Red Hat Public Sector Partner Solutions Exchange

Biography: Paul Smith is Senior Vice President and General Manager of the public sector for North America at Red Hat. In this role, he leads the company’s government business unit, overseeing sales, marketing, consulting, channels, and strategic planning. He has more than 30 years of experience marketing key technologies to the government marketplace.   Prior to joining Red Hat, Smith was Vice President of operations for Veritas Technologies, where he helped the business unit become the fastest-growing vertical within the company in his five years there. He has also run sales for Netscape Communications’ state and local organization nationwide, as well as sales organizations at Oracle responsible for the public sector and defense.

Biography:  Mike Byrd is the Vice President of Channel Sales for Red Hat's public sector sales organization. Public Sector at Red Hat is defined as the US Federal, state, local, and education markets. The channel team encompasses distribution, solution providers, OEMs, cloud partners, regional SIs, ISVs, and managed services partners. Mike also manages all of the public sector inside sales teams. Mike was part of the original group to start the public sector team at Red Hat almost 15 years ago. Mike has been in some technology sales capacity for 24 years (17 in channel sales). Before that he completed his undergraduate degree at Baylor University and his MBA at SMU.

Biography: Tej Tenmattam is a Sr. Solutions Engineer at Cloudera Government Solutions Inc. Tej has 20 years of IT experience and a dual Master's degree in Data Science and Computer Science. He is passionate about Data and Analytics. He's been involved in a number of open source communities including Cloud Foundry, Kubernetes, and Spark. He has worked with agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, the Navy, and other elements of the DoD and intelligence communities.

Biography: At Nvidia, Kevin Jones is working to define future platforms that will make artificial intelligence and machine learning ubiquitous from the edge into public clouds and on premises data centers. Kevin has a significant background working with Government customers to modernize their application infrastructure.

Biography: Frank DiMuzio leads the Emerging Technology team for Red Hat's State/Local Government and Education (SLED) market. He focuses on transforming these organizations using the latest enterprise open source technologies. Frank is a Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA) that has expertise in enterprise automation, containerization, enterprise architecture, and systems administration.

Biography: George Kamis is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Global Governments and Critical Infrastructure at Forcepoint. He works closely with Information Assurance and Cyber Security industry leaders, government executives, and Forcepoint executive management team to help guide their long-term technology strategy and keeps it aligned with federal and industry requirements. By leveraging his wealth of over 30 years of experience in Cyber Security, he has helped lead Forcepoint to become the leader in Cross Domain Solutions (CDS) and cyber security products. Prior to his role as CTO, he served as Vice President of Engineering for 10 years at Trusted Computer Solutions and ran both the Professional Services and Development organizations. Raytheon acquired Trusted Computer Solutions in 2010.  Trusted Computer Solutions, along with other Raytheon acquisitions, formed as Forcepoint in January 2016 Prior to Trusted Computer Solutions, Mr. Kamis worked for the US Naval Research Laboratory, Center for High Assurance Computer Systems.  In this role, he managed the development of multilevel secure systems for the Navy and lead one of the first multilevel system to be deployed in the Navy. He was also involved with the testing and deployment of US Navy communication security (COMSEC) devices. Mr. Kamis is also an active member of the Technology Committee and Supervisory Committee for the Fairfax County Federal Credit Union and consults on information technology and cyber security related matters. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering with honors from West Virginia University and holds active memberships Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA).

Biography: For two decades, Ben Cushing has been a leader in emerging technology solutions across multiple industries and is committed to radical innovation in healthcare. Before joining Red Hat, he served as the Chief Technology Officer for MDLogix, a behavioral health IT firm supporting Johns Hopkins Medicine. There he architected and brought to market a behavioural health cloud platform for use with employer, healthcare, and education markets. In addition to supporting analytics and operations at the National Institutes of Health for 6 years, Cushing had the opportunity to practice a scaled agile framework with Accenture where he led the technical architecture and design for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Electronic Health Management Platform, an industry leading Health Management and Care Coordination platform serving 9 million patients. His tenure at Accenture began with the acquisition of Agilex, where he designed LSI solutions, developed systems to automate the Post-9/11 GI bill, and supported in-theater data collection and analytics tools. While at Agilex, Ben architected and led the development of a mobile Software Development Kit, still in use today by the VA to produce more than 60 applications.

Biography: Lars Herrmann is always found at the forefront of technology. From the early days of Linux to today’s digital transformation built on hybrid cloud, containers and microservices, Lars has consistently helped enterprises leverage open source technologies to drive business results. At Red Hat, Lars is leading Red Hat Partner Connect, Red Hat's technology partner program. His team is responsible for the technology certification offerings, technical partner engagement and early adopter programs, driving technology and business initiatives spanning Red Hat's product portfolio. In prior roles, Lars led Red Hat’s business strategy, technology roadmap and go to market for Linux, virtualization, containers, and portfolio integration initiatives. A German native, Lars now lives in Boston with his wife and children.

Biography: Tim brings more than 25 years of successful public and private experience in the high-tech industry filling key operational roles within product line business units and venture capital funded companies through all stages of growth. During his time at Zettaset, the company has successfully grown its software-defined encryption portfolio to provide a comprehensive data protection solution across all physical, virtual and cloud environments.

Biography:  Jeff Winterich is an Account Chief Technologist for the HPE Department of Defense Team.  Jeff is responsible for providing strategic technology design and architecture expertise to HPE’s Federal Government customers, partners and systems integrators – focused on the US Army, US Air Force and Combatant Commands.  Mr. Winterich is also very active with Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiatives and serves as an AI Ambassador for the HPE Public Sector team and customers.

Biography:  Ryan began his career as an Aerospace Engineer specializing in analysis methods and processes. Equal parts curiosity and carelessness lead Ryan into the dark world of IT infrastructure where he began building HPC and Kubernetes systems for scientific computing. Now he works at Red Hat helping Government organizations architect their next generation infrastructures for the next generation of science.

Biography: Mr. McCaleb is a Fellow and Executive Technical Director for ManTech International Corporation, with specific expertise in System and Network Integration.  Since 2010 Mr. McCaleb has focused on cyber training and has architected numerous cyber training platforms. He is the original architect of DISA's Cyber Security Range that was established as part of the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative.  He was also the architect of the Army National Guard and Royal Saudi Air Force cyber training environments.   Mr. McCaleb was the Architect of ManTech's Advanced Cyber Range Environment (ACRE), which is utilized by over 600 national and international financial institutions to include Citi, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Deutsche Bank. Prior to working at ManTech International, Mr. McCaleb was Principal Engineer for more than ten years, providing subject matter expertise to various contracts within both DoD and the Dept of Homeland Security (DHS). He also served as Senior Project Engineer for the United States Coast Guard Data Network, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Administrative Data Transmission Network.

Biography:  Adam Clater is the Chief Architect for Red Hat's North America Public Sector organization. He works internationally with federal agencies, integrators and Red Hat partners & Communities to promote and define the use of enterprise open source solutions.  Adam is passionate about the use of enterprise supported open source innovation for the betterment of government and our nation and has been recognized as a thought leader within Red Hat and throughout the public sector industry.  Adam is frequently published in GovEec, Government Computing News, FedTech Magazine and other publications.

Biograpy:  Kevin Chin is the Director of Global Partner Enablement for Red Hat, and is responsible for strategy and direction of enablement for the Red Hat business partner ecosystem. His organization works every day to ensure that the Online Partner Enablement Network (OPEN) program is meeting the diverse needs of partners globally. Based in the Washington DC area, he's been working with and supporting partners for over 25 years, including the last 10 as a proud Red Hatter.

Biography: Tony serves as Red Hat Public Sector Strategist and Business Development Manager for the US West region.  Prior to joining Red Hat he was Director at California Child Welfare Digital Services, which in 2015 became the largest California government digital services modernization project to utilize Agile methodology, open source software, and cloud-native application development.  Tony has been a decades-long advocate for the importance of free/libre software in public sector solutions. He contributes to nonprofit organizations including the Free Software Foundation and is on the Board of Directors at Open Solutions for Government.

Biography: Ben is an advocate for agile ways and fostering a culture of government transformation and civic engagement serving as Vice President for HHS Technology Group (HTG), an international custom software development company founded on the principles of agility, innovation, and transparency. Prior to joining HTG, Ben founded the Digital Services Group as a means to foster a culture of government transformation and civic engagement by transforming the way governments procure, develop, and deliver digital services. Ben served in the US Navy, as well as 10 years with the State of California. In his free time, Ben volunteers with both the California State Guard and Yolo County Sheriff Search and Rescue teams.

Biography: At Red Hat, Dan is a leader and specialist in data analytics and machine learning where he has helped enterprises of all types to continuously deliver systems that lead to the discovery of meaningful outcomes from their data. Lately, Dan’s passions drive him toward helping healthcare providers and research universities toward more automated and intelligent decision making through a combination of machine learning-powered data science, DevSecOps, and Agile software delivery. Before entering industry, Dan spent 8 years as a multi-faceted cybersecurity analyst, intelligence analyst, and team leader in the US Intelligence Community, serving most of his time at the National Security Agency (NSA). During his time in public service, Dan gained recognition from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for providing critical support to the war fighter, and some of Dan’s intelligence reports made their way into the President’s Daily Briefing (PDB). In the past few years, Dan also held the role of lecturer and curriculum designer in Cybersecurity at the University at Albany. Dan holds a B.A. in International Relations and Political Science from Syracuse University and a M.S. in Computer Science from The George Washington University.

Biography: Mark Weber is a veteran Executive with over 30+ years of experience in technology sales and engineering. Mark has served in a variety of roles within the Information Technology space, most recently serving as Senior Vice President for the Americas at NetApp, leading channels, engineering, professional services, business development, finance, operations, and marketing across North America, South America, and U.S. Public Sector. Mark managed a strategic business unit aligned to serve customers in key segments including Global Accounts, Enterprise, Commercial, Telco/Service Provider, Healthcare, Financial Services, Government, and Education. Mark was responsible for growth and customer satisfaction across the Americas, committing himself to delivering exceptional customer experience and building strong partnerships. Prior to this role, Mark was President and General Manager of NetApp U.S. Public Sector for ten years. Mark managed all aspects of the public sector subsidiary leading the public sector team to a dominant market share position.  Prior to joining NetApp, Mark worked at Sun Microsystems for 13 years, serving in a variety of positions including regional executive director for federal, state and local government, regional sales director for commercial, and financial district sales manager. Before his time at Sun Microsystems, Mark began his career as a federal account manager for Hewlett-Packard.  Mark is a proven leader in the Information Technology space and has received numerous recognitions during his career. He is the Institute for Excellence in Sales’ 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award winner. He was also awarded the Wash100 Exec Ranks as an Innovative GovCon Technologist & Business Leader, the FedScoop50 Industry Leadership award in 2012 and 2013, and the Federal Computer Week’s Federal 100 Award in 2011.  Under Mark’s leadership, the Vienna NetApp office was ranked in the top 10 of Best Places to Work in Washington D.C. six times by the Washington Business Journal as well as repeatedly listed in the Washingtonian’s Best 50 Places to Work issue.  Mark Weber is the first Executive-in-Residence for Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C. where he has built and is the Director of the Catholic University Sales Program. The Sales Program offers three sales classes and a minor in sales. Over 50+ students each year are now taking sales and sales engineering jobs.  Mark also chairs the Virginia Tech Presidential Leadership Council.  Mark is currently a Board Advisor for Varonis, MemSQL, and VSO. He has been a Board Advisor for Zsacler, Cohesity, Big Switch Networks, and UiPath.  Mark holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the College of William and Mary and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Virginia Tech.  He currently lives in the DC Metro area with his wife and five children. Mark is a sports enthusiast who through the years has coached over 35 youth teams in four different sports for his children.

Biography:  Pam Wittner and her team are responsible for Red Hat Public Sector’s engagement with cloud ecosystem partners, to include system integrators, cloud and service provider partners, ISVs and OEMs. Pam has over 20 years of channel experience, the last 10 of which have been at Red Hat. While at Red hat, she has designed and implemented a variety of partner programs and initiatives, helping partners across the spectrum achieve success with Red Hat’s open source technologies. Prior to Red Hat, Pam spent 13 years at Sun Microsystems in both technical and channel management roles. She is a life-long Northern Virginian and has a B.S from Virginia Tech.

Biography: Crystal Gaines is responsible for North America, Public Sector ISVs for Red Hat. Before joining Red Hat in July, 2020, she managed the Federal Channel Team at Dell EMC, where she was responsible for all accounts with Arrow, as well as other large Value-Added Resellers. She brings many years of government and small business management experience, including as the CEO and co-founder of G&B Solutions, Inc., a woman-owned, SBA-certified 8(a) firm specializing in management consulting and IT services. G&B was acquired in April 2008 by VSE Corporation. G&B Solutions employed over 250+ employees and exceeded $35 million in revenue. Crystal resides in Alexandria, Va. and has a B.S From Hampton University and an M.S., from George Washington University.

Biography: Lou is a seasoned sales professional with over 30 years in customer facing sales, channel and leadership positions.  Prior to joining Red Hat, Lou held leadership positions at leading IT companies including Adobe, Open Text, Oracle and Symantec.  Exclusively supporting government marketplace for over 20 years,  Lou develops and provides executive level management strategies that focus on the placement, integration and interoperability of complex solutions, including applications software and support services.  Lou is a recognized industry advocate with expertise and knowledge in strategic information technology trends and solutions, business process reengineering, strategic marketing and operational plan development for government clients.  Lou resides in Leesburg, VA with his wife of 31 years and their three children.

Biography: Technology manager with in-depth technology specialization and extensive experience providing technical leadership and guidance to drive the achievement of key organizational business goals and objectives. With 12 years of experience in developing and implementing highly effective custom applications, cloud, infrastructure and engineered systems related technical solutions that promote increased organizational effectiveness. 

Biography: Technology executive with 17 years of expertise in program management, product, customer success, and optimizing engineering / infrastructure operations. Experience includes management consulting, and driving complex technology transformations / cross-functional programs that have won NASCIO, Digital Government, and Health IT awards, saving customers $150M+ in operational expenditures. Trusted Advisor to CIO's and business stakeholders with strong focus on customer experience and value creation. 

Biography: Niko Servo is a Systems Engineer in Washington Health Benefit Exchange. He has worked in IT for almost 7 years. Initially started in Electronics/Manufacturing industry as an Equipment and Process Engineer but developed an interest in the IT field and has never looked back. Currently involved in re-architecting and modernizing our application stack and cloud infrastructure environment.

Biography: Benjamin LaBelle has worked in in IT for over 20 years.  He has worked in several Washington State Agencies including what is now WaTech, ESD, DOL, DNR, and currently working at the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. He has worked in Web Development, System Architecture, and Infrastructure Management.  Currently he works as the Associate Director of Infrastructure and Technology for WAHBE,  there he has lead cloud effort to migrate the state exchange for Washington to the Azure Government cloud which was deployed successfully in April 2019.   Currently he is working on cloud native modularity and modernization efforts to transform the system into a highly modular and flexible system

Biography:  A 14yr Red Hat veteran, Kyle has assembled a SLED Channel Team adept at the development and execution of creative programs and processes necessary to enable partner success.