management team

Key to the success of SEPATON data protection solutions is the management team that stands behind them. Our leadership team has significant experience in enterprise systems, storage and networking for both major corporations and for innovative technology startups.

Michael Worhach, President and CEO

Bob Iacono, Chief Operating Officer

Jay Kramer, Vice President of Worldwide Marketing

Paul McDermott, Chief Financial Officer

Terry Richardson, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales

Fidelma Russo, Executive Vice President of Engineering and Development

Michael Worhach, President and CEO

As president and CEO, Mike Worhach is responsible for management, execution and strategic direction of the company. Mike has 30 years of experience in the computer and storage industry with various senior management roles in sales, marketing and executive management. Mike joined SEPATON in September of 2003 as president and chief executive officer. Before joining SEPATON, Mike had been president of Auspex Systems, Inc., the original developer of network-attached storage devices. Previously, he served as a division vice president at Data General and then EMC, where he was responsible for Americas sales and services and the worldwide healthcare division. Prior to 1993, Mr. Worhach worked at Unisys for 17 years and held a variety of senior management positions in sales and marketing as division president, VP of marketing operations and executive assistant vice chairman. Mr. Worhach holds an MBA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a BS from Kings College, Pennsylvania.

Bob Iacono, Chief Operating Officer

Bob Iacono joined SEPATON in October of 2003 as chief operating officer. Bob, having overall responsibility for the company's manufacturing and customer support activities, brings more than 25 years of industry experience to SEPATON. Prior to SEPATON, his career is highlighted by senior level management positions in finance, manufacturing, sales, marketing and general management. Within the last ten years, he has been VP of professional services at EMC, VP and general manager of Data General's worldwide healthcare organization, and VP of marketing at Auspex. Bob also held senior finance positions at both Unisys and Burroughs Corporation. Bob has an MBA in international finance from New York University's Stern School of Business and a BS in operations management from Syracuse University.

Jay Kramer, Vice President of Worldwide Marketing

Jay Kramer oversees all aspects of SEPATON’s marketing efforts including strategic planning, brand development, product marketing, promotions, marketing communications, and public relations. He brings to SEPATON more than 20 years of worldwide marketing and sales executive management experience with leading storage technology companies, both private and NASDAQ listed organizations. Most recently, Jay served as vice president of marketing for iStor Networks, a 10Gig iSCSI storage area networking company. Prior to joining iStor Networks, he served as a marketing consultant to leading network storage product companies. Jay’s background includes the emergence of Infinity I/O Inc. as a leading provider of education, training, and certification for network storage technology. He was also vice president of marketing for Creative Design Solutions, Inc., an OEM provider of Network Attached Storage (NAS) technology; vice president of marketing for Maxtor/Seagate Corporation which acquired CDS; and held a number of executive management positions with Unisys Corporation. Jay has also held chairperson roles on various conferences and associations including SNIA, FCIA, the ILM Summit, Data Protection Summit and currently serves on the advisory board of the Flash Memory Summit. He holds dual degrees in marketing and finance from The Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.

Paul McDermott, Chief Financial Officer

Paul McDermott is responsible for managing the finance and accounting, administration, and IT groups to support SEPATON’s growth. With over fifteen years of experience at high-technology companies, both public and private, Paul’s expertise includes corporate oversight of budgeting and forecasting; capital-raising through public offerings, venture capital, and commercial bank financing; financial reporting and SEC compliance; merger and acquisition diligence and integration; and international expansion. Most recently, Paul was vice president of finance, corporate controller and chief accounting officer for Sonus Networks, a publicly-traded provider of infrastructure solutions, where he was responsible for worldwide financial accounting and reporting, including SEC compliance. Earlier in his career, he served as controller for publicly-traded Legent Corporation (now CA). Paul was also the chief financial officer for three high-technology companies, including ServiceWare Technologies, Firepond, and Network Intelligence. While at Firepond, he executed the company’s initial public offering. Paul began his career in public accounting most recently with Price WaterhouseCoopers. Paul is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Duquesne University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

Terry Richardson, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales

Terry Richardson is responsible for SEPATON's worldwide sales efforts for both direct and indirect channels. Terry was previously at EMC Corporation, where his executive roles included vice president of global OEM sales and vice president of channel sales for the Americas. Prior to EMC, Terry was vice president of Americas sales at Data General, where he worked in various sales and sales management positions during his ten years with the company. Before Data General, Terry held various sales positions at Burroughs/Unisys for five years. He graduated from Boston College's School of Management with a BS degree in computer science and marketing.

Fidelma Russo, Executive Vice President of Engineering and Development

Fidelma Russo is responsible for SEPATON's engineering organization and oversees the continuing technical advancement of its innovative ContentAware™ architecture. Fidelma previously served as vice president of HP's Adaptive Infrastructure (AI) organization, which is part of HP's business technology portfolio. Fidelma drove the evolution of products and services required for HP to deliver on the next-generation data center trend. Prior to HP, Fidelma was a senior vice president at Sun Microsystems where she was responsible for all aspects of the SAN, NAS and storage software business including product portfolio investments, design, development and support. During her tenure, she helped to drive strategy and innovation into all aspects of the business. She also held a number of executive and senior management positions at EMC, Data General and Digital Equipment Corporation with responsibility for a wide variety of server, storage and software product lines. Fidelma received an engineering degree from the National University of Ireland and a master's degree in computer science from Boston University.