Technology executive · Founder · Board advisor
I spent 22 years building Secured Network Services (SNS), an IT and cybersecurity firm serving healthcare, non-profit and municipal organizations, and sold it to Thrive in 2025. I came up as a network engineer and grew into the CEO's chair. I know how the systems work, and I explain them to leadership in terms of risk, cost and strategy.
Based in Grand Isle, Vermont. Available to organizations across New England and beyond.
Executive summary
I founded Secured Network Services in Norwood, Massachusetts in 2003, at 27. Over 22 years I grew it into a multi-state IT services and cybersecurity company headquartered in Littleton, New Hampshire, with offices in Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island and data centers in Boston and Littleton. SNS made the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Thrive, a global managed IT and security provider, acquired SNS in February 2025.
Before SNS I worked in the trenches: network specialist for Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) on the General Dynamics Electric Boat account at the Quonset Point submarine plant during Y2K preparation, then a Cisco-certified networking consultant around Boston who helped connect more than 300 businesses to the internet. That background is the point. I can sit with your engineers and understand exactly what they are telling me, then walk into a board meeting and translate it into exposure, cost and options.
Today I work with hospital and healthcare leaders, boards and CEOs who need an experienced technology executive: as a fractional or interim CIO, as an independent assessor, or as a director who can give technology and cyber risk the oversight it deserves.
What I offer
Each engagement starts with what the organization is trying to achieve. Technology follows from that.
Executive IT leadership without a full-time hire, or a steady hand during a leadership transition. I set priorities, build the roadmap and budget, manage vendors, and get IT reporting in terms the CEO and CFO can act on.
A director with operator experience in IT and security. I help boards ask the right questions about cyber risk, resilience and technology investment, and judge whether the answers hold up.
For hospitals and enterprises that want an outside view with no product to sell. I review infrastructure, security posture, staffing, vendor contracts and spend, then deliver a plain-language report with prioritized, costed recommendations.
I have been through an acquisition as a founder and seller. For buyers and boards, I assess a target's technology, security and IT operations, flag integration risk and hidden cost, and help set realistic expectations for the first year after close.
Career highlights
1994 – 1999
Computer technician for URI residential life; a year with GE Capital / GE Information Services, supporting MITRE Corporation; then network specialist for CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation) on the General Dynamics Electric Boat account, preparing the Quonset Point submarine plant's network for Y2K.
After Y2K
Earned Cisco professional-level certifications (CCNA, CCDA, CCNP, CCDP) and consulted in and around Boston through the dot-com era, helping more than 300 businesses get connected to the internet.
2003
Started SNS to deliver IT "with honesty and quality customer service," after seeing a better way to work with clients than the firm I was with.
2011 – 2015
Bought office space in the Littleton (NH) Industrial Park in late 2011, bringing SNS to New Hampshire, where Littleton later became headquarters. Moved to seven-day live office support in 2013, opened a Providence office in 2014, and added a Manchester, NH office in 2015 as the fourth location.
2014 · 2015 · 2016
Ranked No. 3,892 (2014), No. 3,266 (2015) and No. 3,693 (2016) on Inc.'s list of the fastest-growing private companies in America.
Through 2024
Grew SNS to 50+ professionals with offices in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and added 24x7x365 Security Operations Center monitoring that uses machine learning and AI, alongside cloud and digital transformation work.
February 2025
Sold SNS to Thrive, a global provider of cybersecurity, cloud and managed IT services, giving Thrive its entry into New Hampshire. I stayed on after the sale to support the integration and introduce Thrive to clients across New England.
Healthcare focus
Healthcare was one of SNS's core sectors, and Thrive named it first among the industries SNS served when it announced the deal. Hospitals face rising cyber risk, tightening regulation (HIPAA's Privacy and Security Rules had proposed changes in 2025) and tight budgets all at once. I help leadership see where they stand and what to do first.
At SNS, my team supported healthcare organizations across northern New England and Massachusetts: a 25-bed rural Critical Access Hospital; a rural health system of three Critical Access Hospitals (16 to 25 beds each) plus a home health & hospice agency serving 51 communities in northern New Hampshire; a roughly 150-bed suburban community hospital in Massachusetts; and a multi-site federally qualified community health center serving nearly 10,000 patients, and a Rhode Island pediatric nonprofit providing early intervention, special education and therapy services. These are HIPAA-regulated environments, and most run round-the-clock emergency or on-call clinical services, so IT downtime reaches patient care directly.
Security run as a program rather than a product purchase: round-the-clock SOC monitoring, access control and documentation that hold up to regulators and auditors. At SNS this included helping a municipal police department reach CJIS compliance.
I built SNS around the expectation that clients are "always up." That meant seven-day live support, 24x7 help-desk coverage, data centers in Boston and Littleton, and keeping downtime to a minimum on the systems people depend on.
Clinical applications are only as reliable as the networks, identity, backup and remote access underneath them. I have spent my career on that layer.
I ran a managed services company and sold it to a global one, so I know how MSP and technology vendor contracts are built, priced and enforced. I help you hold vendors to outcomes.
Leadership approach
I've always been known for a business-centric approach: start with the client's most pressing problem and solve it with a complete, cost-effective answer that keeps the mission running. I learned early that IT is about more than hardware sales and installations. It has become central to whether an organization succeeds.
I became a better engineer in my first year of business and a better salesman in my second.
"In year three, I learned how to be a better boss. In year four, I learned how to be a better marketer. The learning never stops!"
Every recommendation is tied to risk reduced, cost avoided, or capability gained, so leadership can weigh it against every other priority competing for capital.
I started as a technician and network engineer. Technical teams can tell when someone understands their work, and they give that person straighter answers.
The key is hiring good people who are dedicated and passionate about what they do. "They will keep you motivated and excited to go to work every day." I look for the same thing in every IT team I assess.
I founded SNS to serve clients "with honesty and quality customer service." As an independent advisor, my recommendations aren't tied to selling you a product.
Awards & recognition
Raymond S. Burton Business Leader of the Year, 2019
Littleton Area Chamber of Commerce, 27th annual Economic Luncheon
Inc. 5000: 2014, 2015, 2016
Secured Network Services, ranked No. 3,892 / No. 3,266 / No. 3,693
Providence Business News 40 Under Forty, 2009
Honored as Kevin Low, Secured Network Services
Featured in the press
Providence Business News, New Hampshire Business Review, Live Free and Start / NH Tech Alliance, the Caledonian Record
Board member, Littleton Area Rotary Club
2013 – 2021
High Tech Advisory Council, Live Free and Start
2014 – 2016 · a joint initiative of the NH Governor's Office, Business Finance Authority and Dept. of Resources and Economic Development
Commissioner, Grand Isle Consolidated Water District
2023 – 2025
Community
I served as a volunteer firefighter for twelve years (2012–2024), finishing as a captain, and I'm a Rotarian. I also volunteer with organizations that provide adaptive sports. The fire service teaches what boards and IT teams both need in a crisis: preparation, clear command and calm execution.
Captain, Easton Volunteer Fire Dept. (NH)
2012 – 2015
Firefighter, Sugar Hill Fire Dept. (NH)
2015 – 2020
Firefighter, then Captain (2022 – 2024), Grand Isle Volunteer Fire Dept. (VT)
2020 – 2024
Certified Firefighter I & II
Rotarian, Littleton Area Rotary Club
Board member 2013 – 2021
Contact
Whether you're filling a CIO or VP of IT role, looking for a director with technology and cyber depth, or want an independent read on your IT and security, the first conversation is no obligation and confidential.
Kevin M. Low
Grand Isle, Vermont
kevin@lowadvisory.com
(802) 316-8786
Résumé and references available on request.