Poul Nielsen - CEO Batten

Poul has more than 27 years of experience in distributed systems management and more than 13 years of executive management experience with Altiris Inc., Computing Edge, and Computer Associates. During his time at Altiris, Poul served as Vice President of Product Strategy, Marketing, and Corporate Development. Under Poul's direction, Altiris pioneered the concept of IT Lifecycle Management and the razor-n-blade model for systems management, while Computing Edge's Web-based architecture served as the integration platform for its suite of products. Altiris acquired Computing Edge in 2000 where Poul was President and COO.

In the late 90s, Poul served as AVP of Research and Development at Computer Associates and was responsible for several components of Unicenter TNG. Poul started his technical career at Digital Equipment Corporation where he spent 12 years in various development, program management, and technical director roles. Poul received a BS in Computer Science from Central Connecticut State University.

Josh Coates - CTO EMC (Advanced Development Group)

Josh began his career in distributed systems research at the University of California, Berkeley and Microsoft's Bay Area Research Center. Josh specialized in high performance and parallel disk and network I/O. In 1998 Josh graduated with a degree in Computer Science and began working at Inktomi Corporation developing network caching software. In 1999 Josh founded Scale Eight, which developed scalable storage software technologies. Scale Eight’s customers included Microsoft, Viacom and Fujitsu. Scale Eight closed operations in early 2003 and sold its intellectual property to Intel Corporation. Josh then moved on to the non-profit Internet Archive. Josh directed engineering and operations and was tasked to build out their petabyte data center in San Francisco.

In 2004, Josh relocated his family to Highland, Utah. The following year he founded Berkeley Data Systems (Mozy.com.) Within two years Mozy had acquired over 300,000 customers, including over 8,000 business contracts. In October of 2007 Mozy was sold to EMC for $76 million and is now run as a wholly owned subsidiary of EMC. In 2009 Josh left EMC/Mozy/Decho and now volunteers as an adjunct instructor in the Computer Science Department at Brigham Young University.

Frank Cano - CEO Valerent

Mr. Cano has been the president of Valerent, Inc. since 2003. In 2006, he acquired the Altiris consulting services portion of Valerent and assumed the position of CEO. He is involved in the day to day management operations of the firm. Mr. Cano is ultimately responsible for client, employee, and partner satisfaction. In addition, he is also responsible for human resources, corporate responsibility, and financial performance.

Mr. Cano has been active in the Information Technology industry for over 26 years. He has served in various capacities, including holding the position of president of Allstar Systems and Amherst Technologies Southwest, achieving over $1 billion in product and service revenue during his tenure. Mr. Cano has five years of experience as an officer of a publicly traded company, and valued experience with Sarbanes-Oxley requirements and compliance.

Mr. Cano earned a B.A. in finance in 1987 and is a life-time member of the University of Houston alumni organization. He resides near Austin with his wife, two children, and four foster children. He is actively involved in the school system and is an assistant coach with the Williamson County YMCA.

Oli Thordarson - CEO Alvaka Networks

Mr. Thordarson brings 25 years of Information Technology management experience. In addition to his 25-year tenure as President & CEO of Alvaka Networks (a true pioneer in the Managed Services Provider space) he has extensive experience in working with national not-for-profits companies. Mr. Thordarson has long been a conceptualization leader in the MSP space. In 2001, long before the term MSP was a popular part of the industry vernacular, Mr. Thordarson was the founding Chairman of the Global MSP Network (GMN) which was later merged with the MSP Alliance. The result was a worldwide association that focuses on the advancement of the management service provider (MSP) channel. Mr. Thordarson also served a term on the AEA National Board of Directors where he participated at the national, state and local levels on legislative issues of concern to the high-tech industry. He has been a standing member of the CMP editorial advisory board and continues to be a popular public speaker, columnist, and visionary in the ever-changing service provider community.

Brent Thomson - CEO Jive Communications

Brent Thomson has more than 10 years of leadership experience building and running startups. An entrepreneur and a software engineer, his insight and expertise have helped numerous businesses translate their needs into software solutions.

Offering a rare mix of technical expertise and business acumen, Brent has achieved success in developing unique software products and bringing them to market. As president of Agile Studios, a software engineering firm, he assembled and led a team that provided software and services to a wide range of organizations—from tiny workshops to global enterprises like Research in Motion and the United Nations.

Brent is currently the CEO of Jive Communications, a nationwide provider of software-based internet telephony services for small businesses. He received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Brigham Young University.

Michelle Scott - VP Corporate Development Certiport

Michelle Scott has served as Certiport's Vice President of Corporate and Professional Development for the past seven years. She has extensive experience developing and implementing innovative solutions in the areas of corporate development, human resources, and workforce initiatives. She has development two highly successful programs for Certiport, Skilled2Succeed Worldwide and the iWill Program (iWill have a profound influence on my life) in partnership with Kelly Employment Services. She has a passion for building positive and productive work environments, fostering open communication, collaboration, and mentoring individuals in the workplace.

Michelle also serves on the Utah Valley University Foundation Board and Chairs the UVU Ambassador Committee. She was recently recognized by the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund for her service to single mothers worldwide and her commitment to digital literacy programs. In 2007, she collaborated with Native American leaders to create the Fourth Worlds International Institute to implement computer training and educational distance learning programs for indigenous people across the globe. Michelle also implemented computer training and education programs for the Navajo Nation for the past three years. Prior to Certiport, Michelle served as the Director of Client Relations for Center7, Inc. and the Director of Management Information Services for Axent Technologies.

Michelle earned a master's degree in Human Resources from Columbia Southern University, and bachelor degrees in Communications from Southern Utah University and in Computer Science from Indiana University-Purdue University. She has also achieved her Senior Professional Human Resources Certification (SPHR).

Frank Ohlhorst - ETE at Ziff Davis Enterprise

With over 20 years of experience in the IT field, Frank has worked with all of the major technologies and has accomplished several high-end integration projects. More than half of his carrier has involved senior management positions that required on the spot decisions and hands on technical management of fast moving projects. Frank's work experience has exposed him to a broad range of industries, including Federal and local government, along with Fortune 500 enterprises and small businesses. He has focused on network implementation, network security and application development as key technologies in the industry and has earned several certifications. A significant amount of Frank's experience has been aimed at product testing and validation, where he has examined beta level and shipping products (both hardware and software), developed testing methodologies and rated those products for subsequent reviews.

Frank is an award wining writer and has covered many emerging technologies for the press, contributed to technology books and has authored several case studies and white papers. He has over one thousand technology articles published under his name.

Jose Bernal - VP at Flextronics

With more than 15 years of experience in IT services and sales, Jose Bernal is responsible for building relationships that will drive adoption. Jose helped start OnForce, the world’s largest market place for service providers and service buyers. Prior to OnForce, he founded Comtech Systems, Incorporated. Jose earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Operations Management and Statistics from the University of Alabama and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School.