Portal Solutions is led by a highly experienced senior management team. Together, the company's top executives provide the broad expertise and full complement of skills necessary to guide Portal Solutions to continued success.
Daniel Cohen-Dumani, Founder and CEO, started Portal Solutions in 2002. His mission from the beginning has been to build the leading provider of knowledge optimization solutions based on Microsoft’s Collaborative Technologies, specifically those based on the SharePoint platform. Under Daniel’s leadership, the company has thrived and has become one of the fastest growing firms in the DC area as ranked by Inc. magazine. Daniel was nominated in 2009 and 2010 as one of DC Smart100 CEOs. Daniel has more than 20 years in the field of computer science and software development. Daniel is a frequent speakers at SharePoint conferences, user groups and a recognized SharePoint Subject Matter Expert. Prior to founding Portal Solutions, Daniel served as the CTO of On Campus Marketing/Alloy a Bethesda based leading marketing firm, and prior to that he served as the CIO and Senior Vice President of the Execustay division of Marriott Corporation. Daniel graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology with a degree in Computer Science.
Rick Hinton, Director Business Development, brings over fifteen years of experience working with financial institutions, federal government agencies, and technology firms helping these organizations use collaborative technologies and analytics to enable informed decisions at the individual and organizational level. Prior to joining Portal Solutions, Rick was director of analytic solutions for Synteractive Corporation where he was instrumental in designing award-winning business intelligence solutions and securing a multimillion dollar enterprise collaboration and analytics contract with a major federal agency. Prior to Synteractive, Rick founded Red Hill Group, LLC in order to develop new ways to apply the power of markets and technology to creatively solve old problems involving economic, political, and financial decision making. The company launched a political prediction market that achieved national attention during the 2006 U.S. midterm elections. Created to test the “Wisdom of Crowds” theory in the world of politics, the site eclipsed one of the leading polling organizations in accuracy. He received a Masters of Business Administration degree from the George Washington University and a Bachelors degree in Government & Politics from the University of Maryland. Rick is active in charitable causes and was a board member of the Susie Kim Foundation for cancer research, and currently serves on the Kentlands 5k Race Committee, benefitting the Kentlands Community Foundation.
Val Orekhov, Chief Architect - Val is a Chief Architect at Portal Solutions and is responsible for setting the overall technical strategy and technical oversight of Portal Solutions projects and delivery. Val brings more than 13 years in web development technology and consulting experience. Val’s expertise includes Web Development using .NET Framework 2-4.0, Enterprise Search Technologies like FAST and Google, and expert knowledge of the SharePoint platform. Val has 8 years’ experience of working in the International Development field and headquarters settings specializing in IT operations support and software/systems development for Civil Society, Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief, Public Health and Food Security projects. Val has prior experience developing public-facing websites, MIS, M&E collection and reporting systems for the above types of programs, as well as experience automating headquarters back-office operations. Val often speaks at SharePoint conferences and local user groups.
Jeff Ward, Managing Director is a seasoned IT consultant with more than 20 years of professional experience in software and database development, high-level IT project management, Web site and intranet redesigns, and IT strategy consulting. With strong technical, business, and communication skills, Jeff has extensive experience envisioning and implementing creative solutions to organizational challenges, including many years working with numerous associations and nonprofits focused on content management solutions. Jeff is a Certified Scrum Master and a past presenter at Agile Conferences who has managed agile teams and served as an Agile Coach on various customer engagements. Co-author of several whitepapers and published articles on various strategic technology topics, Jeff also has an active security clearance. He is a member of several professional organizations and has a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland.
Robert Garrett, Managing Director is a senior computer scientist with strong software engineering and technical management skills and commercial experience with content management systems, enterprise Intranet, Extranet and Internet based web site development. Mr. Garrett possesses strong business accolades, and leadership qualities. Mr. Garrett has work with the SharePoint platform since the early Beta release of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS), is now working with SharePoint Server 2010, and has been involved as a technical reviewer for a couple of SharePoint 2010 books. Prior to joining Portal Solutions, Rob was a senior software engineer for Lockheed Martin. Ron holds a BS in Computer Science from Kings College London University.
Joan Muschamp, Director of Marketing brings an extensive background in marketing and sales to Portal Solutions, including hands-on marketing and business development experience in the SharePoint market in the Washington D.C. Metro area. A self-described marketing strategist, she also understands the requirements for successful hands-on execution of the facets of an integrated marketing strategy. A graduate of the University of Connecticut, Joan holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a Marketing Major. She notes that “Marketing has changed more in the last 5 years than in my previous 25+ years in the field. The internet and social media have profoundly changed how marketing needs to be done.” Her 5+ years at the Applied Knowledge Group (AKG) saw the company grow from 14 people to over 50, and she helped AKG actively enter the marketplace and shape its identity and messaging. Prior to her years with AKG, Joan worked with a Microsoft partner in the non-profit sector, and also had previous business services marketing and sales experience. With over 30 years active practice in marketing, she has a comprehensive background in communications, strategy, and tactical delivery of marketing programs for products and services.