William E. (Wes) Sonnenreich
Over 12 years of experience as a co-founder and executive of three Information Technology companies, a graduate of M.I.T. and Harvard Business School's executive MBA program and a widely published author and speaker. Proven ability to lead, execute and communicate, having directly engaged with Fortune 500 executives to provide mission critical, customized IT strategy and solutions across a wide range of verticals. References are listed below.
Co-Founder/Managing Partner Jan 2003 – present
Managed technology and operations for the business. Led the design, development, production and marketing for SecureMark (www.securemark.us), a web-based information risk management dashboard for executives. Also managed the sales, requirements gathering and customer interaction process for a number of large custom deployments, including:
Rio Tinto Iron Ore: SecureMark provided an end-to-end information risk assessment for the Managing Director and CFO.
Used SecureMark to gather data from senior executives, department heads, technology staff, and all critical IT processes and system architectures. Closely examined a number of specific processes and systems for gaps in information flow and data security vulnerabilities (including accounting, payroll, ERP and mine control systems).
Integrated data from an on-site examination of RTIO's major Western Australian mine sites, ports and rails systems, the Expansion Projects division and the Shared Business Services division (providing IT support for most of the Australian divisions of Rio Tinto).
Presented and discussed findings with the Executive Committee.
Argyle Diamonds: The CEO and head of security used SecureMark reports to aid in an investigation into suspected information risks and vulnerabilities.
Evaluated and addressed concerns of organized crime and terrorism risks.
Examined information flow and business processes at the mine site, the processing facility, and all IT service providers (including Rio Tinto's Shared Business Services division).
Presented and discussed findings with the Executive Committee.
Waterfront Media (mid-sized Internet media company): Conducted a comprehensive information risk assessment focusing on management practice, IT infrastructure, development practices and their off-site call center. Reported to CEO, CFO and COO.
Prepared detailed report identifying risk factors, particularly in relation to employee practices.
Provided recommendations for eliminating risks and improving processes.
Conducted a discreet forensic investigation in response to an employee practices lawsuit.
Followed-up using the SecureMark product to track process improvements.
Travelers Insurance: Performed independent expert investigation services and expert-witness testimony for a $10m claim/lawsuit. Examined documents and testimony to determine the value of damaged equipment at the time of the claim.
Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer, 1998-2001
Managed a 25 person team of developers, project managers, and production staff. Led the design and development of Pharmatrak, an Internet metrics tool for Pharmaceutical companies. Presented the pharmatrak product and deliverables to senior executives of clients including Pfizer, Novartis, Monsanto, Hoechst/Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Wyeth and numerous others. Projects commissioned by individual clients included:
Novartis: Led the design, development and production of Netwatcher, a tool that scanned the Internet for new content on topics of interest. Particular concerns included detecting activism organized over the Internet, competing products, illegal use of trademarks or other intellectual property.
Monsanto/GD Searle: Led the design and development of a project that gave medical associations the ability to provide their constituents sophisticated medical practice websites with useful patient information and communication/scheduling tools.
Nymox Pharmaceuticals: Designed an interactive corporate website using a custom developed content management system. The site had features such as search engine optimization, searchable content, and changeable design templates well before they became commonly employed. The site was also designed to be highly secure – in over 5 years of operation there has never been a security breach.
Medicine In the Public Interest & Tufts School of Nutrition: Designed MIPILinks, a website containing useful public health information. Also designed DrugCompare, an online tool for comparing prescription drug by indications, side-effects, off-label usage, pharmacology, and other attributes.
President, 1995-1998 & 2001-2003, 2007
Family-owned consulting company (www.sonnenreich.com/consulting) with core competency including: Information Security, Knowledge Management and Information/Communication Infrastructures. Key clients and projects included:
D.C. National Opera: Evaluated the cost benefit, feasibility and suitability of a multi-million dollar migration to a new CRM and ticketing application.
Novartis Pharmaceuticals: Designed a prototype system architecture for the delivery of real-time health news and information to the professional medical community (HealthCast).
Infoseek Corporation: Developed a pure Java version of their successful search engine software for personal and corporate use.
The Academy of Applied Science: Designed, developed and provided executive management for the Global School District, a distance education initiative designed to connect students across the world via the Internet.
EON Products/Creative Consultants: Developed the original Internet version of EON’s award winning game from the 70’s, "Cosmic Encounter".
The Rosetta Stone – A framework for comparing security regulations and standards (2006)
Computer Security Institute
Presented at the 2006 annual CSI conference in Orlando, Florida.
“Return on Security Investment (ROSI) – a practical quantitative model” (2006)
Journal of Research and Practice in Information Technology, Vol 38
Presented at the 2005 Workshop on Security in Information Systems.
“Network Security Illustrated” (McGraw-Hill, 2003)
co-author with Jason Albanese, sold 10,000+ copies to date
Provides decision-makers with essential knowledge about security concepts and technologies. Now being used as a course textbook at Curtin School of Business.
“Building Linux and OpenBSD Firewalls” (Wiley, 1999)
co-author with Tom Yates, sold 40,000+ copies to date
A step-by-step guide for building and operating a firewall using open source technology.
“The Web Developer's Guide to Search Engines” (Wiley)
co-author with Tim Macinta sold 10,000+ copies
Helps webmasters choose, install, and configure search engines for their web sites.
US Patent 5,974,446 (Issued: Oct. 1999)
An Internet based distance-learning system.
Executive Education, Program For Global Leadership 2001
Produced an extensive and detailed guide for foreign investment in Indonesia.
Created a generic interactive template document to help assess foreign investment conditions in any country or economic region.
Bachelor of Science, Computer Science and Music, 1996 (4.5/5.0 Cumulative GPA)
Organizing team, MIT $50K Business Plan Competition, 1996 – worked to increase total prize fund from $10,000 to $50,000 though alumni donation campaign to create the largest prize fund in a student-run entrepreneurial competition in the world.
Undergraduate Researcher, MIT Media Laboratory, 1993-1996 – created an interface to the Salient Stills software package for creating storyboard images from video clips. Also worked on the Artificial Life Interactive Video Environment (ALIVE) project.
Co-founder/composer/trombonist, MIT Jazz Collective – a jazz quintet/sextet dedicated to performing original compositions and arrangements.
Chris Bowers
Director of Human Resources, Rio Tinto Shared Services
Brendan Hammond
Development Approvals Coordinator, Western Australia Government, former CEO Argyle Diamonds
Swee Hua Tan
CIO for Central Provident Fund, Singapore Government
Professor Doctor Walter Von Wartburg
former Chief Communications Officer, Novartis AG
Sports: I study and perform Capoeira, a Brasilian martial art, and have previously studied Judo. I enjoy golf, skiing/snowboarding, swimming, hiking, yoga.
Music: I have played piano and trombone for most of my life. I also compose and arrange. Some highlights include:
Performing jazz in New York clubs with members of Basie's and Ellington's bands.
Having my 50 piece brass ensemble arrangement of Gustav Holtz's “Mars, the Bringer of War” performed to an audience of nearly a thousand in France.
Playing in a headlining rock band to a full house at the House of Blues in Boston.
Working under Composer Johnny Reinhard to help him realize Charles Ives' unfinished “Universe Symphony”, which was premiered at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Other Hobbies: Reading (philosophy, science/technology journals, historical fiction, science fiction), tinkering with anything mechanical or electronic, adventure traveling, learning the basics of a few foreign languages (Japanese, French, Brasilian Portugese).