Who We Are

Michael Ross: Architect of Digital Transformation in Publishing

For more than four decades, Michael N. Ross has stood at the center of one of the most consequential transformations in modern business—the shift from print to digital knowledge. His career is not simply a record of participation in that change, but of leadership through it.

From senior executive roles at Encyclopaedia Britannica and World Book to his induction into the Educational Publishing Hall of Fame, Michael has built a reputation as one of the few operators who didn’t just study disruption—he navigated it in real time, at scale, and under pressure.

Today, that experience defines the work of Ross & Associates Strategic Publishing Partners, a boutique consultancy widely regarded as an elite authority in educational publishing and digital transformation.

A Boutique Firm with Outsized Influence

Ross & Associates does not resemble traditional consulting firms. It is not built for scale—it is built for impact.

While global firms dominate broad “top consulting” rankings, Ross & Associates has carved out something more meaningful: a position of trusted advisor within a highly specialized, high-stakes niche.

Clients don’t engage the firm for theoretical frameworks. They come for:

• Proven strategies shaped inside legacy institutions undergoing reinvention
• Direct access to executive-level judgment
• Clear, practical guidance in moments of uncertainty and transition

The firm’s recognition—including being named Best Educational Publishing & Technology Consultant (2023, 2024)—reflects not just performance, but credibility earned over decades.

The “Ross Method”: Turning Disruption into Strategy

At the core of Michael’s work is a simple but powerful idea:

Companies fail not because technology changes—but because they fail to change with it.

His approach—often referred to as the “Ross Method”—reframes digital transformation from a technical challenge into a business design problem.

Where traditional models emphasize:

• Finished products
• Linear workflows
• One-time revenue

Ross advocates for:

• Continuous, evolving digital platforms
• Agile, iterative development
• Recurring revenue through subscriptions and licensing

Most importantly, he pushes organizations to separate their value from their format—a principle that has become foundational in modern media and EdTech strategy.

A Coalition of Industry Expertise Second to None

In addition to Michael’s leadership in every project and personal commitment to success, R&A brings together the very best developers and marketers in educational publishing and technology. Our goal is to ensure that we can respond to all of your publishing needs at the highest level, resulting in superior product design, website development, marketing initiatives, channel management, and customer engagement.

Each of the groups below was founded by an innovative and inspiring leader whose products and services have been enjoyed by millions of educators, students, and knowledge seekers around the world.

A+ Media

Established 20 years ago by Julio Abreu, a pioneer in the development of multimedia educational programs for the business and education sectors, A+ Media specializes in digital and print-based communication services with an emphasis on:

• Education-focused website development
• Promotional digital- and print-based newsletters and magazines for products and services
• Educational book packaging and development for print and digital platforms
• Full Spanish-language editorial services
• Corporate sponsored educational outreach

A Pass Educational Group

Founded by Andrew Pass, whose team has broad subject matter expertise and development capabilities, A Pass creates quality resources for schools, organizations, and educational publishers of all sizes, and specializes in:

• Instructional design
• Curriculum, course, and textbook development
• Assessment writing
• Lesson plan writing
• Alt-text writing
• eLearning

APP Design

Established in 1997, APP Design is an Agile organization that develops custom enterprise-level solutions for the business and education markets. They create software products and custom applications that enhance legacy systems; add platforms to create and enhance new sales channels; and produce new mobile applications. They can respond quickly to address changes in technology, legislation, and the marketplace to keep business systems up to date and competitive. Their solutions include:

• New platforms and applications
• First-rate design, development, and implementation
• Full cycle web application development, including databases, ETL, data warehousing, and data analytics.
•  A disciplined regard for the importance of time, budget, quality, compliance, and security.

IESD (Interactive Educational Systems Design)

Founded and led by research specialists Ellen Bialo and Jay Sivin-Kachala, IESD serves the PreK-12 and higher education publishing and technology market, specializing in: research to support product development and marketing; and in effective communication with educational decision makers. IESD‘s main activities include:

• Market/product research and analysis, including qualitative and quantitative research—surveys, focus groups, interviews, competitive market analysis, literature reviews, user testing, product design consulting, market insight and guidance, and independent reports
• Product evaluation research—customized studies demonstrating the effectiveness of educational programs, products, and services
• Case studies
• White papers
• EDRoom online focus group facility

IDM (Innovative Design and Marketing)

Founded by Alannah Sandehl, a Northwestern Kellogg School of Management graduate, IDM delivers marketing-driven transformation and growth by synthesizing revenue challenges, market position, and customer prospects to create effective cross-channel solutions. They major in:

• Branding and brand Strategy
• Social media planning and campaigns
• E-mail marketing

INTELART

Founded in 1991 and led by former chess champion and MIT graduate Joe Minevich, INTELART has helped global clients achieve the greatest possible ROI with a highly skilled team in Ukraine. INTELART specializes in:

• The development and support of system utilities and games
• Artificial-Intelligence (AI) based products
• Business and scientific software applications
• DBA
• Complex Web-based products

Punit Dhandhania

With more than 25 years of leadership experience in the educational technology space, Punit brings deep knowledge and expertise to R&A clients. After building and selling his own publishing services business to SPI Global, Punit has been a  sought-after industry mentor and advisor, and has worked with service providers as well as publishing companies like:

• Cambridge University Press
• Oxford University Press
• Elsevier
• Lexis-Nexis
• Wiley
• Hachette

Quaracore

Creativity and design guru Randi Brill established Quaracore as a full service creative agency that provides a suite of design, development, and delivery services across a broad range of assignments for many different industries, including education, business, non-profits, training, and travel. They major in:

• Problem-Solving Creativity Labs ™
• Conceptual design
• Sales presentations
• Educational product conceptualization and prototyping
• Educational product marketing
• Product design
• Repacking existing assets