Howard Lichtman

Ashburn, VA

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Visual Collaboration Solution Design

Visual Collaboration for Agile Scrum

Investor Due Diligence

Howard S. Lichtman is a visual collaboration-focused technologist, publisher and consultant with specialties in telepresence and visual collaboration to improve organizational and individual productivity. He is the founder and president of theHuman Productivity Lab, an independent consultancy and research firm that helps organizations design visual collaboration strategies and deploy solutions. Mr. Lichtman has specialties in designing global visual collaboration solutions, visual collaboration for Agile-Scrum, and investor due diligence.

He is the publisher ofTelepresence Options Magazine, the  Telepresence Options website and the monthlyTelepresence Options Telegraph newsletter, the world’s leading publications covering visual collaboration and telepresence technologies.

Mr. Lichtman is also the author and/or co-author of the Telepresence Options 2011 Yearbook, The Inter-Company Telepresence and Videoconferencing Handbook, The Telepresence and Videoconferencing Exchange Review, Telepresence, Effective Visual Collaboration and the Future of Global Business at the Speed of Light, and Emerging Technologies for Teleconferencing and Telepresence. He is currently working on Telepresence Options 2013.

Mr. Lichtman is a frequent commentator on telepresence, videoconferencing and effective visual collaboration and his writings on and analysis of the industry have been featured by US News and World Report, Telephony Magazine, CXO Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, Reuters, Pro AV Magazine, Killer App Magazine, ABA Banking Journal, Bank Systems and Technology Magazine and CFO Magazine among others.

Andy Howard

Madison, Connecticut

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Enterprise webcasting and video streaming

Videoconferencing

Unified Communications

Andy Howard is an IP video expert with specialties in streaming video and building video call centers. Mr. Howard has been at the forefront of the digital video industry since it began, with a focus on  helping clients “improve communications with video.” Mr. Howard has helped hundreds of large corporate, government, and educational customers architect and implement enterprise-wide video deployments. Mr. Howard is a highly regarded IP video expert, industry veteran, and a frequent speaker at leading industry events.

Mr. Howard helps clients navigate the waters around video conferencing, streaming video, and unified communications – and demonstrate how these can all be delivered in a seamless User Experience.

Examples of client engagements include:

            • Designed and implemented a video call center application for one of the largest health benefits companies in the United States. This allows members to place a video call to the agents (via PC, Mac, or mobile device), to be routed to the appropriate agent through integration with the call center software, and to receive video content “on hold” while waiting to be connected to the agent.

           • Architected a large scale webcast environment for one of the world’s leading professional services firms. This allows the firm to deliver Executive webcasts to over 50,000 associates and clients on both its internal network as well as the Internet. The solution utilizes their existing video conference infrastructure to initiate the video from multiple locations.

           • Advised an online auction technology provider on solutions to provide video streams of 10,000+ auctions per month, which increases revenue for the auction sites by an average of 40%. The key requirement was to have the stream delay be under two seconds. We helped the client choose vendors, customize the interface and workflow, and provide analytics on usage.

           • Develop a streaming infrastructure to deliver video to over 150 locations for a multi-national agriculture company. Working with a London-based partner, we provided an overview of the available technology and vendors, helped write the RFP, assisted with the vendor selection, and provided the framework for the implementation phase.

Additionally, he  works with the leading vendors in the IP video market on product strategy and marketing efforts. Specific projects include strategic product roadmap advice, competitive analysis, user experience/interface design, and content creation (white papers, video, and other collateral).

Mr. Howard was previously a key executive at VBrick Systems, and was instrumental building the company from startup to market leader. Frost & Sullivan named the company the Enterprise Video market leader in 2011. While at VBrick, Mr. Howard performed multiple roles including Strategic Alliances, Business Development, and Product Strategy. Mr. Howard positioned VBrick as the “go to” partner for streaming video for companies such as Avaya, Microsoft, HP, and LifeSize. Mr. Howard also provided the product vision for the creation of two of VBrick’s most strategic products – its core media management software and its core video distribution appliance.

Mr. Howard  is also known for pioneering the development of the industry’s first streaming media caching appliance in the late 1990′s, while holding Product Management and Marketing positions at CacheFlow (now Blue Coat) and Novell. Mr. Howard received a bachelor’s degree cum laude from Harvard University and an MBA with Distinction from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Doug Howard

Northern Virginia

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Security, Business Continuity and Governance

Visual Collaboration Strategy Creation and Execution

M&A and Business Integration

Doug Howard brings over 25 years of experience in business development, M&A, operations, engineering, marketing, sales and executive leadership to his chief executive role at Savanture. Doug’s industry background includes senior leadership positions across a number of high-profile global companies in the Internet security and telecommunications sectors.

Doug founded Savanture to provide enterprises with Information Assurance and Security consultancy services to address the many needs associated with Governance, Regulation, and Compliance requirements. Savanture’s clients range from Global 500 to Technology Vendors, as well as small businesses.

Prior to founding Savanture, Doug served as CEO of VBrick Systems. Doug oversaw all aspects of the business and under his leadership, VBrick made a significant transformation resulting in better market perception, market expansion into Enterprise marketplace, and a shift into software and services.

Prior to VBrick, Doug was President of USA.NET, a wholly owned subsidiary of Perimeter where he also held the Chief Strategy Officer position. He also has served as Chief Operating Officer of BT Counterpane, where he led a global team responsible for the development, implementation, operations and marketing of BT Counterpane’s product and service lines. Prior to BT Counterpane, he served as Vice President of Security and Business Continuity at AT&T Corp., where he developed and launched new services for each of the company’s business lines of service.

Doug started his career in the US Air Force working under the direct command of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. After the military, he moved into the private sector and held executive positions at Sprint, FLAG Telecom, Telenet and Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). He founded Technology Research International, Inc. in 1989, which was purchased by NBC Broadcasting in 1991.

Awards and Accomplishments:
Father of three and husband to Dianne

Author of Security 2020, Wiley 2010

Subject matter expert for numerous publications and author of multiple articles

Multiple industry, analyst and Charity/Civil Awards

Tom Luketich

Pittsburgh, PA / Miami, FL

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EMEA Business Development – Channel / End User / VAR Integrator

New Product Launches & Campaigns

Launching Start-up companies

Tom Luketich, International speaker, author and commentator, has over 25 years’ experience of sales and sales management in the enterprise and software industry’s – with a special concentration in Video / Telepresence / Collaboration markets. Tom has been responsible for commercializing some innovative technologies most recently HD Connect / SpeedNet and VSee. With a track record of launching, building and leading companies from start-up, funding thru full-scale operation, Tom specializes in new product campaigns, sales channel creation, var/integrator channel creation and enterprise sales as well as sales team creation, mentoring and management. Tom has held senior management roles in companies ranging from start-ups to public companies but has always concentrated on building world class sales organizations thru an extensive world-wide rolodex of key enterprise influencers and early adopters of technology.

Richard Tucker

London, England

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Unified communications strategies

Solution selection and procurement

Implementation management

Richard Tucker has extensive experience working with end user organizations to deliver telepresence solutions that meet business objectives. This includes strategy development, procurement and implementation of telepresence and video conferencing solutions, both standalone, and as part of broader unified communications solutions.

Example engagements include:

● Consulting with a FTSE100 company to help them define their telepresence strategy. This included direct collaboration with the Chairman, CEO and members of the executive committee, and resulted in a telepresence solution that met their needs,
● Leading the writing, evaluation, and recommendations of a competitive procurement process for a global telepresence solutions
● Managing the implementation of video conferencing and supporting audio visual solutions into over 100 rooms for the new corporate headquarters of a financial institution,
● Managing the delivery of a high definition video conferencing network to over 40 locations
globally, including room fit out, end point implementation, network upgrades, integration to nearly 200 existing systems, core bridging and conferencing infrastructure replacement, and end user training/promotion, and,
● Managing the implementation of an immersive telepresence solution, including a cloud bridging and conferencing solution, to 10 locations, across Europe, Asia Pacific and Americas.

Richard is project management certified, has IT operations qualifications, has an honours degree in Engineering, and a bachelor degree in Economics.

Richard is a member of the AV User Group in the UK and a judge on the annual audio visual industry.

Rebekah AllendeVaux

London, England

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RFP Management

Vedo Programmes Playbooks & Training

Building Enterprise VNOCs

Rebekah AllendeVaux has spent her career building scalable VNOC programmesfor service providers and enterprises worldwide.  She founded Iformata Communications in 2004, which was sold to Silver Lake Sumeru’s AVI-SPL in 2012 becoming its managed services entity for partners, channels and customers worldwide.  Iformata built video service programmes for channels and their end customers, including AT&T, Siemens, Cisco, Polycom, and InterCall.  Under each of these channels were numerous Fortune 1000 companies whose users consumed enterprise video in mass, following workflow processes designed to make video reliable, easy to use, and repeatable.

Ms. AllendeVaux has authored 400+patent claims for different companies comprising video technologies for both methods and systems filings; she is fluid in grasping and assessing innovative technologies in the industry.

Now available as a consultant, Ms. AllendeVaux is focusing on three areas:  (a) building internal VNOC programmes for enterprises (insourcing); (b) overseeing RFP generation and bid management; (c) delivering VNOC services curriculum and training.

           1: Building Internal VNOC Services. For enterprises wanting to build an internal UC (media) service centre and delivery programme, Ms. AllendeVaux will oversee all activities including planning, architectural selection and implementation, service desk setup, staff training, and service initiation.  She has done this for the largest of enterprises and has vast experience at performing these duties.

           2: Overseeing RFP Generation and Bid Management. For enterprises looking to refresh their global video solution whilst lowering your costs, Ms. AllendeVaux will generate the RFP offering and manage the entire bid process, including managing the vendor conference calls, fielding bid questions, and assisting with response evaluations.

           3: VNOC Services Curriculum and Training.  For those wanting to train new hires to be proficient and well practised in a conference service capacity, or in a level 1 or 2 service desk role, Ms. AllendeVaux will provide on-site and off-site training.  She has substantial experience in doing this for service providers and Fortune 1000 enterprises.

Occupational Summary

AVI-SPL(RVP EMEA,February 2012 toApril 2013, London, United Kingdom).Rebekah AllendeVaux was responsible for developing new partners and customers in European and Asian markets, and as the former president of Iformata, provided transitional assistance from the acquisition of Iformata Communications into AVI-SPL.

Iformata Communications.  (Founder & President, 2004 to 2012).  Iformata was one of the top two managed services companies in the world.  Here are some highlights:

           • Created the industry concept of the conferencing playbook (runbook);

           • Coined the phrase “VNOC” and received copyright protection;

           • Established a product development group for process automation;

           • Opened offices in Asia, Europe and America with legal structures;

           • Built two 24×7 redundant VNOC facilities for channel branding;

           • Became the first Polycom back-office service organisation;

           • Became the first Tandberg/Cisco VNOC service offering;

           • Designed the global AT&T video programme;

           • Designed the global InterCall video programme;

           • Authored 400+ patent claims for conferencing workflow automation;

           • Developed level 1 and level 2 service desks programmes.

Michael Baker

Castle Rock, Colorado

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Videoconferencing, SaaS, Visual Collaboration

Distance Learning Classrooms-Tracking Camera systems

Telemedicine

Michael Baker is currently consulting in the Vertical Markets of Education and Healthcare for innovative technologies in control and production. He recently left Vaddio as the head of Strategic Market Development building opportunities and partnerships in key Vertical Markets.

Baker’s career spans many new exciting technologies in the video arena. He has served as Director of North American sales at Creative Labs developing the first sub $1,000 portable videoconferencing solution connecting on one of the first “cloud” networks. He was Director of Education sales while at Trapeze Networks and Vice President of Business Development at VBrick.

Baker was Global Vice President of Vertical Markets at Polycom joining the company in 1998. He successfully conceived and implemented the Vertical sales in Education, Healthcare and State Governments from $0 revenue to more than $103M in four years.

Baker served as International Sales and National Sales Manager at ParkerVision, manufacturer of the first tracking camera system known as “CameraMan” for use in classrooms and training rooms. He was National Manager of Education Markets at Panasonic and Regional Sales Manager while at Sony Corporation of America.

He has been a Director of more than 150 “live” TV concerts and National sports shows.

Mr. Baker is Chair Emeritus and Past President of the United States Distance Learning Association. He still serves the volunteer organization as a member of the Board of Directors. Baker has served as a member of the Board of Advisors to the American Telemedicine Association, a member of the Board at the Institute for Teacher and Learning Excellence at Oklahoma State University, a member of the Board of Directors at the Center for Information and Communications Sciences at Ball State University and currently as a member of the Board of Advisors to the President of Gallaudet University. He has served as President of Pop Warner Youth Football and Fast Pitch Softball programs for young women.

Baker is a globally recognized keynote speaker advocating for changes in education and healthcare technology.

Awards:
15 Keith L. Ware Awards for excellence in Radio and TV production,

Department of the Army. Thomas Jefferson Award, Radio production,

presented by Department of Defense.

Inducted into Teleconferencing Hall of Fame.

Inducted into United States Distance Learning Association Hall of Fame.

Inducted into the Sony Samurai Society

Awarded Sony Vice Presidents Award for Leadership.

Listed in Who’s Who in Distance Learning and Teleconferencing.

Honored as “Outstanding Young Man in America”.

Sanford Dickert

London, England & San Francisco, California

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Mobile Telepresence

Remote Presence

Telepresence Robotics

Sanford Dickert Long Bio Here

Scott AllendeVaux

London, England

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UC Enterprise Architecture

Building Enterprise VNOC’s

Primary Area of Expertise

Scott AllendeVaux has devoted the last twenty years to telepresence, video and managed services.  He was president of Destiny Conferencing, whose patent portfolio was licensed to Hewlett-Packard’s telepresence division, leading to the creation of Halo.  The company also created the Polycom RPX product line, eventually sold to Pleasanton-based Polycom in 2007.  Mr AllendeVaux then served as chief executive of Iformata Communications, sold to Silver Lake Sumeru’s AVI-SPL in 2012. In that capacity, he established international distribution relationships throughout Europe and the Americas that served as Iformata channels including both the largest carriers and equipment manufacturers.

Now available as a consultant, Mr AllendeVaux is focusing on three areas:  (a) building internal VNOC service centres for enterprises; (b) overseeing RFP generation and bid management; (c) lecturing and speakingin regards to communication technologies.

              1:  Building Internal VNOC Services.  For enterprises wanting to build an internal communications service desk and delivery centre, Mr AllendeVaux will lead the activities including planning, architectural selection and implementation, service desk setup, staff training, and service initiation.  He has done this for the largest of enterprises and service providers.

             2:  Overseeing RFP Generation and Bid Management.  For entities wanting to refresh a unified communicationfootprint and lower costs, Mr AllendeVaux will write the RFP and manage the entire bid process, including all vendor conference calls and bidder questions.  He will also help to evaluate responses submitted by the bidders.

             3:  Lecturing and Speaking. Mr AllendeVaux has spoken at many trade shows and key events for managed services and video technologies affairs.  Recently, he’s spoken at Amsterdam’s iseEurope as well as Infocomm, including six other shows throughout 2012.  He’s available as a speaker regarding many communication subjects, including industry trends in managed services, the anthropology of communication technology, information intelligence in video management, the etymology of cloud services and communication, and other subjects by request.

BUSINESS CAREER AT A GLANCE

•          -Senior Vice-President, AVI-SPL (2012 to 2013).  Assisted with acquisition & merger transition whilstalso serving as company presenter.
•          -Chief Executive, Iformata Communications (2007 to 2012). Reported to the board. Company was acquired by Silver Lake Sumaru’s AVI-SPL.
•          -President, Destiny Conferencing (2004 to 2007).  Reported to the board. Company was acquired by Polycom.  Licensed patent portfolio to HP leading to HP Halo.
•          -Chief Information Officer, TeleSuite Corporation (1996 to 2004).  Reported to CEO.

BUSINESS CAREER DEEP DIVE

AVI-SPL – SVP MSP Architecture (2012 to 2013).  Provided transitional services from the acquisition of Iformata business, technology and personnel into the AVI-SPL culture. Became a spokesperson for the company, traveling to eight tradeshows and giving speeches centered around emerging technologies with video managed services and unified communications. Presented large opportunities to key fortune 500 accounts.Relocated to London and helped to expand the company’s footprint into the European community.

Iformata Communications – Chief Executive (2007 to 2012).

Iformata was formerly founded in 2004; joined as CEO in 2007 after leaving Polycom.  The company was acquired by AVI-SPL in February 2012.  Key highlights:

•          -Hired and organized the technology teams that developed 457 patent claims over four years for the process automation of enterprise video and dynamic workflow processes. Set the vision for the product development group. The resulting product is now a cloud service called VNOC Symphony that powers the AVI-SPL managed services offering for partners and customers.
•          -Opened three additional international offices and setup the corporate structures with legal conformance requirements.
•          -Created channel relationships with partners to resell the cloud service, including some of the largest carriers and equipment manufacturers.  Expanded reach from Americas into Europe through channel relationships.

Destiny Conferencing – President (2004 to 2007).  Acquired by Polycom.

Built a telepresence manufacturing facility for architecting and manufacturing telepresence environments for 2-screen and 4-screen Polycom RPX systems (which Polycom resold but was manufactured by Destiny Conferencing).Expanded patent portfolio.Licensed patent portfolio to Hewlett-Packard’s telepresence division leading to the creation of Halo.Established a VNOC services division and managed services processes, as well as Polycom RPX international installation teams.

David Maldow

Ashburn, VA

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Visual Collaboration Project Management

Interoperability & Testing

Technical Writing

David Maldow is a visual collaboration technologist and analyst with the Human Productivity Lab and an associate editor at Telepresence Options. David has extensive expertise in testing, evaluating, and explaining telepresence and other visual collaboration / rich media solutions. David is focused on providing third-party independent analysis and opinion of these technologies and helping end users better secure their telepresence, videoconferencing, and visual collaboration environments.

Prior to joining the team at HPL, David worked at industry analyst firm Wainhouse Research as a member of their video collaboration team. While at WR, he supported a variety of videoconferencing, streaming, and end-user consulting projects. David managed WR’s videoconferencing test lab where he oversaw and conducted evaluations of both endpoint and infrastructure solutions. David wrote, or co-wrote, numerous evaluations and other reports for WR publications.

David is a member of the New York and Louisiana Bar Associations and a graduate of Tulane Law School. Before working at WR, he was a practicing attorney.