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Matt Ruck

President and CEO

Jonathan Roy

Director of Security and Compliance

Scott Richards

Director of Training and Microsoft 365 Programs

Erik Haas

Vice President of Business Development

Jason Stroud

Deputy Director of Infrastructure Services

Denise West

Director of Internal Operations

Chris Ceccone

Director of Finance

Bridget Robinson

Director of Professional Services

Saul De Jesus

Director of Customer Service and Delivery

Russ Coxe

Director of Data Center and Cloud Operations

Chi Pakenham

Deputy Director of Automation and Controls

Matt Ruck

President and CEO

Matt Ruck is President and CEO of designDATA. In his almost 25 years with the company, he has worked to continuously enhance and improve designDATA’s suite of managed technology and cyber security services.

Prior to becoming President and CEO, Matt served as the company’s Vice President. He has held several other roles at designDATA, including the management of the network engineering group and Network Operations Center (NOC). In 1999, he oversaw the actual implementation of designDATA’s NOC and later headed-up the company’s original data center build out in 2006. In his current role as President and CEO, Matt meets with C-level executives to promote designDATA’s turnkey managed technology, data center and cyber security services as well as its IT consulting practice. He is an expert in data center initiatives, cloud computing, converged networking, VoIP telephony, contingency planning and telecommunications.

Matt holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Assurance from the University of Maryland, as well as certifications in Microsoft’s MCSE and VMware’s VCP4. He previously served as part of the technology council for the American Society for Association Executives in Washington, DC.

Jonathan Roy

Director of Technical Services
Jonathan Roy is the Director of Security and Compliance and has been providing IT and cybersecurity services with designDATA since 2004. In his roles, he has provided senior engineering and project management services for hundreds of projects and has overseen all systems administration functions, spanning dozens of system administrators for over one hundred corporate networks. He has extensive experience in information technology best practices, the ITIL framework for running IT operations, and how to secure IT environments.

Jonathan now focuses exclusively on cybersecurity, data privacy, and related regulatory compliances for designDATA customers. He works regularly with business leaders on risk mitigation and avoidance, cybersecurity consulting, incident response and recovery, incident preparedness, and compliance audits. He has extensive experience navigating NIST, PCI, HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA, and is enrolled in the first wave of accreditation for the up-and-coming CMMC compliance. At designDATA, Jonathan leads the cybersecurity mission of his organization: Protecting small- and medium-sized organizations from cybercrime.

Jonathan is a Microsoft Certified Professional and has served on a technology council for the American Society for Association Executives in Washington, D.C. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Maryland.

Scott Richards

Director of Training and Employee Engagement
Scott Richards joined designDATA in July 2017 as the Training and Development Manager. In this role, he plans and executes weekly webinars for clients and delivers onsite training as needed. Scott focuses on providing “communication excellence” and works hard to incorporate this into the training programs he develops for both designDATA clients and employees.

Prior to joining the company, Scott enjoyed a long and successful career with IBM. He began as an assembler programmer and product tester and eventually took on different roles such as customer support representative and presales software engineer. In 2002, Scott became a technical sales manager and was responsible for supervising a team of 16 employees. He also took on a secondary position as a training manager and continued to work in both roles throughout the remainder of his IBM career.

Scott is a Certified Microsoft Office Specialist trained in Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Word and is a member of the Association for Talent Development (ATD). He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from Brown University.

Erik Haas

Vice President, Business Development

Erik Haas is Vice President of Business Development at designDATA. He is responsible for leading new business development, establishing partnerships, and managing key marketing initiatives. Erik and his team are focused on helping organizations choose the right professional IT solution that aligns with strategy, delivers promised outcomes and reliably supports their critical missions.

Prior to joining designDATA, Erik cofounded sb LiftOff, a middle market mergers and acquisitions firm dedicated to helping owners grow business value and transition ownership. Erik previously spent 7 years at AREVA, a multinational energy company. He served as manager of the business incubator, shaping the company’s new product development efforts to deliver the greatest positive impact for clients. The incubator drove $240M in new revenue during his tenure. He then led business development for the company’s cybersecurity division focused on protecting critical infrastructure. The business grew from $400K to $10.5M in under two years with his sales leadership.

Erik earned his degree in Finance and Investments from Baruch College at the City University of New York. He is a graduate of Leadership Fairfax, Past President of the Rotary Club of Herndon, and participates in a broad range of community service initiatives. He enjoys baseball, reading and spending time with his wife Lauren, son Mason and beagle Belle.

Jason Stroud

Jason Stroud is Deputy Director of Infrastructure Services at designDATA. In 2010 he started on our Service Desk before moving on to User Support Manager for one of our of largest customers, Systems Administrator/Technical Account Manager, and Escalation Team Supervisor. With each of these roles Jason proved to be effective at meeting and exceeding customer expectations, maintaining industry best practices, and mentoring/collaborating with other team members.

As Deputy Director of Infrastructure Services, Jason is responsible for the overall day-to-day operations of the Shared Services team; setting and implementing the company’s tactical direction when it comes to new technology offerings for customers and our internal staff; and implementing technical standards and business processes in direct support of the client teams.

Jason holds certifications from CompTIA, Microsoft, Cisco Meraki, Kaseya, VMware, Barracuda, and Sophos. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology and Information Assurance from the University of Maryland.

Denise West

Director of Internal Operations

After owning her own dance studio for 14 years, working as a legal assistant, and being designDATA’s Office Administrator for two years Denise West has joined the executive team as our Director of Internal Operations. This rich background brings great value to designDATA’s clients; Denise has perfected her leadership and organizational skills and brings an innovative, forward-thinking approach to everything she does.  

 Denise manages taking care of our people at designDATA. This includes onboarding, reviews, employee benefits, and other HR items. She is also responsible for our facilities and co-owns the development of our operating budgets with our Director of Finance and Administration, Chris Ceccone.

Denise holds a Bachelor of Fine Art, in dance from Wright State University, studied at The George Washington University for her Master’s in Paralegal Studies, and has a variety of fitness and personal trainer certifications.   

Chris Ceccone

Director of Finance

After seven years at designDATA working as Accounting Manager and now Director of Finance, Chris Ceccone embraces his position within the leadership of our organization. Before joining our accounting team, Chris gained extensive experience dealing with nonprofits. This experience has been highly valuable as designDATA specializes in delivering for the association and nonprofit sector. In addition, his proven ability to effectively strategize and implement systems and processes for long-term growth has contributed to his success in this role.

 Currently, Chris focuses on developing a successful direction for the Accounting Department at designDATA. He works directly with our leaders to create a strategy that adds value for our clients. This decision-making includes finding ways to increase efficiency, opportunities to increase profitability, and improving employee productivity and resource use.

Bridget Robinson

Director of Professional Services

Bridget joined designDATA in 2018 as a Client Technology Manager before moving on to a Program Manager role. Because of her strategic orientation, leadership skills, client commitment and accountability, it was a natural fit for her to gravitate towards her current role as Director of Professional Services.

Bridget drives operational excellence for client onboarding, major projects, and service implementations for our clients. This includes the continuous improvement of company standards, performance and auditing processes, and close collaboration with the Business Development and Client Service Delivery teams to ensure outstanding customer experiences.

Bridget carries a bachelor’s degree in business and is Six Sigma Yellow Belt certified.

Saul De Jesus

Director of Customer Service and Delivery

In 2015, Saul joined designDATA as an engineer. He excelled in this role and was quickly promoted to Supervisor, then Client Technology Manager, Program Manager, and finally to the well-suited position as our Director of Customer Service and Delivery. Saul is also designDATA’s Microsoft Teams Telephony practice lead and assists customers in planning and migrating to Microsoft’s cloud-based corporate phone system.

Currently, Saul is responsible for leading the client service delivery teams. This commands close collaboration with engineers, client team leadership, and our professional services teams to ensure technical standards are met.

Saul carries several certifications, including Microsoft Teams and 365 Security, Apple ACMT, A+, and Ne+.

Russ Coxe

Director of Data Center and Cloud Operations

Russ has over 35 years of experience in the engineering and information technology fields and has been improving the technology experience of designDATA’s staff and clients for more than nine years. He started his career as an electrical engineer supporting US Navy defense initiatives; eventually, his interest in computerized data acquisition and processing systems led to a successful career in the information technology industry. 

Russ’ areas of expertise include data center design and construction, enterprise computing systems, storage arrays, backup solutions, and networking. He is a graduate of Penn State University and holds certifications from Microsoft, VMware, Veeam, Sophos, and CompTIA.

Chi Pakenham

Deputy Director of Automation and Controls

Before joining designDATA, Chi worked in non-profit management and software as a service staffing analyst for over ten years. She then managed her own Chinese Mandarin interpreting service as an independent contractor for eight years.

Chi started with designDATA as an Office Administrator in charge of the company’s procurement process and day-to-day office operations. Her current position as the Deputy Director of Automation and Controls has her leading the efforts to ensure all core processes are well defined and followed. In addition, she works closely with the accounting team to look for ways to automate recurring tasks to streamline processes. Her end goals are to increase operational efficiency and productivity and to improve profit margins.

Chi brings her can-do attitude and value-added mindset to work daily. She is famous for her trademark smile and sunshine personality. She has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taiwan, and a master’s degree in Diplomacy and International Commerce from the Patterson School of the University of Kentucky, Lexington.

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