|

|
Lawrence McNutt,
Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder
|
 |
Gia McNutt,
Co-Founder
|
|

|
Rob Thornton,
Chief Technology Officer
|
|

|
Jim Bass,
Director of Managed & Microsoft Services, NOC Manager
|
|

|
Reba Bullard,
Director of Help Desk Services
|
|
Neal Morgan,
Sales Manager
|
|

|
Michelle Pizzo,
Manager of Marketing & Inside Sales
|
|
|
Michael Trethowan,
Director of Contact Center Solutions
|
Back to top ^
Lawrence McNutt, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder
Lawrence McNutt is co-founder and SOS' Chief Executive Officer. McNutt has personally guided 200+ companies through deployment of solutions for converging voice, data, and business processes into one system. His teams have designed and implemented more than 10,000 state of the art advanced communications and data center systems, connecting hundreds of thousands of users throughout the United States and around the world.
Projects have ranged from global IP contact centers to 10-person help desks with multimedia routing, custom IVR's, and CTI integration. His key innovation is the development of migration strategies from TDM to IP telephony, which has been fundamental to SOS's success in converged communications. McNutt also has developed a methodology for teaching data engineers the voice business, and for teaching voice engineers the data business -- something not dealt with in schools. In addition to advanced data center solutions, including virtualization, storage, disaster recovery and business continuity, McNutt also focuses on contact center solutions, serving up multi-media, mobile, consumer-driven strategies to create competitive advantage, enabling the clients SOS serves to meet their customer needs now and into the future.
McNutt has served on the Ingram Micro CTI Council, the NEC America VAR Council, and the Interactive Intelligence Advisory Council.
Certifications/Qualifications:
Telecommunications administration
Certification in Advanced Telecommunications
Cisco certified design associate
Cisco IP telephony design specialist
Enterprise voice-over-data design
NEC certified engineer
Interactive Intelligence certified systems engineer
Nor Cal Contact Center Association - Steering Committee Member
Contact Center Networking Group - Bay Area Chapter Steering Committee Member
McNutt holds a B.S. degree from California Polytechnic State University.
Read about Lawrence McNutt in CONVERGENCE
Ask Lawrence McNutt a question about SOS solutions and service
Listen to the Podcasts: SOS Clients share how Unified Communications works in the real world
Back to top ^
Gia McNutt, Co-Founder

Gia McNutt is an expert in technology solutions for business. The company she co-founded in 1992, SOS, helps organizations leverage advanced communications technology to serve customers better, work smarter, and increase profits. Her staff of 60+ serves a roster of 300+ clients, in various industries, such as Insurance, Healthcare, Finance, Transportation and more.
McNutt has served as an invited speaker at dozens of business leadership events. She was a regional winner in Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year awards and SOS was nominated multiple times, as an A+ Employer by Sacramento Business Journal. Cisco Systems continues to award SOS its Customer Service Excellence designation year over year. The Sacramento Business Journal named SOS one of Sacramento's 100 Fastest Growing Companies, and Prosper magazine named one of Sacramento's Top Ten Companies to Watch. Client VEGAS.com received a national technology innovation award for an SOS-implemented solution.
Affiliations:
Big Brothers Big Sisters, Sacramento - 6yr Board Member; 2009 Chair Elect
Sierra College CACT Board - past member
American River College Foundation Board - past member
VentureTech Advisory Council - past member
VAR Business Advisory Board - past member
Cisco Commercial Channel Advisory Board - past member
Nor Cal Contact Center Association - Steering Committee - past member
Contact Center Networking Group - Bay Area Chapter Steering Committee Member
McNutt holds a B.A. from Webster University.
Read about Gia McNutt in Prosper Magazine
Hear Gia sound off on Cisco and SMB technology
Ask Gia McNutt a question about SOS services
Request a comment from Gia McNutt
Invite Gia McNutt to speak
Learn about careers at SOS
Stay up to date with email updates from SOS
Rob Thorton, Chief Technology Officer
Rob Thornton, Chief Technology Officer, knows computers from the inside out. Back in 1992 he went to work for a used-computer retailer, where he learned how to part out and refurbish mainframes and dumb terminals.
.jpg)
Soon his focus expanded to managed services for messaging and financial systems, as well as server and desktop support. That introduced Thornton to the consulting and networking side of the business, and the whole area of teaching business applications.
In 1999, he was hired at SOS. In time, Thornton took over the service manager job at SOS, then moved to heading the Microsoft Business Practice. He became the Cisco Business Practice Manager in 2004. He became head of the new Managed Services Practice in 2007 and continues to oversee the Microsoft Business Practice from Sacramento, CA. In 2010, Thornton took over as Chief Technology Officer, guiding the key technology principles and practices for SOS, as well as providing mentorship and oversight to the departmental leaders of the SOS Engineering Teams.
Certifications/Qualifications:
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer
Citrix Certified Administrator
Citrix Certified Enterprise Administrator
Interactive Intelligence IC Handler Development
Cisco Certified Network Associate
Cisco Certified Security Professional
Cisco Qualified Specialist - Cisco Firewall Specialist
Cisco Qualified Specialist - Cisco Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) Specialist
Cisco Qualified Specialist - Cisco Information Security Specialist
Cisco Qualified Specialist - Cisco Unity Support Specialist
Cisco Qualified Specialist - Virtual Private Network (VPN) Specialist
Cisco Qualified Specialist - SFS
Read about Rob Thornton in CONVERGENCE
Ask Rob Thornton about SOS Managed IT solutions
Ask Rob Thornton about SOS Microsoft solutions
Back to top ^
Jim Bass, Director of Managed & Microsoft Services, NOC Manager
Jim is Director of Managed & Microsoft Services, and NOC (Network Operation Center) Manager at SOS. He stays on the bleeding edge of advanced
.jpg)
networking technologies in order to deliver best-in-class advice and solution designs for our clients. In addition, Jim leads the teams of over 15 full-time Microsoft and Managed Services Engineers, ensuring customers always come first.
Prior to SOS, Jim was responsible for designing & implementing enterprise-wide Windows initiatives for California’s major oil and energy utility, Calpine, which included over 2,000 employees, 2 major data centers, and hundreds of remote sites. Jim joined the SOS Team in 2006 as Convergence Engineer, designing smart solutions for clients’ Microsoft Exchange, SQL, Active Directory, server virtualization and storage environments.
Certifications/Qualifications:
Microsoft Certified Lync Server 2010 Administrator
Microsoft Windows Server
Microsoft Active Directory
Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Networking Essentials
Microsoft for Small and Medium-sized Business
Microsoft Virtual Technology Specialist Program (VTSP)
Dell EqualLogic Storage Specialist
VMware ESX and vSphere
Citrix remote access & virtualization
HP Storage
Reba Bullard, Director of Customer Support
Reba is Director of Customer Support at SOS. She ensures the help desk dispatch and project coordinator teams consistently exceed the needs of our service customers. Reba also leads the Standard Methods & Relationship Team (SMART), which is the team responsible for supporting all our standardized, rapid branch office deployments. The SMART Group partners with accounts such as Trader Joe’s and Freeway Insurance to support nationwide expansion and maintain operations across the country.With an eye on productivity and efficiency, it’s no wonder SOS customer service scores are top notch.
Reba has been focused on efficient operations her entire career. Prior to SOS, she engineered processes and procedures for a technology equipment manufacturing organization. With extensive knowledge of Six Sigma Principles, she established reports and standards for the organization while partnering with multi-national corporations, like Hewlett Packard. Reba joined the SOS team in 2006, and has spent time supporting the Trader Joe’s National Account and other top service clients.
Neal Morgan, Sales Manager
Neal manages the Sales Team here at SOS. He helps guide the team of Account Managers, Sales Engineers and Sales Support Staff towards serving our clients to the fullest. Neal acts as a mentor to sales staff, helping them consult with clients in order to understand key business objectives and help clients solve business challenges through the use of advanced technology.
Neal initially started his SOS career working as a Project Engineer, deploying and supporting Cisco solutions to our clients. Neal’s ability to connect and build strong relationships with the clients he served, naturally paved the way for him to expand into a sales role, as Sales Engineer. There, Neal consulted with clients to understand key business goals and pain points, and subsequently architect a customized technology solution. Neal has extensive knowledge of SOS’s solution offerings, including network infrastructure, communications, collaboration tools, contact center, storage, disaster recovery, carrier services, managed IT support and more.
Certifications/Qualifications:
CQS-Advanced Routing & Switching Sales Specialist
Sales Specialist for Unified Computing Technology
Cisco Sales Expert v5.0
CQS-Advanced IP Communications Sales Specialist
Michelle Pizzo, Manager of Marketing & Inside Sales
Michelle is the Manager of Marketing & Inside Sales at SOS. She ensures a connection between the SOS marketing efforts and the sales team members, including coordinating events, developing case studies, award submissions, marketing collateral and more. She supports the Inside Sales Team through continuous process development, documentation and training.
Michelle earned her Bachelors Degree in Business Administration at CSU Sacramento before joining the SOS team. Throughout her college career, Michelle worked in various office positions, honing her administrative and organizational skills. Michelle joined the SOS team in 2005, and has enjoyed supporting various client accounts, sales teams and exploring opportunities to share all about what SOS can do!
Affiliations & Qualifications:
Nor Cal Contact Center Association
Contact Center Networking Group
Cisco Northern CA Users Group
Inside Sales Management Group
Delta Sigma Pi: Co-ed Business Fraternity
Pizzo holds a B.S. degree from California State University, Sacramento.
Read about Michelle in CONVERGENCE
Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn
'Like' SOS on Facebook
Michael Trethowan, Director of Contact Center Solutions
Michael Trethowan manages the Interactive Intelligence & NEC Telephony Teams at SOS and has an extensive background in Telephony and Data Networks. Prior to working at SOS, Michael worked at NEC in the communications division for over 7 years. He was an intricate part of the nationwide deployment, leading to a worldwide infrastructure. Throughout his career, Michael has designed and implemented enterprise-level Call Centers with multiple remote locations. Michael’s diverse knowledge base and his ability to collaborate with customers allow him to implement the most appropriate solution design, customized to each business he serves. He is committed to advancing in his field, continuing his education while focusing on leading edge technologies.
Michael supports the SOS Interactive Intelligence & NEC Engineering Teams by ensuring each team member has the knowledge and tools to solve complex support issues.
Certifications/Qualifications:
NEC-NEAX2400NEAX
NEC-2000IPS, IPS Trunking, Peer to Peer, IPS-DM
NEC-SV8300 Advanced
NEC-SV8100 Advanced
ICCE-Interaction Center Certified Engineer 3.0
IOCE-Interaction Optimizer Certified Engineer
'Like' SOS on Facebook