1.877.517.2020
Russell Brannon – President & CEO
Russell Brannon founded Master Merchant Systems in 1988. Mr. Brannon has been a retail entrepreneur and leader for over 35 years. In 2006 he sold the largest musical instrument chain in Eastern Canada to turn his attention to Master Merchant Systems. As CEO, the company has enjoyed extraordinary growth over the last 5 years and is now one of the largest software development companies in Atlantic Canada.
Mr. Brannon’s current responsibilities include input on product and market strategy, enterprise account commercial terms, high-level policy and strategy decisions and setting and review of corporate management performance targets.
Adam Baggs – COO
Adam Baggs is MMS’ Chief Operating Officer, responsible for leading the company’s business, operations, management of organizational policy, governance and executing the corporate strategy.
Since joining MMS in August of 2007 Mr. Baggs has been instrumental in helping MMS mature from an expanding software shop into one of Atlantic Canada’s largest software development organizations. Leveraging over 15 years of senior management, project management and analysis experience, Adam has implemented industry recognized business processes and best practices, aligned resources to business and client needs, attracted top talent to enhance or fill critical business functions and supported an aggressive growth plan that has seen MMS transition from 6 markets to over 40 in less than 5 years.
Matt Brannon – SVP, Sales & Marketing
Matthew Brannon joined MMS in 2008 and is responsible for the overall company strategy and implementation of sales, distribution channel management, marketing efforts, customer engagement and pricing. Mr. Brannon’s efforts also support customer service intitiatives, communications, market research and product development.
Since joining MMS the company has seen its reach expand considerably and exposed markets previously untouched by the organization. MMS now has its products deployed in over 40 markets and maintains distribution partners in 12 countries. Through a strong focus on channel partners and developing markets Mr. Brannon believes MMS will become the most widely used retail management product for telecommunications worldwide by 2015.
Colin Kennedy – VP, Client Solutions
Colin Kennedy is Vice President, Client Solutions for MMS / V-DOCS, and is responsible for solutions engineering and delivery as well as Managed Services and Client Service
Prior to his position as VP, Client Solutions, Mr. Kennedy spent 5 years managing the Research and Development teams of MMS and V-DOCS. First joining MMS in 2004 to create a Client Services division, he has since worked closely with teams on a wide variety of projects resulting in improved operations both externally and internally.
With an eye for process improvement and efficiency, Colin approaches projects with the aim not only to facilitate product delivery but also leverage industry best practices to better the overall customer experience.
Grant Carstensen – VP, Product Development
Grant Carstensen is VP, Product Development at Master Merchant Systems. He is responsible for product architecture, roadmap, and product delivery of MMS’ Point of Sale and paperless contracts SaaS solutions. Grant brings to MMS a focus on predictable delivery of quality software and a clear vision, linking business value to software solutions.
Grant has significant experience in architecture and delivery of SaaS products. Prior to his current role, Grant consulted as Senior Analyst on a large web based agreement and case management system for the provincial government of Nova Scotia.
Grant has also worked as Manager, Software Development at Cobham Tracking & Locating (part of Cobham plc) where he led several software initiatives in terms of automation, quality, and a strategic move to SaaS based offerings for SMBs along with Enterprise grade software solutions for large accounts. Grants previous endeavours include work at abridean Inc., a pioneering start-up in the provisioning and identity management space. At abridean, Grant played several key roles from lead architect, to Manager of Software Development, to Product Manager; working closely with key accounts, sales, and R&D to define and deliver new releases and products.
Grant holds a B.Sc. Computer Engineering from the University of Alberta, and is taking his final course completing his Master’s in Business Administration from Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Tammi Forsythe – Manager, Client Services
Tammi Forsythe is responsible for leading MMS Client Services, overseeing a team of dedicated professionals whose role is to meet the needs of customers and to support company operations. Accountable for the training, implementation and support of all client issues, MMS Client Services responds to customer requests, problems and special needs, maintaining a focus on operationalizing the customer’s business strategies.
Tammi has been with MMS for 9 years and has played a key role in many departments throughout the organization before filling her current position. Prior to joining MMS, Tammi was immersed in the IT industry working as a programmer at the world’s largest photo sharing website. This experience allowed her to gain insight to the customer side of projects and her need to become more involved with customer service.
Tammi holds a bachelor’s degree from Acadia University, a business diploma from NSCC, and an Applied Information Technology diploma from the Information Technology Institute previously located in Halifax, NS.
Doug Hamilton – Controller
As Controller for MMS, Doug Hamilton is responsible for directing all aspects of financial and human resource functions of the company.
Mr. Hamilton has 20 years of experience in retail operations management. Prior to joining Master Merchant Systems in 2007, Doug worked as Business Process Analyst and Cash Management Accountant for a major cellular dealer in Atlantic Canada.
Melodie Joy, PMP – Project Portfolio Manager
As a proven Leader with over 20 years of business management and marketing experience, Melodie has a unique blend of entrepreneurial vision and international business experience. She is a positive, high energy person with a winning attitude that is contagious.
Eri Bastos – Manager, ITS
Eri Bastos is Manager, Information Technology for MMS. Mr. Bastos is responsible for all IT solutions engineering, maintenance, and deployment. Leading a team of experienced professionals, Mr. Bastos ensures that the company IT department operates in a results-oriented, proactive and confidential environment, assuring the successful execution of the company’s business mission through development and deployment of the company’s services and products.
Prior to his position as Manager, Information Technology, Eri held IT consulting and specialist positions with St. Mary’s University, Keane, IBM and Sofisa Bank, focusing on infrastructure, research, environment optimization, and risk assessment. Mr. Bastos has more than a decade of experience in infrastructure, network administration and security, Unix and Linux operating systems.
With extensive expertise and experience in IT management, Mr. Bastos approaches projects with a genuine desire to continually improve the company’s technological vision, opportunities and challenges.