Management Team

The Blackstone management team is a group of seasoned professionals with over 70 years of combined experience in the software industry.

Ray Murphy, President

As President of Blackstone, building on seventeen years of management experience in the banking industry, Ray has spent the last 5 years successfully guiding the company through a significant transition from a service based organization to a state of the art software development company. Successful projects for the Federal and Provincial Government and the Private sector, including significant inroads into the Chinese educational markets, have provided the building blocks and experience for success in Blackstone's customer focused future.

Ken Prat, CTO

Ken Prat has been 8 years in the software industry. A graduate of the University of Alberta, Mr. Prat's experience has been instrumental in the successful deployment of multiple web projects. His background in architectural design provides a solid foundation for the entire viaMedia product line. His insight and understanding of XML standards and integration strategies ensures ongoing technological scalability for years to come.

Robert Buffel, Chief Architect

Bringing over 15 years of training systems and multimedia development experience to the Team, Robert provides the "gray hairs" to each project and the leadership to our developers of tomorrow. His unique past involves the creation of graphical learning management systems, personnel management systems, proprietary multimedia tools, and object-oriented learning systems. But, what sets Robert apart is his innate desire to change and enhance how people learn. The advancement of computer technologies and the Internet amplifies Robert's ability to do just that.

John Murphy, V.P. Sales and Marketing Blackstone

John has 20 years in the computer industry, a University of Alberta graduate, and was a founder of Shana Corporation, an e-forms management company. John was the VP Sales and Marketing for 18 years where his responsibilities included positioning Shana, a privately held company, as a world leader in the electronic forms space. Sales successes included many 'Enterprise wide' implementations for Fortune 500 companies throughout North America, as well as notable successes throughout the world.

Don Murphy, V.P. Business Development

Don Murphy, married for 20 years with 5 children, is a Business graduate from the University of Alberta, with over 21 years experience in the computer industry. As CEO, President and Chairman of the Board, of Shana Corporation Mr. Murphy successfully grew the privately held company from a startup to over $10 million in revenues, with offices in Edmonton, Ottawa, Florida, New York, and Washington State. While providing customers unprecedented levels of service and support, Don's ability to work with key partners and build strategic value saw Shana grow to become a leader in its field, with companies such as Boeing, NASA and the State of Washington standardizing on its products.

For the three years prior to being acquired in 2003 by FileNet, Shana was consistently among the 30 Fastest Growing companies in Alberta. Don continues to be active in the high technology sector, sitting on the Boards of several small companies in addition to acting as a mentor to several other startups in the Edmonton area.