Leadership
Enterprise practices for mid-market business leaders, from executives who built a $6.5B global outsourcing business, ran North American IT outsourcing companies, and founded the first pure-play MSSP.
Silver Tree was founded in 2014 to give mid-market companies the operating discipline these leaders used inside Fortune 100 programs, sized and priced for a business your size.
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Strategic Leadership
Security
and Risk
Accountable
Execution
Technology
and Innovation
Business
Transformation
$3B+
in technology-led transformations led
$6.5B
global outsourcing business built and led
$300M+
operating income recovered on troubled global accounts
2014
Silver Tree founded
These leaders ran outsourcing relationships for global insurers, defense contractors, and 350+ enterprise accounts. Silver Tree applies that experience to companies running enterprise-level technology with a fraction of the staff.
01
Advisory sessions are led by the people on this page. The leader who diagnoses the challenge remains accountable for the plan.
02
Silver Catalyst, Silver Tree's six-stage method, lays out what changes, in what order, and at what cost before budget is approved.
03
One leadership team owns the outcome across practices and carries each challenge from diagnosis to fix.
Founder and CEO
Richard founded Silver Tree in 2014 to bring enterprise practices to mid-market business leaders. Before that, he spent seven years as a Group President at a global IT services firm, running outsourcing and transformation programs across North America, EMEA, and India.
At Silver Tree he owns company strategy and the client relationships behind every engagement. Each one runs on Silver Catalyst, the six-stage method the leadership team built together, so a client knows what will change, in what order, and what it will cost before committing budget.
Mid-market leaders run technology as complex as the enterprise programs I ran, with a fraction of the staff. Silver Catalyst gives them the same discipline, sized to their business, with a plan they can price before they commit. My job is to stay accountable for that plan after it's signed.
Richard C. Ricks
Founder and CEO
Operating model and technology strategy
Sequencing a transformation the business can absorb
Board-level IT and AI investment decisions
$6.5B
global outsourcing services business built from divisions serving 350+ accounts
2,000+
applications moved to global delivery centers in a commercial outsourcing program for a global insurer
70% / 300%
revenue and profitability growth as CEO of an IT services company
Cloud
a web hosting business, created through an acquisition, that grew into a global cloud platform
Founded Silver Tree, 2014
Forbes Technology Council
Executive Business Diploma
UNC Kenan-Flagler
Post-graduate negotiations training
Harvard Business School
Chief Innovation and Security Officer (CI&SO)
Darwin was founder and CTO of the first commercial pure-play managed security services provider, and helped shape how businesses buy round-the-clock security monitoring. At Silver Tree he oversees the managed services behind IT360 Secure and the Vigilance platform they run on, with IT and security operations run as one team.
He applies the same controls discipline to AI: which data a model can reach, who approves a use case, and who owns the result once it runs in production. He brings that lens to every AI360 Secure engagement.
AI changes the shape of a team before it changes the output. Someone has to wire AI into real workflows, someone has to govern what it can touch, and someone has to own the result. Leaders who name those owners up front get AI into production.
Darwin Herdman
CI&SO
Security posture, MSSP and MDR
Running IT and security operations as one team
AI governance, data access, and controls
First
commercial pure-play MSSP, founded and run as CTO
Vigilance
Silver Tree's enterprise service management platform, which he oversees for clients
IT360 Secure
integrated IT and security operations, the service line he leads for clients
AI governance
data access and controls discipline applied to AI360 Secure engagements
MS
Interdisciplinary Applied Mathematics
Virginia Tech
President
Tony spent three decades in global IT services and outsourcing, then ran outsourcing businesses as president of a global outsourcing and managed services division, president and CEO of a North American IT services company, and CEO of a national IT outsourcing provider.
He then moved to the buyer's side as interim CIO and later COO of a national youth non-profit, where he owned revenue diversification, fund development, and strategic execution. He leads Silver Tree's work with non-profits and wrote the eBook AI, Agility, and Orchestration.
Non-profit technology and operations
Outsourcing strategy and vendor contracts
Adopting AI across teams
North America
outsourcing portfolio run as president and CEO of a North American IT services company
CEO
corporate direction and strategy led for a national IT outsourcing provider
COO
role clarity, revenue diversification, and fund development growth led for a national youth non-profit
Non-profit
Silver Tree's non-profit client relationships, which Tony leads
Stanford GSB Executive Program
Cambridge University management program for executives
30 years in global IT services
Chief Operating Officer
David has led multinational delivery teams at global IT services, insurance, accounting, advisory, and legal firms, across software and systems engineering, global application operations, service agreements, and supplier management.
At Silver Tree he owns delivery and client success: the service agreements, the metrics behind them, and the CMMI and GQIM process models that keep a program on schedule.
Delivery and SLA performance
Supplier and contract management
Running global application operations
Global
application operations and delivery led for a global IT services firm
CMMI / GQIM
process and metrics models put in place across product development and delivery teams
MS Computer Science
Illinois Institute of Technology
BS Computer Science and Engineering
University of Illinois Chicago
Commercial Officer
$300M+ operating income recovered
$40M a year restructuring a $200M defense contract
$75M BPO business returned to profit
Turned around the most troubled global accounts at a global IT services firm and renewed a $400M-a-year defense relationship. Leads Silver Tree's governance practice and account delivery.
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Chief Business Operations Officer, CFO, CAO
Finance, HR, and systems for Silver Tree's growth
Former CFO, mid-market manufacturer
Former CFO of a mid-market manufacturing and service company. Runs finance, HR, and information systems so engagements stay on budget.
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Practice Lead, Program and Project Management
PMOs built for national telecom, financial services, and media companies
10-year strategic plans for two national non-profits
Assesses programs for probability of success before they stall.
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Silver Tree commits 50% of profits to NextGen Thriving, which supports historically marginalized youth. Every engagement contributes to it.
Learn about NextGen Thriving
Book an advisory session and meet the Silver Tree leader matched to the challenge you bring.
