Katherine Trost is Research Analyst with Nemertes Research where she focuses primarily on managed and professional services. She develops and manages research projects, conducts strategic seminars, and advises enterprises, vendors, resellers, and service providers.

Katherine's primary area of expertise includes hosted, managed, and professional IT services, as well as channel strategies. Her secondary areas include contact centers, unified communications trends, enterprise and SMB organizational best practices, and branch-office strategies.

She has authored numerous reports and articles on these areas and is a frequent resource for the business and trade press. She has spoken at the Channel Partner Conference the past two years and at events for SIM (Society for Information Management).

Prior to Nemertes, Katherine spent 18 years in various engineering-related positions, including network connectivity, mechanical and electrical design, and test and quality assurance. She was most recently a senior printed circuit designer and subject matter expert at Panduit Corp., where she was responsible for outsourcing its circuit supply chain. She is also an expert in project management.

Katherine lives in Illinois with her husband and four children. Her hobbies include theater and missionary work. She has starred in three independent films. She also serves as the youth coordinator in her church and sings in the church band.