In less than a decade, Luis Alvarez has grown the Alvarez Technology Group from a small two-person consultancy to the premier IT solution provider on the California Central Coast, delivering IT services to more than 200 companies throughout the state. A visionary who never shies away from exploring exciting new technologies that might give his clients a competitive advantage, Alvarez specializes in working with executives and managers of small and mid-sized businesses, sharing his expertise by advising them on trends, analyzing their systems for improved performance and planning how IT can help achieve their business goals.

Chris has been with SonicWall since January 2016, where was responsible for North America sales, including marketing and distribution.  In August 2016 he transitioned from North America to Americas sale leader with the addition of Central and South America. Chris lead the transition of SonicWall from a mixed direct and channel company to a 100% channel centric company as SonicWall separated from Dell.

Chris previously with Dell since 1998 where he started in product development as a test engineer, then moving to create a team solely focused on providing direct access for engineering into a small group of customers to drive innovation.  Chris spent the next 7 years as a technology strategist.   Moving into sales leadership, for four years Chris built and led a team of technology strategists focused on public sector customers globally, and created a team focused exclusively on networking.  In 2011, Chris became responsible for Enterprise Systems sales in Dell’s Large Enterprise segment (Server, Storage, and Networking) roughly a $1B business.  His role expanded to Server, Storage, and Networking sales in Dell’s Large Institution Segment which contains the largest public sector and private sector customers across the US, roughly a $2.4B annual business. In January 2016 Chris transitioned to lead the North America Network Security business.  In his current function, Chris is responsible for the overall P&L of Network Security (SonicWall) for all technologies and routes to market.

Jennifer M. Blatnik is vice president of cloud and enterprise marketing at Juniper Networks with a focus on marketing cloud solutions, enterprise deployments of routing, switching, security and SDN products. Blatnik specializes in deployment topologies in enterprise core networks, WAN access, Data Center Interconnects and campus and branch LAN networks. At Juniper, Blatnik has held leadership positions in product line management in routing and Junos software. Before joining Juniper, Blatnik was the director of product management at Cisco and has served as a telecommunications consultant, and in various capacities with Pacific Bell/SBC and Lucent Professional Services in Amsterdam.

Joel Borellis is a recognized channel partner executive, and a thought leader in the area of partner enablement and partner development.  Throughout his 20-year career he has built a reputation for training sales and consulting professionals, constructing innovative enablement programs and leading successful teams.  He recently joined Microsoft leading the US Partner Enablement Organization.  Joel has held high tech leadership positions in sales, consulting and product development. Borellis has been an advisor to several small businesses helping them make important technology decisions and developing solutions for them to manage and expand their business.  He also enjoys volunteering his time to help students learn more about computer science thru programs like Code.org.  Before joining Microsoft, Borellis, held positions with Oracle and Blue Martini. Borellis holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina.

Tim Conkle is an entrepreneur with more than 25 years experience in the IT industry. He has cultivated his expertise in IT consulting, hosted VoIP, and Google AdWords through spearheading two prominent MSP related organizations. As president and CEO of Roland Technology Group, Conkle is the driving force behind a business dedicated to establishing solid IT solutions for clients throughout Texas. Because of its unique model, Roland has experienced explosive revenue growth over the past five years and has grown to be one of the largest IT organizations in the U.S. Conkle also founded The 20 MSP Group, an influential MSP development organization, and is a principal of Cytracom, a hosted VoIP company.

Tom Cuthbert has been a Vistage chair in San Antonio since 2012. He has had extensive business experience including leading the turnaround team of a national restaurant chain, raising millions in venture capital and founding several companies. The most recent company, Adometry, was acquired by Google. Today Cuthbert chairs four Vistage groups made up of CEOs and business leaders from diverse industries in San Antonio. In 2014, he was recognized with the Vistage Chair Excellence Award. He serves on the board of directors for Christian Unity Ministries, Tech Bloc and the San Antonio Talent for Economic Competitiveness by mayoral appointment. His personal mission is to “Help business leaders see what they can’t, in order to achieve what they can”. Cuthbert was the founder and CEO of Adometry and has served as the chairman of the Click Quality Council and president of Optimal IQ which he co-founded.

As The NPD Group’s Director of Industry Analysis for Commercial Technology, Michael Diamond offers expert analysis and commentary about the shifting commercial market. Through his focus on driving deeper insights with clients, Michael is improving core business-to-business (B2B) services and helping B2B clients navigate the channel more effectively.

Prior to joining NPD, Michael worked for Ingram Micro for 17 years in market and competitive intelligence, worldwide strategic planning, business intelligence, and North American strategic development. During his time at Ingram Micro, Michael was responsible for analyzing the competitive landscape, developing vendor and customer strategies, identifying trends in vertical and sub-vertical markets, and analyzing near-term and future technology trends. He also presented at vendor and customer-facing events to share industry insights.

Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of Phoenix.

Tom Ervin has been supporting the FBI with cyber forensics analysis for the past sixteen years.  He specializes in computer intrusions and the dissection of computer viruses and worms.  In 2000, Tom helped establish the FBI's first malicious code laboratory at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.  He has been working at the San Antonio Division since 2010, supporting the Cyber Squad on criminal and national security investigations.  Tom holds BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering.

Michael serves Application Development & Delivery Professionals. He is a leading expert on mobile software development, software development processes, and next-generation software architectures. Michael has more than 15 years of experience in the software development industry. He joined Forrester from IBM, where he delivered industry-leading applications in mobile, social software, content management, portal, and workflow. While there, he authored or co-authored 23 patents in the areas of mobile software, collaborative systems, content management, and media services that have been issued or pending. Michael holds a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from Case Western Reserve University.

Robert Faletra is one of the top authorities in the IT channel and technology marketplace and often referred to as The Voice of (and for) the Channel. Bob brings a unique understanding of the technology marketplace, informed by 30 years of experience in all aspects of the channel. A dedicated advisor to technology suppliers (from start-ups to enterprises), Bob helps them conceptualize and build strategic channel initiatives and often meets with CEOs to discuss channel strategy. Bob has deep relationships in the solution provider community and also sits on the advisory board of several high tech start-ups, helping them formulate their go-to-market strategy.

Sean founded Managed Solution in 2002 after receiving his degree from the University of San Diego. Sean recognized the need for consultative IT services for small-to-medium and enterprise clients. With little capital, Sean and his dedicated team grew the company organically to success. Within 3 years, the company was recognized as one of San Diego’s 40 fastest growing companies, awarded one of the 40 companies with owners under 40 years old and recognized as the 27th fastest growing IT company in Southern California.

After more than 20 years as a designer and branding consultant, Jonathan Fisher has developed an instinct for what matters and what doesn’t when it comes to finding a brand’s core essence. The BrandExtract founding partner and chairman has guided the firm’s unified brand methodology, which focuses not on a brand’s unique selling proposition, but rather on its unique promise. He has applied this branding process in working with internal, external, HR, IT and IR communications groups to design and implement complete branding programs, for both startups and Fortune 100 giants across the country.

Erick Foy is the Director, U.S. Channel Sales for Symantec.   His responsibilities include leading a team that drives execution on programs and planning with Symantec Distributors and Managed VAR’s.  Erick’s span of control includes Public Sector, Commercial, SMB and emerging markets such as Cloud / SaaS in the Channel.        

During his tenure of 12 years at Symantec, Erick has had a significant positive influence at Symantec and with the Channel.  He has held roles that include managing a National Access Reseller, architecting an SMB channel strategy and taking a Global lead role with a Distribution strategy / program design.  Erick has been a key contributor at Symantec helping to transition the partner ecosystem to align with new business models and platforms.    

Erick has worked in the Channel for over 20 years and brings with him a wealth of experience in Leadership, Sales and Operations.  He earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a focus on Operations Management at Colorado State University.

Aaron Geer has more than 18 years of experience in the IT industry.  In that time, Aaron has led a sales team at Avnet and excelled in various roles.  In these roles, Aaron was directly responsible for creating new businesses, relationships and partnerships in both public sector (FED/SLED) and commercial markets.  He focuses on marketing strategies for sales of security software on-premise and in the cloud, servers, storage, professional services and financing.

Tim Herbert serves as vice president of research and market intelligence at the CompTIA. Under his leadership, CompTIA produces a wide range of research and analysis to further the understanding of technology, channel and workforce trends.

Herbert regularly pens articles for industry publications, presents at industry conferences and in his 18 years as a technology analyst has been cited in numerous media outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, WIRED and many others.

Prior to joining CompTIA, Herbert directed the research program and was a lead analyst at the Consumer Electronics Association, producer of the International CES, the largest technology event in the world. He also co-founded two startups: eBrain Market Research and the Memory-on-Demand cloud service.

Herbert holds a degree in economics from John Carroll University and an MBA from George Mason University.

Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Hurd is a proud product of the Texas public school system. He attended John Marshall High School and Texas A&M University, where he majored in Computer Science and served as Student Body President. Hurd served as an undercover officer in the CIA in the Middle East and South Asia for nearly a decade, collecting intelligence that influenced the National Security agenda. Upon leaving the CIA, he became a senior advisor with a cybersecurity firm, covering a wide range of complex challenges faced by manufacturers, financial institutions, retailers, and critical infrastructure owners. He was also a partner with a strategic advisory firm helping businesses expand into international markets. In 2015, Hurd was elected to the 114th Congress and currently serves on the Committee of Oversight and Government Reform and chairs the Information Technology Subcommittee. He also sits on the Committee on Homeland Security and is the Vice Chair of the Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee.

Lance James is an internationally renowned information security specialist. He has more than fifteen years of experience in programming, network security, digital forensics, malware research, cryptography design, cryptanalysis, counterintelligence and protocol exploitation. He provides advisory services to a wide range of government agencies and Fortune 500 organizations including America’s top financial services institutions. Credited with the identification of Zeus and other malware, James is an active contributor to the evolution of security practices and counterintelligence tactics and strategies. James was the founding force behind the CryptoLocker Working Group, where he and his team of researchers were acknowledged for their critical role in disrupting CryptoLocker.

Matt Johnson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Phalanx Secure Solutions a pure play Cyber Security consulting firm based out of Baltimore, MD. With over 20 years in the industry Matt brings life to the vision of Phalanx Secure as a premier IT Cyber Security Consulting source for any sized business. He oversees the design, marketing, promotion, delivery, and quality of programs, products, and services, assuring that the organization and its mission, programs, products and services are consistently presented in strong, positive image.

Behavioral scientist and consultant James Kane is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on what makes someone truly loyal—to another person, organization, or cause. Kane has helped some of the largest and most well-known organizations in the world, including Apple, Marriott Hotels and Major League Baseball build unbreakable relationships with customers, members, fans, volunteers, vendors, sponsors and employees.

By combining the latest scientific research from behavioral psychology and neurology with 100,000 years of human evolution, Kane is creating an entirely new understanding of what it means to be loyal and establishing a proven model for individuals and organizations to build and maintain business relationships.

Kane has been featured in leading global and industry outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek, and is a frequent guest on CNN, CNBC and FOX Business. The author of two upcoming books, “The Loyalty Switch” and “Virtually Loyal,” Kane draws from his work advising organizations ranging from Fortune 100 giants to small, regional companies to deliver unprecedented insight on fostering loyalty across business platforms.

Moe and his team work with technology solutions at Dell on a daily basis. At the Solution Centers, Moe and his team help customers with addressing complex IT challenges by educating customers on technology trends and solutions, enabling technical hands on time, and running proof-of-concepts.  Moe has been in solutions engineering and architecture for 17 years. He holds a degree in Computer Science from Florida International University.

After an extensive career in sales at IBM, Chun joined Lenovo in April 2005 as a Sales Director in the Pacific Northwest and quickly established himself as a key member of the Lenovo sales organization. In 2008, Chun moved to the Global sales organization and was responsible for Lenovo sales in the Fortune 200 companies located in the Midwest and west. Despite being an avid Seattle Seahawks fan, Chun was convinced by Lenovo leadership to move to NC and take over the running of the US Distribution group. Most recently, he has become the Director for the Lenovo Tier II VAR organization for the US and Central America & the Caribbean. Chun is an avid foodie and traveler with his wife and two sons.

Michael Lomonaco is the director of marketing and communications for OST. He joined the $160 million leading solution provider in 2011.  Michael honed his marketing and communications skills while attending Michigan State University. His career has included positions in local, state and federal political and policy work, corporate and nonprofit consulting, and customer relations, public relations, and marketing in the manufacturing sector.  These days, Michael leads the Marketing and Communications team at OST. In this role he is responsible for leading OST’s brand strategy, marketing programs, market insights, and public relations. He has a passion for creating wild outcomes and experiences through his abilities to connect and strategize across the organization, and with customers, partners, and colleagues.

Michael also has a deep connection to service and can be found working with any number of the boards of directors he serves In 2013, 2015, and 2016  Michael was selected as one of Grand Rapids’ “Top 40 Under Forty” business and community leaders.

A lifelong technology evangelist with 21 years in IT channels.  A fierce customer advocate with a lifetime of stories from the road to educate and entertain.  A self-professed poet of all things wireless with a deep appreciation of good bourbon.

Lisa MacKenzie is a seasoned executive with expertise in marketing, sales, product management and operations. Lisa was instrumental in The Channel Company's evolution from providing traditional media to offering a full portfolio of solutions and services. She brings her proven expertise to The Channel Company's extensive events portfolio - helping ensure that our events meet the evolving needs of our customers. Thanks to Lisa's leadership, The Channel Company attracts record audiences and receives high customer satisfaction scores. Lisa also repositioned our consulting, research and education offerings, resulting in increased profitability and new product launches.

Gordon Mackintosh, senior director, worldwide partner programs and sales business development joined Extreme Networks in January 2016.  Mackintosh assumes responsibility for the ongoing development of Extreme Networks’ partner program and supports Extreme’s leadership team in developing sales and partner initiatives in line with strategic objectives. Mackintosh joined Extreme from Cisco, where he held a variety of sales and channel leadership roles. He completed a post-graduate diploma in information technology and an honors degree in international marketing. In his early days at Cisco,  Mackintosh was responsible for managing the Catalyst switching product line across Europe, Middle East and Africa. This led to a successful two-year assignment in the U.S., which saw  Mackintosh work at Cisco’s global headquarters focused on the go-to-market for Catalyst switching line across Cisco’s worldwide channels division. On his return to the U.K.,  Mackintosh was appointed head of SMB marketing, with a focus on developing a new innovative SMB go-to-market strategy before taking on the challenging role of head of sales for SMB and distribution.   Mackintosh then returned to San Jose with his family 5 years ago to lead the partner-led Velocity sales team and played a lead role in developing Cisco’s new partner-led strategy. Recently, as part of the Cloud and Managed Services Organization,  he developed an innovative low-cost virtual sales and marketing engine driving sales in software and hybrid cloud solutions.

Security Industry veteran at this stage with particular expertise in web filtering and anti-spam solution deployments both in the cloud and on-premise.  

Niel Nickolaisen is the chief technology officer at OC Tanner – the leading provider of innovative cloud-based software, awards, education, and recognition solutions. He has held various IT and operations leadership roles and has a track record and reputation for improving alignment, decision-making and IT's deliver and credibility. Niel has spent his career finding rapid, pragmatic ways to improve processes, teams, and results. He is passionate about transforming IT and leadership and speaks about, writes about and trains others how to do this. Niel is the author of "The Agile Culture" (Addison Wesley, 2014) and "Stand Back and Deliver" (Addison Wesley, 2009). He holds an MS in Engineering from MIT and an MBA and BS in Physics from Utah State University.

Mr. Paetzel is responsible for product planning and strategy of IT management and mobility Cloud-based applications and services. His team is accountable for product management, technical marketing, partnering, and roadmap strategy.

Over his career, Mr. Paetzel has embraced product management and marketing roles that seize key disruptive technologies – mobile software, services, and devices; application virtualization; Cloud and Internet software & services; and open source & Linux software. Prior to joining HP, he held leadership and senior positions at Dell, Hewlett Packard, Compaq, BMC Software, and KPMG. Mr. Paetzel holds a BBA in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Rice University in Houston.

Frank Rauch is Vice President of VMware’s Americas Partner Organization. In this role, he is responsible for indirect routes to market for the Americas which include, Solution Providers, Corporate Resellers, Public Sector Partners, OEMs (Cisco, Dell, EMC, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Net App, VCE), System Integrators / System Outsourcers, and Distributors.

Prior to VMware Frank was HP’s Americas Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Channels. He also held VP roles in strategy and direct sales with HP. Frank started his career with IBM in sales and executive staff roles.

He and his teams have been recognized with over 40 channel awards. Frank has been personally recognized with 5 Channel Chief awards and has been ranked in the top 25 Channel Executives.

Frank is a graduate of Drexel University with degrees in Marketing and Computer Systems Management. He lives in the Philadelphia area and is active with youth ice hockey and on several non-profit boards.

As President and CEO of Zift Solutions, Ken is a driving force behind the company’s strategic vision and mission to offer complete, prescriptive, multi-channel marketing support for channel partners that both improves results and reduces costs by empowering the efficient use of global brand resources. Over the last two decades, Ken has co-founded and run a wide range of technology and Internet-based enterprises while leading innovations in marketing technologies. As CEO and CTO of SmartPath, he helped to establish Enterprise Marketing Management solutions as essential technology for improving marketing effectiveness. He also served as Director of Product Development for DoubleClick after the company acquired SmartPath and held executive leadership roles with Marathon Group, Micro Focus and Burl Software Laboratories. Ken has a BS in Operations Research and an MS in Computer Science from Cornell University.

Jason Rook is the Vice President of Alliances at 10^th Magnitude where he is responsible for developing and executing on strategic relationships that deliver business transforming solutions to 10^th Magnitude customers.  A 19-year industry veteran, Rook has held a broad range of technical, sales, and channel roles.  Prior to joining 10^th Magnitude, he was the Director of US Azure Channel Sales at Microsoft where he led a team of sales professionals responsible for driving Microsoft Azure revenue across the US though a broad network of Systems Integrators, Cloud Software Vendors, and Managed Service Providers.  Prior to Microsoft Azure, Rook was a Partner Territory Manager who was recognized as the top performing territory in Microsoft’s US Subsidiary and whose team was instrumental in building the early channel ecosystem for Office 365.  Regardless of the position that he is in, it is obvious that Rook has a deep passion for helping customers and partners transform businesses through strategic technology innovation and relationships. 

David Russell is CEO and senior consultant of MANAGEtoWIN and author of “Dave’s Charm School” of soft skills training.  He’s been called the “Leadership Guy” for IT entrepreneurs and has spent the better part of his career working with entrepreneurs to help them hire, manage, develop, and retain superstar employees.  Russell’s mission is no bad bosses.  His Leadership Essentials and Certified Leader services are unique, one-on-one transformational learning experiences.  His fifth book, The Company Culture Challenge,” is a step-by-step leadership guide.  You can read Russell’s latest thoughts on the MANAGEtoWIN blog, LinkedIn and Twitter.

A proven leader in Product and Solution Management with strong experience in Cloud and Infrastructure Management Software. Delivered and managed offerings such as Cloud Management, Hosted Collaboration for IaaS, SaaS and PaaS Cloud deployments. During my professional tenure, I have developed additional skills such as customer relations, business development, strategic alliances and product engineering.

Dean Shroll is Director of Sales Engineering at Sophos.  He has worked in the technology industry for 17 years, with a focus in network security for the past 12 years. He previously held roles at Electronic Data Systems (EDS), 7-Eleven, and Fortinet. He was part of a 7-Eleven task force to combat data breeches and played a key role in PCI compliance.

Adam joined ConnectWise in 2010 as a Director of Sales. Now as the Chief Revenue Officer, Adam leads a global team of 100+ colleagues comprised of ConnectWise Business Development, Channel, Sales Operations, Account Management and Marketing teams. Adam’s efforts over the years have resulted in record customer attainment and revenue growth. Under his leadership, the sales team’s mantra is ‘customer first'.

Adam has a distinguished military background and served in the United States Air Force for more than 20 years. As a C-5 aircrew member in both active and reserve, Adam has been awarded the Air Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Medal.

Adam began his career at Broadwing, where he sold voice and data services and was consistently recognized as a top performer. He was also named to the President’s Club as both a representative and manager at Computer Associates while selling security, backup, and infrastructure solutions to enterprise and mid-market organizations.

With more than 15 years of successful technology sales experience, Adam served as Senior Director of Business Development at Kaseya, where he built the North America Business Development team. His work culminated in the most successful year in Kaseya’s history.

A diehard Yankees fan, Adam grew up in New York, has been married for 20 years, and has three sons.

Janine Soika has over 25 years experience in B2B sales and marketing, with 18 years experience working with IT Channel Partners to successfully help them grow their business.  Ms. Soika has held Channel Program leadership positions with Arrow Electronics, Level 3 Communications, HOSTING, and Verio, an NTT Communications Company in addition to CenturyLink.  As the Sr. Business Development Manager with CenturyLink, Ms. Soika supports CenturyLink’s Channel Alliance partners by helping them effectively leverage CenturyLink’s full IT and Telco product portfolio to increase their monthly recurring revenue.  Ms. Soika has been included in CRN Magazine’s  “Top 100 Most Powerful Women of the Channel” in 2016, 2013 and 2009.  She holds an MBA in Corporate Finance and a BBA in Marketing from Pace University, New York and resides in Denver, Colorado.

Melanie Spring. Melanie is the Chief Inspiration Officer at Sisarina, a DC-based brand strategy agency. She's an entrepreneur, international speaker, and approachable badass spreading the gospel of rocking your brand. Sick of hearing the same old corporate stories, she traveled 7,000 miles in 3 weeks on the Live Your Brand Tour interviewing businesses of all sizes about what makes them tick. After the stories were published in Entrepreneur Magazine, she became a Contributing Writer and successfully established herself as a branding expert.

Sisarina created Brands That Rock, an entrepreneurial tribe of rockstar humans, while Melanie facilitates workshops at Fortune 500 companies. She’s truly living her purpose inspiring others. After listening to her TED-style talks and workshops, you'll have a solid to-do list, bold ideas, and the inspiration to get out there and do something bigger.

Senior executive with a unique combination of business/technology strategy and operations experience with an investment background. For over 20 years, roles include product Dev/Ops, product management and technology business development in a number of early, mid stage and IPO companies. Also, 8 yrs as a Managing Director or General Partner in venture capital.

Joe Sykora is the Vice President of Americas Channels and Enhanced Technologies for Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT), and is responsible for overseeing a channel organization of over 7,400 Americas partners as well as Fortinet's channel sales strategy. Joe and his team work closely with Fortinet’s partners and their mid-enterprise customers to protect themselves from the ever-evolving threat landscape. Joe has over 30 years in IT security, in both the manufacturing sector and as a solution provider, helping customers focus on business priorities while keeping their networks secure.

Greg Taylor is vice president for Samsung Electronic’s business division, where he steers the development of channel growth strategies, works with product and brand marketing teams on new product introductions and develops strategic channel partner relationships. Taylor has more than 20 years of experience in the IT industry channel, joining Samsung in 2009 after holding a range of performance driven top-level sales leadership positions for Service Net, Sony, Intratec and PetFirst Healthcare. Taylor has a history of developing complex product line launches and B2B solutions through all distribution levels. In addition, he has led commercial business channels and end-user corporate communities with a strong emphasis on a channel-led engagement.

Gary Testa is Star2Star's President and Chief Revenue Officer. In this role, Testa is responsible for leading Star2Star's overall sales strategy, international and new market expansion and Go-to-Market execution.

An accomplished 30-year sales and executive leadership veteran, he is well respected in the Software and Communications industries. Gary brings to Star2Star a proven track record in executive, sales, marketing, product management, and services leadership bringing complex network hardware and software solutions to market within the mobility, carrier and cloud segments.

Testa joins Star2Star Communications from Polycom, where he spent 5 years as Global Vice President, Cloud and Service Provider Solutions Group, responsible for leading global sales, strategy, and execution, and accelerating the company's growth with mobile, fixed, and managed service providers.

Stelios Valavanis is the founder and president of onShore Security. He currently serves on the boards of the ACLU of Illinois and We the People Media, and advisory committees for several other organizations. He has appeared as a guest lecturer and panelist for local colleges, non-profits, and various industry events. Stel graduated from the University of Chicago in 1988 with a Bachelor’s degree in Physics. Prior to founding onShore, Stel held a number of technical positions at the University of Chicago.

Stel’s love for things technical has spanned most of his life. By age 15, he was writing dBase code for a market research company, producing an analysis tool for sale to other marketing firms. He formed his first business in 1981, producing and distributing Apple II software packages. Stel also has been involved and remains active in many artistic projects, including audio CD recordings, video compilations, and interactive installations.

Lawrence Van Deusen is the Director of the Network Integration Line of Business at Dimension Data. Van Deusen has over 18+ years of experience designing, architecting, implementing and supporting enterprise business solutions in a variety of IT computing environments. Prior to joining Dimension Data, Van Deusen was most recently employed as a Senior IT Architect for IBM Global Services in the IP Connectivity services practice. His primary focus was Cisco WAN/LAN architecture design and implementations. Prior to joining IBM Global Services, Van Deusen was employed as a Senior Consultant at Bearing Point (formerly KPMG consulting) where he was employed in the Network Solutions practice.

Jason Waldrop is the chief executive officer of CWPS, a mid-tier system integrator, serving both the federal and commercial marketplace. In addition to being responsible for daily operations of the company, Mr. Waldrop is also responsible for shaping and implementing CWPS technology innovation and financial plans. After joining CWPS in 1996, Waldrop was instrumental in building the business with a focus on automation tools and technology adoption. His vision has transformed CWPS from a traditional reseller to well respected IT solution provider and managed service provider.    His leadership has led to a robust commercial business he created to augment CWPS’ foundation in supporting the federal government. Waldrop assumed the role of CEO in 2005.

Under Mr. Waldrop’s leadership, CWPS has been recognized with numerous industry awards to include Cisco New Partner of the Year, Cisco U.S. and Canada SMB Partner of the Year, Cisco North America Commercial Partner of the Year, Washington Business Journal’s Top 25 Technology Firms, VAR Business Top 100 VARs, MSP 100, CRN Fast Growth Solution Provider and Kaseya 10 Best MSPs Nationwide.

He is active in local youth sports and serves on the Board for the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research, a research foundation dedicated to eliminating the challenges of Prader-Willi Syndrome through the advancement of research.

Robert Westervelt is a Research Manager within IDC's Security Products group. He provides insight and thought leadership in the areas of cloud security, mobile security, and security related to the Internet of Things (IoT). Rob is also responsible for research and analysis around a wide range of evolving security markets, including endpoint security, security and vulnerability management (SVM), and identity and access management (IAM). Prior to joining IDC, Rob was senior editor at The Channel Company where he led the information security news coverage, reporting on threats, vulnerabilities and technology trends impacting the security market for CRN.