The Collective Management Team

Ed Taylor brings more than 25 years experience in building and managing IT consulting organizations to Collective. He created Collective Technologies in 1994 to satisfy the growing demand for highly complex systems management services. Prior to founding Collective, Ed launched PSW Technologies in 1989. The first company to graduate from the Austin Technology Incubator, PSW completed a highly successful IPO in 1997. Ed served as President of PSW Technologies until 1993 and then served on the Board of Directors. He also served as Executive Vice President of Collective's parent company, Pencom Systems, a leading technology staffing firm. Ed has a respected track record for identifying emerging technologies and launching spin-offs to capture these new markets.

Awarded the Ernest & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for High Tech Services, Ed now Chairs the EOY Awards Judging Committee. He co-founded both the New York Unix Users and the International AIX Users Groups. In addition, Taylor chaired the Unix EXPO Advisory Board and Conference Committee. He is one of a handful of IT professionals to have received the prestigious UniForum Pioneers of Unix Award. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Ed sits on the board of both the Austin Technology Council and the Austin Technology Incubator.

Bill Kerley provides an extensive background in operations and financial strategy and serves as a valuable asset for Collective's continued growth and development. Prior to joining Collective in 2000, Bill was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for JDN Realty Corporation. He was a key architect of JDN's strategic corporate plan, raising more than one billion dollars in six years for the company. Bill has also held various positions in financial consulting and management. He was President of his own strategic and financial consulting business for three years and served as Vice President of Finance for Potts Investment, an Atlanta-based merchant-banking firm. Bill holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Kentucky. Bill is a member of the Austin Technology Council's CFO Peer Group.

Bill has over 20 years of IT Infrastructure experience developing process and procedures for automating the day to day management of heterogeneous environments. One of Collectives original team members 13 years ago, he helped build and manage Collectives presence in New England working with such large customers as Fidelity and State Street Global Advisors. He then served seven years as Collectives Director of IT driving the creation of a complete web centric Oracle-based PSA and accounting system that allows our consultants to securely access critical business information from any location. Bill then led the development team that created Collective's Managed Infrastructure services, personally creating the RAMP (Remote Administration and Management Platform ) appliance and the backend infrastructure needed for securely monitoring and managing remote client environments.

Prior to Collective Bill worked for Digital Equipment Corporation as a member of the DECAthena project, and The Registry, Inc where he designed and implemented the Registry's IT infrastructure. Bill served as a hardware technician in the US Army for 7 1/2 years. Bill holds the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.

Michael Sams brings over 17 years of management experience in IT consulting to Collective, and is currently responsible for global delivery of professional services. During his career at Collective, Michael has successfully held key management positions in district, regional, practice and operations management. Additionally, Michael and his team are responsible for the development and delivery of key service offerings including the Backup and Recovery HealthCheck service and Business Continuity Planning services. Michael has held various management and project management positions throughout his career. Prior to joining Collective in 1999, Michael was an engagement manager for the business consulting group at Sprint Paranet, with a focus on Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery Planning. During his tenure at Sprint Paranet, Michael was responsible for managing and driving full business continuity planning initiatives for the oil and gas industry in Houston, TX. During his tenure in the United States Navy, Michael co-developed an innovative direct from teletype electronic message conversion and distribution system that aligned with his responsibility for the roll out of the supply distribution and tracking networks for the USS America battle group during Operation Desert Storm / Desert Shield. Michael was recognized for this achievement by the Fleet Admiral, awarding him the Navy Achievement Medal.

Jason Thomas brings over twelve years of experience in the IT industry to Collective. He is responsible for the development and management of all worldwide sales for our services and solutions. Prior to joining Collective in 2000, Jason was the Practice Manager for Pioneer Standard's Backup and Recovery Practice. He was also a Practice Principal for IBM Global Service's ADSM/TSM consulting, designing the business process, strategy, and sales for storage consulting. In addition, Jason spent nine years assigned to the National Security Agency, specializing in Electronic Warfare Operations. Jason holds Bachelor’s degrees in Linguistics from the State University of New York and Business Information Systems and a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. He is a graduate of the National Security Agency Cryptologic Services School and the Defense Language Institute and Foreign Language Center.

Philip Hornsey has over fourteen years experience in the IT industry. He is responsible for Finance, Accounting, and Administrative process and compliance for Collective. Prior to joining the team in 2003, Philip directed business continuity compliance and auditing for Cable & Wireless: Exodus's Hosting Centers. In this position he was responsible for financial risk management and business continuity compliance for the largest quantity of commercial hosting center space in the world. Prior to this he was Director of Information Technology at STG Inc., and Director of Management Information Systems at Altro Limited. Philip holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia.