Helix Business Solutions

Team

Kevin Sherwood

A Proven Entrepreneur, Business Leader, and Visionary

Utilizing the considerable talent of a cadre of service-industry IT experts, Kevin has developed a methodology to help improve client profits for the long-term. His innovative thinking, success as a corporate leader, and service industry acumen, ensure that Helix clients receive dedicated teams and breakthrough IT solutions.

CIO Experience

Kevin has more than 20 years of progressive experience helping nationally recognized organizations develop sustainable IT teams and solutions to ensure profitability. As the CIO of a premier service provider for more than six years, he developed corporate-level strategic plans to efficiently integrate more than 70 disparate businesses into one best-in-class operation. This successful IT strategy and resulting solutions were delivered starting from a blank sheet of paper.

His technical expertise encompasses the leading edge platforms surrounding SaaS, SOA, and User Experience & Database Design. Kevin began his career as a leading-edge developer, DBA, and system analyst on the Mid-range IBM platform.

CRM Experience

Kevin created the comprehensive CRM strategy for a $4B company that enabled greater sales, client retention, and profits across multiple divisions. His vision of a client- centered system broke new ground and resulted in major improvements. This two-year effort required the engagement of various departments with disparate objectives and the deployment of several break-through customer initiatives in marketing, sales, and service. Breaking the entrenched reliance on custom solutions, Kevin introduced a formula of utilizing best-of-breed solutions, including SaaS applications and complementary web services that reduced the footprint of custom solutions, while increasing their value as proprietary assets.

Successful Entreprenurial Experience

Kevin built another successful IT consulting firm based on sound management and an extreme customer focus to consistently deliver results-oriented solutions. During this venture, he invested several years honing his understanding of the complex business processes, challenges, and best- practices inherent in a respected national service firm. Kevin's proven corporate and independent success, and his commitment to continually leveraging leading edge technologies, enables him to create a sought-after firm with distinct and valuable benefits to its clients.

Tim Black

A Proven Leader, Innovator, and Strategist

As an IT Executive with more than 25 years experience, Tim is able to help our clients select and implement systems that help ensure their long-term viability.

Tim's history of successful corporate IT strategy development provides Helix clients with a true "value creation" solution from a professional practiced in facilitating the attainment of disparate, seemingly competing, goals. His leadership skills make Helix's team agile and effective and ensure that our clients' IT investments are protected.

CIO Experience—A Broad Vision for the Best Results

As the CIO of a service company with more than $1.1B in revenue and 210 locations, Tim brings demonstrated success in all aspects of executive IT management including: system evaluation, design, conversion, and implementation; technology strategy creation and execution; business process improvement, team and vendor management, and P&L management. Tim is able to draw on an extensive knowledge of software, hardware, facilities management, telephony, telecommunications, web applications, and network infrastructure to help Helix clients implement systems that best accomplish their objectives.

Further, his experience effectively managing multi-million dollar budgets, consistently delivering positive results on key corporate metrics, and managing large-scale organizational changes provide Helix clients with a valuable resource for setting a winning IT strategy.

Solutions for the Customer, Management & Users

Tim's business experience and development background have enabled him to work directly with both management and the IT team to ensure successful "Customer Easy TM" solutions. He understands the impact of the customer experience and end user acceptance of systems on a firm's profitability. To that end, he has driven initiatives that empower customers, deliver superior customer service, and enhance processes for front-line employees. As a CIO, he has directly managed many companywide initiatives including: a self-service website, a 200 seat contact center with an integrated sales system, an automated sales proposal system for more than 800 agents in 210 locations, and a handheld service delivery and invoicing solution used by more than 1,000 service technicians.

Tim's hands on approach and broad background enable him to ensure that the right solutions are developed that will exceed the goals for all functions of the business.

Ron Abernathy

Vision, Innovation, and Leadership to Deliver High-Value IT Projects

Ron is a service-industry veteran with proven experience driving and leading the development of projects that improve high-performing national companies. He has more than 20 years experience improving firms through the effective selection, planning, management, and implementation of transformative IT initiatives.

Ron's experience identifying projects that improve an operation by reducing costs, improving processes, or optimizing competitive advantages make him a valuable resource for Helix clients. He is adept at working with all levels and departments within a large organization and facilitating positive changes through collaboration and team- building.

Proven Project Management Expertise

In his 14 years with a national service firm, Ron successfully managed hundreds of projects that helped transform the daily operations of the company as well as its competitive position in the market.

As a Project Director he provided successful governance of an extensive portfolio of large projects. His portfolio management process was used by the leaders in the company to effectively evaluate and select the most high-value IT projects. His leadership on a major client account management system greatly improved the company's ability to service clients with standardized processes and better data management. This system required extensive integration of various technologies, successful management of external resources, and development of a system tightly aligned with corporate strategy and goals. As a director and manager Ron was responsible for the integration, installation, development, and maintenance of numerous applications, hardware, and communications systems. Ron has also prepared for the Project Management (PMI PMP) Certification and attended Six Sigma Greenbelt Training.

A Broad Technical Base to Deliver Customer Easy™ Solutions

For Helix projects, Ron is also able to draw on his ten years developing and selecting applications to improve various business functions including sales, field service, accounting, back-office, manufacturing, and inventory control. His broad operational and business-oriented IT experience enables him to develop and deliver solutions to Helix clients which are truly Customer Easy TM. Ron has extensive experience with software development and is proficient in RightNow®, Pega Systems, JD Edwards ERP, multiple Microsoft server and programming technologies, AS400, Crystal Reports, and various IBM systems.

JD Graffam

Creativity, Design and Technology to Improve Customer and Brand Experiences

For more than a decade, JD has helped everyone from Fortune 500 companies to innovative startups improve their customer experience with his unique blend of strategic design, usability and technology leadership.

By always placing the end-user of software at the center of design and technology processes, JD has delivered value to some of the largest and smartest brands in the world, including one of the top five grossing sites globally.

A Worldwide Perspective on Web Site Usability

With global experience designing for users across the globe, JD brings a unique perspective on brand development and usability to bear for Helix’s partners and clients.

While serving in the global hospitality industry, JD helped launch multiple revenue-generating brand web sites overseas for one of the largest hospitality companies in the world. With this global perspective on design and user experience, JD brings a unique perspective to Helix projects that is grounded by objective data and a creative design process that improves functionality and user experience.

Innovative Approaches to User Experience

Equal parts artist and technologist, JD brings a rounded perspective to soving user experience dilemmas. With creative brainstorming and problem-solving techniques, JD delivers innovative approaches to leverage opportunities that would not be apparent otherwise.

A Leader, Author and Speaker on the Intersection of Design and Technology

JD is also recognized nationally as a speaker helping designers understand technology. With his ability to hide the jargon when talking tech, JD’s highly successful workshops have led to a book deal with one of the best publishers in the world, Peachpit Press.

He is also a published poet and an artist.