Name
Mike Hughes

Position
Chief Operating Officer, Sword Group

Mike Hughes joined Sword Ciboodle in 1986 and is now Chief Operating Officer for the Sword Group. Since 1986 Mike has overseen the strategic shift in company focus from a local systems integrator to an international software business.

As the architect of the world's first business process platform and Sword Ciboodle's first software product, Mike has been integral to the company's innovative technological achievements.

Mike previously held the position of Technical Director at Energis Interactive where he successfully launched the digital television platform, Bright Blue.

Mike holds a BSc Hons in Computer Science from the University of Strathclyde.

Name
Kenny Bain

Position
CEO, Sword Ciboodle EMEA

Kenny is responsible for product pricing, contractual negotiations and heads up a team responsible for managing relationships with a network of delivery partners.

Kenny joined the company as Chief Financial Officer in 2002 having previously worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he was involved in providing business advisory services including due diligence for vendor acquisitions and IPOs across a wide range of industry sectors.

Kenny has a BA Hons in Accountancy and Economics from the University of Strathclyde and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

Name
Richard DeFrancisco

Position
CEO, Sword Ciboodle Americas

Richard is responsible for overseeing Sword Ciboodle’s North American operations – continuing to drive the company’s leadership position in customer engagement solutions in the US marketplace.

Rich is an accomplished senior level executive with proven experience in building new markets, securing revenue dollars and driving incremental revenue through executive level relationships with Fortune 500 companies globally. His previous positions include executive appointments at Wirecache, Dun & Bradstreet Software, Evolve Software and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Name
Paul White

Position
Worldwide Sales and Marketing

As Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Sword Ciboodle, Paul White is responsible for International New Business development strategy and execution across Strategic Alliances and Direct Sales teams. Paul leads the Marketing team at HQ and around the world and is responsible for the company image including Industry Analyst relations, Media, Brand and Research.

Prior to being appointed to this role, Paul served as CEO for Ciboodle Americas for 3 years where he led the initial phase of Ciboodle's customer growth and recruitment from our office in Chicago.

Previously Paul served as Enterprise Architect for Capital One where he helped construct and deliver the IT Strategy for the world's fastest growing financial services company and IT Strategist at Thomas Cook, Travelex and Abbey.

Paul holds a BEng Hons in Microelectronics and Computer Science from Nottingham University and has studied on the EMBA programmes of Kellogg School of Management and Babson.

Name
Brian Donn

Position
CEO for Sword Ciboodle Asia Pacific

Brian Donn is responsible for strategy, growth and positioning in the region which includes the key Australian and New Zealand markets.

Prior to joining Sword Ciboodle, Brian worked in the consulting sector with Anglo-Dutch IT group CMG and spent time with US Telco operators AT&T Unisource and Motorola. He also previously held the position of Managing Director, Benelux for Sword and oversaw substantial growth through work with clients such as Vodafone.

Brian qualified with BAs in Information Technology and Marketing from the University of Paisley, Amsterdam School of Business and has also studied on the Macquarie Graduate School of Management programmes of International Strategy and General Management.

Name
Steven Thurlow

Position
Chief Technology Officer

Steven spearheads the pre-sales technology team and is building an ecosystem of software vendors that compliment Sword Ciboodle's technology suite.

Steven joined the company in 1994 and prior to his present post ran the Research and Development team for five years. Steven has been instrumental in recent product innovations and has often been a solution consultant in the largest of Sword Ciboodle global projects.

Steven holds a MEng in Microelectronics and Software engineering from Newcastle Upon Tyne University.

Name
Alan Porter

Position
Chief Finance Officer of Sword Ciboodle

Alan's main responsibility is for all financial planning and reporting - in particular he provides financial analysis of, and strategic input to, potential future developments in the business.

Alan joined Sword Ciboodle from PricewaterhouseCoopers where he spent ten years primarily in mergers and acquisitions, covering a range of industries including utilities, retail and telecommunications.

Alan holds a BA Hons in Accounting and Economics from the University of Strathclyde and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

Name
Michael Cairns

Position
Head of Professional Services

Michael joined the company in 1998 and is responsible for the quality and availability of the company's professional service personnel and delivery partners.

Michael heads a global team of over 150 professional services staff and has himself delivered several key projects during his time at Sword Ciboodle. Before joining Sword Ciboodle, Michael lectured in software engineering at Glasgow College of Nautical Studies.

Michael holds a BSC Hons in Applied Physics and an MSc in Information Technology from the University of Strathclyde.

Name
Jim McIntosh

Position
Head of Project Governance

Jim is responsible for the successful delivery of projects around the world and has personally overseen some of the most challenging and outstanding projects Sword Ciboodle has undertaken.

Prior to joining the company Jim held roles of senior consultant and project manager at various software businesses. Before that, Jim was a research fellow in the Computer Science Department at the University of Strathclyde.

Jim holds a BSc Hons in Computer Science from the University of Strathclyde.