XSP, the leading global provider of Corporate Actions software, announced today that Daniel E. Retzer, the company's Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer, has been named to the Board of Directors of the Alabama Information Technology Association (AITA).
The AITA is a state-wide trade association that is committed to growing and supporting Alabama-based organizations utilizing, supporting and affiliated with IT.
The AITA advocates, educates and promotes Alabama organizations engaged in providing IT products and services. The goals of AITA are to actively promote growth and serve as a voice for the industry; to provide a forum for the sharing of business and technical experience among industry professionals; to promote the desirability of Alabama as a place for IT industry and infrastructure enterprises to start, locate, grow and prosper; to support members in marketing their products and services worldwide; and to provide and refer products and services that enhance the competitiveness of association members.
Kate Gray, Executive Director of the AITA, said, "The AITA is thrilled to have Dan aboard. As the association grows, we are increasing Board and membership representation from the high-tech and software companies around the state. Having the expertise of technical innovators, like Dan, on our Board of Directors will provide a well-rounded group of talent, ideas and leadership for the AITA."
"I am honored to be chosen as a Board member for the AITA," said Retzer. "It is an organization that I deeply respect and have long supported since my enrollment in the Information Engineering Management program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The AITA represents such a dynamic group of technology professionals joining together to exchange ideas, address issues and support the industry. I look forward to working with the AITA and its members to promote their cause."
Brendan P. Farrell, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of XSP, said, "We are very pleased to see that Dan has been elected to the AITA Board of Directors. Leading XSP's Technology team in the re-engineering of our latest global software release, XSP v5, has given Dan valuable insights and expertise that will greatly benefit the Board's mission. The AITA has picked up a great industry leader."
As CTO, Retzer is responsible for all technology operations, including the Software Development Lifecycle, Project Management, Product Management and IT/Systems Management. His involvement in the transformation of XSP - from domestic provider to global leader - has been as principal decision maker on technology and product architecture initiatives. This involves strengthening XSP's partnerships with other premier, global corporations and organizations - including Microsoft and SWIFT - as well as recognizing worldwide technology trends in financial services and guiding XSP's technology strategy to meet those trends.
Retzer is responsible for spearheading the development of XSP v5, a service-oriented platform built around Microsoft technologies. XSP v5 is specifically engineered for global markets and provides the most flexible automation platform in the Corporate Actions space.
Prior to joining XSP, Retzer held positions as Webmaster and Web Services Manager at the Colonial BancGroup, Inc. in Montgomery, AL, where he was responsible for overseeing a 3,500-user corporate intranet. He also served as Technical Manager for Colonial's Internet Banking product.
Retzer is a frequent speaker on the topics of Enterprise Architectures and Global Technology Leadership for various events and organizations, including the Society for Design and Process Sciences. He is the co-creator of the Service-Oriented Enterprise Engineering Lifecycle (SOE2L) - a lifecycle for managing enterprise-wide implementation of Service-Oriented Architectures that is used to streamline the operations of global corporations and government agencies alike. The SOE2L was premiered at the Ninth World Conference on Integrated Design and Process Technology in July of 2006.
Retzer graduated from Auburn University with a BA in Technical Communication, and from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a MS in Electrical Engineering. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for the AITA, Retzer serves on the Auburn University Department of English Alumni Advisory Board and on the Magic City Technology Council Executive Committee.