Our Team
SMS Cloud Engineers Ready to help you with your cloud applications and set up.
THE SMS TEAM
Welcome to SMS! Our company starts with the people and our collaborative and supportive philosophy that make us a success. Thank you for your interest, we hope you'll take the time to get to know us and what we do.
Andrew Stanley
Chief Innovation Officer
Andrew Stanley serves as SMS' Chief Innovation Officer. Andrew joined SMS in 2002 as a junior network engineer, where he leveraged his military training to support critical Department of Defense IT infrastructures and led key programs for the Executive Office of the President and DARPA. Promoted to Director of Engineering in 2021, Andrew focused on talent development and innovative solutions, shaping company culture.
After earning a private pilot's license at 16 and serving as an Information Systems Analyst in the U.S. Army, his leadership skills led him to the Army's Green to Gold program, where he earned a degree in information technology from George Mason University.
John Madore
Dir. of Platform Operations
As the Director of Platform Operations at SMS Data Products Group, Inc., John oversees the engineering and operations of enterprise infrastructures for commercial clients.
John's mission is to deliver innovative, reliable, and secure solutions that meet the evolving needs and challenges of our customers. John works with executive leadership and staff to advise and guide them on emerging technologies, methods of delivery, and best practices. He also partners with other teams and organizations to support and enable their goals and objectives. John is passionate about enhancing the performance, efficiency, and quality of our services and products.
Marija Strazdas
Dir. of Strategic Innovation
As the Director of Strategic Innovation, Marija brings together Product Management, Partnership Management, and Communications to help build the Platform Team business. She builds her strategies on knowing Cloud and Cybersecurity technologies inside and out, based on over 15 years of Solutions Architect experience at AWS, AlertLogic, and NaviSite Managed Hosting.
When not working, Marija can usually be found with her nose in a book, or walking her dog.
Stran Mitchell
Cloud Sales Executive
Stran Mitchell is the Cloud Sales Executive for the Commercial Platform Engineering team, with over six years in tech sales and 1.5 years specializing in cloud services. A former Air Force service member, Stran now focuses on expanding the commercial sales team and helping more companies access top-tier cloud engineering expertise.
Outside of work, Stran enjoys playing pickleball, spending time with her husband, and indulging in stand-up comedy on lazy days.
Allie Bakey
Sr. Cloud Sales Development Rep.
Allie has over 5 years of experience in tech sales, where she’s passionate about connecting customers with solutions to solve their unique challenges. With a focus on understanding client needs and delivering impactful results, Allie thrives in helping companies navigate the ever-evolving tech landscape.
Outside of work, she enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors.
Josh Grant
Principal Solutions Architect
Josh Grant is a Solutions Architect from California. He spent 20 years as an Electronics Technician in the U.S. Coast Guard, and has a background in application development. Josh is now an AWS Community Builder in the Cloud Operations category.
Josh enjoys the outdoors, including fly fishing and exploring National Forests in his Jeep.
Rob Stewart
Cloud Architect
Rob Stewart has over 25 years of experience driving technology innovation. As a cloud architect at SMS, he spearheads the design and implementation of cutting-edge cloud solutions for government and private sector customers, unlocking efficiency and scalability. Prior to SMS, Rob led a global team developing a learning management platform deployed on AWS and was instrumental in driving the adoption of modern devops practices resulting in a dramatic increase in the consistency of software delivery.
Rob is an accredited expert in cloud technologies, with multiple AWS, Azure and Kubernetes certifications. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family and two cats.
Steve Youngblood
Cloud Solutions Architect
Steve has expertise in cloud automation, Terraform deployment, and AWS architecture, ensuring scalable and secure multi-account environments. His skills include designing secure infrastructures, implementing security best practices, and optimizing network performance. With a strong foundation in network engineering, Steve has worked with a wide range of technologies, providing expertise in infrastructure design, security, automation, and team mentorship to enhance operational efficiency.
Steve likes camping as a break from screens, giving him time to unplug and enjoy the outdoors.
Chris Brooks
Cloud Solutions Architect
With 29 years of technology experience including CCIE certification, spanning Networking Engineering, Network Architecture, DevOps, and Platform Engineering, Chris has consistently delivered robust solutions across Federal, Defense, and Commercial sectors. Chris' expertise is grounded in a deep understanding of complex environments and customer needs.
A unique aspect of Chris' background is having spent nearly half of his formative school years in South Korea, providing him with a diverse global perspective.