Paul Esch

President

Paul is currently the President of TSANet and works with the TSANet Board of Directors to manage and define the future of TSANet.   Joining TSANet in 2012, Paul was responsible for strategy and business development at TSANet and grew membership to over 800 Technology Vendors.    Paul was also responsible for the TSANet Connect System that supports member collaboration.

Paul brings over 35 years of experience in the technology support industry, managing products in IT security, Networking,  Telecommunications, and consumer electronics.   Prior to TSANet, Paul worked for Nokia where he was responsible for global contact centers, social media, and online support. Paul holds an MBA in Technology Management from the University of Phoenix.

Kelly Haake

Finance Manager

As the TSANet Finance Manager, Kelly’s main responsibilities involve financial transactions for TSANet, such as invoicing, collections, accounts payable, and payroll. She also works closely with member services to onboard new members and renew memberships. She manages HR administration and financial reporting.

Prior to TSANet, Kelly worked in various purchasing and administrative roles for a worldwide parts and equipment supplier company, as an office manager in a chiropractor’s office, and as a manager at a local restaurant. She received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Kansas in 2016. She has a background in financial management, including payroll. Kelly’s exceptional organizational skills and experience are an asset to the TSANet team.

Brittany Jimerson

Senior Manager, Marketing and Operations

Brittany is currently the Senior Manager of Marketing and Operations at TSANet. As a Senior Manager, the position includes developing plans and managing projects that support the overall TSANet Strategy. She joined TSANet in 2013.

On the marketing side, she is responsible for managing all digital marketing content and activities including the TSANet website, blog, social media, webinars, email marketing and lead generation. On the operational side her main areas of responsibilities include management of the TSANet Connect system, ownership for specific areas of the ISO certification, management of Partner Programs and Limited Member Accounts including upgrade opportunities and streamlining and automating TSANet business processes in Salesforce.

She received a B.S. in Journalism with an emphasis in strategic communication from the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas in 2012.

René Karel

VP of Business Development Americas

René is the Vice President of Business Development Americas.  Joining TSANet in 2024, René is responsible for TSANet growth and strategic endeavors, leveraging his wealth of experience and unwavering commitment to excellence.

René boasts over three decades of distinguished experience in the high-tech sector, ascending through diverse roles including his esteemed position as President and Co-Founder of a startup. His expansive expertise spans Business Development, Partner Management, Program & Product Management, Marketing & Event Management, Strategic Planning, IT Consulting, ERP System Deployment, Support Services Development and Delivery reflecting his versatility and profound industry knowledge. His illustrious career has been punctuated by significant contributions to global enterprises, where he consistently delivered innovative solutions and cultivated impactful partnerships. Notably, his leadership extended to a pivotal role as Chairman on TSANet’s board, where he steered strategic initiatives and fostered collaboration within the industry.

René holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from KV Zurich Business School and a Master of Business Administration from IFKS Management Training Institute, underpinning his practical insights with a solid academic foundation. His remarkable blend of leadership, expertise, and vision positions him as a driving force in the dynamic landscape of high technology.

Rainer Zielonka

VP of Business Development EMEA & India

Dennis Smeltzer

COO Advisor

Dennis, former TSANet President, has provided leadership to the organization since its inception in 1993. Beginning with the original 11 sponsor member companies, he is largely responsible for TSANet’s growth to its current membership in the hundreds.

Formed originally as a single many-to-many relationship, Dennis worked with the members to create a global support relationship infrastructure, which now serves the industry with a variety of relationship options. As a not-for-profit association, Dennis has worked under the leadership of the member-elected board of directors. During his tenure, he directed a small staff to advance TSANet in becoming the world’s largest technical support alliance for the IT industry. Prior to TSANet, Dennis was the Editor for Service and Support Management and Microservice Management magazines.

Dennis has over 35 years of experience in the IT industry and has held several positions, from Field Service Engineer to Director of Support Operations, for an OEM in the Dallas, Texas area. Dennis is also active as a volunteer and works with local Emergency Management and is a board member of the Citizens Corp Council in Johnson County, Kansas. Dennis holds a commercial pilot’s license and part 107 UAS (Drone) FAA license.

Sean Dulac

CTO Advisor

Sean has over 25 years of experience in Silicon Valley Technology Fortune 500 companies, and start-ups. Sean’s focus has evolved from a single contributor designing large-scale enterprise solutions to heading up software engineering teams as the CEO of Appko. As the CTO advisor to TSANet, Sean guides the architecture and development of the next-generation TSANet Connect 2.0 platform.

Francoise Tourniaire

Industry Advisor

Francoise is the author of The Art of Support and the founder of FT Works. She’s been helping technology and healthcare companies improve their support and customer success operations for decades, and a keen observer and cross-pollinator for best practices.

Tom Sweeny

Industry Advisor

Founder & CEO at ServiceXRG

I started my professional career taking support calls a long time ago. A lot has change in our industry, yet many things remain the same. I have stayed within technology service my entire professional career.

Service is an amazing and unique place. Working with customers and helping them to use products can be difficult but rewarding. I left the “vendor world” to join Gartner Group, then on to the Service and Support Professionals Association, now known as the TSIA, to lead service research and advisory initiatives.

This perspective allowed me to work with many of the most innovative companies and help them tackle some of the most daunting service challenges. It is rewarding to work with so many innovative companies and dedicated service professionals and to help advance the practice and business of technology service.

In 2004 I started ServiceXRG to set a new standard for service industry research to help service leaders anticipate and respond to service trends and challenges. It is time for a new chapter for ServiceXRG and the industry and I am pleased to be part of a transformative new approach to provide insights and expertise to advance the importance and impact of services.

View LinkedIn

Melissa Sweeny

Industry Advisor

Chief Customer Officer at ServiceXRG

My entire professional career has focused on helping customers realize the value of technology products through roles in Sales, Product Marketing, Customer Success, and Support.

Throughout all these roles I have been dedicated to delivering solutions that drive success – even before it was a thing. No matter my role or how I work with my customers, it is always about making them successful and doing it so that the business is successful too.

I love the challenge of finding ways for customers to thrive and businesses to grow.

In 2021 I joined the ServiceXRG team from Harris Computer where I headed up Application Support for a portfolio of SaaS products. I bring to the team hands-on experience with implementing CX strategy and customer success-focused initiatives, performance monitoring with scorecard metrics and measures, team and process improvements, application of service technologies, and data analytics.

View LinkedIn

Phil Verghis

Industry Advisor

As the Chief Customer Experience Officer at LuxCreo, I am responsible for all customer activities.    I have devoted my career to taking care of customers and sharing what I learn with my peers, and I have the scars, the awards, a business school case study, and a book to show for it.

As Klever Insight’s founder, I helped large and small organizations improve their support services and operations.

View LinkedIn