Speakers
Speakers
James Rankin - Solution Architect, Red Hat
James Rankin works as a solution architect at Red Hat. In this role, he architects server virtualization and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solutions in a variety of vertical markets. James also performs on-site proof-of-concept Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization deployments and teaches “Red Hat Enterprise Virutalization Acceleration” classes to Red Hat partners.
James has experience with major virtualization solutions on the market and with most major storage vendors, and has been designing virtualization and storage solutions for more than five years. He received his master’s degree in Business Information Technology from DePaul University.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| Chicago, IL | October 19 |
| Minneapolis, MN | October 20 |
Uday Aarkoti - Senior Solution Architect, Red Hat
Uday Aarkoti, senior solution architect at Red Hat, has focused on JBoss Enterprise Application Platform and JBoss Enterprise Data Services Platform since joining Red Hat in 2007. Uday has over ten years of hands-on experience designing and implementing mission-critical systems across various fields, including telecommunications, online commerce, insurance services, business intelligence, and Web 2.0 mashups. Uday received a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Memphis.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| Seattle, WA | October 5 |
| Vancouver, BC | October 7 |
Ranga Rangachari - Senior Director, Cloud Strategy, Red Hat
Ranga Rangachari, senior director, product marketing at Red Hat, heads up Red Hat’s cloud ecosystem efforts. In his 25-year career he has served in senior product management roles as well as executive management roles, both in start-ups as well as established enterprise software companies. Prior to joining Red Hat, Ranga served as the founder/CEO of Nephos Systems, the CEO of GroundWork Open Source and Invio Software (acquired by Symantec/Veritas), and the vice president of intercontinental sales at Legato Systems (now EMC). Ranga holds an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering and a master’s degree in industrial management.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| San Mateo, CA | September 29 |
| San Diego, CA | September 30 |
| Toronto, ON | October 28 |
Rob Cardwell - Vice President of Middleware Technology, Red Hat
Rob Cardwell serves as Vice President of Middleware Technology at Red Hat. He has more than 20 years of software development and information management experience, primarily in the healthcare, financial services, and government sectors. He joined Red Hat through the acquisition of MetaMatrix in May 2007, where Rob was CTO from 2002-2007. Prior to MetaMatrix, he was Vice President of R&D for InnaPhase (now Thermo Electron), leading the software development organization and directing product strategy. Rob was also the CIO of Solucient (now a division of Thomson), which provides data warehousing and information services for the United States healthcare industry. Prior to Solucient, he held management and development positions for several consulting organizations, including Accenture and IBM. Rob graduated from Johns Hopkins University and currently resides in Baltimore, MD. He serves as an Advisory Board member to the Johns Hopkins Engineering Program for Professionals.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| Washington, DC | September 16 |
| Minneapolis, MN | October 20 |
Gordon Haff - Senior Cloud Product Manager, Red Hat
Gordon Haff is senior cloud strategy marketing and evangelism manager at Red Hat. Prior to Red Hat, Gordon wrote hundreds of research notes and was frequently quoted in publications like The New York Times on a wide range of IT topics, as well as advising clients on product and marketing strategies. He also has many years of hands-on experience with both IT software and hardware.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| Atlanta, GA | September 15 |
| Washington, DC | September 16 |
| Denver, CO | October 14 |
| Chicago, IL | October 19 |
| Minneapolis, MN | October 20 |
| Boston, MA | October 26 |
| Tampa, FL | November 2 |
| Dallas, TX | November 4 |
Navin Thadani - Senior Director, Product Marketing, Red Hat
Navin Thadani is the Senior Director of Red Hat’s virtualization business, where he and his team are responsible for Red Hat’s strategic direction and overall product portfolio in the server virtualization space. Navin joined Red Hat with its acquisition of Qumranet, Inc. At Qumranet, Navin was the Vice President of Product Management and Marketing, where he was responsible for setting the direction of Qumranet’s portfolio of virtualization products (KVM and Solid ICE) and developing the market for desktop virtualization. He also played an instrumental role in Qumranet’s acquisition. Prior to Qumranet, Navin held several senior management positions at Cisco Systems, where he led strategic initiatives around voice over IP and video in the Cable and Connected Home Business Units.
Navin holds an MBA with Honors from The Wharton School of Business, a master’s degree in Economics and Operations Research from Stanford University, and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pune, India.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| San Mateo, CA | September 29 |
Mike Ferris - Director of Product Strategy, Cloud Computing, Red Hat
Michael Ferris is the Director of Product Strategy for Red Hat’s cloud computing initiatives where he is responsible for identifying and designing emerging enterprise systems management and cloud offerings. Michael has more than 15 years of experience in enterprise software development and management. He led product marketing and management teams at Red Hat during the definition and introduction of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux flagship product line. Most recently, Michael guided the creation of Red Hat’s enterprise security platform and cloud computing offerings.
Prior to joining Red Hat in 2000, Michael lead design, product management, and development at both start-up and enterprise software firms, including Relativity Technologies, Micro Focus, and Burl Software. Michael holds a master’s degree in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics from Vanderbilt University.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| Seattle, WA | October 5 |
| Vancouver, BC | October 7 |
| Phoenix, AZ | October 12 |
Rich Sharples - Director of Middleware, Product Management, Red Hat
Rich Sharples is the director of product management for JBoss Enterprise Middleware application platforms and developer tools at Red Hat. He has spent the last decade evangelizing, using, and designing enterprise Java middleware. Prior to Red Hat, Rich worked for Forte Software and Sun Microsystems and as an independent software developer and consultant.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| New York City, NY | October 27 |
| Toronto, ON | October 28 |
| Dallas, TX | November 4 |
Pierre Fricke - Director of Product Line Management, SOA Platforms, Red Hat
Pierre Fricke serves as director of product line management for Red Hat’s JBoss SOA platforms. In this role, Pierre is responsible for driving the strategy and enterprise messaging for JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform, which includes JBoss ESB, JBoss jBPM, JBoss BRMS and JBoss Rules. Starting in 2005, Pierre led the product strategy for JBoss Enterprise Portal Platform and JBoss jBPM, and he lead Red Hat’s expansion into the SOA market with the JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform. Pierre focuses on expanding Red Hat’s market presence in integration, service-oriented architecture, and business process automation, bringing the value of open source and community innovation to customers in these markets.
Pierre started working on UNIX at IBM in 1983 as one of the first AIX developers, building experience in data management, operating systems, communication programs, development processes, and customer support. After holding several software development management positions and completing his MBA at the University of Texas in Austin, Pierre became one of the leading strategists and marketing leaders in IBM focusing on interoperability, integration, WebSphere, Windows NT, UNIX, Linux, and open source. He led the creation of IBM’s “Compete, Leverage, and Interoperate” Windows NT strategy after OS/2 was discontinued. He was one of the eight original leaders on the team that lead IBM into Linux and open source in 1998 and 1999. In 2000, Pierre joined D. H. Brown Associates, a research analyst firm, as vice president of application and integration infrastructure. In this role, he specialized in J2EE, Microsoft .NET, integration, Web services, and open source to drive significant growth in the firm’s middleware business.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| TBD | TBD |
David Egts - Principal Architect , Red Hat
David Egts is a principal architect at Red Hat, specializing in the application of open source enterprise infrastructure technologies within federal, state, and local government agencies, the Department of Defense, and educational institutions. Prior to joining Red Hat in 2007, he specialized in visual simulation, virtual reality, human computer interfaces, and scientific visualization at Silicon Graphics, Inc.
David received both a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh, an executive MBA from the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh, and he is a Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA) and a Red Hat Certified Security Specialist (RHCSS).
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| San Diego, CA | September 30 |
| Boston, MA | October 26 |
| Tampa, FL | November 2 |
| Dallas, TX | November 4 |
Aaron Darcy - JBoss Product Line Director, Application Platforms, Red Hat
Aaron Darcy leads the product line management effort of Red Hat’s JBoss Enterprise Application Platform portfolio. Aaron joined Red Hat in 2005 as the director of global strategic services, overseeing Red Hat’s technical account managers and all of Red Hat’s global enterprise support partners. Prior to joining Red Hat, Aaron was a director in information technology at UBS Investment Bank, where he held a variety of roles in application development and global program management. Aaron started his career as a technology consultant with Arthur Andersen and is a graduate of Indiana University.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| Chicago, IL | October 19 |
Kevin Barfield - Senior Manager, Middleware Solution Architects, Red Hat
Kevin Barfield has over 16 years of experience designing and developing enterprise systems across various domains, including online commerce, government, banking, and manufacturing. Kevin is a long-time JBoss evangelist and joined JBoss in January of 2005.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| Tampa, FL | November 2 |
Chuck Dubuque - Product Marketing Manager, Red Hat
Chuck Dubuque is the product marketing manager for Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization and is responsible for market analysis, program strategy, and channel support. Prior to joining Red Hat, he worked for three years at a mid-sized VAR (value-added reseller) where he experienced both the marketing and engineering of enterprise hardware and software, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux, VMware, Microsoft Windows Server, NetApp, IBM, Cisco, and Dell. Earlier in his career, Chuck spent eight years in the biotechnology space in marketing and business development. He earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| Atlanta, GA | September 15 |
| Washington, DC | September 16 |
| Seattle, WA | October 5 |
| Denver, CO | October 14 |
Noelle Jakusz - Middleware Product Manager, Red Hat
Noelle Jakusz, middleware solution architect at Red Hat, has broad experience in the design, development, deployment, and support of enterprise Java applications. She also has a deep understanding of J2EE/JEE and their supporting technologies, and experience applying these technologies to solve real-world problems.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| San Mateo, CA | September 29 |
| San Diego, CA | September 30 |
| Phoenix, AZ | October 12 |
| Denver, CO | October 14 |
Jeff Jameson - Product Marketing Manager, Red Hat
Jeff Jameson is a product marketing manager on the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization product team, where he specializes in virtual desktop infrastructure software. Jeff has over 12 years of experience in the multimedia and high-tech industries, with the last eight years focused on emerging virtualization and cloud computing technologies. Prior to joining Red hat, Jeff was a product line manager for Sun Microsystems’ desktop virtualization software line, helping to drive product strategy and awareness of desktop virtualization, thin clients, and cloud computing.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| Vancouver, BC | October 7 |
| Denver, CO | October 14 |
| New York City, NY | October 27 |
| Toronto, ON | October 28 |
Jan Mark Holzer - Senior Consulting Engineer, Red Hat
Jan Mark Holzer is a Senior Consulting Engineer at Red Hat. In this role, Jan helps Red Hat’s large and strategic customers to leverage new and emerging technologies in their IT environments. This includes building proof of concept deployments and working with customers to (re)architect their IT environments around open source technologies. As a member of Red Hat’s CTO Office, Jan drives product directions and development for new and emerging Red Hat technologies, including cloud computing.
Prior to joining Red Hat, Jan served as an IT/Datacenter Technologist/Architect and Senior Consulting engineer at Digital, Compaq, and Hewlett Packard. At HP, Jan was a member of the Strategic Planning and Architecture group of the company’s Business Critical Server group. In this role, he worked with many of the Fortune 100 companies where he supported various UNIX, Linux, Windows, and other operating systems.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| Phoenix, AZ | October 12 |
Stephen Hess - Senior Middleware Product Director, Red Hat
Stephen Hess, senior middleware product director at Red Hat, is responsible for leading and managing the product management group across Red Hat’s middleware products. Steve and his team work closely with the open source community, engineering, and field organizations to establish middleware product strategies and drive JBoss Enterprise Middleware to market.
Prior to joining Red Hat, Steve spent eight years at BEA Systems/Oracle, where he served as the senior director of product management for the WebLogic Server product family. Prior to BEA, Steve held product management and technical research roles for several software companies and research organizations. Additionally, Steve holds doctorate and master’s degrees from Pennsylvania State University.
| City | Date |
|---|---|
| Boston, MA | October 26 |
