Avertium. SHOW NO WEAKNESS™
Avertium is the managed security and consulting provider that companies turn to when they want more than check-the-box cybersecurity. In today’s threat landscape, your not-so-standard processes, workflows, and vulnerabilities require more than just a standard approach to cybersecurity. You need a smarter, stronger, show-no-weakness approach based on more rigor, more relevance, and more responsiveness. That’s why more than 2,500 organizations in every sector from manufacturing to financial services, healthcare to technology and business services to hospitality rely on Avertium for cybersecurity services.
In 2019, Terra Verde, TruShield Security Solutions and Sword & Shield Enterprise Security came together to form the foundation that is Avertium. These award-winning firms wanted to provide enterprise-level security to the many mid-sized and larger organizations that didn’t have access to comprehensive, specialized protection. Now as one of the largest providers serving the mid to large enterprise market, Avertium is changing the cybersecurity landscape.
Mission
Make our customers’ world a safer place so that they may thrive in an always-on, connected world.
CORE VALUES
- Be Collaborative
- Be Your Best
- Be Empowered
- Character Matters
- Build Community
- Continuously Learn & Develop
Meet Our Leadership Team
Jeff Schmidt
Jeff SChmidt
Jeff Schmidt, CEO
Jeff Schmidt is a successful operator who has led high-growth technology companies spanning large global enterprises to startups. He was appointed CEO of Avertium by growth equity firm Sunstone Partners when it acquired founding companies Terra Verde, TruShield and Sword & Shield. Jeff is responsible for establishing and driving the vision for Avertium as well as developing and executing the company’s growth strategy to drive employee, client, and shareholder value.
During his distinguished career spanning almost three decades, Jeff has led companies at the forefront of technology, and specifically, cybersecurity innovation. As chief operating officer of SQS North America, Jeff helped drive significant growth in the US. During his two-year tenure, revenues grew from $2 million to $20 million. Prior to SQS, Jeff led BT’s global security solution practice (BT Assure), which included customized products and managed security solutions for BT’s clients globally. This included the launch of BT’s Assure portfolio which when he left accounted for over $250 million in annual revenue and growth rates north of 20 percent across the portfolio. Under his leadership, BT Assure received accolades and recognition as a market leader in security by key industry analysts. His team developed and deployed “visual analytics” for intrusion detection and the early adoption of cloud-based security solutions, which enabled “bring your own device” capabilities for enterprises globally.
Before to joining Avertium, Jeff was CEO and president of Authomate, an identity and access management technology provider. He held leadership positions with prominent companies such as Home Savings of America, Lucent, California State Automobile Association, Paramount Pictures, InCode Telecom Group, and International Network Services. Additionally, Jeff has worked closely with many industry-leading consultants and has presented at events held by Gartner, RSA, InfoSec, and Cisco.
Steven Marandola
Steven Marandola
Steven Marandola, SVP of Services Delivery
Steven Marandola leads Avertium's services delivery team and is responsible for ensuring that clients receive a consistently rigorous, responsive and relevant experience across the company's services portfolio; from managed detection and response, to compliance assessments and strategy consulting, to penetration testing and staff augmentation services. His leadership style and operational acumen empower the company's team of highly certified professionals to deliver top-notch cybersecurity services to clients.
A seasoned business and cybersecurity professional, Steven has more than 20 years of experience in the cybersecurity and professional services sectors. Previously, he held executive leadership roles spanning service delivery, general management, portfolio development, engineering, and partner and sales management.
Most recently, Steven served as executive services director at Optiv, Inc. where he led a national team focused on driving deeper customer relationships that not only helped grow revenue but increased customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
Steven holds a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) certification.
Ben Masino
Ben Masino
Ben Masino, Chief Revenue Officer
As Avertium's Chief Revenue Officer, Ben Masino brings more than 14 years of progressive experience in business, marketing, and sales leadership to our high growth organization.
With a strong background in developing direct and indirect sales channel strategies, Ben has demonstrated success growing enterprise and mid-market sales teams operating in the cybersecurity, cloud, SaaS, and professional services space.
Prior to his current role, Ben rose through the ranks and led sales teams for noteworthy companies like Spotinst, Alert Logic, Sungard Financial Systems (now part of FIS), and others, where he oversaw tremendous growth in both revenue and customer engagement year over year.
R. Gregory Breetz Jr.
R. Gregory Breetz Jr.
R. Gregory Breetz, CFO
As chief financial officer, Greg Breetz is responsible for Avertium's overall fiscal strategy and direction as well as legal functions.
With more than three decades of experience, Greg has held executive leadership roles in accounting and finance as well as customer service, regulatory and legal, human resources and strategy. He uniquely combines the skills of a seasoned operator and the adaptability of an entrepreneur and has built a reputation for developing world-class teams, aligning financial and business metrics to support high-growth and business strategy while maintaining customer-centricity and organizational culture.
Greg is a strong believer that a business’ financial numbers tell a story, and that the numbers must be accurate to tell the story of a good business. Previous executive positions include the interim chief financial officer at NetSPI, chief financial officer at Dolphin Equity Partners and regional CFO at Nextlink.
Paul Caiazzo
Paul Caiazzo
Paul Caiazzo, SVP of Security & Compliance
As Avertium's senior vice president of Security and Compliance, Paul Caiazzo oversees technology alliances and strategic initiatives guiding Avertium clients through challenging security problems. He also leads Avertium’s internal security and compliance initiatives working to reduce risk across the organization and for clients.
Most recently, Paul was the co-founder and CEO of TruShield Security Solutions, which earned a reputation as one of the fastest growing companies in the cybersecurity industry. TruShield was one of three companies acquired by Sunstone Partners to forge Avertium.
With more than two decades of experience, Paul has an extensive background in the Federal Government and financial sectors where he supported the Federal government’s cybersecurity needs in a variety of Department of Defense and civilian agency programs across a spectrum of critical missions. He credits his mission-focused background with giving him first-hand knowledge of not only how crippling cybersecurity issues can be, but also the perspective that good security supports the mission, be that through business objectives or government or military initiatives. This sparked his interest in building a career in which he could help clients not only understand the risks they face, but also to combat them with effective mitigation strategies.
Paul serves as the cybersecurity advisor to the Science and Technology Policy Center for Development where he utilizes his expertise to help the nonprofit organization achieve their goal of advancing ICT in developing countries.
Paul is certified information system security professional (CISSP), a certified information systems auditor (CISA) and a certified ethical hacker (CEH).
Bart Erwin
Bart Erwin
Bart Erwin, Talent Services Leader
As Avertium’s talent services leader, Bart is responsible for all strategy and execution of human resources programs and functions to meet both the needs of the business and the team members that make Avertium a great place to work. Bart has 35 years of experience in growing and integrating high tech & professional services firms.
As a relentless champion for driving the culture of an organization through the vision, mission and values, Bart’s experience include serving as chief people officer at Expleo (formerly SQS), director of talent acquisition at Rosetta, and vice president of human resources at BT (formerly INS) Professional Services.
Bart holds a Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) certification for senior-level human resources practitioners.
John McNeely
John McNeely
John McNeely, SVP
As senior vice president, John McNeely supports Avertium’s commitment to continuously mature and improve processes, empowering the organization to move faster and more efficiently in acting in our clients’ best interest. John has more than 30 years of experience in the technology industry and holds the CISSP industry certification.
He co-founded Sword & Shield Enterprise Security, Inc., and under his 22-year leadership, the company won multiple industry accolades in the managed security and consulting firm categories. Designations include being named to the Inc. 500/5000 list of fast growth companies eight years in a row (2006-2013), ranking on the CRN Solution Provider 500 list (2017-2018), appearing on the Managed Security 100 category of the Managed Service Provider 500 (2017), and being named by MSSP Alert to its Top 100 MSSP’s list (2017 & 2018).
Prior to Sword & Shield, John was a software engineering professional for the DOE research and development facilities managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Systems.
John is a native of East Tennessee and places a high priority on giving back to his state and community. He is a passionate supporter of mentoring and advising the next generation of cybersecurity professionals and serves on boards of local and state colleges and universities. He is also heavily involved in the entrepreneurial community, serving on the board of the local Entrepreneurs’ Organization and as a founding member of the local technology council.
Scott Hrastar
SCOTT HRASTAR
Scott Hrastar, CTO
As chief technology officer, Scott Hrastar leads the advancement of Avertium's technology and service delivery platforms, driving new innovation and continuous evolution across Avertium's IP. Ultimately, Scott creates value that supports our teams and the mission to make our customer’s world a safer place.
Also as an accomplished innovator, Scott has authored 32 patents. As CTO and co-founder of AirDefense, he led the development of the world’s first wireless intrusion detection and protection solution and helped grow a business that reached more than half of the Fortune 100. In recognition of this innovation, InfoWorld selected Scott as one of the world’s top 25 CTOs in 2005. He has operated over the past 7 years as part of Mosley Ventures where he operated in strategic investments as CTO helping out with automation, security, AI, and ML, and most importantly, helping tie to the customer story and sales journey.
Scott holds a B.S.E.E. degree from “THE Ohio State University”, where he graduated as a Presidential Honor Scholar, with M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Interested in a cybersecurity career? Join us.