A senior executive with over thirty years experience in all facets of managing financial information services, high technology and Internet solution businesses. Areas of expertise include general management with P&L responsibility, operations, personnel, product management, sales, marketing, customer service, management consulting, technical consulting, manufacturing, and both software and hardware development. Mr. Happ's management emphasis is on results-oriented, hands-on, pragmatic solutions through the motivation and empowerment of people.
< Save the Children
Westport, Connecticut
5/00 to 12/09
Chief Information Officer Chief Technology Officer
After divesting part of HP Management Decisions, and closing the remainder, Mr. Happ joined Save the Children (Save) to head their global technology group. Save met his desire to combine business, technology and volunteer efforts under one roof. He quickly developed Save's first comprehensive IT Strategy, centered on a clear vision of using technology to help make "all of us part of one virtual village." This in-process strategy aims to "wire the organization," first, connecting field offices to the information they need to get their work done; second, connecting donors with their information and that of the field office programs.
During his first year at Save the Children, in March 2001, he presented a paper to Cisco on "Wiring the Virtual Village," which became the basis for NetHope, a consortium of fifteen of the largest international nonprofit organizations (see www.nethope.org.) NetHope is committed bring information and communications technology (ICT) to the most challenged areas of the world where nonprofits work. Among NetHope's corporate sponsors are Cisco Systems, Microsoft, and Inmarsat. In September, 2004, NetHope incorporated and Mr. Happ was elected chairman of the board.
< HP Management Decisions Ltd.
Westport, Connecticut
1/94 to 5/00 <
Senior Partner
After completing his commitments at Shark, Mr. Happ rejoined HP Management Decisions Ltd., a private management consulting practice he founded in 1991. Partnering with his brother, Steven Happ, they refocused the business on providing management assistance to executives and officers responsible for corporate information services. In 1996, based on client demand, they repositioned HPMD from an advisory management-consulting firm to one focused more on Internet-based application consulting for executives. As a result, revenues grew from $186K to $534K in two years. During this time they designed, created and launched their Lotus Domino-based web site at www.hpmd.com . The web site provides details of their consulting capabilities, resource databases, application demos and examples of the type of projects they completed for their clients. The site has become a primary marketing arm for their business, providing a high-level of interactivity and automated fulfillment of information requests.
< Shark Information Services Corp.
New York, New York
6/92 to 12/93 <
Vice President, Operations
Mr. Happ’s interim management assignment at Shark became a full-time position at the invitation of Doug Smith, president of Shark and DBC, to whom Mr. Happ committed to devote a year of service. Here he was responsible for a 70 person department, with a $15M annual operating budget and $2M capital budget.
Mr. Happ lead the effort to redesign the back-up and recovery capabilities of the Shark network following the NYC flood of December 1992. Upon presenting the plan to the board of directors in early February 1993, this $4.3M capital program was unanimously approved.
For a $26 million Wall Street financial data company, Mr. Happ provided interim management support as the acting Vice President of Network Operations. His responsibilities included managing a staff of 60+ employees with an annual budget of $14 million.
< Infotechnology Corporation
New York, New York
9/90 to 9/91 <
Senior Vice President, Market Data Group
Mr. Happ was promoted from the Data Broadcasting Corporation (DBC) subsidiary of this $200 million information services company to run the Operations departments for DBC and Shark Information Services Corp (Shark). The companies market real-time information services to individual investors and professional traders, respectively.
He reorganized and integrated the day-to-day operations of Product Management, Engineering (software and hardware), Customer Service, Field Engineering, Manufacturing, Network Operations, Finance and Personnel departments, for the two subsidiaries. Total operating budget of $33 million, with 210 professionals.
As a corporate officer and member of the senior management group, Mr. Happ helped grow the business from $6.5 million to $48.8 million in 5 years. He co-chaired DBC Operating Steering Committee and was part of the management team responsible for the formulation of the strategic direction for the subsidiaries.
He led the planning and analysis for the integration and downsizing of the subsidiaries ($22.5 million and $26.3 million in revenues, respectively). The result was $3.2 million in annual savings.
Mr. Happ identified critical success factors and developed department performance self-tracking applications for use in customer service, field engineering, manufacturing, network operations, product management, and engineering. This resulted in productivity improvements of 10 to 30%.
He designed and implemented product development processes for reducing product upgrade cycles from 24 to 6 months.
< Data Broadcasting Corporation,
a Financial News Network (FNN) subsidiary
Fairfax, Virginia
1/90 to 9/90 <
Vice President and General Manager
Shortly after FNN acquired LINC and merged it with Data Broadcasting Corporation, Mr. Happ was promoted to general manager, with full P&L responsibility of this $23 million, 140 person subsidiary, growing at a compound rate of 32% per year.
<
During this time, he managed bringing the newly merged DBC and LINC (a Lotus subsidiary) to profitability ahead of schedule.
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Mr. Happ planned and carried out the integration and downsizing of operating units for east and west coast businesses ($3 million and $18 million in revenues, respectively) within 12 months. Consolidation included the integration of Network, MIS, Billing, Customer Support, and Finance functions. The result was $851,000 in annual savings.
<
Under his leadership, the company overcame dual obstacles of the 1990-91 recession and parent company bankruptcy filings. He delivered above plan cash flow of $2.4 million and operating profit of $653,000 on revenues of $22.5 million for fiscal '91.
< Lotus Information Network Corporation,
a Lotus Development Corporation subsidiary
San Mateo, California
9/85 to 12/89 <
Operations Director Client Marketing Director Senior Product Marketing Manager
Mr. Happ was promoted twice in four years, with increasing departmental responsibility for this wholly owned information services subsidiary of Lotus Development Corporation, a leading provider of PC software.
He reorganized and directed the Client Services and Manufacturing Departments, composed of 52 customer service, product support, and production personnel having responsibility for the marketing support, client outreach, product assembly and repair of the Lotus Signal and QuoTrek real-time securities information service products.
Mr. Happ was a member of the Operating Steering Committee, responsible for the management of West Coast operations, including marketing strategy, MIS management, revenue forecasting, and budgeting.
He managed the marketing support, product specification, user documentation, testing, and release schedule of the Lotus Signal and QuoTrek products. Four product upgrades were released on schedule and within budget.
Mr. Happ developed and managed a client outreach and retention program, including monthly client newsletters and product cross-sell promotions. Cross-sell programs resulted in the forecasted 5-10% increase in monthly subscribers.
He developed sales compensation programs and forecasting models for telemarketing sales, and designed and conducted customer satisfaction surveys and training programs to address identified deficiencies.
District Sales Manager, San Francisco, California Consultant Manager, New York, New York Investment Technology Applications Manager, Waltham Massachusetts Assistant Product Manager, Waltham Massachusetts
Mr. Happ was promoted three times in five years for this leading provider of financial information services. More than half this period was spent managing departments of 12 to 24 people in the field offices of the Sales and Marketing division.