Speakers at the Disaster Recovery - Business Continuity - Framework Conference

Dave Braner
Dave Braner joined CIMCO Communications in 1999. As chief information officer, Mr. Braner is responsible for the strategy and management of CIMCO's voice and network infrastructure, application software development, and Web services technology. Prior to joining CIMCO, Mr. Braner was president of Vector Solutions, an Internet application development company. Before this position, he served as a consultant for the telecommunications industry for ten years. Mr. Braner is a member of the Information Technology Mentors and Principals Accessing Technology (IMPACT) organization. Dave Braner holds a Master's degree in Information Systems from North Central College in Naperville, Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor's degree in Finance and Computer Science.


Joe Crenshaw

Joe is the Chief Information Officer for Reyes Holdings and Martin-Brower. Joe joined the company in March 2000. Prior to joining Reyes Holdings and Martin-Brower Joe was the Chief Information Officer for The Sports Authority, a $2 billion sporting goods retailer with headquarters in Ft. Lauderdale Florida. Joe started with The Sports Authority in 1994 as Vice President of Information Systems and was promoted to Sr. Vice President and Chief Information Officer in 1996. Prior to joining The Sports Authority, Joe spent 18 years with Best Products, Inc – a $2 billion catalog showroom retailer in Richmond, Virginia. Joe started as a Sr. Programmer Analyst and held a variety of management positions, and was Sr. Director of Systems Development prior to leaving for The Sports Authority. Joe is a member of The Society for Information management and is currently on the Board of Governors for the Chicago CIO Executive Summit. Joe studied Computer Science at Virginia Tech.


Paulette Hradnansky
Paulette is the Director of Information Security Operations at Motorola, where she has been involved in establishing, building, implementing and directing various information security efforts across the enterprise for the last 15 years.   In her current role, she has global responsibilities for providing security services which include the vulnerability remediation program, cyber emergency response program, computer forensics and electronic discovery programs, threat analysis, detection and security monitoring programs, external business partner connectivity program and global disaster recovery and response.   Paulette has more than 25 years in the information technology area. Prior to joining Motorola, Paulette worked for Comdisco,  Washington National Insurance Company and Carl Fischer, Inc.  in various capacities. 


Marc Johnson

Marc Johnson has more than 15 years of experience in the field of business management and information technology. Throughout his career, Marc has established himself as an expert in IT, Business Alignment and Enterprise Architecture. He has worked with numerous Fortune 100, 500, and 2000 companies, and successfully defined their complex business requirements, identified solution alternatives, conducted gap analysis, and offered effective enterprise strategies. He also has experience assisting companies in re-engineering their business processes to comply with Federal and SEC mandates, such as Sarbanes-Oxley and SEC 17a. Marc has had his plans verified with successful business recoveries across numerous industries, and his past clients include Wells Fargo, NASDAQ, H&R Block, Hallmark, and Shell Oil.


Joe Parla
Mr. Parla joined Grant Thornton in 2006 as the Business Continuity Architect.  He is currently responsible for architecting all Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity services for Grant Thornton’s US IT Infrastructure.
Mr. Parla has over 35 years of IT experience including positions with IBM, Time, GTE, the Federal Reserve System, and Grant Thornton LLP.  Mr. Parla holds the following certificates: Certified Business Continuity Planner (CBCP), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), Microsoft Certified System Administrator (MCSA) 


Bob Ruzga

Bob Ruzga has over 22 years of experience.  Mr. Ruzga joined Initial Tropical Plants in June 1984. He has over 22 years of experience in all areas of IT: strategy planning, infrastructure management, change management, IT compliance, systems administration, and application development and vendor management.  From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Ruzga was appointed the VP of IT for Initial Security, an American Manned Guarding business and a former sister company of Initial Tropical Plants.  Prior to joining Initial Tropical Plants, Mr. Ruzga spent two years at the City of Waukegan where he was the Manager of Data Processing.  Mr. Ruzga holds a BS in Computer Science (application development) along with a minor in Business Administration from Northern Illinois University and is an active member of the Technology Executive Network.


Ben F. Thornton
Ben serves Optimus Solutions as Director of the Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Recovery consulting practice.  As such, he is responsible for business development, services delivery, and methodology for the practice, as well as industry support through engagement with clients and industry related groups. He has been a featured and keynote speaker at many Business Continuity related events throughout the United States.  Prior to joining Optimus in 2006, Ben was Senior Director at SunGard Availability Services, where he led the national Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery practice.  A 16 year veteran of the Business Continuity industry, Ben’s personal consulting engagement experience includes: Business Continuity Program Management, Business Impact Analysis, enterprise-wide Business Continuity Planning, data center Disaster Recovery Planning, recovery strategy options analysis, high availability solutions analysis and planning, and special business case analysis projects.  Prior to RPM, Ben was with AT&T for eighteen years, where he served as General Manager for Engineering Operations in the Southern and Southwestern Region.  Ben holds an M.B.A. from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Auburn University.


Teri L. Vertullo

As the Loss Prevention Specialist responsible for Business Continuity at Ace Hardware, Teri Vertullo’s responsibilities include the development, implementation, and maintenance of the entire Ace Hardware Corporation Business Continuity Program.  Prior to joining Ace Hardware, Ms. Vertullo worked in the field of special event security, where continuity and contingency planning were core functions.  Recruited to Ace, Ms. Vertullo is responsible for the development and education of departmental business continuity recovery plans for over 100 business teams, diverse in both function as well as geography.  As a conference speaker and trainer, Teri has developed and presented programs on crisis management team training, upper level management awareness, and retail support center disaster recovery plan development, maintenance, and testing.   Ms. Vertullo received a B.A. degree in Psychology with an emphasis in behavior modification from The University of California, San Diego.

 

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