XCentium makes strategic investment in Research and Development and expands East Coast presence

XCentium, an award winning digital consultancy, today announced their continued growth with the formalization of XCentium’s Software Research and Development division. Software Research and Development will be focused on complimenting the company’s award winning consultancy services for our clients and further investing in our partners, such as Sitecore and Insite Commerce. XCentium’s R&D team will focus on the management of product lifecycle process which includes a workflow covering idea generation, product conception, and product delivery through numerous channels. Prior to the formalization of the new division, XCentium’s product portfolio included several software modules like XBlog, a blog module for Sitecore, and the Gigya-Sitecore Connector whose creation came out of XCentium’s partnership with Gigya. 

XCentium’s Software Research and Development division is led by Mark Servais, Director of Research and Development at XCentium. Mark is a two-time recipient of Sitecore’s Most Valued Professional (MVP) award and prior to this role, Mark served as a Lead Architect at XCentium. Mark’s background includes working with companies like the Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Briggs & Stratton, Veterinary Pet Insurance, MillerCoors, and Milwaukee Tool. Mark, holds a Master’s degree in Software Engineering from Carroll University, has been involved with professional software development for 20+ years, and has consulted with clients in every role of the software project and development lifecycles.

“With 16 modules to date, XCentium has a proud history of offering value to the Sitecore and Insite Commerce community.  The decision to create a dedicated R&D department fuels our ambition to improve and expand upon our current product portfolio. Personally, I am excited about some of the projects that will launch before the end of the year.” said Mark Servais.

In addition to formally  announcing the R&D team, XCentium has made several strategic hires in the East Coast region to strengthen its overall capabilities. Three-time Sitecore MVP and Sitecore xDB Architect, Dan Solovay, recently joined XCentium’s Boston team as a Lead Architect. Dan has over 17 years of development experience in a range of languages and industries, and is an advocate for Agile development practices such as Test Driven Development, Pair Programming, and Clean Code.  He helps run the New England Sitecore User Group, where he has given numerous talks on subjects including Test-Driven Development, Sitecore 7, Social Connected, and Data Reuse strategies.  He also maintains a widely read blog, "Explorations" (www.dansolovay.com), and has written landmark articles on Solr, Social Connected, and Sitecore 7.  In 2014, he was a featured speaker at Sitecore Symposium in Las Vegas, presenting "A Sitecore Developer's Introduction to MongoDB."

Julia Gavrilova, Sitecore Architect and two-time Sitecore MVP, also recently joined XCentium’s East Coast team. Julia has 10+ years of experience delivering stunning Web-based applications. She is a subject-matter-expert on Sitecore Print Experience Manager (PXM) and was a featured speaker at Sitecore Symposium in Las Vegas, presenting "Creating dynamic brochures with Sitecore PXM."

In addition to Dan Solovay and Julia Gavrilova, Pete Navarra joined XCentium’s East Coast team as a Technical Director. For the past 18 years, Pete has worked in a variety of industries ranging from restaurant and retail to healthcare and for the past 8 years has been heavily contributing to the success of Sitecore web development in various development and management capacities. Pete has shown incredible leadership and passion bringing together the very best in people and process. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and expertise leading implementations for a wide variety of clients ranging from small non-profits to global Fortune 50 companies.