Andrew has more than 20 years of experience in the energy and utilities industry in North America and many global markets, witnessing firsthand the industry’s commendable growth and innovation. Andrew has led VertexOne through a transformational growth period over the past eight years, completing many strategic acquisitions and divestitures, launching various successful software products, and securing new capital partners.

With his leadership and vision, Andrew has pioneered the adoption of Software as a Service (SaaS) in energy and utilities companies across North America through VertexOne’s award-winning suite of meter-to-cash software products. Andrew is the vice-chairman of the VertexOne Board of Directors, serving in a leadership capacity with the company’s majority investor, DFW Capital LLC.

Andrew serves on several external boards, including Forbes Technology, a division of Forbes Media LLC; Cloud for Utilities, a thought leadership consultancy; and OurCalling, a faith-based organization focused on providing opportunities for homeless people to live healthy, sustainable lifestyles.

Before joining VertexOne, Andrew directed the global energy and utilities business unit at HCL Technologies, where he was instrumental in helping HCL become a fast-growing and globally-dominant utility service provider. Before HCL, Andrew held key executive roles in Oracle, Indus, British Telecom, Syntegra, Control Data Systems, and Microsoft.

Elizabeth Reed joined VertexOne as part of the Alliance Data acquisition in 2008. She is responsible for all aspects of human resources and benefits. She has been instrumental in streamlining processes, creating efficiencies, and saving money. 

She has 10 years of financial and accounting experience and held various roles with Alliance Data starting in 1999, from senior accountant to finance manager. Her responsibilities included general ledger accounting, forecast and budget, and mergers and acquisitions. After the acquisition, she was asked to take on the role of Director of North American Payroll with VertexOne.

She has also served as Director of Global Payroll, which included the U.K. and India, the Director of HRIS and Benefits, and Vice President of Human Resources.

Bobby began his career as a software developer for an early customer information system (CIS). He served as COO and co-founded Five Point Partners, a 250-person professional services firm serving the utility industry. Ernst & Young purchased Five Point in 2014, and Bobby served as a partner overseeing EY's Oracle Utilities Application practice.

Earlier in his career, Bobby was partner and CFO of Capstone Consulting Partners, a boutique consulting firm focused on the utilities industry that was acquired by Alliance Data Systems, a predecessor company to VertexOne.

Bobby has helped water, gas, and electric utilities navigate large transformation programs involving software systems. These systems include CIS, enterprise asset management (EAM), work and service management, and enterprise resource management (ERP). Bobby specializes in the use and deployment of cloud computing and other emerging technologies.

Bobby has an electrical engineering degree from the University of Alabama and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. Bobby resides in Atlanta, GA.

Chaidan Lekchaum is the SVP of Product Deployment, managing roll outs for all VertexOne product lines.  He brings 30 years of systems integration experience to VertexOne.  Prior to joining VertexOne, Chaidan held key leadership and delivery roles for Ernst & Young, HCL Technologies and Accenture. 

Chaidan’s key area of expertise is within the Utilities industry.  He has over 20 years of Utilities experience and has been on 12 full cycle CIS implementations and 10 major upgrades where he has held key roles in project management, functional and technical delivery, testing, and end user training.  His areas of focus include CIS and AMI deployments for regulated and deregulated utilities for all major product lines (Gas, Water & Electric). 

Bill is the Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at VertexOne. He has been with VertexOne for the past 30years and has held various roles, including overseeing new client implementations, conversions, and organizational change; managing production operations of systems; managing corporate IT strategy, products, and account management; and leading sales support and marketing efforts.

Bill has a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems with a minor in economics from the University of Oklahoma.

Ed recently served as Vice President of Business Development for Enchanted Rock, LLC, a market leader in resiliency as a service for mission-critical operations. 

Ed brings more than twenty years of strategic sales and marketing experience, with the majority spent in the utilities and technology industries. Before joining VertexOne, he oversaw sales initiatives at Aclara, Innovari Coda Energy, Cellnet, and CES International. Ed has been named Atlanta Technology Marketing Executive of the Year and recognized as “Who’s Who” in the Smart Grid industry. 

Ed began his career as an Officer and Naval Aviator in the United States Navy. He has a B.S. in Applied Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and an M.S. in Engineering Management with high honors from the University of South Florida.

Paige Besson is Senior Vice President Marketing and works closely with all departments in the company to build the VertexOne brand, increase company value, and drive sales through effective marketing and brand strategies.

Paige comes to VertexOne from McDonnell Group, where she led its transformation from its public relations roots to a fully integrated marketing agency focused solely on the energy and utility industry.  While there, she launched the Energy and Utility B2B Marketing Benchmark Study, the only study of its kind designed to empower industry marketers with unique insights into the nuances of B2B marketing in the energy and utility space.

Prior to joining McDonnell Group, she was vice president of marketing for energy analytics start up Verdeeco, which was acquired by Sensus. She began her career at Schlumberger and held senior-level marketing positions at Cellnet Technologies (acquired by Landis+Gyr in 2007) and Site Controls (acquired by Siemens in 2010). Besson also founded and ran Enermarc, an integrated marketing communications and strategy consultancy. She served on the launch marketing committee of the Georgia (TAG) Smart Energy Society and as chair of the branding committee for Washington D.C.-based Women's Council on Energy and the Environment (WCEE). 

John has over 35 year’s of experience in working with technology solutions in the utilities industry across the Globe.  He has extensive experience working with operational systems for Utilities from companies like IBM, ABB, Oracle and Sensus.  Currently, John Leads the engagement endeavors between VertexOne and prospective clients in the Western half of North America.  His area of expertise include Customer Information Systems, Outage Management, Asset Management, Mobile Workforce Management, Smart Metering and AMI, Customer Engagement, ERP and Data Modelling with the Common Information Model (CIM). 

John was raised in Texas and Colorado, went to college at Grand Canyon University for is bachelor’s degree in Business and Performing Arts and then finished with a Master’s degree in Business Administration and Finance from Arizona State University.  He now lives in Austin, TX with his wife of 38 years and near their daughter and is anxiously awaiting grandchildren.

Charles started his career as a software developer for a commercial suite of products for engineering solutions.  Charles has more than 23 years of experience in the areas of Energy Solutions, Business Intelligence, IOT, Customer Engagement, Energy Efficiency, Predictive Analytics, CIS, MDM, GIS, Smart Grid Automation, AMI, and Smart Metering. 

Currently, Charles leads a team of Regional Sales Directors to develop new business and relationships with existing VertexOne clients and new prospects in the U.S. and Canada.

Charles holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada.  Charles now lives in Michigan with his wife and three children.

Andrew has more than 20 years of experience in the energy and utilities industry in North America and many global markets, witnessing firsthand the industry’s commendable growth and innovation. Andrew has led VertexOne through a transformational growth period over the past eight years, completing many strategic acquisitions and divestitures, launching various successful software products, and securing new capital partners.

With his leadership and vision, Andrew has pioneered the adoption of Software as a Service (SaaS) in energy and utilities companies across North America through VertexOne’s award-winning suite of meter-to-cash software products. Andrew is the vice-chairman of the VertexOne Board of Directors, serving in a leadership capacity with the company’s majority investor, DFW Capital LLC.

Andrew serves on several external boards, including Forbes Technology, a division of Forbes Media LLC; Cloud for Utilities, a thought leadership consultancy; and OurCalling, a faith-based organization focused on providing opportunities for homeless people to live healthy, sustainable lifestyles.

Before joining VertexOne, Andrew directed the global energy and utilities business unit at HCL Technologies, where he was instrumental in helping HCL become a fast-growing and globally-dominant utility service provider. Before HCL, Andrew held key executive roles in Oracle, Indus, British Telecom, Syntegra, Control Data Systems, and Microsoft.

Elizabeth Reed joined VertexOne as part of the Alliance Data acquisition in 2008. She is responsible for all aspects of human resources and benefits. She has been instrumental in streamlining processes, creating efficiencies, and saving money. 

She has 10 years of financial and accounting experience and held various roles with Alliance Data starting in 1999, from senior accountant to finance manager. Her responsibilities included general ledger accounting, forecast and budget, and mergers and acquisitions. After the acquisition, she was asked to take on the role of Director of North American Payroll with VertexOne.

She has also served as Director of Global Payroll, which included the U.K. and India, the Director of HRIS and Benefits, and Vice President of Human Resources.

Bobby began his career as a software developer for an early customer information system (CIS). He served as COO and co-founded Five Point Partners, a 250-person professional services firm serving the utility industry. Ernst & Young purchased Five Point in 2014, and Bobby served as a partner overseeing EY's Oracle Utilities Application practice.

Earlier in his career, Bobby was partner and CFO of Capstone Consulting Partners, a boutique consulting firm focused on the utilities industry that was acquired by Alliance Data Systems, a predecessor company to VertexOne.

Bobby has helped water, gas, and electric utilities navigate large transformation programs involving software systems. These systems include CIS, enterprise asset management (EAM), work and service management, and enterprise resource management (ERP). Bobby specializes in the use and deployment of cloud computing and other emerging technologies.

Bobby has an electrical engineering degree from the University of Alabama and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. Bobby resides in Atlanta, GA.

Chaidan Lekchaum is the SVP of Product Deployment, managing roll outs for all VertexOne product lines.  He brings 30 years of systems integration experience to VertexOne.  Prior to joining VertexOne, Chaidan held key leadership and delivery roles for Ernst & Young, HCL Technologies and Accenture. 

Chaidan’s key area of expertise is within the Utilities industry.  He has over 20 years of Utilities experience and has been on 12 full cycle CIS implementations and 10 major upgrades where he has held key roles in project management, functional and technical delivery, testing, and end user training.  His areas of focus include CIS and AMI deployments for regulated and deregulated utilities for all major product lines (Gas, Water & Electric). 

Bill is the Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at VertexOne. He has been with VertexOne for the past 30years and has held various roles, including overseeing new client implementations, conversions, and organizational change; managing production operations of systems; managing corporate IT strategy, products, and account management; and leading sales support and marketing efforts.

Bill has a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems with a minor in economics from the University of Oklahoma.

Ed recently served as Vice President of Business Development for Enchanted Rock, LLC, a market leader in resiliency as a service for mission-critical operations. 

Ed brings more than twenty years of strategic sales and marketing experience, with the majority spent in the utilities and technology industries. Before joining VertexOne, he oversaw sales initiatives at Aclara, Innovari Coda Energy, Cellnet, and CES International. Ed has been named Atlanta Technology Marketing Executive of the Year and recognized as “Who’s Who” in the Smart Grid industry. 

Ed began his career as an Officer and Naval Aviator in the United States Navy. He has a B.S. in Applied Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and an M.S. in Engineering Management with high honors from the University of South Florida.

Paige Besson is Senior Vice President Marketing and works closely with all departments in the company to build the VertexOne brand, increase company value, and drive sales through effective marketing and brand strategies.

Paige comes to VertexOne from McDonnell Group, where she led its transformation from its public relations roots to a fully integrated marketing agency focused solely on the energy and utility industry.  While there, she launched the Energy and Utility B2B Marketing Benchmark Study, the only study of its kind designed to empower industry marketers with unique insights into the nuances of B2B marketing in the energy and utility space.

Prior to joining McDonnell Group, she was vice president of marketing for energy analytics start up Verdeeco, which was acquired by Sensus. She began her career at Schlumberger and held senior-level marketing positions at Cellnet Technologies (acquired by Landis+Gyr in 2007) and Site Controls (acquired by Siemens in 2010). Besson also founded and ran Enermarc, an integrated marketing communications and strategy consultancy. She served on the launch marketing committee of the Georgia (TAG) Smart Energy Society and as chair of the branding committee for Washington D.C.-based Women's Council on Energy and the Environment (WCEE). 

John has over 35 year’s of experience in working with technology solutions in the utilities industry across the Globe.  He has extensive experience working with operational systems for Utilities from companies like IBM, ABB, Oracle and Sensus.  Currently, John Leads the engagement endeavors between VertexOne and prospective clients in the Western half of North America.  His area of expertise include Customer Information Systems, Outage Management, Asset Management, Mobile Workforce Management, Smart Metering and AMI, Customer Engagement, ERP and Data Modelling with the Common Information Model (CIM). 

John was raised in Texas and Colorado, went to college at Grand Canyon University for is bachelor’s degree in Business and Performing Arts and then finished with a Master’s degree in Business Administration and Finance from Arizona State University.  He now lives in Austin, TX with his wife of 38 years and near their daughter and is anxiously awaiting grandchildren.

Charles started his career as a software developer for a commercial suite of products for engineering solutions.  Charles has more than 23 years of experience in the areas of Energy Solutions, Business Intelligence, IOT, Customer Engagement, Energy Efficiency, Predictive Analytics, CIS, MDM, GIS, Smart Grid Automation, AMI, and Smart Metering. 

Currently, Charles leads a team of Regional Sales Directors to develop new business and relationships with existing VertexOne clients and new prospects in the U.S. and Canada.

Charles holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada.  Charles now lives in Michigan with his wife and three children.

Rajat is the General Manager for VertexOne India, responsible for people, operations, and finance, and is a member of the global leadership team for VertexOne Group.

He has more than two decades of experience building organizations and managing technology-based transformation programs for large corporations in India, the EU, and North America. At the VertexOne subsidiary in Gurgaon, he has led the development of several capabilities, including SAP practices for utilities.

Before VertexOne, Rajat held senior positions at Sapient Corporation in Gurgaon and managed a business unit of Capgemini Consulting in Mumbai. Rajat was associated with prestigious companies like ITC and Infosys early in his career, where he developed skills in IT services, consulting, and project and delivery center management.

He holds a Bachelors's in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and is a Capgemini-certified engagement manager.

Audra Leigh Braden serves as outside General Counsel for VertexOne, overseeing our legal, risk, and compliance functions. 

Audra is a Member at Clark Hill Strasburger, a multidisciplinary, international law firm that represents a diverse range of leading brands, forward-thinking businesses, public entities, nonprofit organizations, and individuals. She practices commercial litigation while also representing clients in the outside general counsel capacity. 

Audra provides competent and professional legal representation to resolve conflicts, including contract breaches, trade secrets, fraud, and employment disputes. Audra graduated summa cum laude from Texas A&M University and cum laude from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. She is admitted to practice before the state courts of Texas and U.S. District Courts in the Northern, Eastern, Western and Southern Districts of Texas. Every year since 2016, Audra has been named a Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star by Thompson Reuters.

Tina Santizo serves as VertexOne's Senior Vice President of Client Success and is the internal champion for all VertexOne clients in the support of solutions that enable them to achieve their goals. Tina has been at VertexOne for 24 years and has served in a variety of roles from consulting, product management, project management, and service. Tina continues to successfully collaborate across all functions.

Prior to VertexOne, Tina worked for Fujitsu Telecom as a Product Manager where she transformed a troubled product into a valuable solution, substantially growing the customer base. Prior to Fujitsu, she worked at NASA as a Systems Engineer for Space Station Freedom (SSF). There, Tina developed a Failure Detection, Isolation and Recovery Strategy for SSF.

Tina has BS in Electrical Engineer from Southern Methodist University

Dean is Senior Vice President, Product Development & Innovation, as well as Principal Software Architect, at VertexOne. He has been with VertexOne for the past 22 years and oversees company-wide software architecture and development. Dean comes with more than 34 years of experience in the computer and software industry, 28 of those in the Utilities sector.

Early on in his career, Dean developed a number of software applications, some earning ZDNet’s 5-Star Editor’s Choice and Microsoft’s Shareware Hall-of-Fame awards. Customers of those products included a number of Fortune 500 companies including Microsoft, IBM and Raytheon, in addition to thousands of users in more than 15 countries.

Over the years, Dean has held various roles and has assisted a large number of electric and gas utilities, municipal governments, as well as telecommunications, mining and forestry companies in implementing innovative IT solutions. During the mid-1990s, Dean developed one of the very first online self-service portals and electronic bill presentment solutions in Canada, winning the Ontario Municipal Electric Association's Innovation Award for Customer Service.

Keith has 25 years of experience working for software, IT, and BPO companies. He joined VertexOne in 2009 and is responsible for our financial reporting, accounting, tax, commercial insurance, and treasury services.

Before VertexOne, Keith worked for Diebold, Inc. There, he developed and implemented revenue recognition practices for their election services division. He also oversaw the financial operations of their innovative vote-by-mail and electronic poll book companies⁠. Before Diebold, Keith worked for Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. and served in several financial and accounting roles. He also took on the management of the company’s high-volume print and mail fulfillment operations, serving utility, insurance, financial, and governmental clients.

Keith joined DFW in 1998 as a partner from First Atlantic Capital, a New York-based, middle-market leveraged buyout (LBO) investment firm.

He was with First Atlantic for six years, four years as a partner. While at First Atlantic, Keith was responsible for sourcing, structuring, executing, and monitoring portfolio investments in a broad range of industries. Before First Atlantic, Keith spent several years arranging private equity and debt financing with the investment banking group of Dean Witter. Keith holds a B.A. in Economics and Art History from Middlebury College.

With almost 25 years of experience in the energy and utilities industry, Andrew is responsible for leading the organization through transformational growth through organic growth and strategic acquisitions. During his tenure, Andrew has led the organization through many product and solution releases, securing new clients for VertexOne, managing divesture of non-strategic assets, and integrating new capital partners to drive continued growth.

Before joining VertexOne, Andrew directed the global energy and utilities business unit at HCL Technologies, where he was instrumental in helping HCL become a fast-growing and globally-dominant utility service provider. Before HCL, Andrew held key executive roles in Oracle, Indus, British Telecom, Syntegra, Control Data Systems, and Microsoft.

Brad Almond was VertexOne’s Chief Financial Officer from 2013-2019, and upon our acquisition by DFW Capital Partners, Brad became a member of the Board of Directors.

Brad is a tenured technology and software executive in public and private corporations with extensive experience in key operational functions for global, high-growth environments.

Before VertexOne, Brad served as the Chief Financial Officer of Cambium Learning Group, a publicly-traded leader in providing curriculum products, services, and subscription-based technology for elementary through high schools. Before joining Cambium, Brad was Chief Financial Officer at Zix Corporation, a SaaS-based email encryption provider located in Dallas.

From 1998-2003, Brad worked at Entrust Inc., where he held various management positions, including President of Entrust Japan and General Manager of Entrust Asia out of the Tokyo, Japan office. Brad started his technology finance career at Nortel and served in various positions from 1993-1998, including Director of Strategic Planning for Nortel Europe based in Paris, France.

Brad is a Certified Public Accountant, a doctoral candidate in liberal studies at Southern Methodist University, and a graduate of Texas A&M (Bachelor of Business Administration), the University of Texas at Austin (Master of Business Administration), and the University of Texas at Dallas (Master of Arts).

Todd Crandall is a seasoned IT Services Industry Executive with experience across many industries and organizations of all sizes.

Todd has significant cloud and outsourcing experience, helping to increase annuity-based services over one-time project services.

He most recently led SAP’s Digital Business Services business within North America—reporting directly to SAP’s Executive Board, across all industries and with sole profit and loss (P&L) responsibility. While working with SAP, Todd managed the largest transformation of any services business worldwide, according to McKinsey. This transformation included a restructuring of the Services portfolio offered to SAP customers and a complete re-skilling of SAP’s 22,000 Service Delivery Professionals, Delivery Executives, and Customer Success Executives from traditional “on-premise” implementations to “cloud-oriented” installations.

Under his leadership and several focused initiatives, SAP's North America region achieved record-breaking growth, profitability, and customer satisfaction and was named the 2019 Region of the Year.

Before SAP, Todd led HCL Technologies Asset Intensive Industries (Utilities, Aerospace & Defense, Travel, Transportation & Logistics, and Healthcare) global business unit, including all services and outsourcing within North America and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa).

Todd earned a Bachelor of Science from Brigham Young University and currently serves on the Professional Services Advisory Board for the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA).