Resource Center:
John Sundberg is one of the company’s founders and an entrepreneur who has demonstrated effective leadership in creating a team culture that has spearheaded the company’s extensive growth. During his 15 years of designing and managing successful, innovative information system implementations, he has been a lead architect, developer or project manager of more than 100 projects for medium to large enterprises with extensive work in large systems, distributed systems, systems management and consulting.
Prior to founding the company, he applied his technical and management expertise at 3M, Programming Alternatives Inc., Wilson Learning, and as an independent consultant. At 3M, he was a liaison between IT and several development groups, where he discovered why projects succeeded or failed, leading him to build his company around a team concept, as he found the groups that worked well together produced successful projects.
Education: BA in Mathematics from St. Olaf College
Leadership: President of the Minnesota Chapter of AFSMI (Association for Services Management International)
Unus Gaffoor is one of the companies founders and has worked with John to develop a successful enterprise that provides innovative software applications and related consulting services in a creative team environment. Unus has been involved in the IT industry for over 17 years and has worked on many major projects as a team leader, lead developer and architect. Unus brings a depth of programming and consulting expertise to the company.
Prior to founding the company, he was a successful independent consultant for over 4 years both in the US and AsiaPac. During this time he recognized the need to deliver project outcomes in a timely and productive manner. It is this philosophy that he has brought to the company and continues to be a mainstay of the company success.
Education: B Com. from Wollongong University, Australia with majors in Computer science and Accounting.
Kelly Heikkila has demonstrated a rare combination of big-picture vision and user-centric detail in his architectural approach to developing technology solutions. His previous experience ranges from designing small business websites to developing large customer support applications for Fortune 500 companies. In his current role, Kelly is the architect and product manager for Kinetic Data’s expanding stable of products. His designs tackle immediate problems and anticipate future opportunities, creating both practical and elegant solutions.
Education: Attended the University of Minnesota; ITIL Foundation certified; ITIL Service Level Practitioner certified
Leadership: Former board member, Independent Feature Project—Minneapolis/St.Paul, former board president, Midwest Media Artists Access Center
Linda Koestler is a passionate developer and patient teacher and leader, having 20 years of development experience that extends across a broad range of technologies. Prior to joining the company, she planned and led manufacturing systems enhancements and upgrades and had a 10 year career at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, where she was responsible for the planning and development of large internal applications.
Education: Associate degree in Computer Science from Mankato Technical Institute; ITIL Foundation certified
Leadership: St. Paul Pioneer Press Outstanding Performance in Technology, St. Paul Pioneer Press Extra Mile Award
Kasandra Kuchenmeister is a highly adaptable professional with experience in both U.S. and International projects. She has held a variety of roles as a software developer, as well as project leader and account manager. Prior to joining the company as its first employee, she held a number of positions, including circulation and database marketing, customer retention, special projects and advertising during a 10 year career at the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Kasandra’s direct experience working across corporate environments and interfacing with executives, legal, finance, IT and departmental personnel has given her deep insight regarding business issues, policies and processes.
Education: Mini-MBA, St. Thomas Center for Business Excellence; completed BMC Remedy AR System 5.x Delta training.
Leadership: Arden Hills Business Development Committee, 1999 St. Paul Pioneer Press Excellence Award recipient.
Nancy Nafziger has over 14 years of experience in marketing, encompassing roles in communications, project management and creative design. Her clients have ranged from small businesses to Fortune 500 enterprises and represent business-to-business as well as business-to-consumer models. Prior to joining Kinetic Data, Nancy was a creative director at ITAGroup, a business performance improvement company. Nancy has contributed her marketing skills to a variety of industries and organizations including: Dyneon™, a division of 3M; eCapital Advisors; Thomson West; LifeLink®, a health and human services non-profit organization; and Perfection Learning Corporation, an educational publishing company.
Education: Bachelor of fine arts in graphic design from Iowa State University
Leadership: Has led creative teams to win highly coveted accounts, including Audi, Buffets Inc., First Source, Snap-on, Culligan, Zales and EMC Insurance.
Tom Pick is a marketing and PR executive with more than 15 years of experience in the technology industry, including marketing communications, product management and web marketing. He was previously director of corporate communications at reinsurance intermediary Collins Associates, where he was responsible for developing and implementing an integrated marketing strategy that included media relations, web marketing, sales collateral and event marketing programs. Under his guidance, the company increased website traffic by 400% and tripled its press coverage.
Prior to joining Collins, Pick spent nine years with the manufacturing software company SoftBrands (formerly Fourth Shift), where he led a team that successfully launched two new products while producing a 50% year-over-year increase in qualified leads for a mature product in a consolidating market.
Education: Master's degree in marketing from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School; BA degree in Engineering from St. Cloud State University
Leadership: Best Blog Award, Marketing Sherpa 2006 Readers' Choice
