SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

SPEAKERS AT THE DISASTER RECOVERY / BUSINESS CONTINUITY –

RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE CONFERENCE – JUNE 26, 2024

 

Chad Choban, Sr. Director Global Infrastructure, Life Fitness

Chad Choban is a native Minnesotan who started in IT service desk work in 1997 and went on to make his rounds in network and server support before going back and getting his education for application development. During his short time in the application development world, he went on to get a post-graduate degree in IT Leadership. Working with organizations like Ecolab, the State of Minnesota, Comcast, and moving with his wife and daughter to Illinois in 2010, he now leads Global Infrastructure for Life Fitness, right here in Rosemont, and is currently studying for his CISSP.

 

Mouncef Elalamy, Director, Infrastructure & Cloud Engineering, HUB International Limited

Mouncef has over 20 years of experience in IT Infrastructure, Cloud, Data centers, Security and Operation at high growth companies such as Sidley Austin, Winston & Strawn, Blue Cross & Blue Shield, OfficeMax/Office Depot and is currently the Director of Cloud and Data Centers at HUB International leading 5 teams including Cloud Engineering, Infrastructure and Cloud Operation teams, M365 Services and Messaging, Database Services, and Backup and Disaster Recovery team. Mouncef has led many initiatives such as business process re-design, building and securing complex network infrastructures, migrating data centers, moving systems to the cloud, and more recently led efforts to modernize the Backup and DR for HUB International, a leading full-service global insurance broker providing property and casualty, life and health, employee benefits, investment and risk management products and services.

 

Ed King, Consulting Services Principal, 11:11 Systems

Ed is a Principal for 11:11 Systems’ Consulting Services organization with over 20 years of experience in Business and Technology consulting, service delivery management, and resource management. He is a senior member of the Global Consulting Services organization and provides Project Management and Subject Matter Expertise for the successful delivery of 11:11 Solutions, including Cyber Recovery, Business Continuity Management, Information Security and Technology Solutions. Ed has been involved in hundreds of IT-related projects, engaged at all phases from assessing client needs to solution delivery through ongoing operations. Ed was responsible for managing large scale program development projects, delivering projects on time, on budget, with high client satisfaction. 

Fran Malloy, Principal Security Technical Leader, IBM

Fran Malloy is a Principal Security Technical Leader in the IBM Security division. Fran comes from a large outdoor apparel retailer where he served as the Director of IT Operations, Support and Risk Management. In that role, he was responsible for security, endpoints, service desk, change/problem management, and operations. His security responsibilities included all audits, security policies, architecture, and operations (SIEM monitoring, vendor reviews, web security testing, and user provisioning). He has held several positions, including directing teams in network, storage and server engineering, database, and applications.

Previously, Fran worked for IBM in the marketing and chip manufacturing divisions and National Steel Corporation in the engineering division.

Fran has an electrical engineering degree from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA in Finance from the University of Pittsburgh. In 2015, he obtained his CISSP certification.

 

Kirby McCord, Senior Manager Infrastructure Architecture, U.S. Cellular

Kirby McCord is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in the field of Infrastructure Architecture. Currently, Kirby leads the Infrastructure Architecture practice at UScellular where he has led teams to deliver high-quality solutions for B/SS, Digital, and Analytical products across different architectures and technologies that meet the business’s availability and recoverability requirements.

 

Kirby holds an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management, an MS in Computational Engineering from Purdue University, and BS in Physics from Purdue University, along with several technical certifications.

Adnan Ramji, Vice President – Network, Data Center, & Recovery Services, Northwestern Mutual

 

Bio coming soon!

Travis Stevens, Director of IT, Infrastructure and Security, Physicians Health Plan

Travis Stevens is a distinguished IT Leader with a robust background in technology strategy. With an MBA emphasizing IT Management and an ongoing pursuit of a Master of Science in Cyber Operations and Resilience, Travis has consistently showcased his prowess in driving IT initiatives and leading teams to achieve organizational goals. As the author of “From ‘No’ to ‘Go’: How to Build an IT Department That Drives Innovation,” he has imparted valuable insights into building innovative IT departments. During his tenure as Director of IT at a prominent global enterprise, Travis implemented stringent compliance measures and transformed organizational policies to match industry best practices. Additionally, his time in the U.S. Navy as an IT leader reinforced his dedication to operational excellence and security. Travis’s extensive list of professional certifications, from PMP to CISSP, speaks volumes about his commitment to the field. Currently, he’s steering IT Infrastructure and Security at Physicians Health Plan, ensuring best-in-class practices and compliance standards.

Annur Sumar, Chief Technology Officer, Cloud Unity

Annur Sumar is a Microsoft Cloud and Datacenter MVP and technology consultant in the areas of Infrastructure Design, Enterprise Content Management, CRM, Microsoft Azure, System Center and Cloud Technologies. Annur is an industry recognized leader and independent speaker around strategic service automation, technology driven process improvements, IT service alignment, engineering best practices and operations management. All of which are targeted in his presentations to helping businesses with complex IT environments lower Total Cost of Ownership and raising Return On Investments.

 

Prior to joining a Microsoft Partner Consulting firm, Annur served as a Vice President of Technology for Duff & Phelps. One of the world’s leading independent financial advisory firms serving client needs in the areas of valuation, investment banking, transaction advice, and dispute consulting. During his tenure at Duff & Phelps, Annur worked closely with Microsoft product teams and case study managers in providing invaluable feedback around how businesses such as his were able to benefit from cloud technologies that were molded into business solutions. As a Microsoft MVP and industry expert, Annur brings 10 years of experience to work actively with other MVPs and Microsoft Partners to provide industry insight and strategic direction.

Aviran Vargas, Data Center Operations Manager, EZ Blockchain

Aviran joined EZ Blockchain in 2021 as a Data Center Operations Manager.

He currently leads the way in Data Center technology for the Crypto Mining Space for EZ Blockchain. Aviran is responsible for implementing and validating our first SB3000 deployments. With his decade of Data Center experience, he ensured a redundant, secure network installation, implementing Tier IV Data Center standards. He brings Data Center experience that has aligned and standardized our Bitcoin mining operations to industry expectations.

With Tier III and Tier IV Data Center experience, Aviran is also responsible for Data Center Standards, Processes, Procedures, and Maintenance. He has developed the quintessential and complete Bitcoin Mining DC Manual and continues to evolve operational functions, processes, and procedures. He has driven BTC Hashing uptime to well over 97% with a drive to reach and maintain five-nines.

In his prior experience, he managed one of five Comcast National Data Centers, which housed 21,000+ servers along with thousands of HVAC and electrical sensors & support equipment. Aviran also supervised 35 remote headends, Data Centers, and communication rooms in his Comcast role. He was a lead technician at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Data Centers in Naperville and Chicago locations.

Aviran also helped lead in the Employee Resource Group, UNIDOS (Unidos educates, unites and empowers Hispanic/Latino professionals at Comcast while creating an environment where all employees can embrace Hispanic cultures.)

Aviran was a part of the National Data Center Standards and Practices, which allows an elevated level of experience for his current role. Aviran started a mentorship program for high school students, teaching technology, media, and business readiness. He has seen dozens of students go on to universities and colleges. Many of these students now hold leadership positions and mentor others themselves.

In 2015, Aviran received the “Excellence in Data Center Management” award, recognizing his staff as the standard to emulate in Data Center cabling and industry excellence. Certified in Microsoft Word 2013 and Microsoft Excel 2013. Trained in CPR, First Aid, and special seizure care. Trained in IDCA Data Center Standards. 

Daniel Zrubek, Sr. Technical Consultant, Nasuni

I am an experienced, trusted technical consultant with over 20 years of “in the trenches” IT support, management and architecture design. Like most of my colleagues, l too lived through Y2K’s revenge and the dawn of virtualization and the cloud.

 

I have strived to learn as much as I could to support the companies I worked for, over my career. Financial institutions, Health Care, Architecture and Construction all have different IT infrastructures and I have a hands-on knowledge of implementing technology in those verticals.

 

Today, using that experience, I am able to help my customers navigate complex unstructured data migrations to the cloud, keeping that data secure and maturing its centralization across large geographies. I’ve been through the mess of traditional NAS using 1980’s technology to keep it backed up. If you like 1980s technology, buy a Camaro, but today use Nasuni for unstructured data with a cloud first file system and backups built in!

 

Aside from loving every opportunity to help customers succeed in cloud infrastructure, I spend my time on a bike riding for charities (at least I did before Covid!), or on a golf course trying to do my best while teaching my daughters to do the same.

 

I am confident in the cloud platform technologies of today and more confident (and motivated!) to help our customers success, with using Nasuni, to solve their unstructured file pain.