Ward Yaternick, President and CTO

Since 1981 Ward has been at the forefront of innovations in business intelligence and analytics. In 1991 Ward joined Cognos to lead the development of its flagship business intelligence software PowerPlay. Through tenacious research and development, and carefully attending to customer needs he transformed this obscure product into a mainstream proposition and a multi-hundred-million-dollar revenue generator. PowerPlay provides thousands of businesses around the world with vital trend and performance insights to help them make better decisions. IBM acquired Cognos in 2007 for $4.9 billion.

In 1997 Ward returned to his roots as an innovator and entrepreneur by co-founding OLAP@Work Corp. Ward developed software, and was involved in marketing and finance, overseeing OLAP@Work through all stages of development from startup to eventual acquisition by Business Objects. At Business Objects Ward led a large team of globally distributed developers, researchers, and writers. In 2007 SAP AG acquired Business Objects for $6.8 billion.

In 2003 Ward founded NEXT Analytics, recognizing the potential to apply business intelligence to web and social media. Ward brings more than 3 decades of relevant experience in business intelligence and analytics to NEXT Analytics. Now he creates unique, cutting edge analytic middleware that processes raw data into essential business information.

Ward is recognized as a web and social media analytics expert who works with thousands of companies to help them make more informed business decisions. The suite of tools that Ward develops and maintains has earned NEXT Analytics software the most five star ratings of any product in the Google Analytics Application Gallery.

Mike Sullivan, VP Engineering

Mike joined NEXT Analytics in 2007 bringing more than 3 decades of impressive IT and engineering experience.  Having led IT organizations at Mitel and Entrust Corporations, Mike is a veteran technology executive with engineering roots and proven proficiencies in electronics manufacturing. Always on the leading edge of practical technological innovation, Mike is in his element adopting and adapting new technologies to solve business problems and support business objectives.

In his role with NEXT Analytics Mike aligns solutions with customer needs and ensures they have the support they need in order to thrive. He has been essential in aligning NEXT Analytics central principles of pure business intelligence to web and social media.