About Us | Executive Team

The following is a brief biography of senior management, all of whom are also directors.

Paul Adkison

Paul Adkison, founded IQMax in February 1999 and serves as President and Chief Executive Officer. From July 1998 until April 2000, Mr. Adkison was Vice President – Sales and Marketing at Vantage Marketing, Inc. a company which specializes in marketing full design (hardware and software) and manufacturing services. Mr. Adkison has had several entrepreneurial ventures where he has served in various senior capacities including Marketing Director, Director of Technology, and President. He was a co-founder of Incenta, an Internet based affinity company (smart card technology), Thermo-dynamics, a manufacturer and distributor of heat management products for the OEM industry, and Amber Technologies, an engineering company that offers software, firmware and hardware in the thermal printer/kiosk and mobile hand-held wireless industry. Mr. Adkison received a BSBA in Finance/Marketing from East Carolina University and has attended numerous engineering courses at Georgia Institute of Technology.

Chris Updegraft

Chris Updegraft is Vice President, Chief Architect, and a director. Before joining IQMax in June 2000 he was a Staff Consultant at Systems Application Engineer (“SAE”) in Houston, Texas since November 1996. Mr. Updegraft designed and led the development of the user interface for the LOMAS transportation and logistics system built for Symbol Technologies. Prior to SAE, Mr. Updegraft was Information Systems manager for four years at CBR Information Group which was acquired by CBC companies in from 1992 to 1996. Prior to CBR, Mr. Updegraft was involved in his own consulting business for seven years. His clients included Fujitsu Microelectronics, Gemstar Development Corporation, Laurcat Technology Company, O’Neil Kiosk Systems, and Vantage Marketing Incorporated. Mr. Updegraft received a BS in Computer Science and Minor in Mathematics from Azusa Pacific University.

Chris Harmon

Chris Harmon is Vice President, Technology Services. Mr. Harmon is an IT professional with over fifteen years of systems integration, implementation and management experience. While blending technology with usability and market needs, Mr. Harmon has highlighted his expertise in the healthcare IT market, healthcare policy, and mobile technologies. Utilizing technology and healthcare market knowledge Mr. Harmon provides IQmax with the guidance to provide technology solutions that meet real world needs. As a consultant in the travel industry, Mr. Harmon led a document delivery consolidation system at American Express Travel headquarters. At Broadway & Seymour, a leader in the development and integration of software for the financial services industry, Mr. Harmon was instrumental in project management and software development. He has served as the Development Manager for Computer Associates Inc., a $5.3 billion software firm, involved in repository management and metadata acquisition tools. Mr. Harmon received a BA in Computer Science with a concentration in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Gary Updegraft

Gary Updegraft is Vice President and Treasurer. Mr. Updegraft is a seasoned business executive with thirty years of experience in the financial services industry. He joined IQMax in May 2002. From 1968 to 1989 he held a variety of executive positions in the banking sector including Senior Vice President, Security Pacific Bank; Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of First Interstate Bank of Nevada; and President and Chief Executive Officer of Security Bank of Nevada where he engineered a successful turnaround of the once troubled bank. From 1989 to 1998 he was involved in the credit information services industry, most recently as Executive Vice President and Director of CBR Information Group and co-trustee of the CBR liquidating trust following the sale of CBR in 1996. Mr. Updegraft has a BA in Economics from University of California- Santa Barbara and a MBA from the University of Southern California.

Pete Farnham

Peter Farnham joined IQMax in February of 2004. He is currently Director of Client Services for the Company. Prior to joining IQMax he served as a Technology Consultant for Hewlett Packard Americas, Consulting and Integration, Enterprise Microsoft Systems division. Mr. Farnham joined Hewlett Packard through their acquisition of Extreme Logic, and their software and infrastructure consulting practices. Mr. Farnham joined the Extreme Logic Infrastructure practice as the second consultant in the Carolinas. While at HP, Mr. Farnham provided consulting, design and implemented services for Microsoft and Citrix system solutions, for clients including Office Depot, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Lowe's, Wachovia, and Carolina Healthcare Systems . Mr. Farnham previously was employed by Internet Operations Company as the Network Manager for their Charlotte, NC hosting facility.