain their market leadership position in private and public cloud connectivity. Prior to joining ADTRAN, Barry was a 9-year veteran of General Electric where he served in both marketing communications and marketing manager roles for the Intelligent Platforms Embedded Computing business group. Barry holds a bachelor’s degree in Consumer/Industrial Marketing from the University of Alabama.

Session(s):

» What To Do If Your Phone System is Costing You Money

AirWatch LLC

Harry Paredes
Enterprise Account Executive

Harry Paredes is an enterprise account executive for the Latin American region at AirWatch®, the global leader and innovator in mobile device security and Enterprise Mobile Management (EMM) technology. In this role, Paredes demonstrates the AirWatch solution and coordinates mobile deployments for large enterprise accounts across the Latin American region. He is responsible for providing the Latin American market with tailored business solutions to optimize the mobile strategy for the enterprise.

Prior to joining AirWatch, Parades held a number of management, sales and marketing roles at companies including Pitney Bowes Software, Kodak GCG, Creo Inc. and NELA. During his time at Pitney Bowes Software, he earned a multitude of leadership and sales awards.

Paredes attended the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador, where he studied business administration and marketing.

Session(s):

» Is Your Network Ready for Cloud Services?

» Evolution of the Mobile SMB

Allworx

Tom Elliott
Director, Business Development

Mr. Elliott has over 35 years experience in the telecommunications and high-tech industries and has been instrumental in managing high growth companies. He began his professional career in telecommunications working for the Rochester Telephone Corporation in various operating and marketing roles and then went on to head several companies in the industry, including TIE Communications Canada where he was Chairman and CEO, Callnet Telecommunications (later Sprint Canada and now part of Rogers Communications) where he was President and CEO, and WilTel Communications Systems where he was Senior Vice President Marketing and Sales leading its 450 member telephone equipment and network sales force.

In the mid-nineties Mr. Elliott co-founded the marketing and consulting firm Quest America. When that company was later sold to USN Communications he was named COO of the parent company, and prior to its IPO he became CEO and Chairman of the Board. Upon the sale of USN to a network services provider in 2000, Mr. Elliott worked for several telecommunications and investment firms in a consulting capacity. While working as Chief Operating Officer of investment firm Hawkeye, Inc. Mr. Elliott was directly involved in establishing its acquisition strategy and in the financing, restructuring and revitalization of its acquired network and equipment operating subsidiaries.

Mr. Elliott has a Bachelors Degree and a Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Windsor and is a past officer of industry associations in Canada and the United States.

Session(s):

» What’s in a Platform? Building for Delivery to Your SMBs

BlueOSS

Tim Cook
CEO

As CEO, Tim Cook sets and oversees the company’s strategy and vision. Additionally, he is responsible for spearheading top-line revenues generated through sales, marketing and product management as well as develop and execute the company’s Software-as-a-Service sales and marketing strategies. As a Co-founder of BlueOSS, Cook will continue to serve as an evangelist on the shift to subscription-based billing models from the complex billing structures of yesterday. His extensive telecommunications experience, collaborative leadership style and operational expertise has been key to influencing telecommunications companies to embrace the Cloud Economy.

Prior to BlueOSS, he served as Vice President at Votela, a leading distributor for Siemens’ OpenScape Cloud Services and a specialized carrier providing voice and unified communications in the cloud. There, he oversaw the company’s day-to-day operations and channel development and channel sales. Before that, he was Director of Sales at Force 3, a leading provider of information technology solutions and support services to the Federal government. At Force 3, he was responsible for building and growing Force 3 Systems, a new entity serving the Washington/Baltimore metro area. As Director of Sales, for the new entity, he generated $20 million sales during the course of his leadership.

Session(s):

Carnival Cruise Lines

Ramon Milan
VP & CIO

Session(s):

» CIO Roundtable: Rationalizing the Dataverse – How Big Data is Changing Everything

Cbeyond

Joey Penick
Director, Channel Marketing

Joey Penick serves as Director, Channel Marketing at Cbeyond. Cbeyond, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBEY), a cloud and communications services provider, is the technology ally for small and mid-sized business.

At Cbeyond he is responsible for Indirect and Partner based marketing strategies that expand Cbeyond’s distribution channels, build customer value and increase business performance.

He joined Cbeyond after leading vertical marketing strategies for the last five years at Verizon Enterprise Solutions across Fortune 500 companies.

Penick has more than 17 years of global business experience leading high performance marketing and channel operations teams for companies such as Verizon Enterprise Solutions, Cypress Communications and MCI Communications. His expertise in the area of growth strategies helped these companies successfully drive new customer acquisition, loyalty and channel expansion.

Penick is a member of the Strategic Alliance Association (ASAP) and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). He completed the Professional Development Certification Program for Advanced Negotiations at the University of Notre Dame - Mendoza College of Business and holds a Lean Six Sigma & Project Management Professional Development Certification.

He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in History and Political Science from Mississippi College and holds an MBA from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Session(s):

» Trust is the Backbone of Your Cloud Success

Cbeyond Communications

Chris Gatch
EVP & CTO

Christopher C. Gatch, Cbeyonds Chief Technology Officer, is responsible for leading product development, service management and on-going technology research and development. Since beginning with Cbeyond at the companys inception in 1999, Gatch has served in many leadership roles including vice president of business development, vice president of product development, and vice president of engineering.

Prior to his arrival at Cbeyond, Gatch served as the senior director of strategic marketing at Intermedia Communications. In this capacity, he led the companys research and development of Voice Over IP alternatives.

Gatch has a bachelors degree in computer engineering from Clemson University and a masters degree in the management of technology from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also serves on the board of the SIP Forum, an organization dedicated to advancing the adoption of products and services based on Session Initiation Protocol. In fact, Gatch helped lead the formation of the SIP Forums Service Provider to IP PBX Interoperability Task Group.

Session(s):

CIsco Systems, Inc.

Bryan Mobley
Director, Cisco Consulting Services

Since 2002, Bryan Mobley has been an integral part of Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group’s efforts with Service Providers, specializing in SMB cloud/commercial services; network/cloud based managed services. His efforts have been focused on SP business new revenue strategy and management consulting as well as business planning services. Additionally, he has been involved in thought leadership efforts concerning SMB cloud adoption, Enterprise cloud adoption, 3rd generation managed network services and SP cloud offerings. Over the last 10 years, Bryan has focused strategy and management consulting with Cisco’s largest SP customers. Prior to that he held roles in business development, service development and major account management exclusively in the telecommunications industry including 5 years with Ericsson, Inc. where he held roles in sales and technology consulting. Bryan holds a BSEE from Clemson University and an MBA with honors from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. Bryan has spoken at the Fall 12, Spring 13 Comptel and Fall SMB4Cloud conferences on the topic of SMB Cloud.

Session(s):

» What You Need to Know About Your Cloud Services Partner

Cloud Dynamics

Vijai Karthigesu
COO

Vijai Karthigesu has more than 20 years of experience in private and public sectors, and has experience in leading the design, build and operation of four large service provider backbone networks in Canada. He has a track record of leading multiple design and implementation initiatives of large mission critical data centers, and cloud technology solutions.

Prior to founding Cloud Dynamics, he founded two successful technology companies, including SpectraVoice, a pioneer in the Canadian-VOIP industry. He is also a co-inventor and is named in all of Cloud Dynamics’ patent applications.

Cloud Dynamics is an innovator in green, agile, software-defined Data Center and Cloud technologies. Cloud Dynamics’ key products include CloudDCTM, a complete, end-to-end converged cloud infrastructure solution for Cloud Service Providers. CloudDCTM, includes all components a service provider need to deliver an efficient Cloud Service: Data Center Facility (ecoDCTM), IT Infrastructure, Operational Tools and Cloud Management Platform. ecoDCTM is a highly-efficient green cloud data center system that can reduce cooling costs by as much as 90 percent compared to legacy data centers.

Session(s):

» What You Need to Know About Your Cloud Services Partner

Codero Hosting

Emil Sayegh
President & CEO

Emil Sayegh is an early pioneer of cloud computing and is recognized as one of the industry’s true veterans. A cloud visionary, he is credited with launching and leading the very successful cloud computing and hosting businesses for HP and Rackspace – two of the strongest competitors to Amazon Web Services (AWS). He is also known as one the “fathers of OpenStack” having created the open source software.??Emil built the Rackspace cloud business while serving as the company’s GM of the Cloud Computing Division. He led Rackspace into the public cloud market and successfully positioned it to compete with AWS. Earlier at Rackspace he served as VP of the Product Group and launched the company’s private cloud and hosted exchange services. He later moved on to HP where he served as VP of Cloud Service and initiated the company’s public cloud services.?Emil’s early career included eight years with Dell where he served as Services Marketing Director, a position in which he oversaw development of the global services roadmap and the marketing organization. He also served in leadership roles at RLX Technologies (later acquired by HP), Compaq Computers (later acquired by HP), and W.L. Gore & Associates.? Emil holds nine patents in the fiber-optics interconnect field. He earned a Bachelor Degree from the School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and a Masters in Technology Commercialization from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. ? Emil joined Codero Hosting as President and CEO in January 2012 and is leading the next generation of cloud computing with the hybrid cloud.

Session(s):

» The SMB Cloud Market Needs You!

» What You Need to Know About Your Cloud Services Partner

Collab9

Joseph Barnas
Director Channels

Joseph Barnas has over 30 years of proven success in sales and sales management. Throughout his career, Joseph has obtained a comprehensive knowledge of the communications and IT industry, including protocols, DWDM, TCP/IP, Voice over Data, as well as leasing and financing techniques such as facility structures. Currently, he is the director of channels at collab9.

In his last role, Joseph was Director of Strategic Initiatives at Allied Digital where he signed on vendors including Westcon, and Windstream. Prior roles include Director of Global Accounts for Xeta Technologies where his responsibilities included supplying Managed Services for Siemens and IBM. As President of Broad Horizons Capital, Inc. Joseph started and operated the small, privately held business, focusing on the IT and communications consulting area, as well as the financing of those projects. There, he provided successful communications and infrasture solutions, and financial facilities in some cases to medium sized businesses and Fortune 1000 customers.

Prior to starting his company, Joseph worked for Nortel Networks initially as a senior account manager, working his way up to Director of Global Signature Accounts, and later the Director of ESP Optical Networks and Access. Joseph also has experience in interfacing, presenting and raising venture funding.

Session(s):

» Collaboration in the Cloud, a Simpler Way to Communicate

CoreDial

Jim DeBald
VP of Channel Sales

Jim is responsible for managing CoreDial’s Channel Sales Organization. Jim honed his technology skills early in his career, working for industry stalwarts NCR and British Telecom, before moving to a series of early-stage tech innovators–where Jim was responsible for building a sales organization in Philadelphia (and later the Southeast) for MFS Datanet, before being promoted to Vice President of Sales for MFS’ Internet Division. More recently in his career, Jim was the VP of Sales & Marketing for both Three Pillars, an innovator of Managed Security Services, and ESS Secure, an integrator of cyber and physical security products and services. Jim holds a BS in Management Information Science (MIS) and a BS in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh and received his MBA from LaSalle University in Philadelphia.

Session(s):

» What To Do If Your Phone System is Costing You Money

CounterPath

Khris Kendrick
Director of Business Development

Khris Kendrick brings more than twenty years of experience to his role as Director of Business Development and Enterprise Channels for CounterPath. In this role Mr. Kendrick sets the vision for the enterprise business development, channel strategy and partner relationships. Prior to CounterPath, he worked for Sonus Networks and authored SBC for Dummies to help educate CFOs and CIOs on the benefit of moving to Unified Communications. Additionally, he held senior positions at Grandstream Networks pioneering desktop video and VoIP applications, and Motorola’s Core Networks Division where he was responsible for setting business strategies for IMS, Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) and managing third party IMS ecosystem relationships. He played a critical role in the deployment of the first and largest IMS WiMax network. Mr. Kendrick has worked as an independent Sales Consultant serving NexGen VoIP telephony companies, and in Product and Marketing roles at Spectel (Avaya), Iperia Inc (GENBAND), Lernout & Hauspie (Nuance), and Polaroid Corporation.

Session(s):

» Evolution of the Mobile SMB

CounterPath

Todd Carothers
Executive VP, Sales & Marketing

As Executive Vice President (EVP), Sales and Marketing, Todd is responsible for overseeing CounterPath’s Sales, Product Marketing, Management and Marketing Communications initiatives. He is focused on developing and executing the product, go-to-market and selling strategies of the companys industry leading desktop and mobile softphones and end-to-end whole product solutions that drive fixed mobile convergence (FMC), fixed mobile substitution (FMS) and over-the-top (OTT) services for enterprises, operators and channel partners across the globe. Beyond that, he is a visionary leader with a passion for working in high impact, cutting-edge technology environments. With over 20 years of experience, Todd brings expert knowledge of the telecommunications industry in function areas such as marketing, product management, sales and business development. Prior to joining CounterPath, Todd held executive and management level positions with companies such as Bridgeport Networks (acquired by CounterPath in 2008), The Telnecity Group, Malibu Networks, Adaptive Broadband, and Sciforma.

Session(s):

» Helping SMBs Go Mobile

H2O – Overgroup

Evan Rice
VP of Sales and Marketing

Evan Rice is the VP of Sales and Marketing at H2O – Overgroup, a provider of next-generation billing, CRM and management solutions for technology service providers. Evan has over 10 years in the telecommunication and cloud computing technologies. At Overgroup, Evan is responsible for managing product awareness and sales, as well outlining the product roadmap for H2O.

Prior to joining H2O – Overgroup in 2013, Evan was part of VMWare, where he was a trusted advisor to his customers in the areas of Private Cloud, Hybrid Cloud and End User technologies. Prior to VMWare, Evan was part of Cbeyond where he managed operations for their Bay Area branches.

Session(s):

» Deploying Applications in a Virtual Server Environment: Developing a Roadmap

IBM Mobile First & Cloud OE

Raj Balasubramanian
STSM, Product Design

Raj is an experienced Consulting IT Architect with concentration in analysis, application architecture, application development, infrastructure planning, deployment and systems integration. Recently, he has been leading SOA engagements at various customers. Prior to that, he was implementing collaboration solutions for customers as part of ISSL. In addition, he maintains a firm grasp on the emerging web technologies.

Session(s):

» Helping SMBs Go Mobile

IBM Software Group

Dr. Angel Luis Diaz
Vice President of Open Technology & Cloud Performance Solutions

Dr. Angel Luis Diaz is IBM’s champion for open technology. As the Vice President of Open Technology & Cloud Performance Solutions for IBM Software Group, Dr. Diaz has lead IBM’s & the IT Industry’s transformation toward a Next Generation Enterprise Software Platform that delivers accelerated client value through interoperability & portability, based upon standards & open source at scale. Passionate about the art-of-the-possible, Dr. Diaz leads a global team that works across open source communities, international organizations & standards consortia to foster development of the next generation of open technologies & to help clients realize their potential by innovating upon an open architecture. Additionally, Dr. Diaz’s Cloud Performance Solutions team works with leading customers on enterprise infrastructure, application architecture/platform & workload optimization.

Prior to his current role, Dr. Diaz has served in a range of leadership positions. His time in IBM Software Group was marked by his growing of IBM’s Business Process Management & Messaging footprint, his leadership of a multi-billion dollar development organization, the establishment of a brand around Service Oriented Architecture & capitalization upon the market opportunity it presented.

As a senior member of IBM’s research staff, Dr. Diaz lead the development of several standards that continue to be key to how the Internet functions today. In addition to advanced technology projects related to HTML, XML & Web Services, he co-authored many of the standards upon which the WWW has been composed.

Dr. Diaz received his Ph.D. in computer science (distributed computing, programming languages & computer algebra) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Session(s):

» Keynote Presentation by IBM

Infinitely Virtual

Adam Stern
Founder and CEO

Adam Stern, founder and CEO of Infinitely Virtual, is a young entrepreneur who saw the value of virtualization and cloud computing more than five years ago. Stern’s company helps businesses move from obsolete hardware investments to an IaaS [Infrastructure as a Service] cloud platform, providing them the flexibility and scalability to transition select data operations from in-house to the cloud.

Stern founded Infinitely Virtual in 2007, to provide virtual dedicated server solutions to growing enterprises, offering what was essentially a cloud computing platform before the term existed Infinitely Virtual is a subsidiary of Santa Monica-based Altay Corporation, which Stern founded in 2003 to provide Windows, VMware and other service solutions to small and medium-size businesses.

Since 2007, Infinitely Virtual has grown exponentially through its offering affordable, customized cloud-based solutions, using the most sophisticated technology available. Host Review named the company to its list of “Top Ten Fastest Growing” enterprises in 2011. Stern is a firm believer in corporate responsibility. The company’s products and services feature low-power consumption and fit squarely within the green IT movement. As a provider -- and consumer - of cloud based services, Infinitely Virtual is committed to sustainability.

Prior to founding Altay and Infinitely Virtual, Stern worked for CallOne, Inc., a value-added reseller of computer equipment and professional services. From 1997 to 2000, Stern led CallOne as the Vice President of Operations. He then worked for 3Com in 2000 as a network consultant.

Stern holds a B.S. degree in business administration and management from Cal State, Northridge.

Session(s):

Intelacloud

Paul Daigle
VoIP Evangelist and Chief Partner Development

He has been providing technology services to business for over 30 years. These services included managed services, carrier services to include SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Software. He has held previous positions as CEO of OfficeByte, CEO of Bytes, Bits & Megabytes, Administrator of US Technology Fund, and philanthropist.

At IntelaCloud, Paul is responsible for recruiting partners. Partners that either have a VoIP offering gap in their product offerings, or better yet, those who have attempted on their own or those who have attempted to utilize other services and failed.

Session(s):

» Picking the Right Hardware for Your SMB Customers

Jenne Inc.

Craig Rocco
Product Manager for Data Solutions

As Product Manager for Data & IP Solutions at Jenne, Inc., Craig Rocco has been an integral part of the growth and success of Jenne, Inc. for over 25 years. He is responsible for the growth and development of some of Jenne’s top Networking and Telephony vendors. His knowledge and experience in the telecommunications industry includes: product management, sales support, account and vendor management, and solution selling. In addition to his expertise in Networking and Telephony Solutions, Rocco is well versed in Unified Communications, Hosted and Cloud-based markets. He is an active participant in numerous industry events, contributing his knowledge to the industry while continuing to expand his knowledge about the latest products and solutions.

Session(s):

LiveQoS

James McMillan
Vice President Business Development

A member of the LiveQoS executive team for nearly five years and a longtime technology industry veteran, Vice President of Business Development James McMillan brings a leadership technique based on years of experience that prioritizes revenue generation, market development and competitive analysis. His primary focus is cultivating critical business partnerships for the company that will strengthen its position in the industry in addition to fostering its existing relationships. Through these collaborations, James seeks to contribute to the environment of innovation and growth at LiveQoS in order to drive further advancements within their offerings.

Previously, James held several management positions within the technology industry, including vice president of sales & marketing at Energate, vice president of sales & marketing at Blue Line Innovations, COO at Bulldog Technologies, and head of sales at EMS Technologies. He is a graduate of Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Session(s):

» Is Your Network Ready for Cloud Services?

MegaPath

Matt Hutchinson
VP of Channel Sales

Matt Hutchinson oversees the strategic direction and day-to-day management of MegaPaths channel sales operations. Hutchinson is tasked with ensuring that MegaPath’s channel sales program flourishes while offering its partners abundant sales and technology resources to address their customers’ communications challenges.

Hutchinson has more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry, including executive channel positions at 8x8, Logitech, Hewlett Packard and HJN telecom in addition to a variety of other sales and marketing roles at Clarity, Nortel, Lucent and CellularONE.

Hutchinson holds a B.A. in International Relations from Syracuse University and an MBA from the University of New Mexico.

Session(s):

» The SMB Cloud Market Needs You!

Miami Dolphins

Tery Howard
Senior VP, CTO

Session(s):

» CIO Roundtable: Rationalizing the Dataverse – How Big Data is Changing Everything

Nextiva

Ira Feuerstein
Director - North America Channel Sales

Ira Feuerstein is a cloud communication veteran spending the past 12 years exclusively building effective channels in the hosted cloud communication and collaboration space. In his most recent position, Ira has been given the challenge of building a brand new channel program from the ground up. The goal of this program is to completely disrupt the norm in how cloud channel programs are run.He has spoken on many national panels including ones at Channel Partners, Intellisys Channel Connect, and more

Session(s):

» Collaboration in the Cloud, a Simpler Way to Communicate

» What To Do If Your Phone System is Costing You Money

Phone.com

Ari Rabban
CEO

Ari is a veteran of the IP-communications industry. He is the CEO of Phone.com, Inc. a company he co-founded. He previously served as president of Surf&Call Solutions as well as TrulyGlobal, Inc. two early VoIP industry startups that were acquired. Ari also served as a senior executive at VocalTec Communications, the VoIP industry pioneer, and a strategy manager for Lucent Technologies. He holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, and a law degree and BA in Economics, both from Tel Aviv University.

Session(s):

» BC/DR: Making Sure Your SMB is Prepared for Anything

Phone.com

Joel Maloff
Vice President - Channel Development

Joel Maloff is Vice President - Channel Development for Phone.com (www.phone.com) and adjunct professor at Colorado Technical University. Joel has been a frequent speaker at industry conferences on topics such as SIP trunking, Unified Communications, Enhancing Quality of Experience via Network Planning, and IP Peer-to–Peer Networking.Joel has previously served as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at BandTel, Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategies at GlobalTouch Telecom, and CTO at Fusion Telecom. Prior to joining Fusion, He was Principal Consultant for Maloff Group International and consulted for corporations in North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and Australia.

Session(s):

Plivo

Michael Lauricella
VP of Business Development

Michael Lauricella is one of the telecom industrys foremost authorities on go-to-market strategies for cloud communication solutions. Michael brings to Plivo business development and vast partnering opportunities given his long-standing platform, vendor and analyst relations experience. Prior to joining Plivo, Michael was responsible for the creation of BroadSofts Web 2.0 initiative, Xtended, and led the companys first BroadCloud initiative, PacketSmart. Working directly with BroadSoft customers, he was able to accelerate market launch, marketing, and sales for Hosted PBX and Mobile PBX applications. Lauricellas other roles included Vice President of Telecommunications Research at AMI Partners, a leading research and consultancy firm focused on the global small and medium business (SMB) market - VoIPs fastest growing segment. Before that, he spearheaded the Yankee Groups research on the SMB market. In addition to his work as a consultant, Lauricella did a stint at 2nd Century Communications, a competitive local exchange carrier, where he focused on both competitive intelligence and business development. Michael holds an MBA in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis University.

Session(s):

» What’s in a Platform? Building for Delivery to Your SMBs

Progress

Karen Tegan Padir
CTO

As Chief Technology Officer, Karen Tegan Padir, a Progress senior vice president and 20-year software industry veteran, is responsible for defining and delivering the company’s technology strategy, innovation and vision, reporting to President and Chief Executive Officer Phil Pead.

Padir joined Progress Software in September 2012 as senior vice president and business line executive for application development, the company’s largest product line. Under her leadership, the Progress® OpenEdge® development platform was revitalized and major new versions incorporating advanced mobile and business rules capabilities introduced.

Padir joined Progress from EnterpriseDB, where she was most recently executive vice president, products & engineering, and was responsible for all product functions. During her tenure there, Padir tripled the product portfolio, which yielded 146 percent growth in new customers and 100 percent revenue growth. Prior to EnterpriseDB, she was senior vice president of software infrastructure & MySQL at Sun Microsystems. As one of the founding members of the J2EE team, she was critical in the growth of the entire middleware business, comprising MySQL, Glassfish Application Server, Identity, Access and Roles Management, Directory Server and the SOA Portfolio. Under her leadership, Glassfish became the industrys most used Java EE compatible application server.

She holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration and a Bachelors of Science Degree in Computer Science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Padir serves on WPIs board of trustees.

Session(s):

Rackspace

Wayne Walls
Director of Cloud Strategy

Wayne Walls is director of cloud strategy at Rackspace, where he works closely with customers and product groups within the company to deliver great outcomes to complex business problems. A recognized leader in the cloud industry, Wayne has built solutions that span OpenStack, AWS, GCE and Azure, as well as delivered world class training programs around cloud architecture design, DevOps and big data. During his tenure at Rackspace, Wayne has held roles in Support, Product Engineering, Enterprise Architecture and Development. He holds a bachelor of economics and a bachelor of information systems from the University of Oklahoma. Follow Wayne on Twitter: @waynewalls.

Session(s):

» Is Storage as a Service the Next Great Opportunity?

Rent-A-Center

Herman Nell

Session(s):

» CIO Roundtable: Rationalizing the Dataverse – How Big Data is Changing Everything

Sesame Workshop/Sesame Street

Shadrach Kisten
VP of IT

Shadrach Kisten serves as Vice President of Information Technology for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street. In this role, Kisten has strategic and tactical oversight of the design, implementation, and support of network and systems engineering, business systems, media asset management systems, and desktop infrastructures. Additionally, he manages the technological needs of the organization, keeping the Workshop functioning in optimal environments, and aligning the organization’s goals with technologically appropriate solutions. Kisten came to the Workshop in 2011 as Vice President of Information Technology Operations. Since joining the Workshop, he has been successful in stabilizing the organization’s network and backend infrastructure, improving data management and overseeing the tech support group. Prior to joining Sesame Workshop, Kisten spent nine years at NBC/MSNBC. He held the role of Network Manager, Head of IT within the Engineering and Information Technology department, where he was the main architect in the design and implementation of the IT/IP infrastructure of MSNBC IT production, news gathering, acquisitions, creations, editing, newsroom, play out and distribution systems. He also served as Director of Production Systems at NBC Universal. While there, Kisten was the recipient of the National Broadcast Engineering excellence award for IPTV design and deployment, and obtained numerous company recognitions as “top talent”. He was awarded the GE Green Belt Certification for process and project management. Kisten has also had multiple consulting positions leading large scale infrastructure and software development and deployment projects. Kisten earned his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from City College, School of Engineering, City University of New York. He obtained his Masters in Computer Science with distinction from Long Island University, New York, and also earned a professional certificate in finance from New York Institute of Finance.

Session(s):

» CIO Roundtable: Rationalizing the Dataverse – How Big Data is Changing Everything

Sookasa

Asaf Cidon
CEO and co-founder

Asaf Cidon is the CEO and co-founder of Sookasa, a rapidly growing startup that provides a transparent layer of security, which protects files across popular cloud services and mobile devices. Sookasa is backed by leading Silicon Valley VCs, including Andreessen Horowitz and First Round Capital. Asaf is a PhD candidate at Stanford Universitys Computer Systems Lab, where he published in leading cloud storage and networking conferences. He previously worked at Google Israel in the web search group and served as a commander in an elite unit of the Israeli Intelligence. Asaf received his MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and his BS in Computer Engineering from the Technion, Cum Laude.

Session(s):

» Trust is the Backbone of Your Cloud Success

TransCertain

David Schoenberger
Chief Innovation Officer

David Schoenberger has developed disruptive technology for electronic payments and data security companies since the mid-nineties. David has designed and delivered high speed, highly redundant, and highly secure platforms and continues to emerge as a first mover and innovator in applying these solutions to the mobile space and industry specific markets. With a programming and ERP configurable network computing foundation, David is a leader in payment and security solutions and has presented theories and solutions across the United States and internationally.

Session(s):

» Is Storage as a Service the Next Great Opportunity?

» How to bridge the gap between Data Security and Data Accessibility: Bulk vs. Micro Encryption

WHOA.com

Todd Catlette
Vice President of Channel Sales

Session(s):

» Secure Cloud Computing: Why Layering Is the Best Approach

Xmartek

Juan Pablo Pazos
President

As President of XmarteK, Juan Pablo Pazos is responsible for identifying innovative revenue streams and forging strategic international business relationships and distribution networks between technology solutions providers and vendors looking to extend their market reach. He serves as a global liaison between companies located within North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Pazos boasts long-term strategic experience in international sales and marketing, ROI consulting, business process improvement, team building and network management—all skills which he brings to his position at XmarteK, a company dedicated to uniting telecommunications experts and to the development of Solutions around the new Internet of Things.

Prior to joining XmarteK, Pazos served as Director of Global Marketing at 3Com and CEO at Intermind Corporation, consulting company and CEO of Links, Top System Integrator in Colombia winning Best of LAT for companies like Cisco.

Session(s):

» Picking the Right Hardware for Your SMB Customers

Yealink

Wei Tang
VP Business Development North America

Wei Tang is a highly-experienced and acknowledged expert in the international telecommunications industry and is now Yealink Network Technology’s VP Business Development & Key Account Sales for North America. He began his career with a BSc degree from Beijing University, followed by an MSc from the University of Virginia - both in Electrical Engineering. He has accumulated more than 15 years of varied telecommunication industry experience. This ranges from UC&C applications to 4G wireless infrastructure, mobility and security software and telecom OSS/BSS systems. Moreover, he has also worked extensively for startups and multinational companies in US, China and Korea in engineering, marketing, business development and sales positions.Among his achievements, Wei Tang led the development of the world’s first P2P Mobile-IP secure communication system. He was also at the helm during the design of a small cell product for MSO and throughout successful trials with major cable operators, such as Comcast and TWC. He currently leads key projects and manages strategic partnerships in the US.

Session(s):

» Picking the Right Hardware for Your SMB Customers

Moderator List

Andy Abramson (Moderator)

Comunicano, Inc.
CEO

Andy Abramson is the founder of Comunicano, Inc., a full-service value creation communications agency, servicing start-ups, companies in transition and established brands with regard to marketing, advertising, public relations, promotion, events and reputation management.Founded in 1992, Comunicano operates globally as a virtual company, since 2000 the company has participated in the 40 company exits in the fintech, web, Internet, mobile, telecom or IT infrastructure sectors. Andy started his career in the marketing department of a professional sports team at age 14 and has been at it ever since. He has held a series of marketing and communications managerial roles with three professional sports teams - Philadelphia Wings, Philadelphia Flyers and Denver Nuggets, with roles in senior account management within the Foote, Cone and Belding/Impact and guiding the public relations and sports marketing for The Upper Deck Company, before founding Comunicano in 1992.Often quoted in the consumer and technology press, since 2003 Andy has authored VoIPWatch (http://www.andyabramson.com), a leading industry blog focused on mobile, video, voice, collaboration and OTT technology. He is also heard on the syndicated radio program, Business Rockstars, while also serving as a member of the board of advisors of multiple startups around the world.

Session(s):

» Helping SMBs Go Mobile

Paul McDougall (Moderator)

CruxialCIO
Senior writer

Session(s):

» Is Storage as a Service the Next Great Opportunity?

» What You Need to Know About Your Cloud Services Partner

Bruce Page (Moderator)

Current Analysis
Vice President, Custom Research

Bruce leads the Custom Research team at Current Analysis, which conducts customized research, analysis, and advisory engagements on behalf of clients around the globe. His subject matter focus is in unified communications and collaboration, including enterprise communication platforms and related hosted, managed, and professional services.

Prior to joining Current Analysis, Bruce was a Vice President at META Group based in Paris, where he covered EMEA markets in e-mail, conferencing, and collaboration. He also led META’s European telecommunications consulting practice.

Previously, Bruce was a vice president at Gartner, where he was responsible for business development for the firm’s software product range. He also led the worldwide Gartner consulting practice in e-business.

Based in Washington, DC, Mr. Page often speaks at industry events and leads competitive workshops for clients. He holds a B.A. in Science, Technology, and Society from Vassar College.

Session(s):

Larry Lisser (Moderator)

Embrase
Principal

Larry brings 15 years of sales, marketing and business development leadership experience in emerging communication technologies. Through a variety of engagements, Larry has gained a deep understanding of distribution strategy and implemented channel models that have succeeded in markets ranging from small business through to large enterprise. Based in San Francisco, Larry has filled business-critical roles and provided direction to technology companies ranging from telecom to web-based B2B services. Larry is a native of Montreal, Canada and has been based in the Bay Area for the last 10 years.

Session(s):

» BC/DR: Making Sure Your SMB is Prepared for Anything

Jeff Dworkin (Moderator)

Ghostpoint

Jeffrey Dworkin is a proven B2B marketing executive with a strong track record of delivering growth through multiple environments, including electronic, social, and traditional marketing programs. By combining elements of both content and product marketing, carefully tracked and refined with a deep understanding of analytics, Jeff has created proven marketing initiatives that have driven double digit growth in web traffic, as well as substantially increased prospect acquisition and lead conversion.

Jeff has a long history in VoIP, Telecommunications and VoIP, having built his first IVR application in 1989. Since that time he has risen through the ranks to server in a variety of roles including Sales, Sales Engineering, Business Development, Product Marketing and Director of Marketing. He most recently served as the Director of Marketing for Sangoma Technologies.

Prior to joining Sangoma, Jeff was enterprise marketing manager with Dialogic. In that role, he was responsible for creating and managing the market strategy for Dialogic’s Open Source, Fax, Fax-Over-IP and IVVR Markets. Prior to Dialogic, Jeff held executive product management and business development positions with a number of technology firms, and was a founder of iFace.com, which was eventual acquired by Rare Medium (Nasdaq:RRRR).

Jeff holds a degree in Industrial Engineering and started in the technology sector nearly 25 years ago as an IVR developer, and has an extensive background in technology, product management and marketing. He is a regular speaker on various communications topics, including TDM-to-IP Migration Strategies, Unified Communications and Microsoft Lync, Open Source Telephony, Business Enabled Communication Process and Interactive Voice Response System Design.

Jeffrey is available for consulting on Marketing Automation, Content Marketing, Lead Acquisition, Product Launches and Channel Development

Session(s):

Alex Vishnev (Moderator)

Global Convergence, LLC.
CTO

Highly accomplished Senior Technology Manager with over 25 years of experience, Mr. Vishnev demonstrating success in planning, developing and executing technology strategies by utilizing emerging technologies. Mr. Vishnev co-founded Interface Alternative (iFace.com) in 1992 and while acting as Chief Technology Officer developed carrier class applications for distributed softswitch network. While at ACN, as CTO VoIP Services, Mr. Vishnev was responsible for company’s global deployment of VOIP supporting over 200,000 video devices. Working at Thrupoint as solution architect, Mr. Vishnev was responsible for helping customers adopt and implement WebRTC technology within large financial organizations call centers and IT organizations. He is presently working with revolutionary M2M company designing and implementing architecture for cloud based home automation and monitoring. Mr. Vishnev specializes in distributed architecture, OSS/BSS and various technology integrations. For the past 15 years, he has been contributing to industry conferences by presenting strategy and technical views for Mobile Convergence, OTT Services, service mediation, architecture and OSS/BSS.

Session(s):

» Picking the Right Hardware for Your SMB Customers

Frank Stinson (Moderator)

IntelliCom Analytics
Partner

Frank Stinson is a Partner and Senior Analyst with IntelliCom Analytics and leads the firms IntelliCom Market Dashboard and Market Performance Dashboard programs. In this role, Stinson provides clients with strategic analysis of Business Communications provider market positioning, business model, technology approach, applications enablement, and market performance.

Mr. Stinsons research and analysis focuses particularly on technology and business model transformation and its impact on both individual provider positioning and broader industry evolution. Key areas of emphasis within that include software transformation of communication architectures, cloud-based and hybrid delivery alternatives, and the impact of disruptive end user technologies and applications.

Prior to joining IntelliCom Analytics, Mr. Stinson was a Vice President at InfoTech Consulting where he was instrumental in the development and growth of the InfoTrack brand of market intelligence services.Mr. Stinson earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Rutgers College, and an MBA in Marketing from the Rutgers Graduate School of Management.

Session(s):

» Collaboration in the Cloud, a Simpler Way to Communicate

Paula Bernier (Moderator)

TMC
Executive Editor

Paula Bernier is Executive Editor at TMC where she writes, edits and manages editorial content for INTERNET TELEPHONY, CUSTOMER, Cloud Computing, and IoT Evolution magazine. Shes also a regular contributor to Content Boost, and TMCnet and its various channels and communities. And she speaks and moderates TMC webinars. Bernier was formerly editor in chief of xchange magazine, where she worked for more than 11 years. She’s also acted as a senior writer for Inter@ctive Week. Bernier got her start in telecom at Telephony magazine, where she spent nearly five years, leaving as the news director. Bernier also has been on the reporting staffs of various mainstream daily and weekly newspapers in Iowa, Minnesota and South Carolina.

Session(s):

» What To Do If Your Phone System is Costing You Money

Doug Barney (Moderator)

TMCnet
Editor-at-Large

Doug Barney has been a technology journalist for nearly 30 years. Doug was the founding editor of Redmond Magazine, Redmond Channel Partner, Redmond Developer News and Virtualization Review, and served as Editorial Director for Visual Studio magazine. Doug also served as Executive Editor of Network World, Editor in Chief of AmigaWorld, and Editor in Chief of Network Computing. Barney also reported for ComputerWorld and InfoWorld. Doug has been a frequent guest on CNN, CNNfn, NECN, and NPR commenting on PC and networking technologies.

Session(s):

» The SMB Cloud Market Needs You!

» What’s in a Platform? Building for Delivery to Your SMBs

» Is Your Network Ready for Cloud Services?

» Trust is the Backbone of Your Cloud Success

» Deploying Applications in a Virtual Server Environment: Developing a Roadmap

» Evolution of the Mobile SMB

Chris Vitek (Moderator)

WebRTC Strategies
Principal

Chris Vitek has been an independent consultant in the contact center business for the last 17 years. He has managed or implemented 44 contact centers for some of the largest companies in the world. Clients include Pepco Holding, AMEX, T.Rowe Price, Payne Webber, Pitney Bowes, Becton Dickenson, TD Bank, T-Mobile, UAL, GTE, Marriott, and Leap Wireless. Chris is a Member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Telecommunications Consultant and a member of the Society of Workforce Planning Professionals. Chris is the President of Enterprise Telemetry, Inc. Recently, he has taken on the role of Editor of the STCblog.com.

Session(s):