SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

SPEAKERS AT THE IT INFRASTRUCTURE, OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT &

CLOUD STRATEGIES CONFERENCE – OCTOBER 25, 2024

Andy Abrams, Director of IT, BMC

 

Andy Abrams has nearly three decades of experience working with BMC solutions. He and his team are committed to innovation, customer satisfaction, and technological advancement of BMC Service Management and Operations Management capabilities. His journey at BMC has sharpened his technical skills and deepened his understanding of the evolving IT landscape. He is dedicated to helping organizations leverage BMC solutions to transform IT operations and achieve business success. Outside of work, he is passionate about golf and aviation, finding relaxation and inspiration in both.

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.

J-P Contreras, Director of Service Solutions, Dynatrace

 

J-P Contreras is Dynatrace’s Global Director of Service Solutions. In this role, he works with customers to bring the value of observability powered by Dynatrace to mission-critical business and IT use cases. J-P has 25 years of professional experience working with the world’s most reputable brands to implement business-transforming technology solutions.

Keith Cook, Enterprise Presales Engineering Director, Rubrik

 

Keith Cook brings 25 plus years of experience in the Technology Industry with specific disciplines in networking, telecommunications, security and IT operations. His journey started as an Electronics and Cryptography Specialist in the US Air Force. He currently leads a team of incredibly talented Solution Architects and PreSales Engineers specializing in the data protection and cyber resiliency/recovery space. He’s held key roles in consulting, management, solution designs and customer relations. He’s been with Rubrik since 2021.

Asif Iqbal, Client Director, Digitate

 

Asif is a meticulous leader aimed at solving customer IT Ops problems with right AIOps solutions. Seasoned individual with best practices to deploy autonomous ITOps in the United States. Had experienced AIOps deployments with several key clients and helped in shaping up customer’s journey towards Silent ITOps as a trusted advisor. He has been associated with Digitate since 2021. 

Mohsin Khan, Director of Operations, Reid Health

 

Bio coming soon!

Marc Kreppel, Account Manager, CTERA

 

Marc is a creative sales executive with over 20 years of experience helping companies best leverage technology to achieve measurable business outcomes. Since starting a consulting business while in college, Marc developed passion for enabling client success and growth through adoption of technical solutions. He gained manufacturer and integrator solution selling expertise in the New York metro enterprise sales and financial services accounts. Marc’s focus on performance and cost optimization of technical solutions has fostered his success with excellent communication, relationships, and sales execution to support clients’ needs.

 

 

Jeremy P. Kubik, Director of Managed IT and Security Operations, STIGroup Ltd.

 

Jeremy Kubik brings over 30 years of invaluable experience in the IT industry, specializing in network security, cyber security, and IT operations. Known for my collaborative and highly engaging leadership approach, I take pride in mentoring and coaching teams for career advancement, consistently prioritizing the creation of positive workplace cultures. My commitment to addressing customer concerns with well-thought-out and comprehensive solutions has earned appreciation from clients. 

Dr. David Rettig, Statewide Vice Chair of Cloud Technologies, IvyTech Community College

 

Dr. David G. Rettig is an entrepreneur, author, and professor at Ivy Tech Community College, the largest community college in the United States. At Ivy Tech, Dr. Rettig is the Statewide Vice Chair of Cloud Technologies representing all 19 campuses and the Chair of Cloud Technologies at the Madison Campus, as well as the Department Head of IT and Business. In addition to his work in higher education, Dr. Rettig has over 20 years of hands-on and leadership experience with IT in manufacturing, tier-1 automotive, supply chain, higher education, engineering, and nonprofits. He holds an MBA from Franklin University, an MS from Western Governor’s University, and a Doctorate from Wilmington University.

Mathew Varughese, Director, Digitate

 

Mathew is a passionate Observability, AIOps and Digital Transformation Leader. Currently leads business and solution development for customers in the United States. Mathew has played key roles in management, consulting, solutions, and product development. He has been in a leadership role with Digitate since 2020.

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.