Andy Youniss co-founded Rocket Software in 1990 and continues to be the company's main driving force. Andy successfully established and actively manages Rocket's largest OEM partnerships and is guiding the company's growth through technology investments, acquisitions, new product lines, and strategic partnerships. Prior to founding Rocket Software, Andy was the development manager for DB View Inc., a software company specializing in DB2 database tools. Previously, he was a programmer/analyst at American Management Systems, and was also a project development consultant. Andy holds a B.S. degree in Computer Science from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.
Johan Magnusson Gedda co-founded Rocket Software and is actively involved in the company's financial management and business strategy. In addition to his involvement with Rocket, Johan was a partner with the Vitol Group of Companies, a privately held Swiss trading partnership. Prior to Vitol, Johan held a number of management positions in the software industry, including serving as President of Roadshow International Inc., a $12 million supply chain management company. He also served in the role of division and country manager for Systems Center Inc., a $130 million provider of systems software and services. Prior to joining Systems Center, Johan was Chief Operating Officer of DB View Inc., a provider of DB2 tools that he helped build and sell to Systems Center. Johan holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
Matt Kelley joined Rocket Software shortly after its founding in 1990. Matt plays a key role in software development for Rocket's business intelligence products. Prior to Rocket, Matt worked in software development for Bolt, Beranek and Newman, a network software company. Between March and December of 2000, he was Vice President, Research and Development for Peritus Software Services. Matt returned to Rocket in January 2001. Matt holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mike Beasley is the Chairman of the Board of Rocket Software. Mike is currently CEO of Legenta Inc. Mike joined IBM in 1971 where his career centered on software and hardware engineering management. Among his many professional achievements, Mike initiated the formation of Icing Software (an independent business unit of IBM) in 1992, of which he was appointed Chief Operating Officer. Mike is also active in education, and for eleven years was Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) program serving 60,000 California youth. Mike holds an S.M. in Management Technology from the MIT Sloan School, and a B.S. in Data Processing Technology from Weber State University.
Brian Agle joined Rocket in February 2008 as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Rocket, he was Senior Vice President and CFO for Activant Solutions Inc., a $400 million software company. Brian also served as Vice President and CFO for Global Field Operations at Novell Inc., and was a member of the worldwide management team. During his tenure with Novell he was responsible for a $1 billion global business and headed up financial organizations in North America and Asia. Prior to joining Novell, he began his career with Ernst & Young. Brian holds B.S. and MAcc degrees from Brigham Young University.
Troy Heindel joined Rocket in April 2002. Troy came to Rocket Software with a wealth of experience fostering growth in technology companies. He began his career at NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center as a Space Shuttle flight controller. Prior to joining Rocket, he was CIO for Regus Business Centre, a global $1 billion real estate and technology services business. Prior to Regus, he was CIO and Vice President of Support Services for Gensym Corporation. Troy also served as CIO and Vice President of Technical Operations for Agillion, an application service provider. Troy holds a B.S. in Computational and Applied Mathematics from the University of Connecticut and an M.S. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Houston.
Andre den Haan joined Rocket in May 2007. Andre has more than 18 years of experience in the IT market, including software development, project implementation and product management. Prior to joining Rocket, he was a member of the original group of employees that established Seagull Software in 1990. As Seagull Software's Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Product Strategy, Andre developed strategic product plans, established detailed product specifications, and managed the delivery of products to market. Prior to establishing Seagull Software, he was a senior technologist for Holland Automation International. Andre holds a B.I.T. degree from the Haagse Hogeschool in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Karen joined Rocket in December of 2006. She brings to the management team over 20 years of extensive domestic and international HR expertise gained through her experiences at companies such as Teradyne, Zoom Technologies and Shooshanian Engineering Associates. Her knowledge base of employee relations, performance management, policy development, benefits, compensation, staffing/recruiting, training, acquisition integration, and compliance are critical to the exponential demands of Rocket's global workforce of over 700 employees. Karen holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Emmanuel College of Boston, Massachusetts.
