Rodney J. Rogers

Rodney was born in Yonkers, NY to the late Ralph Rogers, Jr. and Violet MacJohn Rogers on September 18, 1965.  He attended Boca Raton Community High School, then earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the University of Florida.  He married Judith Jenny on April 6, 1991 in Deerfield Beach, FL.  

With more than 30 years in the technology services industry, Rodney was recognized as a successful serial entrepreneur and expert technologist, known for his leadership contributions in the realization of two back-to-back “unicorns” — startups that achieve billion-dollar valuations.

Rodney co-founded Virtustream in 2009, an enterprise cloud computing company, and was chairman and CEO prior to its acquisition by EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) in 2015 for $1.2 billion. In that acquisition year, Virtustream and Rodney ranked 3rd on the Forbes list of “Best Cloud Computing Companies and Best CEOs To Work For.” In 2016, Dell Technologies acquired EMC for $60+ billion in the largest acquisition in tech industry history. Rodney then led Virtustream on to becoming one of Dell Technologies’ seven ingredient brands prior to his retirement in 2018.

Prior to Virtustream, Rodney was co-founder, chairman and CEO of Adjoined. From its inception in 2000 through its acquisition by Kanbay (NASDQ: KBAY) in 2006, Adjoined was known as one of the fastest-growing IT services companies in the U.S. After the acquisition, Rogers went on to become COO and SEC Section-16 Officer of Kanbay, a 7,000 person global IT Services firm. In 2007, Kanbay was acquired by Capgemini SE (CAP: EN Paris) for $1.2 billion. Rodney started his career in 1988 at Andersen Consulting, known today as Accenture.

Rodney has been the recipient of numerous awards including being a three-time E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, an Intel Capital Entrepreneur/Exit of the Year winner, and an American Business Awards CEO winner. Most recently, Rodney operated as a founding partner of the Blue Lagoon Companies. Blue Lagoon develops and invests in disruptive technology startups and next-generation companies. Rodney served as Chairman of the Board for Lemongrass Ltd., and UnitedLex, Inc., as Lead Board Director for beep, Inc., and as a Board Director for revenue analytics, Inc. and Agrematch Ltd. Rodney was also co-founder of The Blue Lagoon Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization.

Rodney served on the Advisory Board of the University of Florida’s Innovate Ventures Fund. In Spring of 2022, he was recognized with a UF Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Rodney leaves his everlasting impact on and love to his family:  wife Judith; daughter Leah Grace; son Benjamin Henry; daughter Jamie Elaine; brother & sister-in-law David & Daniela and niece Kate; brother Richard; mother Violet Iris; sister-in-law & brother-in-law Janice & Mark Hauge and niece Jenna; mother-in-law Janet Jenny; and special mention of business partner and brother Kevin Reid.  

Rodney’s life verse was Luke 12:48b:  “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”  His family believes that he fulfilled that mission to the utmost degree.  We know Rodney joins Jesus in heaven now, and are comforted by his incredible impact on this world that furthered the kingdom.

A Celebration of Life Gathering will be held Saturday, October 19. See below under "Services" for further details. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to CL Stuart Institute.  Their mission:  Empowering students in under-resourced public elementary and middle schools by offering enriching out-of-school time learning experiences. They are dedicated to cultivating a strong academic foundation and fostering a passion for STEM.

Memorial will be live-streamed https://calvaryftl.org/memorialservice/