Our Team

Every member of the Swimfish team understands the importance of delivering quality service and possess the ingenuity and drive that are vital to the success of our clients' business.

Leadership Team:

We have assembled the best and the brightest. This group of experts, along with every member of the Swimfish team, is committed to delivering the highest quality service, the latest technological advancements, and a level of personal attention that each and every client expects and deserves.

Oscar Boreth - Senior Audit and Compliance Consultant

Oscar Boreth is a senior management consultant with over twenty years of diversified experience and success in consulting and project management, assisting enterprises of all sizes and types in their pursuit of improved performance. Oscar has also served as a member of the senior management team in the consulting group within Digital Equipment Corporation (15 years) as well as with the independent accounting and consulting firm Grant Thornton (7 years). Prior to Grant Thornton, Oscar was a practitioner with Price Waterhouse Coopers.

Engagements which Mr. Boreth has managed or participated in include enterprise-wide and selective business needs assessments, business productivity improvement projects, third-party software evaluation and selection, solution design and implementation of manufacturing, distribution and financial systems, strategic and action planning workshops, and a variety of specialized undertakings to improve performance and profitability.

During his tenure at Grant Thornton he was responsible for all internal control studies of clients' financial accounting systems in which automated records were a material component. One of his more significant consulting engagements involved training internal auditors for the Central Bank of Iceland to evaluate and report on the adequacy of internal controls surrounding member banks' automated record keeping practices.

Mr. Boreth is a guest lecturer at The Wharton Graduate School and various business and accounting organizations. He is the author of the article "Why Business/Accounting Systems Implementations Fail" which has been published by the Massachusetts Society Of Certified Public Accountants. Oscar began his career as an independent auditor, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics.

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Jim Buhrer - Managing Director

Mr. Buhrer has over ten years experience in defining customer-facing strategies and developing customer-focused technology solutions. He has helped firms achieve their revenue and growth goals by developing effective marketing, sales and client service strategies and practices, and has spearheaded the development of the technology solutions required to support these efforts. His unique blend of business and technology experiences allow him to design and implement complete solutions that deliver value to both the organization and their clients. Mr. Buhrer's financial services experiences have included developing solutions for internal sales support divisions, telemarketing call centers, client service teams, and senior sales and executive management executives. His solutions have included corporate-wide CRM solutions, sales reporting systems, data warehousing solutions, and web-based customer and business partner portals.

Mr. Buhrer's experience has spanned multiple industries from financial services, high technology, to consumer services, and includes firms operating with both a direct sales model and those leveraging indirect sales channels. Mr. Buhrer has been responsible for solutions developed for, and/or consulted to the following companies: Fidelity Investments, FedEx Services, Oracle, Evergreen Funds (First Union), Brooklyn Union Gas (KeySpan Energy), Servicesoft Technology, Avid Technology, Venture Investments Management Company, Allaire, and Webhire Inc.

Mr. Buhrer earned a B.S. in electrical and computer engineering from Clarkson University, and an M.B.A., magna cum laude, from the Babson Graduate School of Business.

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Daniel Ercha - Systems Engineer

Daniel Ercha is a Systems Engineer with Swimfish Consulting, responsible for developing and implementing solutions to enhance client services.  Mr. Ercha's ability to identify, diagnose, and solve problems is intrinsic to his desire for hands on development.  Mr. Ercha's skill set is ever growing as his willingness to take on new challenges is never ending.

Daniel has over 5 years of experience in the information technology field.  Mr. Ercha has an extensive background in web development, prior to joining Swimfish he worked as an independent technical contractor as well as a web developer, working on slew of projects from network design and implementation for local city/town government to client based web application development.

A graduate of Plymouth State University, Mr. Ercha majored in Information Technology. 

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Karen Holt - Senior Project Manager

Karen Holt is a Senior Project Manager with Swimfish Consulting, responsible for guiding clients through the configuration and deployment of solutions that uncover new business opportunities and enhance client service.  Ms. Holt’s leadership skills motivate cross functional teams for actions that creates results.  Her passion for building trusted relationships and achieving client satisfaction has given Karen the reputation of being an “exceptional people person” who can drive projects from initiation to completion.

Ms. Holt has over 20 years of experience in the software application industry in both client/server and web-based hosted solutions.  Prior to joining Swimfish, Ms. Holt managed multiple product releases of content delivery systems for a leading provider of subscription-based real time business news.  Her attention to detail and understanding of the software development life cycle contributed significantly to products that increased customer retention.  Prior to that role, Ms. Holt provided pre and post sales software support and training at a value added reseller of office automation solutions, interfacing with users from Europe, Canada and the US. As technical marketing manager at a document management software manufacturer, Karen gained experience in new technologies and communicated concepts to a wide variety of audiences, turning prospects into customers, and customers into loyal business partners.  

Ms. Holt earned her business degree at Bryant College in Rhode Island.  She is involved with non-profit organizations such as Boston Product Managers Association, as well as local historical societies and preservation groups.

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Matthew Hull - Interface and Usability Consultant

Mr. Hull works with clients to realize creative strategy and direction for corporate intranets, business-to-consumer sites, and business-to-business web applications. He works with teams of designers and developers to support the corporate image and strategy of clients on their web sites, conducting various exercises to discover clients' visual preferences and user requirements.

As a Creative Director, Mr. Hull has over seven years experience in designing, building and managing web sites and e-business solutions of varying complexity. As an interface and usability expert, he is responsible for all facets of the user experience, including identity creation, brand management, information architecture, and interface development. Matt was instrumental in the redesign of the job opportunities section of Fidelity.com for Fidelity Investments, helping to increase the appeal of Fidelity Investments to potential job candidates. In addition, Matt won the 2001 New England Web Design Award in the category Best Flash Site.

Mr. Hull graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Studio Arts from Boston College.

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Stephen Kobzik - Solutions Consultant

Stephen Kobzik is a Solutions Consultant in the InterAction CRM practice group within Swimfish.  Stephen has experience effectively implementing client relationship and marketing solutions to clients in multiple industries.  His experiences include setting up strategic web campaigns, designing and implementing marketing plans, and implementing CRM technologies to track and measure a firm’s growth objectives.  Before joining Swimfish, his prior experiences included service in State Street Bank, Clear Channel, and Americorps.

Working with a growing restaurant chain, Stephen designed and oversaw the implementation of technology and a full media plan including a re-branding roll-out after a buyout and transition in ownership.  He formulated a strategic campaign which proved to be hugely successful.  In the eighth month of the campaign, the restaurant shattered its measurable growth objective as well as the annual rate of growth.  Marked revenues increased 68% over the previous year.

Stephen’s civic interests included a year sabbatical after graduating college managing an inner city youth center in Wilmington, Delaware.  Stephen is a High Honors graduate of Bridgeton Academy, and an honors graduate of University of New Hampshire where he was a 4-year letter winner on the Football Program. 

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Elizabeth Roberts - Training Consultant

Elizabeth Roberts is a Training Consultant for the InterAction CRM practice group at Swimfish. 

She has experience implementing comprehensive learning strategies with maximum end-user awareness and adoption in mind.  In addition to delivering CRM training, Elizabeth is also a key member of the Swimfish Client Success team, developing and providing assistance to InterAction CRM users.

Elizabeth earned a Bachelor's Degree in English literature cum laude from Boston University.  She is a bicycle commuter, an avid gamer and also enjoys travelling.

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John Sequeira - Senior IT Consultant

John Sequeira is a senior IT consultant with over 10 years experience building and integrating enterprise systems. He has worked as a technical lead on web projects for the last six years and as senior architect for the last three. Mr. Sequeira has designed and implemented dozens of complex web technology projects in the following areas: e-commerce, decision support, contact management, data warehousing, content management, digital asset management and mobile systems on both Microsoft and Unix platforms. Clients have included Simon and Schuster, Microsoft, Giga Information Group, American Funds, IDG Expos, Forum, Royal Bank of Canada, Mediamap, OnMoney.com, EF Education, and a large number of technology consultancies and seed-level dot-coms.

John has a Bachelor's degree in Applied Physics from Cornell University and attended the University of California's Physics Ph.D. program before beginning a career in IT consulting. He has completed advanced training in database technology and has worked with SQL Server and Oracle platforms.

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Chad Van Derrick - Founder and Principal

Chad Van Derrick is the founder and principal of Swimfish Consulting, a business strategy and technology services firm. Swimfish helps clients integrate new and enabling technologies into their current and future business practices.

Mr. Van Derrick has wide experience in the area of Information Technology and its practical application to the solution of business problems. Chad has consulting experience in corporate and business unit strategy, operations management and cost reduction, technical project management, brand strategy, and value chain management. Once a strategic plan is in place, Chad helps the client to integrate new and enabling technologies into their current and future marketing and business practices.

Prior to joining Swimfish Consulting, Mr. Van Derrick served as Director of Marketing and Technology at International Software Finance, a leading provider of strategic software vendor finance programs. Chad gained experience as an account executive at SoftView Computer Products, managing relationships with such clients as Warner-Lambert, Paine-Webber, T.J. Lipton and Sony Corporation of America.

Mr. Van Derrick earned his Bachelor's of Science degree in marketing with a double minor in media and communications from Auburn University, where he graduated with honors.

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