SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

SPEAKERS AT THE IT INFRASTRUCTURE, OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT & CLOUD STRATEGIES

CONFERENCE – MARCH 25, 2025

Greg Benson, Director of IT Operations, Law Bulletin Media

Experienced IT leader skilled in infrastructure, networking, VMware, Linux, Windows, email, security, cloud and project management.

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.

Patrick Kinard, Sr. Server Operations Manager, CPS

Patrick Kinard is a Senior Server Enterprise Operations Manager at the Chicago Public Schools. He has more than 30 years of information technology management experience in the private and public sectors. Today, Patrick has a senior role in managing the data service centers for one of the world’s third-largest school districts. He is responsible for all central data center, cloud, and on-premise school-based server operations.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Illinois University and has earned multiple information technology management certifications.

Lisa Livesey, Director, IT Service Delivery, Luminare Health

Lisa brings over 25 years of IT experience, spanning infrastructure management, application support, and digital transformation. Starting her career leading infrastructure teams, she honed her technical skills across servers and business applications. At Microsoft, as a Technical and then Customer Account Manager, Lisa guided enterprise clients through their cloud migrations, gaining deep expertise in the on-prem to cloud transition. Today, she leads IT Service Delivery at Luminare Health, leveraging her experience to drive impactful IT solutions.

Komal Patel, IT Service and Infrastructure Director- SLS Global, Sims Lifestyle Services

Bio coming soon!

Gerry Plaza, Field CTO – Chief Strategy Office

Gerry Plaza is the Field CTO in the Chief Strategy Office at Netskope, specializing in Network and Security Transformation through Secure Access Services Edge (SASE). He guides organizations in adopting a zero-trust framework that delivers network and security controls as a cloud service, enhancing flexibility, scalability, and adaptability for today’s dynamic business needs which require connectivity from anywhere, via any device, to applications and data located everywhere.

With over 25 years in the IT industry, Gerry has held leadership roles across all IT functional areas, building deep expertise in Enterprise Architecture, Infrastructure, Operations, Virtualization, Networking, Cybersecurity, Cloud, and IaaS. His experience spans design, engineering, and operations, driving impactful solutions across diverse technical landscapes.

Before joining Netskope, Gerry was Director of Systems Engineering at Dell Technologies, where he led an organization of solutions specialists.. He helped organizations across all verticals develop strategic roadmaps to solve business challenges, leveraging Modern Data Center architecture, Multi-Cloud, and as-a-Service platforms to achieve transformative outcomes.

Previously, Gerry spent over a decade at MasterCard, leading global teams in architecture, engineering, operations, and service management. He played a pivotal role in MasterCard’s digital transformation, evolving its infrastructure to support growth and competitive advantage while maintaining cost efficiency and stability.

Gerry is also experienced in facilitating Technical Workshops, leading Executive Briefings, and designing strategy frameworks for large-scale Data Center projects, mergers, and acquisitions. His strategic vision and leadership have consistently driven business efficiencies and successful transformations across industries.

Fred Tingle, Director, Infrastructure and Databases, ennVee TechnoGroup Inc.

Fred Tingle is passionate about the future of IT with cloud technology as well as finding the ideal configuration for company strategies to leverage the cloud infrastructure in cost effective ways. Cloud strategies must fit a company’s overall business plans so hybrid configurations as well as cloud only strategies should be analyzed based on that information. His 25+ years of IT experience is used to ensure a well thought out plan is executed.