Leadership

Executive Leadership

Tom Nichting
CEO and President

 

Since September of 2010, Tom Nichting has served as President and CEO of Planet Group Inc. Tom is responsible for the continued development and oversight of the entire organization and has orchestrated a complete reorganization that has focused the company on delivering strategic software solutions as comprehensive offerings to the marketplace. 

Prior to joining Planet Group Inc., Tom was President and CEO of Prairie Interactive Messaging where he spent four years overseeing all aspects of Prairie’s business operations. He brought extensive experience to Prairie, having previously worked for 13 years at First Data Corporation as President of First Data's Utility Services Division, Output/PlastiCard Division, First Data Solutions, Teleservices and Call Interactive business units. He began his career at IBM in various sales, marketing and finance roles.

Tom holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Creighton University with a major in Finance and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Nebraska.


Jerry DempseyJerry Dempsey
Vice President of Product Management and Delivery

 

Jerry Dempsey is responsible for ensuring the success of Planet Group Inc.’s product group through the growth of its software solutions suite. A member of Planet Group Inc.’s senior leadership team from 1998 to 2005, Jerry most recently worked as the Executive Director of Product Management at CSG Systems before returning to Planet Group Inc. in 2010. Jerry began his career at First Data Corporation, serving several roles during his 18 years with the company. 

An Omaha native, Jerry earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree with Specializations in Management and Marketing from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Mark SpurgeonMark Spurgeon
Vice President of Sales and Client Relations

 

Mark Spurgeon joined Planet Group Inc. in 1998, and is currently serving as Vice President of Sales and Client Relations for Planet Group Inc.’s software products and services. Mark is a key member of the Planet Group Inc. team, serving in a number of corporate roles since joining the firm. His experience began in the technical programming arena and he has complemented this over the years with various business development roles, including sales, customer relations, project management and marketing positions. Mark adds an array of payment industry expertise, customer relations, management and international experience through his time with Planet Group Inc. and a 10-year career with ACI Worldwide and US Software, Inc.  

Mark holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice/Minor Computer Science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Jeff Warren
Vice President of Professional Services

 

Since joining Planet Group Inc. in 1998, Jeff Warren has focused on product and services sales, account management, technical recruiting and managerial oversight of sales and recruiting activities. His current role encompasses oversight of all services delivery requirements covering staffing services, consulting engagements and Managed Services agreements. Prior to Planet Group Inc., Jeff worked a 17-year stint at Farm Bureau Financial Services as an agent and in agency and district level management roles. 

Jeff attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and, during his tenure with Farm Bureau, completed Farm Bureau’s Advanced Agency Management Institute. He also earned his Certified Life Underwriters (CLU) designation from the American College.



Management Team

Doug BolamDoug Bolam
Acquire360 Product Owner

 

Responsible for the oversight and full software development lifecycle of the Acquire360 product line, Doug Bolam has more than 16 years of experience in the merchant processing and acquiring space with a focus on eCommerce/card-not-present products and solutions. Doug began his career at First National Merchant Solutions in 1994, managing a team of IT specialists to develop several products, including an in-house credit card authorization system with direct links to Visa, MasterCard and American Express for retail and electronic commerce and recurring market segments. He also developed and managed relationships with credit card processing vendors, electronic commerce companies and Visa and MasterCard to develop commerce strategies. Following First National Merchant Solutions, Doug served as Product Manager for both internal and external OEM products, including a family of ACI Worldwide POS acquiring and core products. 

Doug has a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Creighton University.

Tom Grant
Consulting Solutions Owner

 

Tom Grant has more than 15 years of diversified information technology and technical management experience. He specializes in business process analysis and design, IT governance auditing, operations management, IT strategy and planning and compliance remediation. Tom’s industry experience ranges from retail distribution & sales and food manufacturing & distribution to banking & credit card processing and network and managed security. 

Tom holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, a Master of Science degree in Manufacturing Systems Engineering and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He also is ITIL v.3.0 Foundation Certified and a Member, IEEE.

Mark Miller
CORE360 Product Owner

 

Highly experienced in the technology field, Mark Miller answered to Director and Vice President of the services organization and President of Planet Correspondence Technologies for 16 years, managing the consulting, product support and product test groups for the CORE360 product (and its predecessors). Mark has worked in management, consulting and software development roles throughout his career, primarily in technologies focused on customer communication management, corporate electronic document processing frameworks, Internet email, public directory, security and database technologies. 

Mark has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics.

Ruth NimrodRuth Nimrod
Workpoint Product Owner

 

As Workpoint Product Owner, Ruth Nimrod is responsible for furthering Workpoint’s leadership position in business process management and building innovative products and services. Ruth has more than 20 years of experience in delivering software products and services and specializes in devising strategy, aligning IT with business objectives and meeting business process management and re-engineering requirements. She has actively worked with customers to define BPM requirements and implement BPM applications for the last ten years. During this time, she gained a vast knowledge of best practices and modeling methods for Agile BPM, Dynamic Process Management and Process Automation covering multiple industries. 

Ruth holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a Specialization in Management Information Systems from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.