Thomas R. Kennedy, Jr.
Thomas R Kennedy, Jr. (born November 26, 1950) is an American Software Architect and visionary. He is known for creating rapid application development platforms beginning as early as 1979. The first platform he worked on was Speed II from Tom Software in Seattle, WA. His work on the platform inspired him to build and release the APPX platform, which, was subsequently sold to Tredegar Industries in 1992. He then went on to build 2 other rapid application development platforms gaining a patent in 2008 for his pioneering work in direct rendering. Kennedy’s firm, BackOffice Associates sold to Goldman Sachs in 2012. Kennedy now works on his 5th platform called Vinyl still in the early stages of development. Kennedy is a sought after public speaker presenting at technical conferences along with industry and analyst events.
Kennedy was born in Acushnet, Massachusetts and raised in Tampa, Florida. He received his bachelor of science in Math and in Economics from the University of South Florida in 1974. He then attended post graduate school at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill where he began his initial work in computer programming.
Kennedy worked at SAAS Institute and then became Director of Application Development at TOM Software in Seattle WA.
From his early work on rapid application development platforms in Seattle he became a leading expert in software platform architecture including using a true 3-tiered architecture for his platforms. Kennedy moved from Seattle and pursued several industry positions in consulting and application development before founding his first software development and consulting business Kennedy & Associates in Richmond, VA along with his spouse Patricia Kennedy.
Kennedy & Associates grew very quickly and was named fastest growing profitable company in Richmond VA for 3 years running 1990-1992 when it was sold to a local conglomerate, Tredegar Industries.
Post-sale Kennedy spent time developing more advanced platforms and founded BackOffice Associates in 1996. He went on to patent a direct rendering technology inside the CranSoft platform that enabled rapid application development in a declarative environment. BackOffice experienced exponential growth and profitability and sold to Goldman Sachs private equity initially in 2008 for a 15% stake with a final buyout in 2012.
In 2013 Kennedy began work on his 5th platform this time incorporating his new ideas for cloud based architecture in a fully declarative environment that provides a true mobile experience on any screen size or device. The patent pending technology will change the world of software development enabling business experts to develop their own applications without programmers.
Kennedy stated,
“If its complicated, its wrong”.
“It's been 50 years and we are still writing code, it’s time to make computer language simple.”
“Mobile apps are going away, the mobile experience is here to stay.”
Personal life
Kennedy is married to Patricia Kennedy, co-founder and former CEO of BackOffice Associates. She is also founder of SportsMoney and Zudy.com. They reside in Miami Beach, Florida and summer in Cape Cod, Massachusetts with their 4 sons.