MAX 2015 Manchester

Ian Trump, CD, CEH, CNDA, CPM, BA is an ITIL certified IT professional with 20 years of experience in IT security and information technology. From 1989 to 1992, Ian served with the Canadian Forces (CF), Military Intelligence Branch; in 2002, he joined the CF Military Police Reserves and retired as a Public Affairs Officer in 2013. Ian previously managed IT projects at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights and is currently Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Octopi Managed Services Inc. & Octopi Research Lab (UK) Ltd. 

As a CTO for a Managed Service Provider (MSP) in Canada and a cyber threat research lab in the UK, Ian has deep experience with the threats facing small, medium and enterprise businesses. His research and experience has made him a sought-after cyber security consultant specializing in developing cyber threat intelligence programs for small, medium and enterprise organizations.

As part of LogicNow’s Data Team in Cambridge, MA, USA, Dana leads the LogicCards initiative. This involves leveraging predictive analytics and machine learning across billions of data points to deliver real-time, value driving insights to our partner community.

Dana’s various experience bridges data mining, statistics, and computer science. Before LogicNow she was involved with extracting insights about neuroscience and cognition at the Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT, studying the spread of sentiment through networks using social media data, and most recently investigating the analytical prediction of illness using sensor data at Boston Children’s Hospital. She is now excited to head up the team behind LogicCards, which aims to analytically predict the health of machines, networks, and organizations, identify points of weakness, highlight suspicious states and behaviors, and leverage the collective intelligence of the MSP community to improve the success of each of its constituents. She has contributed to multiple peer-reviewed publications and has presented at academic conferences about topics spanning network analysis, data visualization, and statistics.

A managed services veteran and highly sought after thought leader in the channel community, Dave Sobel is responsible for fostering the growth and success of SolarWinds MSP growing community of MSP partners. With responsibility for community globally, he helps promote collaboration, education and innovation to ensure that partners have access to the right business, technology and market resources and are utilizing the Platform to achieve positive growth, enhance their offerings and become best-in-class solution providers. Dave leads a successful team of community managers and field marketing managers representing SolarWinds MSP's global MSP partner base.

Regarded as a leading expert on cloud computing, mobility and virtualization, Dave is regularly a featured speaker at industry events including the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, IT Nation, SITS London and as a CompTIA trainer at multiple events. Dave authored the book Virtualization: Defined, is a contributing writer for the SolarWinds MSP blog and is also a regular contributor to such key channel publishers as CRN, Channel Insider, Channelnomics and MSPmentor. He was named a CRN Channel Chief to Channel Pro’s 2015 20/20 Visionaries and has been an MSPmentor 250 member for multiple years. In 2016, Dave was recognized for the seventh consecutive year as one of the top virtualization experts globally as a Microsoft MVP for Virtualization. Dave has served on the executive council for Managed Services and as founding Chair for the Mobility Community for CompTIA, and currently serves on the Vendor Advisory Council. Dave holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the College of William and Mary and is a former member and facilitator for Heartland Technology Groups. With a strong passion for collaborating with clients and peers on utilizing technology to advance organizations, Dave is a dynamic voice within the IT community

Sara Foley is Senior Director of Product Management at Solarwinds MSP. She joined the Product Management team in 2013 and is currently responsible for overseeing the Remote Monitoring & Management portfolio of services. 
Sara has worked in the software industry for over 15 years, with a focus on Business Security Solutions. Prior to joining LogicNow, Sara managed Enterprise and Mobile Security products at Webroot Software and Email Security products at ColdSpark. With a background in Support and escalation management, she is a firm believer in transparency through all levels of a product’s lifecycle and enjoys building strong relationships with customers. Sara was also recognized as part of CRN’s “2017 Women of the Channel” list.

Eric’s IT experience began in 1985 at the age of 15 when he was making money setting up home computers for friends and neighbors. He went on to receive a degree in computer engineering from the University of Central Florida. Within a year of graduating he started his first break/fix IT company supporting the SMB marketplace in Orlando, Florida.

In 2004 he became COO for one of his largest clients, a fashion jewelry manufacturer and in 2006 became CIO of a group of specialty furniture manufacturing companies.

After five years of management experience, he decided to start his second IT company focusing on a managed services model. Providing different levels of service to a variety of micro-SMB customers allowed his company to provide standardized services across a variety of market verticals without having to be specialized in any single vertical.

In 2013 Eric sold his IT company to long-time business associate and went to work for SolarWinds MSP as a Sales Engineer. Combining his years of experience with the MSP Remote Monitoring and Management product and business ownership he now works to help other MSP’s achieve their goals through using the SolarWinds MSP product suite.

Mark has over 25 years of experience in the IT field, with the last 15 years dedicated to providing software solutions to the VAR and Service Provider channels. He has been with RapidFire Tools more than 8 years, delivering solutions to Managed Service Providers that help them better serve their clients and grow their business and revenues. He has also worked in the trenches with a Service Provider, providing Sales and Account Management.

Paul Brennan is managing director of Why Settle, an MSP he formed in 1996. An avid runner and more-avid football fan, he lives with his family in Motherwell, like most of Why Settle’s staff, a few miles from their Hamilton office. He has grown, shrunk, then grown the business again, employed over a hundred staff, diversified the service mix, invested over £100k on a white elephant, lost the same again trying to push into England, but now has profitable contracts in the Middle East, Australia and Singapore, as well as across Scotland.

Josh has been in the IT Solution Provider arena for the last 15 years. First as an owner, then as a management consultant with Taylor Business Group for 8 years, and now as founder of Bering McKinley. Josh’s track record of developing management solutions for 100’s of MSP’s, VAR’s, and integrators around the world has afforded him the opportunity to see companies of all sizes enjoy phenomenal growth in profitability and in top line revenue.

Additionally Josh is a maniac for strong financial accounting practices being followed at business of all sizes. Josh believes, as Peter Drucker did, “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” Josh has a deep respect for anyone who has the nerve to start their own business but also believes that only gets you so far. Sooner or later you have to take accountability for your business and perform at extraordinary levels to enjoy the lifestyle you deserve.

In his free time, Josh enjoys boxing, kayaking, and the occasional overland expedition to remote areas such as the Arctic Ocean and the tea estates of Kerala, India. Josh credits his MBA from Canisius in Buffalo, NY and his undergraduate degree in education for providing the foundation to his consulting style. Many of his philosophies and thoughts on the IT industry can be found on his blog, http://www.jo-sh.com. Bering McKinley’s website can be found at www.beringmckinley.com.

A 25 year industry veteran, Todd Haugland has served as a client, consultant, administrator and now vendor for IT in the SMB market space. Todd currently serves as Lead Sales Engineer for LogicNow. Immediately prior to coming to GFI MAX (now LogicNow), he worked with a local Gold Partner providing solutions to small businesses. This unique perspective has allowed him to be an effective trainer, communicator, and advocate for anyone trying to make the most of their IT budget.

John is our Product Director for MAX ServiceDesk and is responsible for the direction, design and development of the product. John joined LogicNow in May 2013 after the company’s acquisition of the ServiceDesk product, which he founded.

He has worked in the software industry for over 15 years, in roles across both SME and international corporations, including lead roles in both development and architecture. John has a particular interest in web technologies, user experience, cloud and mobile solutions.

Eric is General Manager of LogicNow’s Mail services, having joined the company (then GFI Software) in 2009 after the company’s acquisition of Katharion, a cloud-based email security provider where Eric was CEO. With a focus on cloud-based applications, Eric has founded and directed several technology businesses over the last 20 years, resulting in three acquisitions. In the course of those businesses he has led strategic consulting engagements and technology development projects for a wide range of private and public organizations including AEGON, Broadcom, CNET, Digital Insight, and UCLA. Eric is an honors graduate of Williams College.

Karl W. Palachuk, is a technology consultant, author, speaker, trainer, and coach. He is the author of fifteen books. He has built several successful businesses, including two managed services companies. His books include Managed Services in a Month and The Network Documentation Workbook. Karl is a frequent trainer and speaker in the SMB Community. His popular blog can be found at SmallBizThoughts.com. He has more than twenty years experience as an I.T. professional and serves on advisory panels for several hardware and software companies. His Wikipedia page is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Palachuk.

Ryan Morris, Principal Consultant for Morris Management Partners, has more than 20 years experience in marketing, sales, and management in the technology / telecom industry – specifically focused on building successful multi-tier channel solutions and profitable solution provider businesses.

As an instructor, analyst, and consultant, Ryan has developed, launched, and helped to implement successful go-to-market strategies for dozens industry-leading vendors, distributors and their channel partners, including (IBM, HP, Oracle, Cisco, Juniper, Siemens, Lenovo, Symantec, Red Hat, and many more.

From that platform of experience, Ryan has launched his new venture (Morris Management Partners) to work directly with technology channel companies to apply best practices, drive growth, and achieve new levels of performance and profit. Morris Management Partners services include management consulting, sales development, and end-customer marketing / public speaking.

Ryan has been recognized with numerous industry awards and named “Most Outstanding Speaker” at more than 6-dozen conferences and events. His live sessions are renowned for their dynamic pace, energetic and entertaining style, and massive amounts of actionable ideas.

Ryan is a nationally recognized sales trainer and business management speaker. His services are in high demand by Fortune 500 firms and savvy startups alike. Over the years Ryan has delivered a message of consultative selling, dynamic differentiation, and visionary business leadership to thousands of sales, marketing, and corporate business leaders.

Terry Hedden is the founder and CEO of Cloud Guru and Marketopia. Cloud Guru helps IT Resellers, Vendors and Distributors increase sales of cloud solutions. Marketopia is a leading provider of outsourced demand generation and sales empowerment solutions for MSPs and works with vendors to increase channel sales. Terry also works with many industry leaders, including Apple, IBM, Tech Data, Ingram Micro, AVG, Synnex and many more. He also is an accomplished industry speaker averaging over 60 speeches per year to over 24,000 MSP and VAR attendees.

Prior to starting Marketopia and Cloud Guru, Terry was the founder and CEO of Infinity Technology Solutions, one of the largest and most successful MSPs in the world. Infinity provided a complete managed IT and cloud offering to thousands of firms throughout Florida and Georgia. Infinity provided a complete technology offering for hundreds of businesses, including hardware and software solutions, outsourcing, Managed IT Services, Cloud Solutions, VoIP Telephony, website and software development services. Infinity received numerous awards, including recognition as a Best Place to Work in Florida, four time winner of Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 500/5000, a five time winner of the 50 Fastest Growing Firms in Tampa, 3 time winner of Best Computer Support organization in Tampa Bay, Orlando Chamber’s Most Outstanding Small Business and Greater Tampa Chamber’s Business of the Year. Terry sold Infinity in 2012 to a Strategic buyer and left to dedicate his time and energy to Cloud Guru and Marketopia.

Prior to starting Infinity, Terry had progressive leadership roles with AT&T, EDS, Infor, Lectra and Ernst & Young’s Management consulting practice. He has an Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems and an MBA from the University of Florida.

Paul is CEO of Service Leadership, Inc. a leading Solution Provider and IT vendor consultancy and publisher of the Service Leadership Index®, the foremost industry benchmark. Prior, at USBX Advisory Services, Paul established its IT M&A practice, leading its founding transaction. At All Covered, Inc., a large SMB IT services provider, he led M&A and Integration, executing and integrating 18 transactions. He then founded a successful mid‐market IT services firm with two private equity raises. At Xerox, Paul was Vice President of Managed Services, serving F500 customers worldwide, and regional Vice President for one‐quarter of the division’s field operations. Prior, at CompuCom, he was National Vice President of IT Operations Consulting for this $2BB IT Solution Provider.

David is the Founder and Managing Director of MysonPages, who specialise in supporting SMEs in and around the North West. Originally set up in 1999 as a consultancy to work with large blue chip clients such as BNFL, AXA and The Co-operative we found small businesses provided a more rewarding, loyal and fulfilling opportunity. We became a Managed Service Provider long before the phrase was coined, and we’ve been doing it ever since.

MysonPages now support over 150 companies, remotely managing and monitoring their systems, being on site or cloud based. We first started working with Max Focus is 2007 (when HoundDog) and we’ve partnered solely with them for all our RMM requirements since. We manage clients from a single user up to multiple site installations with hundreds of users. For us the approach is the same; we aim to provide reliable and robust systems with high availability, backed up with great support. In many ways the technology involved is not important to the customer, it’s all about how their business will benefit. We pride ourselves on long standing relationships with clients, and becoming their trusted partner rather than just being another supplier. We’re a different kind of IT Company.

Steve Rodda is the Vice President of Product Management. Steve has over 16 year software development experience. Steve has a unique approach to solving problems and draws from his wide range of experience gained from his time spent as a consultant and more traditional product engineering roles. Using this wide range of exposer to tough challenges Steve now leads the direction for all products at LogicNow.