DICE South '19

Romelia Flores

Distinguished Engineer & Master Inventor
IBM

Romelia Flores is an IBM Distinguished Engineer working in IBM’s Global Solution Center (GSC) in the Dallas / Fort Worth area. She is a premier pre-sales expert at designing and architecting system prototypes which address client business challenges and utilize IBM leading-edge technology. Leveraging her Senior Architect and Enterprise Design Thinking Leadership skills she has collaborated with leading clients in the design of Storm Water Management, Edge Computing for Automotive, Cloud Platform Delivery, Warehouse Operations and Hepatitis C Eradication. She is a relentless inventor and driver of innovation for Global Markets holding 61 U.S. Patents and over 15 Patents Pending. She is also a member of the IBM Academy of Technology and the International Women’s Forum.

Randy Stroud

CISO
Hunt Companies

Girish Ramachandran

Chief Technology Architect
City of Dallas

Nabeel Mahmood

Co-Founder
Nomad Futurist Foundation

Nabeel Mahmood is a Technologist, Futurist and a Keynote Speaker. His career is driven by one question – what’s next? He is passionate about the power of technology to deliver competitive and transformational change and the need to develop digital leadership that will create the enterprise of the future. He believes strongly in simplification, with a purpose. Nabeel brings 18 plus years of experience leading large-scale global technology organizations through seasons of explosive growth via M&A, global expansion, implementing new business models and technology innovation. His expertise includes leading organizations through transformation changes, connecting IT to the needs of the business, technology innovation, Big Data, Cloud, ERP, IoT, Mobility and Data Centers. He brings a unique blend of experiences spanning the entire breadth of technology from Grid to Chip. At, heart he’s a true technologist and futurist, he is a proven strategist, winsome communicator and leader with extraordinary vision and operational expertise within very large, complex organizations. Nabeel is a strategic CIO identifying opportunities that are being underpinned by emerging technologies. He serves on multiple boards and is an advisor to CIOs and CEO across a number of industries.

Dave Bhattacharjee

Head of Analytics, Commercial Excellence
Thomson Reuters

Dave is the recently appointed Head of Analytics for Commercial Excellence at Thomson Reuters.  In this role, Dave is responsible for leveraging advanced and predictive analytics to drive business growth for the company.  Dave has twenty years of diversified experience in the fields of Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence working with the Fortune 500 across a number of different industries.  Prior to Thomson Reuters, Dave was the VP of Data Analytics at Stanley Black and Decker. In this role, Dave was the executive responsible for building an enterprise level advanced data analytics program focused on predictive analytics for marketing, operations and product innovation.  His team developed and introduced into the enterprise, the very first applications of machine learning and Artificial Intelligence.  At Cisco Systems, Dave led the Americas practice for Big Data and Analytics for Cisco Consulting Services.  In this role, Dave worked with large enterprise customers in the financial services, retail and public sector on data strategy, Analytics and IOT applications.  Prior to that, Dave held leadership positions at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and IBM.  Dave has an MBA from the University of Texas and a Bachelors in Computer Science and Engineering from Arizona State University.  Dave is an active participant in the Analytics and AI community - he is a published author and keynote speaker at various AI conferences.  In his spare time, Dave enjoys outdoor adventures, learning about and exploring other cultures and travelling overseas with his family.

Paola Saibene

VP, Enterprise Risk Management
American Heart Association

Paola Saibene is the CEO of TXYSAI, a business and technology consulting company. She has 22 years of IT-practitioner experience, having held multiple C-level roles in multi-billion dollar organizations. Paola blends her technology experience with her psychology and literature post-graduate degrees, bringing an ecosystem approach to the evolving digital era.

Sean Maguire

Senior Director, Strategic Engagements - MRT
Atos

The conversation has changed from decreasing costs to increasing business value. By bringing together the right people, business models and technology platforms, Sean Maguire leads strategic digital transformation engagements ($50M+) for the manufacturing, retail and transportation (MRT) segments for Paris based “Atos”, a $16BN global IT services provider. Sean is responsible for navigating the complex challenges of digital transformation in four core areas including Business & Platform Solutions (transforming strategic approaches to technology, combining innovative solutions with established ones), Infrastructure & Data Management (creating business benefits through intelligently managed IT), Cloud & Enterprise Software (providing cloud services as a business strategy for core processes) and Big Data & Security (combining both elements to enable business differentiation).

Terry Vergon

Senior Director, Critical Environments
Alorica

Janna Luther Connor

Unit Manager Data Centers
BlueCross BlueShield of Texas

Janna Luther Connor has over 25 years of experience within the Facilities Management realm, with specialties in project management, space and move management, tenant management, and data center management. Janna’s career started out within the design/construction/architecture fields with a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University. She currently manages the structured cabling and building operations projects within the 277,000 sq. ft. corporate data center at HCSC / BlueCross BlueShield of Texas. Janna has been active in USGBC Board, IFMA, BICSI, Texas Tech University Advisory Board, and AFCOM – Dallas/Fort Worth Board.Director- Event Logistics.

Kevin Ooley

President & CFO
DataBank

Kevin Ooley took on the role of President in May of 2017 and has served as the Chief Financial Officer of DataBank since 2011. He has over 20 years of extensive experience in delivering shareholder value through the creation and implementation of growth and operational strategies. Prior to joining DataBank, Ooley served as the CFO for the Thompson Media Group and as a Principal at Lovett Miller & Co., a growth capital private equity firm based in Florida. He was also a Director of Strategy for iXL Enterprises and a Manager in Accenture’s Strategic Services practice. Ooley holds a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from Duke University.

Raul Martynek

CEO
DataBank

Raul Martynek joined DataBank in June of 2017 as the Chief Executive Officer. In this role, he provides overall strategic direction of the company and its operations. Raul is a 25+ year veteran in the telecom and Internet Infrastructure sector. He most recently served as a Senior Advisor for Digital Bridge Holdings LLC. Prior to Digital Bridge, he served as Chief Executive Officer for New Jersey-based data center and managed services operator Net Access, LLC. Net Access was acquired in November 2015 by Denver-based data center operator Cologix. Prior to Net Access, he was the CEO of Voxel dot Net, Inc., a global managed hosting and cloud company, which was acquired by Internap Network Services Corp. in early 2012. Mr. Martynek also served as the Chief Restructuring Officer of Smart Telecom, a Dublin, Ireland-based fiber carrier which was acquired by Digiweb in 2009. Before that he evaluated investment opportunities in the telecommunications and Internet sector as a Senior Advisor at Plainfield Asset Management, a $4B hedge fund. Prior to Plainfield, Mr. Martynek spent 13 years with telecom and Internet provider InfoHighway Communications Corp; first as a Chief Operating Officer of Eureka Networks and then as President and Chief Executive Officer of InfoHighway. InfoHighway was acquired by Broadview Networks in 2007. Mr. Martynek earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Binghamton University and received a Master Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

Jay Battershell

Consulting Partner
iTeres Services

Jay Battershell is a senior IT executive (Partner, CEO, COO, CIO) and consultant with industry and outsourcing leadership experience across multiple industries including consumer goods, retail, transportation, healthcare and energy. His experience includes businesses of various scope, size and maturity from startups to Fortune 500 firms. He has a solid career and track record of key roles in planning, delivery and selling of vital business solutions (including Infrastructure-as-a-Service Solutions: Colocation, Cloud, and Managed Services and applications including ERP, supply chain, back office, and B2B). He focuses on the transformation of IT capabilities through IT organization change, IT governance and strategic alignment, and IT sourcing solutions.

Phill Lawson-Shanks

Chief Innovation Officer
Aligned Data Centers

Phill has more than 25 years of experience identifying new opportunities for further growth of leading data center infrastructure, network architecture, and cloud solutions in the U.S. and abroad. As Chief Innovation Officer at Aligned, Phill is responsible for the management of revenue generation and profitability objectives, as well as championing key innovation, technology, and sustainability strategies aimed at maximizing new business development. Prior to joining Aligned, Phill served as Chief Innovation Officer at EdgeConneX, where he was instrumental in driving strategies focused on creating the next generation of network edge-based data centers for the digital content ecosystem. Throughout his career, Phill has also served in numerous senior executive-level positions at Virtacore, Alcatel-Lucent, Savvis (now CenturyLink Technology Solutions), and MCI (now Verizon Digital Media Services). He currently holds eight active technology patents and serves on the Board of Directors for Netrality Data Centers as well as the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA) Advisory Board.

Ryan Barbera

CEO
Data Canopy

Ryan Barbera is a senior executive with nearly two decades of experience in his roles across Information Technology firms where he specializes in the direction of business development and strategy. Ryan has years of hands-on experience crafting, fine-tuning, and managing sales staffs. He is dedicated to growing Data Canopy as it expands into new industries and geographies. Ryan has developed several key strategic marketing initiatives and campaigns to cement his reputation as an innovator and expert in advanced technology areas; he is a recognized thought leader on these subjects. Ryan currently serves on the advisory board for a three-year term with the Howard Tech Council. Ryan is also involved with the Chiro Clin Foundation which is focused on working with organizations and families to help prevent and cure cancer. In his free time enjoys spending time with his family and soccer as both a teammate and fan.

Lance Black

Founder, President & CEO
VAZATA

Lance Black is President and CEO of VAZATA, founded by him in 2000. As CEO, Lance plays a fundamental leadership role in investor relations, strategic partnerships, and the day-to-day operations at VAZATA. Under his guidance, VAZATA has developed and been recognized as an innovative, reliable provider in the data center, virtualization/cloud and managed IT services markets. Lance strives to challenge the bounds of technology with products that include VAZATA’s own vStructure™ IaaS platform. His ability to interest and engage visionary IT professionals and industry experts reflects in his 20 years of active, forward-thinking experience in the IT industry. Outside of VAZATA, Lance has served several local charities, nonprofit boards, and has been recognized for his commitment to civic and altruistic work from several organizations over the past 20 years. Lance holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Midwestern State University.

Chris Orlando

CEO
ScaleMatrix and DDC Cabinet Technology

Chris leads business and commercial efforts for ScaleMatrix and its various brands and business units. Focused on both strategic direction and overall execution, he credits his nearly two decades of experience across a broad spectrum of positions within the hosting space with helping him anticipate the constant changes which face this ever evolving industry. Prior to ScaleMatrix, Chris served as president of the Complex Drive Data Center Group for four years, and held a number of key leadership positions within the hosting and colocation industry.

Shannon Hulbert

CEO
Opus Interactive

Ms Hulbert is CEO of Opus Interactive. Shannon has led the strategy and vision for the cloud provider since 2011. Prior to cloud, Shannon was in the utility energy-efficiency sector for 8 years. Opus Interactive is a hybrid and multicloud solutions provider with a dedicated FEDRAMP Moderate Ready IaaS/PaaS environment and can be found on the FedRAMP marketplace under OpusGov (OG). OG is housed inside of FISMA High faciliites, operated by screened US citizens. This environment is restricted to US federal, state, local and tribal governments, and their partners - backed by over 24 years of proven reliability in the commercial sector.

Bryan Marsh

CEO
StratCap Data Centers

Bryan Marsh is our Chief Executive Officer and is responsible for sourcing, analyzing, structuring, financing and executing acquisition, expansion and leasing activities on behalf of the company. With his nearly 40 years of real estate experience, he has been directly involved in approximately $7 billion in commercial real estate acquisitions, dispositions, development, financings and asset management. Prior to StratCap Data Centers, Bryan was a Vice President at Digital Realty where he served as the company’s Portfolio Manager for its U.S. Central region. In this capacity, he had overall responsibility for the strategic planning, acquisitions, dispositions, development, operation, leasing and financial performance of a portfolio of data centers, internet gateways and powered base buildings valued in excess of $5 billion. His portfolio ranged in size from 40 to 55 buildings and from 5.8 million to 8.1 million square feet with annual operating revenues ranging from $400 million to $600 million. Prior to joining Digital Realty, Bryan was a Senior Vice President and Partner at Equastone, a private equity firm, where he was involved in the acquisition and asset management of a 4.3 million square foot office portfolio in Dallas valued at over $600 million. At that time, Equastone was the city’s 3rd largest office landlord with 21 buildings spread across most of the city’s major submarkets. He also was formerly a Vice President with RREEF, a pension fund advisor and investment management firm, where he led an office that managed over 18 million square feet of office and industrial space in Texas and Oklahoma. Bryan personally oversaw a roughly 9 million square foot portfolio valued at approximately $500 million. Bryan has closed real estate transactions in over 250 cities and 15 states during his career. He is a past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce, and he also served on the Board of Directors of Tech Titans which is the largest technology trade association in North Texas. He has been recognized for each of the past 5 years as a member of the Dallas 500 which is a list of the most powerful and influential business leaders in the DFW metro area according to D CEO Magazine. He graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a double major in finance and real estate.

Christof Hammerli

Managing Director
Cloud Capital, an affiliate of CloudHQ

Mary Jane Horne

Senior VP, Network Operations & Engineering
iBASIS

Ryan Sullivan

EVP, National Head of Data Center Investments
Lincoln Property Group

Ryan Sullivan is an Executive Vice President and National Data Center Group Leader with Lincoln Property Company, overseeing Data Center Investments and Capital Markets. Ryan is responsible for broadening the firm’s data center offering, by partnering with Lincoln’s national commercial and industrial platforms to identify and execute on data center opportunities across the country, including new investments, development, leasing and third-party services for institutional investors, data center operators and end users. He also partners with Lincoln’s Investment Management team to source investment capital for data center opportunities. Ryan has extensive data center investment, development and leasing experience and joins Lincoln from GI Partners, where he led the firm’s real estate development activities, as Director of Investments and Head of Development. Prior to joining GI Partners, Ryan led investment and portfolio management at Landmark Dividend’s Digital Infrastructure Division, prior to its acquisition by Digital Bridge. From 2015 to 2020, Mr. Sullivan oversaw all investment, leasing and development activities for Lincoln’s Data Center business, formerly known as Lincoln Rackhouse. With his leadership and extensive mission critical investment and development experience, he helped build a respectable national data center operating platform of 16 datacenters across 14 markets, totaling over 3 million sq. ft. and 100 MWs of data center capacity. Earlier, he served in development, leasing and portfolio management roles at Digital Realty. Over his 18+ year data center career, Ryan has managed data center and tech/life science portfolios valued at over $7.5 billion in AUM and pursued data center projects in most U.S. and many international markets.

Therese Kerfoot

SVP, Operations & International
EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure

Therese is based in the Company’s Denver office and leads EdgeCore’s day-to-day data center operations and customer-lifecycle activities, from lease execution and move in through expiration and move out, including space build out, on-going support, and incident management. Therese brings significant experience in designing strategy and leading execution and operation of end-to-end service-delivery and customer-support teams, systems, and processes. Therese joined EdgeCore following roles of progressive accountability at CoreSite Realty Corporation, most recently as Vice President supporting and leading the company’s activities around customer-lifecycle management for more than 1,200 customers and $500M+ in annualized revenue. Her responsibilities included a) on-boarding and capacity deployment, b) on-going support via self-service systems (portal management) and a team of Strategic Account Service Representatives, c) capacity and contract management, d) service-processes design and improvement, and e) incident engagement, remediation, and avoidance. Prior to CoreSite, Therese was a Dean’s Research Fellow at the University of Colorado Law School, where she authored and collaborated in authoring works related to cybersecurity, telecommunications, and technology. Therese holds a B.A. in International Business from The University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law.

Trey Berndt

Executive Vice President
Carrier-1 Data Centers

Trey comes to Carrier-1 after being a part of the extremely successful CoreXchange/ColoUnlimited team for nearly five years. Rising up from an Account Executive to VP of Sales, he helped to sell out of all available inventory in the Dallas, Texas facilities while maintaining an unheard of 99.5% customer retention rate. Prior to working for CoreXchange, Trey served as the President of Blue Wireless & Data Inc. and in Business Development for DSG Technology. Trey graduated from Oklahoma City University with his Bachelors in Philosophy and Humanities. Trey believes his keys to success are to maintain a cutting edge understanding of the data center industry, always provide the most attentive customer service and to never be outworked. Over the years Trey has worked hard to create a trusted group of partners to not only network with, but to be "go-to" advisors with his client base.

Chris Curtis

Global Head of Data Centers
Prologis

Peter Cohen

VP, Peering, Interconnectivity & Ecosystem
QTS

Peter Cohen is a renowned peering and interconnection expert who has worked with ISPs, datacenters and OTTs around the globe for 20+ years. For the past seven years’ Cohen oversaw peering and interconnection at Netflix for much of North America. Prior to this, Cohen held network and peering leadership positions with Amazon, Tata, Telia, and Switch and Data (acquired by Equinix). At QTS, Cohen advises customers and prospects on peering and interconnection and leads QTS’ strategy to broaden and diversify the distribution of peering and network resources including initiatives to create new Internet nexus points globally. Cohen holds a B.S. in Speech Communication from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is an avid traveler, cook, golfer and tennis player. He lives in the Washington DC area with his wife and their two boys.

Lane Anderson

Executive VP, Development & Strategic Procurement
QTS

With more than 25 years of experience in mission critical construction and design, Lane Anderson has an extensive background in MEP projects and design and construction leadership. Having delivered over 3.5 million square feet of data center projects, Lane is well versed in designing for efficiency to pursue low PUE facilities and has strong expertise in building design and construction teams. At QTS, he is responsible for Corporate Development, Construction, Design and Strategy, as well as Strategic Procurement.

Mark Taylor

SVP, Operations
Evoque

With a data center career spanning two decades, Evoque’s Senior Vice President of Operations, Mark Taylor, is involved with building, maintaining, and operating all Evoque's existing data centers. His leadership is rooted in integrity, accountability, and operational excellence, helping him deliver highly available and impeccably run data centers for Evoque across the USA.

Jay Brummett

SVP, Design & Construction
Core Scientific

Cary Frame

Chairman
Polargy

Cary runs Polargy, sometimes into the ground, but most times to good success. He shows up for work mostly because he likes inventing things, with that he is trying to change the way data centers are built. He is particularly keen on figuring new ways to bring speed to the construction equation. For example, after two years of development Polargy launched its structural ceiling system with speed as must have. Today, builders are installing 75,000 square feet in a quick 8 days. On the personal side, Cary is easily distracted by shiny objects. However, when you’re talking to him you will have his full attention; he won’t be checking his text messages.

Robert Miller

President
Earthwise Environmental

An industrial water treatment expert, Robert Miller is the founder, owner, and President of Earthwise Environmental. Robert Miller is a Certified Water Technologist (CWT) who has over 30 years of onsite experience with HVAC and water systems for mission critical facilities. As a CWT, Robert Miller is a recognized authority on Legionella testing, management, and control methods. Forward-thinking in the water treatment industry, Robert Miller started Earthwise in 1995 to go beyond the business model of hazardous chemical manufacturing and sales. Earthwise is a full water solutions partner for data centers, hospitals, universities, manufacturers, and food & beverage companies with onsite maintenance needs. Robert Miller created the Earthwise Standard of Care to guarantee quality technical service and encourage continuous improvement for customer facilities nationwide. Robert Miller is a member of the Association of Water Technologies (AWT), the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, and Engineering (ASHRAE), and Cooling Technology Institute (CTI).

Dave Meadows

Director, Technology
STULZ Air Technology Systems

David C. Meadows II has worked in data center cooling since 1999.  He is currently the Director of Technology with STULZ USA, a manufacturer of precision air conditioning, humidification, and dehumidification products specifically designed for the data center.  Previously David has served as both the Design Engineering Manager and the Applications Engineering Manager at Stulz.  David holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.  David is also a graduate of the United States Navy Nuclear Power School.

Tim Gainey

Director, Commercial Applications
Tindall Corporation