Our Team
Tom Strickland
President
Tom started his career in the IT industry in 1978—making him about 287 in computer years. Over that time he has been an applications programmer, systems programmer, operations manager, and consultant.
His programming experience includes developing strategic high-performance, high-availability systems in Assembler, C, C++, and a variety of ancient computer languages. As a technical team and operations manager for Oklahoma Gas & Electric during the 1980s, Tom was responsible for the daily operation of 2 corporate mainframe sites and a statewide private network. As a consultant in the 1990s he completed a variety of projects for companies ranging from General Electric, AG Edwards, and Lipper (now a division of Reuters) to smaller regional firms and startups.
Tom has served on the board of the NH West chapter of the American Red Cross since 2005.
Tom's range of experience combined with the challenges of starting and running his own small business gives him a unique and valuable perspective on the problems and opportunities that face our clients.
Summary of Professional Qualifications
- Wide range of experience from highly technical to supervisory and executive.
- Strong ability to bridge the gap between technology and business so that business requirements are accurately translated into technology solutions and the cost/benefit of emerging technology is clearly communicated to executive management.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Currently act as CIO for 9 area small businesses.
- Demonstrated ability to manage personnel.
- Experienced and effective in leading cross-organizational groups to define and support enterprise-wide technology plans.
- Proficient technical ability in a variety of programming languages and operating platforms.
Professional Experience
President
Sequoya Technologies Group, LLC
July 2002 – present
- Founded the company, developed a business plan, and hired staff.
- Average of 80% annual growth over the last 4 years.
- Responsible for all phases of budgeting and financial management.
- First company in the region to develop and offer a web-based, enterprise-type managed service model for small business.
- Personally responsible for acting as Chief Information Officer for 9 regional small businesses with approximately 75 smaller, active clients.
Sr. Analyst and Consultant
Digital Strategies, Inc.
December 1989 – July 2002
- Met with clients to perform requirements analysis for new systems, modifications, and integration of existing systems.
- Responsible for designing solutions involving new software development and integration with vendor-supplied hardware and software components.
- Responsible for hands-on technical programming and implementation of system solutions.
- Acted as project leader with teams of client personnel to establish information architecture.
- Developed communications software that enabled daily publication of mutual fund listings in the Wall Street Journal.
- Designed and implemented software for AG Edwards that permitted their transition to a new real-time transaction processing system without the need to re-design several thousand OLTP applications.
Supervisor of Operations and System Software
Oklahoma Gas & Electric
February 1987 – August 1989
- Responsible for hiring and supervising a staff of 18 operations and systems programming personnel.
- Managed 24x7x365 operation of 2 corporate mainframe sites and a statewide proprietary network of 500 terminals and 1000 users.
- Assisted in defining budgets and managing expenses for the operation of a $10M information infrastructure.
- Led company-wide task force to design and implement a standardized, multi-host corporate network based on TCP/IP. (Note that this was in 1987 when most networks were proprietary.)
- Developed disaster restoration procedures that reduced recovery time from 24 hours to 3.
- Developed OLTP traffic routing software that increased system reliability and provided terminal device independence for application programmers.
Other supervisory and senior level technical positions
Oklahoma Gas & Electric, 1978 – 1987
Education
- Franklin Pierce College, BS in Computer Science
- University of Oklahoma, 3yrs Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
- Numerous vendor-specific courses in operating systems, programming languages, and operations.
Community Service
Board member
American Red Cross NH West Chapter, Keene, Dec 2005 – present
Sequoya Charitable Donation Program
Developed a charitable giving program that provides in-kind donations to numerous area non-profits chosen
by Sequoya's clients.
Debra Strickland, Ph.D.
Board Member
After a successful career in engineering, Debra earned her doctorate in mathematics. Her area of interest, graph theory, has numerous applications in networks and computing.
Her research in the field has resulted in publication of the paper "Building Fences Around the Chromatic Coefficients," (Journal of Graph Theory, Vol 26, #3). Debra serves as a valuable technical resource and has contributed to projects in encryption and security.
Starting as an adjunct math faculty member in 1998, Debra is currently the Coordinator of Learning Assistance for Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire.
Nate Gagne
Network Consultant
Nate Gagne joined Sequoya Technologies as a Network Consultant in 2005. With a background in systems engineering, software and hardware quality assurance, and server and desktop builds, Nate brings a broad perspective to the problems that small companies face maintaining their IT infrastructure.
A resident of Peterborough, Nate previously worked in the medical imaging field, where he helped some of the largest hospitals in the country integrate and archive their imaging data.
Summary of Professional Qualifications
- Experienced with all Microsoft operating systems, as well as some Linux/UNIX flavors.
- Experienced in TCP/IP networking.
- Microsoft certified Small Business Specialist.
- Acronis Certified Engineer.
Professional Experience
Server/Network Engineer
Sequoya Technologies Group, LLC
October 2005 – present
- Provide IT support for area businesses.
- Work with clients to implement technology solutions tailored to their business needs and budgets.
- Create procedural documentation for hardware and software installation/configuration.
Server Engineer
Numa, Inc.
May 2000 – October 2005
Jesse Schmidt
Technician
Jesse Schmidt paid his dues as an unpaid intern during his senior year of high school and impressed us so much that we offered him a real job. He is now a Computer Science major at Keene State College and works part time on a variety of projects in our lab (the "bat cave").
When he isn't in school or working for Sequoya, Jesse builds car computers and does his best to support the orthopedic industry by racing motorcycles.
Megan Strickland
Marketing Coordinator / Help Desk
Megan has been involved with Sequoya from the beginning, creating our logo and continuing to help with our marketing efforts ever since. She has a BA in Graphic Design from Bradley University.
She came on board part-time at Sequoya in August 2007 and has been a "utility infielder," helping with everything from accounting to basic computer support in addition to her primary focus of designing and maintaining Sequoya's website, brochures, and other materials.
When she's not at Sequoya, Megan is most likely working on freelance design projects. To learn more, visit her website: www.meganstrickland.com.
Summary of Professional Qualifications
- Experienced in all stages of design, from initial concept to production of the finished piece.
- Knowledge of current standards for website building.
- Proven ability to collaborate with team members, vendors, and clients and to find creative solutions within a budget.
Professional Experience
Marketing Coordinator / Help Desk
Sequoya Technologies Group, LLC
August 2007 – present
- Development of marketing plans and strategies in cooperation with President Tom Strickland and Board Member Debra Strickland.
- Execution of marketing plans.
- Designing all promotional materials.
- Production management for all materials, either in-house or through vendors.
- Design, execution, and maintenance of company website and online advertising campaign.
- Responsibility for some aspects of company bookkeeping and general administrative assistance.
- Basic help desk support for clients.
Production Artist
Church & Main, Inc.
July 2006 – August 2007
- Preparation of files for production.
- Preparation of materials for client presentations.
- In-house production of some promotional materials.
- Occasional opportunities for design or layout tasks.
- General support for other team members, including stock photography research, resizing and sending ads for various publications, updates to company website, file management, writing and sending press releases, and some technical computer/software assistance.
Intern
Church & Main, Inc.
2002 – 2005 (summers)
- In-house production of some promotional materials.
- General support for other team members, including stock photography research and file management.
Intern
Warwick Mills, advertising department
2001 (summer)
- In-house production of all promotional materials.
- Layout and/or resizing of some promotional materials.
Education
- Bradley University, BA in Graphic Design and minor in Music, Suma Cum Laude.
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