Leadership Team

Vivek Shivananda

President & CEO

Vivek Shivananda is the Co-Founder/President and CEO of Rsam. Vivek has a history in creating high-growth technology businesses. Prior to founding Rsam, as COO of eB Networks Vivek successfully grew its $30 million information security and network infrastructure consulting services and eventually sold it to Inrange Technologies in 2001. Prior to eB networks, Vivek held several management and consulting positions at Cap Gemini.

A respected member of the GRC community, Vivek is a guest speaker at industry conferences. Vivek is a CISSP and holds bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering, as well as an M.B.A. from Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business.

Kevin Day

Founder & CTO

Kevin is the Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Rsam. Kevin has over 10 years of experience in Information Security & Risk Assessment consulting and has worked directly with more than 100 large organizations in planning such efforts. Prior to Rsam, Kevin led Information Security, Risk Assessment, and Compliance Management efforts for fortune 500 clients in Healthcare, Entertainment, & Financial Services through Computer Horizons Corporation, (a $500m consulting company).

Kevin is a CISSP and author of "Inside the Security Mind", published by Prentice-Hall 2003. Kevin holds a bachelor's degree in Music from University of Nevada, Reno.

Dan Pepper

Lead Counsel

Dan is lead legal counsel for Rsam, and has been practicing law since 1994. Dan has acted as in-house counsel for Oracle Corporation, BEA Systems, Inc. and General Accident Insurance, and is a member of the State Bars of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Mr. Pepper frequently lectures on diverse subjects, including software licensing and distribution, IT outsourcing, the use of application service providers, executive compensation, and digital rights management in multimedia transactions. He also teaches legal business formation courses through the New Jersey Small Business Development Center, and regularly presents for the Individual Computer Consultants' Association, American Conference Institute, and the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education. Mr. Pepper also serves as a director on the Stevens Institute of Technology Board of Communications and is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Dan holds a J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law, and received his B.A. from Rutgers University.

Neil Hooper

Senior Vice President of Sales

Neil leads the sales and business development organizations at Rsam.  With 20+ years of highly successful enterprise software experience, Neil has with a proven track record in sales, channel management and consulting.  Prior to Rsam, Neil was Vice President of Sales at SAP for their Mobility Business Unit, selling complex mobile application solutions to Fortune 1,000 companies, focusing on Financial Services, Retail, Healthcare, and Public Sector. Prior to SAP, Neil was an early employee of Silicon Valley’s Good Technology where he grew the company’s revenue and their customer base to over 4,000 enterprises. Neil has also led large global sales and consulting teams for Manugistics (now JDA) and Numetrix (now Oracle).

Neil holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University in Canada and an MBA from Boston University.

Joe Bruening, CISA, HITRUST Certified

Vice President of Risk Management Solutions & Services

Joe leads the Risk Management Solutions and Services practice at Rsam. Joe has over 15 years of experience in Information Security, Risk Management, Regulatory Compliance, Professional Services management, and IT Leadership. Prior to Rsam, Joe was Principal Consultant at Midwave, an IT services firm, where he grew the risk management services practice and successfully led numerous risk and compliance initiatives for Fortune 500 clients. Prior to that, Joe was also the Information Security Officer for Ovations, a division of UnitedHealth Group, where he successfully led the initial SOX and HIPAA Security compliance initiatives.

Joe holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota and a Juris Doctor degree from William Mitchell College of Law.

Raymond L. Smith, CISM, CISSP, CRISC, HITRUST Certified

Vice President Government Solutions

Ray leads the Government Solutions practice at Rsam. Implementing Rsam solutions, Ray has led risk management programs for federal, state, and local governments as well as organizations in the healthcare, financial, consulting, and technology sectors. Ray has over 15 years of experience in privacy and security consulting. Prior to Rsam, Ray was the Director of Projects for Y2K and commercial software development. Prior to that, Ray was a Medical Service Corp Officer, managing teams during the global implementation of medical information systems for the USAF.

Ray holds a Bachelor of Science in Technical Management from Regis University, and a Master of Arts in Computer Resource Management from Webster University.

Sef Baydurcan

Director of Software Development

Sef is the Director of Software Development for Rsam. Sef has nearly 20 years of professional experience in developing commercial software products targeted for Fortune 1000 customers, as well as small businesses. Sef led development efforts on the mobile devices, Client/Server desktop applications, and multi-tiered web based enterprise solutions. Sef also helped develop a search engine licensed by Microsoft.

Sef holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Master of Engineering in Computer Information Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology of Hoboken, NJ.

Alla Valente

Director of Marketing

Alla leads the corporate marketing strategy, product marketing and partner relationship efforts at Rsam. Alla has over 10 years of professional experience in financial services marketing, mostly within the risk management discipline. Prior to joining Rsam, Alla was Director of Marketing & Communications at BPS. She has also held marketing positions at Fitch Ratings and Regent Capital.

Alla holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Hofstra University and a Diploma in Credit Analysis from New York University.