# Tom Frana

> Tom Frana is the chairman and CEO of ViON Corporation, a veteran-owned technology company in Herndon, Virginia. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War and building an international career in systems engineering and customer support, he joined ViON as president in 1992 under a two-year trial arrangement. He and his partners completed their buyout of the founders within two years, and Frana went on to shape ViON around customer service, employee responsibility and mission-critical government technology.

- **Role:** Chairman and CEO at ViON Corporation
- **Organizations:** ViON Corporation, Hitachi Data Systems, National Advanced Systems, ITEL Corporation, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, St. John's College High School
- **From:** Annapolis, United States
- **Education:** Liberal Arts degree, Kendall College
- **Known for:** Led ViON from a small technology reseller toward service-led government IT and cloud infrastructure work., Completed a management buyout of ViON's founders within two years of joining the company., Oversaw a ViON-Hitachi relationship that surpassed $1 billion in cumulative Hitachi Data Systems sales in 2015.

## Career timeline

- **1965-1969** — Served in the U.S. Marine Corps, including a 1968 tour in Vietnam in air delivery and infantry assignments.
- **Early 1970s** — Moved from a college work-study job into data processing, computer operations and systems programming at Washington National Insurance.
- **1970s-1980s** — Held systems programming, systems engineering, customer support and management roles at Trailer Train, Bucyrus Erie, ITEL and National Advanced Systems.
- **1980s** — Led technical and support organizations in Europe and later served as vice president and general manager for Asia-Pacific.
- **1989-1992** — Served as vice president and general manager of U.S. operations for Hitachi Data Systems.
- **1992** — Joined ViON as president under a two-year trial arrangement tied to a prospective buyout.
- **1994** — Completed the buyout of ViON's former owners with operating partners, faster than the original six-year estimate.
- **2015** — ViON's cumulative Hitachi Data Systems sales surpassed $1 billion; Frana was named to the Wash100 for cloud and analytics leadership.
- **2016** — Received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Hitachi Data Systems for the companies' long collaboration.
- **2021** — Following Peraton's acquisition of ViON's as-a-service business, said ViON would focus on analytics and artificial intelligence solutions.

## Achievements

- Led ViON from a small technology reseller toward service-led government IT and cloud infrastructure work.
- Completed a management buyout of ViON's founders within two years of joining the company.
- Oversaw a ViON-Hitachi relationship that surpassed $1 billion in cumulative Hitachi Data Systems sales in 2015.
- Received Hitachi Data Systems' Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
- Selected for the Wash100 in 2015 and later described by industry publications as a two-time recipient.
- Served more than 15 years on the board of St. John's College High School, including two terms as chairman.

## Latest updates

- **2021-09** — Peraton acquired ViON's as-a-service business; Frana said ViON would focus on growing its analytics and artificial intelligence solutions business.
- **2021-08** — ViON won a potential nine-year IRS managed infrastructure data services contract, with Frana highlighting the company's earlier virtual tape work for the agency.
- **2021-06** — ViON received a Quantum Alliance strategic partner award, and Frana described the companies' shared focus on complex data-management challenges.

## Links

- Website: https://www.vion.com/about-vion/leadership/tom-frana/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-frana-524a3490
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvvdiMjC8lQ

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/tom-frana
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-27