Xata Corporation has named Odell Tuttle as the company’s chief technology officer. Tuttle joined Xata from Healthland where he was chief technology officer responsible for driving technology and product direction.

According to Jay Coughlan, Xata’s chairman and chief executive officer, “Odell brings exceptionally strong experience in product technology, strategy and management. His expertise will make him especially effective in leading our XataNet and Turnpike development teams, as well as our increasing emphasis on mobile technology.”

Prior to joining Healthland, Odell was chief architect with Gearworks in Eagan, Minnesota, where he led the development and QA organizations in delivering the company’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform. This improved the quality of existing products and delivered entirely new products. He also developed and implemented the off-shore development strategy, provided architectural vision and led the development of the next-generation platform. His experience also includes leading Digital River’s global software development organization to build the company’s next-generation SaaS platform.

Odell is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the CIO/CTO Leadership Council, International .NET User Association (INETA) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Dakota and attended the post-graduate software engineering program at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Odell and his family reside in the Twin Cities.