TRANSFORM - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Head of Critical Facilities / Citibank
Adrian has experience in leading high performance regional engineering and facility management teams over 18 countries in Asia for investment banking and markets, as well as Retail and Commercial banking. His duties include control of a large budget, RISK & CRES management, management of on-site and off-site regional data centers and trading floors, the design & building of data centers, and the commissioning of electrical & mechanical systems.
His specialists include: Integrated Facilities Management, Large Projects, Data Centers, Technical Operations, CRES, Mission Critical Environments, Regional Facilities Management, Building Automation systems BAS, BMS, Energy Management, and much more.
At CitiBank, he acts as the head of Critical Facilities across 19 countries with over 400,000 square feet of Data Center white space and 13 million square feet of properties in Asia. He also takes part in managing large programs for regional on-site and colo production Data Centers via lean high performance teams, including both in-house teams and external teams from vendor management partners.
Job Titles:
- Architect
- Managing Director
- Managing Director for Project Management Critical Environments
- Managing Directory / CBRE / Read Biography
Alan Lurie is a licensed architect with more than 30 years of experience in design and construction. His primary focus has been on the strategic planning and design of mission critical projects for financial institutions, and he is also well versed in the challenges involved in merger consolidation, retail bank design, corporate space configuration, and operations center design. Lurie has completed assignments involving build-outs for prestigious clients such as Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase, First Union, Bank of America, AT&T, Duke Energy, Wachovia, First Tennessee Bank, FedEx, and The Department of Health.
Alan is the Managing Director for Project Management Critical Environments. He serves as a technical consultant and resource to project teams engaged in critical facilities projects, including data centers, call centers, network operations centers, and other mission critical sites. He also serves as executive oversight for large critical facilities work in local markets and on dedicated accounts.
Prior to joining CBRE, Alan was Executive Vice President for a data center developer and Managing Director for national Project Management accounts at a commercial real estate firm. He has also served as a Principal at a large design/build firm that specialized in data center projects.
Alan has a degree in Architecture, and is an experienced executive with leadership and management skills in design, construction, and real estate consulting, with a focus on complex mission critical projects. He, is also a sought-after writer and speaker. He has spoken at highly recognized professional organizations, and has appeared in Crain's Business Journal, The New York Times, The New York Post, The Real Deal, Metro News, and Fox news. He has written regular blogs for the Huffington Post and the Financial Times.
Job Titles:
- Projects Director / Department of Work and Pensions
Amrik Dosanjh has been working in a number of industries over the past 35 years in the field of information technology. Passionate about digital transformation and the digital economy, he has held Director-level posts in central government and the public sector. He has recently been working as IT Projects Director at the largest public service delivery department in the UK. .
He also works as a freelance consultant helping organisations excel through creating capability in people, processes and underlying technical structures to drive new business operating models.
Amrik sees the shift of traditional IT models in organisations moving away from running large infrastructure and associated support activity towards wider use of cloud-based IT with activity focused on leveraging data analytics to utilise the ever increasing channels to market, delivering new services and customer engagement models which previously never existed.
Job Titles:
- Director of Information Technology / LHP Hospital Group
- IT Leader at the CIO
Throughout Anthony's long career as an IT leader, he has proven excellence in delivering elegant, effective, and integrated solutions in a variety of industries, including: Healthcare, Finance, Transportation, Retail, Entertainment, and Manufacturing.
Anthony Teri is an IT leader at the CIO level with over 18 years of experience. Currently, he is positioned as the Director of Information Technology at an innovative, fast paced Nationwide healthcare organization. An energetic innovator and visionary, he holds a Master's in Psychology and an MBA in I.T.
Tony brings a people first productivity emphasis to his leadership mode, with a personality that bridges the gap between the C-suite and line staff. He has proven excellence in delivering elegant, effective, and integrated solutions. He has worked in a variety of industries, including: Healthcare, Finance, Transportation, Retail, Entertainment, and Manufacturing.
His passion for technology and optimal business practices has always been contagious throughout his career. He is highly proficient in implementation methodologies, process improvement, Internet technologies, and client-server applications. Well reputed for turning complex business requirements into quality solutions and delivering on time, his expertise includes: ITIL Processes, management, architecture, development, and support of enterprise applications.
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
- Chief Information Officer at Eurostar
Antoine serves as the Chief Information Officer at Eurostar, the only high speed train that directly links the UK to France and Belgium via the Channel Tunnel. They have been taking travellers from city center to city center since 1994.Antoine joined Eurostar in December 2013, bringing with him a combination of IS expertise and travel industry experience. He came to Eurostar from Corsair International, the second largest French airline and part of the TUI Travel group, where he was CIO.
Prior to his role at Corsair, Antoine was director of quality and information systems for the Swiss airline, Baboo, and founder and CEO of Air Turquoise, a start-up, low-cost regional airline. Before that, he was head of e-commerce for Air France. Antoine has also founded several companies, served on the board of a web agency and as a mentor to entrepreneurs.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director & Data Center Advisory Group Leader / Cushman & Wakefield
- Executive Director & Data Center Advisory Group Leader Cushman & Wakefield / Goldman Sachs
Bill is a real estate veteran with nearly 30 years in the industry, 26 of those years at Cushman & Wakefield. He is one of the most experienced mission critical tenant representatives in the country. He helped found the Data Center Advisory (DCA) Group in the mid-nineties and has distinguished himself over the last decade as a leader of technology-reliant national and global corporate accounts/portfolios, including Hewlett-Packard, Symantec, PG&E, and Oracle. In this capacity, Bill's role encompasses both strategy and execution, and his work has brought him to the shores of four continents. In recognition of his international experience and interests, he was recently appointed to lead the DCA Group's expansion in the Asia-Pacific region. Worldwide, Bill has completed more than 2.7 million square feet of data center transactions and is an expert in negotiating the technical infrastructure and operating rights required for these specialized facilities.
Bruce Taylor is a career-long science & technology media executive, journalist, conference presenter/producer. His activities are principally related to IT, data center and cloud computing infrastructure. He is currently the Executive Vice President of DatacenterDynamics, the global leader in B2B media, research, training and professional development, conferences & expositions dedicated to IT, data center and cloud infrastructure. He is also the Managing Director of the DatacenterDynamics StackingIT Conference: a new global conference series to serve the rapidly evolving markets for open-source IT, data center and cloud infrastructure. Previously, he served as the Vice President of the Uptime Institute. During his time there, he served as its chief strategist (2005-2008) and founding principal of its Symposium conference and trade expo business line, launched in 2005 to be a thought-leadership forum for data center executives and technical professionals.
When joining Spongecell, Byron Ellis brought an extensive background in statistics, data analysis and cloud computing to his new position. He was most recently the Chief Data Scientist for LivePerson. He has also held various leadership positions with the online ad exchange AdBrite. Mr. Ellis holds a Bachelor's of Science degree in Cybernetics from UCLA and a PhD in statistics from Harvard University. Now as the CTO of Spongecell, he specializes in statistical computing, statistical analysis, data mining, high performance algorithms, programming, and visualization techniques.
Cary is inspired by the opportunities that technology offers and is passionate about confronting the challenges that come with it-both for Keller Williams associates and for the entire real estate industry. In her current role as the vice president of industry development, Cary works to ensure that Keller Williams is an innovative leader solving problems and driving change in the industry.
Cary is inspired by the opportunities that technology offers and is passionate about confronting the challenges that come with it-both for Keller Williams associates and for the entire real estate industry. In her current role as the vice president of industry development, Cary works to ensure that Keller Williams is an innovative leader solving problems and driving change in the industry.
Comfortable presenting in front of a group of 10 or 10,000, Cary is a certified Keller Williams University Master Faculty and can often be found sharing her knowledge and vision with the masses. She has been included in the Swanepoel Power 200, Inman News 100 Most Influential Leaders, and is an Oracle Certified Professional.
As the former executive director of technology, Cary led the team that created eEdge-the industry's first and only complete lead-to-close agent business platform which was voted most innovative platform in the real estate industry. She also let the charge to create one KW Mobile App that could be individually branded to all of the more than 100,000 Keller Williams associates. In addition to her 13 years at Keller Williams Realty International, Cary's previous experience includes Golfsmith, Database Consultants, Inc., Copera, and Dell. Cary brings extensive database and software planning experience as well as business know-how to create results for Keller Williams associates around the world.
Job Titles:
- Head of Next Generation Data Centers
- Head of Next Generation Data Centre at Dimension Data
Chia Weng Wai is the Head of Next Generation Data Centre at Dimension Data (Singapore). He leads a dynamic team of highly skilled and experienced IT professionals who are passionate about engaging our clients' senior IT leaders to help them achieve higher levels of IT performance levels through the adoption of technology that is aligned to their companies' desired business outcomes. Continually improving performance is critical in a global business environment increasingly characterized by mounting performance pressure, constant change, and disruption, where companies have to take on new roles, develop new capabilities, and fundamentally shift their relationships with their clients and partners.
Prior to joining Dimension Data, Weng Wai was a Strategic Outsourcing Client Solutions Executive with IBM's Global Technology Services, for a leading financial services group in Asia, headquartered and listed in Singapore, with over 200 branches across 15 markets. He worked with this client to leverage technology to develop new business capabilities and maximize the value of Information Technology investments through planning, design and implementation of effective IT infrastructure solutions. In this role, as part of the management team for one of IBM's largest outsourced account globally, he was pivotal in transforming the Sales Performance Management of the account team and enhanced services delivery execution.
During his twenty two years with IBM, Weng Wai successfully led many consulting, design and implementation projects across the financial, manufacturing, distribution and communications sector industries. He received several awards for his outstanding dedication to client success including Hundred Percent Club recognitions.
Chris Baughman was introduced to construction at a young age, swinging a hammer for a Colorado carpenter. For more than 15 years, Baughman has taken on challenges in internal and external sales, business development, strategic relationships/national accounts and operations strategy development. These experiences have made him an effective influencer who is passionate about operational change in the construction industry. He is driven to push the bar forward by helping companies consistently capitalize on their use of delivery methods and tools by providing them with training, tools and processes necessary for mutual success. In his role leading the data center sector for Project Frog, Baughman is focused on delivering his clients a best-in-class buildout. Utilizing Frog's innovation throughout the manufacturing and building systems, he brings cost-effective data centers on-board with both speed and precision. Chris earned his B.A. in philosophy from Wheaton College, where he was also an All-American football kicker, and after graduation went on to be an NFL prospect. In 2012, he received his MBA from the Hult International School of Business.
Chris is focused on delivering best-in-class data center build projects that are fast to market and provide an excellent return on investment. By understanding the business needs and requirements of his clients, Chris drives data center capital projects that reduce TCO and allow clients to efficiently scale capacity to meet growth in demand. He is adept at finding cost-effective solutions that range from existing facility retrofits, to global, multi-site deployments.
Christopher Leo has over 20 years of experience in technology, matrix management, and implementing business process changes within Financial Services and Banking Industries.
Christopher Leo is an accomplished leader with global technology experience in Financial Services and Banking Industries. In his current and previous roles, he has proven his leadership methodologies in technology and delivering complex products involving start-ups and high growth organizations. He is a results-oriented decision leader with proven success in strategic positioning and re-engineering key processes that contribute to significant revenue growth and increased client retention.
Chris is a visionary executive, with over 20 years of experience in technology, matrix management and implementing business process changes. He is a change leader and team architect who consistently creates innovative processes that drive high-performance operating results in customer-driven and P&L oriented organizations. His experience focuses on developing and managing business units, products, extensive experience in staff development, resource optimization, shared service management, Information Technology governance, process improvement and revenue responsibility.
His specialties include: CIO, Information Technology, Global Operations Management, PMO, software, vice president, banking, six sigma, business turnaround, Account Management, P&L Management, and Quality Assurance.
Job Titles:
- Technology and Sourcing Lawyer and Partner
- TMT & Sourcing Partner / Pinsent Masons
Clare Murray is a technology and sourcing lawyer and Partner at Pinsent Masons. Clare advises on major technology and outsourcing projects, enabling clients to tackle significant business change successfully.
Clare advises a varied client profile of customers and suppliers on strategic and practical contractual issues in relation to new procurements, renegotiations and exits. Clare specialises in advising organisations on addressing difficult issues that emerge for the parties during the term of their sourcing arrangement. In the current climate, this typically involves advising organisations reliant on a single supplier who are now seeking to exit from existing arrangements to enable their digital strategy.
Clare plays a lead role in Pinsent Masons' tier 1 technology, media and telecoms practice which is at the heart of technology and the law, anticipating the big future developments and their business impact. For example, Clare led the firm's recent "Delivering Digital" thought leadership campaign, engaging with clients and industry leaders across the globe on the digital disruption impacting business: www.youtube.com/user/OutLawDigital
Job Titles:
- IT Director
- IT Director at Wyndham VRAP
Clive is the IT Director at Wyndham VRAP, responsible for all aspects of IT for the multinational hospitality company. Clive has worked at Wyndham since 2006 leading a department of over 20 IT professionals.
Job Titles:
- Director, Global Sales & Marketing
David Lee has over 30 years of experience in International Sales, Marketing and Business Development in the IT sector. Having worked with clients at FTSE 100, Fortune 500 companies, financial services institutions, educational institutions, government and outsourced organizations, he is widely regarded as being at the top of his profession. With enviable skills in specialist sales, sales leadership, management, and supervision, Lee has used his extensive experience across the specialist IT spectrum to inform decision-makers in businesses, focus on end users, vendors and consultants and drive revenue in each role he has taken on. In his position at DCPro, he has driven the business from inception through to its position as one of the world's leading Data Center training companies. He focuses on training and managing a worldwide sales team, which has in turn led to double-digit revenue growth over the last three years.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Engineering at Experian Consumer Direct
- VP of Engineering
David Muller is the Vice President of Engineering at Experian Consumer Direct, leading the technical team that oversees the delivery of web and mobile applications for the consumer marketplace. He is passionate about data and KPIs, recognizing that the quality, content and relationship of data truly drive value for an organization.
Muller has more than 20 years of global experience in leading corporations in the successful delivery of cost-effective, high-performance solutions. He has solid experience in developing and implementing business strategies with relevant policy, building business support and allowing organizations to respond quickly as conditions change. His multi-industry knowledge and out-of-the-box thinking help organizations deliver lasting value to their customers.
An accomplished speaker, Muller has regularly presented at executive and technology conferences in North America, Hong Kong and Australia. Previously, Muller has worked at CoreLogic, Ingram Micro, IBM and Software AG. Muller completed the management development program in business administration and management from the University of South Africa.
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
David is the Chief Information Officer at Tourism Australia, the Australian Government agency responsible for attracting international visitors to Australia, both for leisure and business events.
Job Titles:
- President / DBL Associates
- President / DLB Associates
Don Beaty founded DLB Associates Consulting Engineers in 1980. The firm is active globally and has provided services for mission critical facilities in over 35 states in the US and throughout the world. DLB's experience includes over 4GW of critical (IT) power, data center campuses that total over 4,500 acres and thousands of mission critical projects with a combined raised floor (white space) area of over 16 million square feet.
DLB has provided design, commissioning and operations support services for a wide variety of both large and small data center clients, including ten of the largest Google data center campuses worldwide. Don is also very active globally, having presented in 70 cities in 28 unique countries over the past decade. Don is an ASHRAE Fellow, and has served in leadership positions on ASHRAE committees on energy, equipment performance, and data centers. He was the co-founder and first chair of ASHRAE Technical Committee TC 9.9 (Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment) and has been a major contributor to over 10 data center books. He continues to be a major driving force on TC 9.9.
Job Titles:
- Research Fellow / Stanford University
Dr. Jonathan Koomey is completing his third year as a Research Fellow in the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford University. He is recognized as a researcher, author, lecturer, and entrepreneur whose work spans climate solutions, critical thinking skills, and the energy and environmental effects of information technology.
Dr. Koomey's specialties include the costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, technology forecasting, historical costs of nuclear power, renewable power technologies and costs, energy efficiency technologies and costs, and energy policy. He also serves on the Editorial Board of the journal Contemporary Economic Policy and a Research Affiliate of the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Koomey holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California at Berkeley, and a B.A. in History and Science from Harvard University. He is the author or coauthor of nine books and more than two hundred articles and reports on energy efficiency and supply-side power technologies, energy economics, energy policy, environmental externalities, and global climate change.
For more than 20 years, Kai has been active in the field of digital transformation, both in large corporations like Sony and Fuji as well as in self-created companies located in Europe, the US and Japan. While running businesses spanning consumer electronics, printing, medical, e-publishing, and life science, Kai has kept the changing market in clear focus and prepared organizations for technological change that helps adapt them towards new business models and revenue streams.
Kai currently works with prescriptive analytics, prosodic voice recognition, e-commerce models, scientific online reading, and retail innovations. He is a strong believer, after having witnessed the surge of the internet for 20 years, that this is only a prelude to the much more drastic changes to come - 3D printing, virtuality, IoT, and M2M connectedness.
Job Titles:
- Vice President and Principal Analyst / Constellation Research, Inc.
Dr. Natalie's research is among the top in the world, respected for over 20 years due to her ability to tackle difficult subjects related to social media.
Dr. Natalie plays a diverse role in changing the business atmosphere. As a researcher, Natalie has found that social media applications in customer service may be the tipping point for businesses to take Web 2.0 as a serious IT application that can literally transform a company, its customers, it culture and the bottom-line.
As an executive consultant and advisor, Dr. Natalie provides guidance to CxOs, IT, CRM, chief customer service officers as well as customer experience and contact center professionals. She brings extensive knowledge in helping organizations understand their customers' changing needs and the bottom-line value of acquiring and retaining loyal customers in a very competitive marketplace.
Dr. Natalie guides companies to create the foundation for customer experiences that lead to higher revenue and profits. That includes defining the exceptional customer experiences and then choosing technology that delivers on that promise. In addition, Dr. Natalie helps company's set-up customer experience initiatives for success, by including change management as an integrated part of the project management schedule and plan. With concrete change management tasks and deliverables that reduce slips in scope, timeline and costs, Dr. Natalie guides companies to increase the initiative's ROI and provide executives with the accountability needed to reach shareholder goals
Job Titles:
- Chief Innovation Officer
- Chief Innovation Officer for E.Republic
Dustin Haisler is the Chief Innovation Officer for e.Republic. As the finance director and later CIO for Manor, TX, a small city outside Austin, Haisler quickly built a track record and reputation as an early innovator in civic tech.
As Chief Innovation Officer, Haisler has a strategic role to help shape the company's products, services, and future direction. Primarily, he leads e.Republic Labs, a market connector created as an ecosystem to educate, accelerate and ultimately scale technology innovation within the public sector.
Job Titles:
- Director, Strategic Planning / Eastern Health Alliance
Armed with a double Masters in Business Administration (Marketing & Finance) and Science (Electronics Engineering) from the National University of Singapore, Ed Chong Quek Kwong has over 20 years of corporate experiences spanning across both public and private sectors. He currently serves as the Director of Strategic Planning and Development with Eastern Health Alliance (EHA), the Regional Health System (RHS) for the people of eastern Singapore. In his current role, he drives strategic planning, prioritizes objectives as well as implements strategic initiatives for the RHS to meet the healthcare needs of the population of the East. Supported by a Strategic Planning and Development team, he collaborates with internal and external partners in the health and social sectors to develop strategic healthcare services to make patients' healthcare journey integrated and convenient.
Previously, he was the General Manager of Strategic Planning, Roaming & Risk Management of M1 Limited, and had more than 10 years of experience developing and managing strategic plans, roaming business and risk management in telecommunications. As a pioneer member of the management team of M1 Limited, he was involved in driving and establishing the M1 brand in Singapore including being part of the leadership team that led strategic plan development from initiation through implementation and brought about M1's transformation from a mobile-only operator to a full fixed mobile operator with services in mobile, broadband and TV.
Job Titles:
- Founder / Edward J. Pospesil & Company, LLC
Ed is founder and Chairman of the Technology Executives Networking Group, LLC (www.theteng.org ), a national virtual online community of 6,500+ Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Vice Presidents, Directors of Technology, Product Development executives and entrepreneurial CEOs; from organizations in all industries, ranging from startups to the global Fortune 100, as well as non-profits and government agencies. TENG was launched in late 2001 to enable exchange of career leads for senior executive IT leadership positions. It has grown into a national forum where members share unbiased vendor references, introductions to key contacts in target organizations, insights into business and technology strategies, access to new career opportunities, and a wealth of experience, advice, and support. All members are screened and nominated for membership, which is free of charge.
Ed has spent 39 years helping others to improve career fulfillment. In 2007, he broadened his retained search practice to include executive mentoring, coaching and resume redevelopment for senior technology executives, which is now his exclusive line of business. He has mentored clients throughout the U.S., and globally from Istanbul to China. In 2012, he was named top IT executive resume developer in the US, in a survey conducted by Martha Heller Associates. He operates his own firm, Edward J. Pospesil & Co., LLC.
Ed joined the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering in September 2011 as an adjunct professor in the Department of Technology Management and Innovation and helps teach the Career Management Program. In this capacity, he trains and mentors students in the Executive Management of Technology master's program, concerning resume development, career networking and interviewing. He enables students to understand and articulate objectively, their unique accomplishments and business value.
He is a member of the Fairfield Westchester Chapter of the Society for Information Management and served on its executive board for five years. He is a member of the Advisory Committee for the College of Westchester; and he has mentored students at Trinity College, Hartford, CT, concerning career development. He holds a BA, English from Trinity College, Hartford; an MA, International Relations from the University of Arkansas European Military Program; and an MA Ed/ Adult Education and Training, from the University of Phoenix. His previous careers include radio announcing and news reporting; and more than five years as a U.S. Air Force Officer.
Job Titles:
- EVP & Director of Critical Enviroment / Jones Lang LaSalle
- EVP & Director of Critical Enviroments / Jones Lang LaSalle
For the past 14 years, Eric Adrian has worked at Jones Lang LaSalle. Now, as the director of JLL's Critical Environments Program, he specializes in high performance teams and programs specific to the management of Data Centers and Mission Critical Environments. Previously, he acted as the Senior Vice President at Bank of America, where he was responsible for IT and Real Estate Infrastructure for corporate, wholesale, and retail Data Centers.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Data Center
- Vice President of Data Center Services at Fidelity Investments
- VP of Data Center Services
- VP of Datra Center Services / Stanford University
Eric Wells is Vice President of Data Center Services at Fidelity Investments, the largest mutual fund company in the United States, the number one provider of workplace retirement savings plans and a leading online brokerage firm.
Eric Wells is the Vice President of Data Center Services at Fidelity Investments, the largest mutual fund company in the United States, the number one provider of workplace retirement savings plans, and a leading online brokerage firm. With over 20 years of experience in global IT strategy & service delivery, Eric also serves as an advisor for Centercore data center solutions. In addition to launching several innovation efforts at Fidelity, Eric helped launch the OpenCompute Foundation Certification & Interoperability project. He is also on the Board of Advisors for SMU's Data Center Systems Engineering graduate program. Eric received his Bachelor of Science degree in Management & Information Systems from Babson College in 1991.
Job Titles:
- VP of Information Technology at Envivio
- VP of IT
Eric Zhou is the VP of Information Technology at Envivio, with expertise in developing strategy and architecture, and building a world-class global IT organization to support extreme growth, acquisitions, and large-scale system implementations. Eric is quite experienced in putting infrastructure and applications in place to support global business. More specifically, he specializes in Cloud Computing strategy and deployment, Mergers/Acquisitions, ERP & CRM implementation and Business Process Improvement, Business and Technology Strategy, Enterprise Infrastructure and System Implementations, Global Data Centers and Networks, and much more.
Francis Cronjé has more than 15 years of industry and consulting experience across a broad range of engagements and industries. Prior to forming franciscronje.com, his corporate governance advisory service, he served as a Specialist Legal Consultant on Data Protection and IT Advisory at KPMG South Africa, where he headed up Data Protection as a service line to clients.
He was instrumental during the drafting and refinement of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) and acted in an advisory capacity to Parliament's Technical Working Committee on POPI. He later provided further insight to the Portfolio Committee of Justice and Constitutional Development during the finalisation of POPI and also served on the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) assisting with POPI.
He also served as a Data Assessor for the Direct Marketing Association of South Africa and is admitted as an Advocate to the High Court of South Africa. Francis is an Adjudicator for the Wireless Application Service Provider's and Internet Service Provider's Associations of South Africa and also serves on their Appeal Panels.
Francis is the co-author and co-editor of the textbook cyberlaw@SA second edition, and also co-authored the book, as well as 101 Questions and Answers about the Protection of Personal Information Act. He has also presented at numerous seminars locally and internationally on matters ranging from ICT Law, Data Governance to Data Protection and IT Asset Management.
Job Titles:
- Founder / RTE Group
- Founder of RTE Group
Gabe Cole, Founder of RTE Group, is an accomplished Technology Executive with over 20 years' experience across data center, network, and cloud.
Gabe Cole, Founder of RTE Group, is an accomplished Technology Executive with over 20 years' experience across data center, network, and cloud.
RTE Group is an infrastructure strategy consulting firm and real estate brokerage specializing in data centers, network interconnection exchanges, and other mission critical facilities. As the founder, he is frequently called on by service providers, enterprise customers, and investors for assistance with data center procurement, optimization, and management, as well as supporting networks, services, and transformation strategies.
As an accomplished engineer and expert in IT architecture, Gabe was involved in development and operation of over 150 varied network, data center, and cloud computing installations in the US, EMEA, and APAC.
Gabe's current professional focus is around the development of highly efficient data centers at "edge" locations where the convergence of local (mobile and terrestrial) networks, backbone networks, and content/application providers is enabling next generation services
Job Titles:
- Head of Data Center Services
Gavin has has a skilled background as a highly effective, adaptive, driven IT Infrastructure service delivery manager with over 13 years of experience in project management and operations management; predominately in the Financial Industry.
With a proven track record of leading and developing Regional Infrastructure service delivery teams and integrating continuous service improvement into the operating model, Gavin is experienced in implementing outsourcing strategies to provide best in class Infrastructure services, innovative and cost effective solutions to meet business requirements.
Gavin is a PMP Certified Project Manager specializing in the management of large, complex IT Infrastructure projects, involving the design, deployment and operation of mission critical systems, Critical Equipment Rooms and Data Centers. His specialties include: IT Infrastructure Services Management, Project Management, and Data Center Operations.
George is a co-founder of DatacenterDynamics and recently took on the role of CEO to lead the company through a period of industry transformation. Having been involved in the B2B media and events industry for 20 years, he cut his teeth on the data center market in 1998 with the launch of Colocation Network Europe magazine and has since been involved in a multitude of digital, print and event publishing initiatives within the IT sector. He has also been instrumental in the development of the market-leading DCD Converged conference series, which in 2014 welcomed more than 30,000 IT professionals though its doors. Rockett's ability to view things continually from a fresh perspective and to join the dots between the various disciplines that converge on the data center market are hallmarks of DCD's success as an organization.
Job Titles:
- General Manager, Global Manufacturing
- Strategic Sales and Industry Leader
Grant Bodley is a strategic sales and industry leader with over 20 years of sales, consulting and business management experience with many of the world's most exciting companies, from high-growth start-ups to global industry leaders. He has demonstrated an incredible ability to build, inspire and lead high performance teams to achieve dramatic results. He is also an accomplished public speaker with exceptional interpersonal and communication skills.
Having spent much of his career focused on enabling manufacturers to leverage technology to transform their business operations, he is currently providing Hortonworks with global manufacturing leadership within one of the fastest growing technology segments, namely Big Data, which holds tremendous benefit for Manufactures. With the advent of low cost sensors and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications technology, manufactures are now able leverage Big Data Insights to transform their business. There, he is working with leading manufacturers and the global partner ecosystem to unlock the tremendous benefits that big data insights hold for manufacturing.
Previously, he led SAP's Strategic Customer Program in the West Region of North America, which included responsibility for SAP's most strategic customer relationships and the success of all lines of business, including software revenue growth, consulting and premium support services. During his time there, he achieved dramatic results in terms of both revenue growth and customer success.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director / Technology Fellow, Global Data Center & Cross Platform Technology / Goldman Sachs
Grant Richard manages Global Data Center Engineering, Operations, and Provisioning and Cross Platform Products. These areas provide the firm with their data center, server hardware and operating systems/hypervisor platforms. He has participated in a broad range of technology infrastructure engineering, implementation and management initiatives. Grant was named Technology Fellow in 2010 and Managing Director in 2012. By bringing together the data center, server hardware and operating systems/hypervisor, he provides a platform for greater efficiency and scale by providing holistic engineering and tight integration. Grant is actively involved with the Open Compute Project, volunteering from 2011 until January 2014 as co-chair of the Machine Management Track and a member of the Incaution Committee.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Business Information Systems / University of Applied Sciences
- Professor of Business Information Systems at the University of Applied Sciences
Gunnar Auth is Professor of Business Information Systems at the University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule für Telekommunikation) in Leipzig, Germany, with special focus on information and project management.
After receiving his diploma in Business Information Systems at the University of Bamberg and a visit as a Junior Research Engineer at Nokia Research Center in Helsinki (Finland), he received his doctorate in 2003 at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), researching organizational aspects of metadata management for data warehouse systems. During this time he also visited the Smurfit Graduate School of Business at the University College Dublin (Ireland).
Between 2003 and 2008 Gunnar held a number of positions at the car manufacturer Daimler AG (until 2007 DaimlerChrysler AG) in the division of Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles, where he gained experience in process, project and program management as well as leadership in IT, logistics and production. From 2008 to 2012, he served as Director of the University Computing Center at the University of Leipzig and was responsible for the central IT service management for research, teaching and administration. Most recently, he was involved as Permanent Representative of the Chief Information Office of the University of Leipzig in developing, managing and monitoring the overall IT Governance and strategy of the university.
His current research interests include IT Governance and strategic IT management, service-oriented IT management, IT project management, and digital transformation of higher education. He has published numerous articles and book chapters on information systems and management and presented his results at international conferences. Gunnar is director of the Institute of Education and Science Management Leipzig and currently serves as Dean of the MSc and BSc in Business Information Systems.
Job Titles:
- Dimension Data Asia Pacific 's General Manager
- GM, APAC
Jahangir Naina is Dimension Data Asia Pacific's general manager for the Data Centre. Based in Singapore, Jahangir's key responsibilities include developing and executing business plans and overseeing the company's Data Centre Business Unit and go-to-market strategies region-wide. He also manages all Data Centre partner alliances.
Jahangir has over twenty years of experience in the ICT Services and Solutions industry in multiple aspects of corporate management, business operations, technology consulting, business development and start-up operations.
Prior to joining Dimension Data, Jahangir held a number of senior positions at CSC, Unisys, Symphony BPO and Getronics. Jahangir holds a BSc in Computer Science from University of Portsmouth.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- VP of IT / CIO Calix
Jill von Berg is the Vice President of Information Technology, with responsibility for all aspects of global IT strategy and operational direction. She has over 25 years of experience in high tech industries and leading multi-national IT organizations. Prior to joining Calix, she was Vice President of Corporate IT at McKesson, and also held management positions at Hewlett Packard. Previously, she directed global IT services for the ABB Group, was Assistant Vice President for technology at ABB Power in Switzerland and held management positions at GE Aircraft Engines in Ohio. She began her career as a gas turbine design engineer with Rolls-Royce in the UK. She holds a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Leicester, England.
Job Titles:
- CIO & Head of Business Excellence / Nagarjuna Group
- CIO and Head of Business Excellence for Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals
Jitendra Singh carries 24 years of experience in Management & Governance of Information Systems and Technology. Currently, he acts as the CIO and Head of Business Excellence for Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals, where he heads up the Business Excellence and IT Division.
Jitendra Singh is the CIO and Head of Business Excellence for Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals, one of the most respected fertilizer companies in India, and a leader in innovation and strategic business moves.
Singh heads up the Business Excellence and IT Division with responsibilities including the provision of Strategic and operational roadmaps to the departments reporting to him (Verticals reporting to me are Business Excellence, IT Infrastructure, SAP, Applications and ISMS). Along with the accountability of managing the IT division, he is also responsible for the process analysis and fine-tuning in line with the Six Sigma methodology (as the Head of Business Excellence).
Currently, he is leading the Organizational Transformation Project called "Parivartan 2.0" as Project Head. The project addresses three important aspects of BPR, i.e. People, Process and Technology. He is also leading critical Ecommerce initiatives for Nagarjuna and associated companies (both Plant Nutrition as well others business).
Singh carries 24 years of experience in Management & Governance of Information Systems and Technology including IT Strategy, Roadmap, Team Building, Budgeting and Compliance (Regulatory, Software & Hardware), Analytics in Manufacturing Industry covering Automotive, Retail, Power, Chemical, & Pharmaceutical. He is a techno-functional leader with experience in conceptualizing and delivering solutions across divisions on web, ecommerce and other platforms.
As Chief Software Architect, John ensures Scientific Games' software solution is well engineered and operable while actively collaborating with strategic partners and investors in achieving business and technical objectives.With two billion in revenues, Scientific Games is a leading innovator in the global lottery and regulated gaming industries. The company acquired WMS gaming in 2013 and announced plans to acquire Bally Technologies in 2014.
Job Titles:
- IT Director / Watchfinder & Co
Jonathan Gill has spent the last twenty years working in the IT sector, specialising in complex IT systems for the education, health, engineering, accountancy and retail industries. His experience with web front-end systems dates back to 1999, but his core focus is on developing bespoke information management systems.
His most recent work has been for Watchfinder & Co., a Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track Hot 100 ‘Ones to Watch' company, building the company's entire IT infrastructure to support rapid growth and maintain a stock roster of over £18,000,000 of high-value luxury items across multiple locations while catering to over seven million website visitors each month.
Cary is inspired by the opportunities that technology offers and is passionate about confronting the challenges that come with it-both for Keller Williams associates and for the entire real estate industry. In her current role as the vice president of industry development, Cary works to ensure that Keller Williams is an innovative leader solving problems and driving change in the industry.
Cary is inspired by the opportunities that technology offers and is passionate about confronting the challenges that come with it-both for Keller Williams associates and for the entire real estate industry. In her current role as the vice president of industry development, Cary works to ensure that Keller Williams is an innovative leader solving problems and driving change in the industry.
Comfortable presenting in front of a group of 10 or 10,000, Cary is a certified Keller Williams University Master Faculty and can often be found sharing her knowledge and vision with the masses. She has been included in the Swanepoel Power 200, Inman News 100 Most Influential Leaders, and is an Oracle Certified Professional.
As the former executive director of technology, Cary led the team that created eEdge-the industry's first and only complete lead-to-close agent business platform which was voted most innovative platform in the real estate industry. She also let the charge to create one KW Mobile App that could be individually branded to all of the more than 100,000 Keller Williams associates. In addition to her 13 years at Keller Williams Realty International, Cary's previous experience includes Golfsmith, Database Consultants, Inc., Copera, and Dell. Cary brings extensive database and software planning experience as well as business know-how to create results for Keller Williams associates around the world.
While she considers herself a Texan at heart, Cary was born in Rochester, N.Y. and moved to Arlington, Texas with her family at the age of five. She values open-mindedness, and is proud of her ability to act as a tool to bring diverse ideas and personalities together for a common goal-traits she learned from her parents and her godfather. Cary is excited by the unlimited potential of the real estate industry and is motivated by the opportunity to help others reach their maximum potential.
When not helping to revolutionizing the real estate industry, Cary can be found at the hockey rink rooting for the Texas Stars, at the Dell Diamond rooting for the Round Rock Express, or in the kitchen creating a fabulous meal for her husband, Andy, and daughter, Barbara. She and her family live in Austin, Texas.
Job Titles:
- Group Chief Enterprise Architect / Transnet Limited
- Group Chief Enterprise Architect at Transnet Limited
As the Group Chief Enterprise Architect at Transnet Limited, Kevin Govender's key responsibilities include Strategy, Enterprise Architecture, Research and Innovation.
Kevin Govender is the Group Chief Enterprise Architect at Transnet Limited. His key responsibilities include Strategy, Enterprise Architecture, Research and Innovation. The objective of Strategy and Enterprise Architecture is to translate Transnet's vision and strategy into effective business capabilities, services and provide strategic direction and leadership to guide strategic initiatives.
Previously, he acted as Transnet's Group Chief Business Architect. His role focused on integrating and aligning Business and IT to achieve business results and objectives. One crucial aspect of that role was leveraging business architecture as a conduit for engaging with business leaders, and understanding the ripple effect of business changes on people, process, information and technology.
He also acted as the Human Capital Management (HCM) Programme Executive at Transnet. In that position, he led and directed the HR Transformation Programme, which was a strategic initiative tasked with consolidating and standardizing the policies, processes, systems, controls and data from seven disparate systems across Transnet and its Operating Divisions into a single solution for the Transnet Group.
He has also acted as the Transnet Business Intelligence Programme Executive. There, his focus was to lead and direct the Transnet Business Intelligent (TBI) Programme, which was a strategic initiative tasked with facilitating the availability of relevant, accurate, timely, consistent information to support executive decision making by improving the processes & solutions to enable information management.
His experience is attributed to the various roles he has played in the other organizations prior to joining Transnet, namely Ernst & Young, Discovery, Accenture, Nedcor and Unilever. He has extensive experience in Strategy, Business Intelligence, Business Advisory, Management Consulting, Portfolio and Programme Management, SAP Assurance and Implementation, and implementing Turnaround and Transformational programmes.
Job Titles:
- Group General Manager, Data Centre Solutions
Kevin Leahy is Group General Manager, Data Centre Solutions for Dimension Data Holdings. The $6 billion company is a specialist IT services and solution provider that helps clients plan, build, support & manage their IT infrastructures.
Job Titles:
- Americas CIO
- CIO Americas of Dassault Systèmes
As CIO Americas of Dassault Systèmes, Kevin Rota is a leading technology executive with vast experience at transforming and leading organizations. Rota utilizes innovative technical solutions to enable business success, and has demonstrated his skill as a global leader in enterprise strategy across a number of industries.
Rota has deep technical knowledge of information technology; specifically in systems, infrastructure, and software development. He has transformed a multitude of IT and operations teams to align on new strategies and visions while establishing standard planning, budgeting and project execution practices.
Throughout the years, Rota has a developed strong leadership skills in both corporate and consulting organizations. In his current position as a Senior Executive within the Dassault Systèmes Global Information Technology organization, he has redefined and executed technology programs with a global, regional, and local scope in order to achieve business goals.
Kyle Scarmardo Head of Infrastructure Dev Ops Fidelity Investments Prior to working at Fidelity investments, Kyle Scarmardo was involved in assembling and supporting PC systems for both hardware and software. Most of this was in the DOS and Microsoft space, but also involved work with proprietary point of sale terminals. From Administration/Engineering to now acting as the VP of Cloud and Strategic Development, Scarmardo has been loyally committed to working his way up through Fidelity for over 15 years. His current work consists of managing multiple development teams focused on delivering self-service solutions for infrastructure consumption (furthering IaaS), furthering culture change and adoption of Agile and DevOps practices, driving use of open source (consumption and creation), and helping others to grow through mentorship and coaching.
Lee joined the Collabworks leadership team in April 2011, where he oversees CollabWorks' Information Technology strategy. He also has the overall responsibility for day-to-day IT operations and customer support for Collabworks. Prior to joining CollabWorks, Lee held the position of Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Photon Dynamics, Inc., where he held the responsibility for the corporate business systems and network infrastructure worldwide. Previously, as CIO of Spectrian, he led the organization toward a virtual company vision that allowed employees to perform their job functions from anywhere in the world.
Lee has also held senior level information technology positions at FCS/New Millennium Technologies, Inc. a Y2K software conversion services company and Nextron Communications, Inc., a web site creation and hosting company. Earlier in his career, Lee worked for Deere & Company holding several positions within its Information Technology organization at both unit and corporate levels. Lee received an MBA from the University of Iowa and holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Upper Iowa University.
Liz Miller leads the BPI Network's sister network, the CMO Council. She is a marketing strategist, thought leadership innovator and tactical leader of company-wide initiatives that build brand value and result in sustainable profitable growth. She is the principal driver and champion of transformational programs-where she has been able to gain executive sponsorship, build internal support at all levels and deliver exceptional results. Miller is an expert in aligning strategy with organizational vision/goals and interpreting the voice of the customer through enhanced customer insight.
In her current role, Miller has a multi-faceted leadership role with three-fold accountability. She leads the daily operations and ongoing development of the CMO Council; oversees the Creative, Web and Interactive team for the agency GlobalFluency; and manages Consumer Marketing Services and Digital Marketing Strategy for the agency, GlobalFluency. She directs the account team in media relations, content development, digital marketing, social media, marketing communications, online development and community/client engagement. She also works directly with key clients and sponsors, developing comprehensive marketing, digital engagement, thought leadership, demand generation and PR campaigns.
Job Titles:
- B2B Marketing Leader
- Marketing Leader of Global Financial Solutions / GE Capital
Magdalena is an accomplished oriented B2B marketing leader with 15 years of progressive experience. Her immense knowledge and expertise assists businesses to grow by understanding customer needs and developing and executing winning commercial strategies.
Magdalena has strong experience in business strategy, analytics, new market/product development, CRM strategies, commercial excellence, building successful start-ups, leaderships and talent development and B2B marketing in the US, Asia, and Europe.
Most recently, she led all marketing efforts for GE Capital's Global Financial Solutions Group, which helps companies grow in foreign markets by providing financing for acquisitions and working capital in over 20 of the most sought after investment countries around the world.
Magdalena received an MBA in International Business, Marketing and Sustainable Enterprise and has received many certifications in Social Media, Content Marketing and Digital marketing.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- CTO
- Co - Founder and CTO of FiveStars
Matt Doka is the Co-Founder and CTO of FiveStars, a venture-backed startup that built a consumer identity platform that personalizes commerce in the real world by harnessing the power of big data, predictive analytics, and cloud-based marketing automation. Previously, he was a consultant at McKinsey & Co. in New York, where he worked across a wide range of industries, including private equity, telecom, and healthcare, as well as development projects in Uganda in conjunction with Technoserve and the Gates Foundation. He was recently selected to Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Matt holds two degrees, one in Engineering and one in Finance, and a Math minor from the University of Pennsylvania, and is an avid skier and backpacker.
Job Titles:
- VP, Cloud and Advanced Services
Mauro is a technical whizz, seasoned manager and cloud expert with over 20 years of experience in the global IT industry. He began his career at NEC Japan and has held several leadership positions in organisations such as Citibank, Morgan Stanley, Amazon since then.
Prior to his current position as Vice President of Cloud and Advanced Services in 1-Net, MediaCorp, Mauro served as Director at Amazon Web Services. He is a strong supporter of the Open Source Community and was one of the original contributors to the development of Linux and several Open Source projects.
An Argentinian citizen by birth, he has resided in Asia since 1994 and Singapore since 2010.
Job Titles:
- Chief Technology Officer ( CTO ) of Asia
- CTO / Microsoft
Murat Ozturan is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Asia, Pacific & Japan for Microsoft Global Enterprise Services. In this role he sets the technical strategy in the region aligned with trends, new solutions and technologies. He is also responsible for setting the direction for the architecture of high priority projects, setting and executing Technology Adoption Programs (TAP), building and supporting Technical Communities, driving IP creation and usage, as well as contributing to Technical Quality Assurance.
Ozturan has been with Microsoft for over 20 years and has worked at multiple locations across the globe. With this experience, he has perfected specialties in Enterprise Technology Architecture/Strategy, Cloud Services & Technologies, CXO level Technology Communications, Risk Management, and more.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Business Executive
- CEO / TechnoChange Business Solutions
Nkosana Mbokane is an inspirational and accomplished business executive with over twenty years of experience in Information Technology, business management, corporate strategy development, risk management, and corporate governance. Before joining TechnoChange, Nkosana previously worked in various executive positions for global as well as local South African companies including: Chevron Oil, British American Tobacco, Accenture South Africa, State Information Technology Agency, and Perishable Products Export Control Board.
As an entrepreneur, he has assisted in South Africa's TSIBA College business plan and strategy for their TSIBA Entrepreneurship Centre back in 2006. Nkosana also advised global companies on turnaround strategies, divestiture, mergers and acquisitions process, and IT and corporate governance improvement. He continues to play a major role on several boards in private and state-owned companies.
Nkosana holds an MBA degree with a distinction in corporate strategy, and is a certified Prince II and PMBOK foundation practitioner. He has published papers in the International Journal for Business and Commerce on the South African National Development Plan and worked with the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), where he presented with the CPUT team in Namibia on the implementation and impact of the National Development Plan in improving education in South African.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director for Emerging Technologies at the University of Chicago
- Senior Director, Emerging Technologies & Communications / University of Chicago
- Senior Technology Leader
Oren is a nationally recognized senior technology leader with strengths in innovation strategies, strategic development, program and product management. His passion is using technology to foster creativity and innovation within higher education and research organizations.
Oren has over twenty years in leadership positions in higher education where he has built a record of success leading organizations in creating, implementing, and managing technology strategies.
Job Titles:
- CIO / Fairfield University
Named a 2014 Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leader and listed as one of the Huffington Post¹s Top 50 Most Social CIOs, Paige Francis, CIO of Fairfield University, has defined the digital campus and the role of IT.
Paige Francis joined Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT as their first Chief Information Officer in January of 2013. Prior to joining Fairfield, Paige served in her first higher education role as CIO for Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville, AR after exiting the corporate world with experience from Thomson-Reuters and Dave & Buster's in the Dallas, TX area. Her technology experience is cross-industry with a proven track record of leadership and project execution. With specialties including communication, collaboration, technical expertise in layman's terms, and project conception/management/completion, Paige is a 2015 Top 100 Most Social CIOs, a 2014 Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leaders Award honoree as well as one of 2013's Top 50 Most Social CIOs in Higher Education.
Having led a highly successful digital strategy and implementation at Fairfield University, Paige believes that the role of IT must align fully with business---from strategy to marketing to the ability to communicate well with others. With this philosophy, Paige rallies consensus across diverse functional, service and campus wide interests, and fosters teamwork and collaboration in order to maintain and implement new technology.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- NHS Northamptonshire Primary Care Trust As a Non - Executive Director
Paul is one of the founders of Cassini Reviews who analyse, review and consult on the production side of the data centre market in Europe.
After an initial 8 years in operational logistics and supply chain management, in which he has retained a keen interest, Paul has spent most of the last 30 years in a variety of sales and marketing roles in major multi-national IT organisations.
His experience and expertise covers all aspects of B2B marketing, from strategy, through segmentation and value proposition development down to marketing campaigns and account based marketing. In his career he has focused on bridging the gap between the technical world of IT and the needs of the business, supporting the sales and marketing of IT hardware, software and services into sectors as diverse as Financial Services, Transportation, Telecommunications and the Public Sector. One of his most recent roles was Interim Director of marketing for Equinix vertical markets in Europe.
In addition to his career in the IT industry Paul joined NHS Northamptonshire Primary Care Trust as a Non-Executive Director in August 2009 and has since moved across to Nene Clinical Commissioning Group as part of the Government's re-organisation of the NHS.
Job Titles:
- VP, Mission Critical Systems / Bloom Energy
Peter brings more than 25 years' experience in engineering and design of power systems as applied to data centers, trading floors, command and control centers, and telecommunication and broadcasting facilities.He co-founded the Critical Power Coalition (CPC). He Founded EYP Mission Critical and served as its Leader. He served as the President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer of EYP Mission Critical Facilities, Inc. He served as Vice President and Managing Partner of HP Global Technology Consulting at Hewlett Packard. He served as the Chief Engineer at Teledyne Technologies Inc. He served in devising and safeguarding facilities of clients such as Stock Exchange, IRS, Merrill Lynch and Bell Atlantic. He serves as a Member of Advisory Board for RampRate, Inc. He has been a Director of Active Power Inc. since February 13, 2015. He serves as a Director of Asetek A/S, EYP Mission Critical Facilities Inc. and International Battery Inc. He served as a Director of Secured Digital Storage Corp., from December 10, 2007 to August 5, 2008. He is an Engineering Design and Implementation Professional, and was the recipient of 2010 Data Center Dynamics "Outstanding Contribution to the Industry" award. Mr. Gross holds an MSEE from Polytechnic Institute in Bucharest, Romania and an MBA from Cal State. working
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director, Technology & Innovation / National Library
Ramachandran Narayanan has more than sixteen years of experience in the management of Enterprise IT services. Since 2000, he has been with National Library Board (NLB), and currently acts as the the Deputy Director in the InfoComm Division of NLB.
Ricardos Khoury founded Novus Technologies, a regional IT solution business headquartered in Singapore, in February 2013. The company's vision is centered around the next generation user interfaces and service touchpoints, therefore focusing on software solutions and services in the areas of Branch Transformation, Mobile Enablement, CEM (Customer Experience Management), Payments and Self-Service Touchpoints. He began his career in the early 90s, and introduced client/server solutions and migrated mainframe and minicomputer software to open platforms. Throughout the years he acquired extensive knowledge in IT systems, enterprise solutions and software platforms. He has worked with private corporations, government organizations and financial institutions to provide them with business and customer-centric technology solutions. Since 1994, he has been involved in retail banking automation, and has developed a keen interest in this segment, adopting it as a personal area of expertise both on business and technology levels. Prior to founding Novus Technologies, from 2002 to 2013 he managed Wincor Nixdorf's Banking Industry Business in Asia Pacific including Sales & Marketing, Partner Network, Project Management, Software Support and Software Development. Through proven efficiency, business acumen and cumulative industry know-how, Ricardos built the banking business in APAC and led the regional team to become one of the most credible business partners in the retail banking transformation space. Throughout his career, he has visited 74 countries around the globe, interacted and developed relationships with over 500 banks, worked on projects in 30 countries and managed businesses in 24 geographies spread between Asia Pacific & Europe.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, Next - Generation Data Centers
Richard Garratt Director Next-Generation Data Centers DiData Americas Lee joined the Collabworks leadership team in April 2011, where he oversees CollabWorks' Information Technology strategy. He also has the overall responsibility for day-to-day IT operations and customer support for Collabworks. Prior to joining CollabWorks, Lee held the position of Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Photon Dynamics, Inc., where he held the responsibility for the corporate business systems and network infrastructure worldwide. Previously, as CIO of Spectrian, he led the organization toward a virtual company vision that allowed employees to perform their job functions from anywhere in the world. Lee has also held senior level information technology positions at FCS/New Millennium Technologies, Inc. a Y2K software conversion services company and Nextron Communications, Inc., a web site creation and hosting company. Earlier in his career, Lee worked for Deere & Company holding several positions within its Information Technology organization at both unit and corporate levels. Lee received an MBA from the University of Iowa and holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Upper Iowa University.
Sanjeev is Business and ICT Leader, a strategist, turnaround professional, thought leader, innovator, and evangelist. He has contributed to his company's profitable growth through Process Innovation, Business Transformation & Excellence, and Change Management. He specializes in creating innovative technology solutions to solve complex Business problems.
Sanjeev has 25+ years of experience, and has been serving organizations in Business & IT at "C" level positions since 1997. His domains of expertise include Engineering & Consultancy, Automotive, Machine Building, Consumer Durables, Manufacturing, FMCG, Steel, Energy & Power, Mining, Cement, and Auto Forging EPC.
Presently, he is Director & CIO ApON India. In this role he is responsible for driving and creating Corporate Consciousness in the manufacturing sector at a large scale in order to support Digital Transformation Ambition.
Sanjeev has held positions as Group President of Business Excellence & Group CIO in a Metal, Power & Mining conglomerate. He has worked as Global CIO for Polygenta Technologies, Director of IT for Philips Electronics, Director of Projects Service Delivery APAC Region for Philips Lighting, COO for Kinetic Communications, and Group CIO for Kinetic Group.
Sanjeev also received national and international recognition as an effective Business and IT leader. He has a Bachelors in Technology from BIT Sindri, Ranchi University & a Masters in Management from the University of Pune. Due to his efforts, there are several successfully implemented large multi-country change management projects and initiatives using technologies from Oracle, SAP R3, Microsoft, Google, HP, Dell, IBM, EMC, VMWare, CISCO Symantec etc. He has successfully implemented projects like APO, BI, LES, CRM, MES, WMS, Cloud, Mobility, Automation, Shared Service, Robust IT Infrastructure etc . He has been part of top leadership strategic management team at continent level for many Companies.
Job Titles:
- Director of Critical Operations / Cushman & Wakefield
He joined C&W in 2006 as the Critical Operations Manager Americas for a major software client with service in 36 countries. He oversaw a delivery team of over 450 employees and dedicated service providers. Mr. Offermann has key critical operations experience, including managing nearly 500,000 sf of data center space, distribution, manufacturing, lab environments, emergency power plants, primary substations, building infrastructure, and business critical operations (such as call center and customer facing areas). He created and oversaw development of Critical Operations Policy and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and Methods of Procedures (MOP) for coordinating global maintenance actives minimizing the risk of interruptions due to maintenance. Mr. Offermann focused on delivery, ensuring consistency and optimal uptime within operations.
Mr. Offermann has over 25 years of facilities management and critical operations experience. Prior to joining C&W, he held positions with international distribution, high tech, recreation, manufacturing and retail organizations, call center environments, and national health care organizations. As a published author, his works include the book, Creating a Strategic Energy Reduction Plan (Fairmont Press), and several articles.
Simon Legg has spent the last twenty years as a business operational leader and technologist working across an array of industries including financial services, life sciences, public sector and Nonprofit. During this time he has held positions covering SVP for Infrastructure & Operations and EMEA CISO at Bank of America Merrill Lynch through to Non Executive Director at Capital South.
Currently Simon holds the position of Executive Director at PRA Health Sciences where he is responsible for IT Risk, Information Security & Compliance. Most recently Simon has spearheaded transformational activities supporting PRA's rapid growth seeing the company more than double in size in three years.
Job Titles:
- Chief Technology Officer
- Chief Technology Officer for Magellan Health
Srini Koushik is the chief technology officer for Magellan Health. In this role, he works with and leads a team of talented professionals delivering innovative technology and data-enhanced products and services that improve patient outcomes and care for people who need it the most.
Prior to this role, Koushik was the president and CEO of NTT Innovation Institute Inc., a Silicon Valley-based startup focused on building multi-sided platforms for today's digital businesses. He has 28 years of experience as a programmer, chief technology officer, chief digital officer, chief information officer and P&L owner for Fortune 100 Companies including IBM, HP and Nationwide. Koushik has a track record of implementing innovative solutions, unpacking complex problems, and hacking the technology and culture of global enterprises to deliver extraordinary results.
Koushik has a passion for lifelong learning and holds a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Madras, a master's degree in computer science from the University of Bombay, a master's degree in business administration from Ohio State University, and executive education on systems thinking, design thinking, clean energy and innovation from the MIT Sloan School of Management and Duke University.
Koushik was elected to the IBM Academy of Technology, and was named an IBM Distinguished Engineer in 1996 and owns two patents in the field of software engineering. He was named an Elite 8 CIO by Insurance and Technology (2002), a Top 25 CTO by Infoworld (2004), a Top 10 All-Star in the financial services industry by TechDecisions (2007), and a Computerworld Premier 100 Technology Leader (2014).
He is an Open Group Distinguished Certified Architect, has published several articles, as well as Patterns for E-Business, a book he co-authored in 2001. He has published e-books on digital business, agile IT and innovation. He is also a frequently invited speaker at several industry conferences.
Koushik enjoys travel, skydiving, hang gliding and other extreme sports and roots for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He has been to 55 countries, and wants to visit the other 140+ countries in his lifetime.
Job Titles:
- CTO & Board Director / DCD Group
Mr. Worn has been involved with industry-leading enterprises around the world for over 25 years with over eight years in Asia, across the Americas and again back on a pan-European level.
He was the Head of Technology Services for Dimension Data UK, where he was also their acting Practice Manager for Data Centres and Intelligent Buildings. Stephen has held senior management roles in Nortel Networks as their EMEA Senior Director of Datacentres, at Japan's Nippon Suisan International, China's National Center for Industry and Technology, as well as with the Center for Special Economic Zones. He has supported DatacenterDynamics since its first conference as Chief Technical Advisor and Guest Conference Chairman. He is currently CEO of North America, Managing Director of AsiaPacific, as well as Global CTO for Data Center Dynamics. Mr. Worn holds two Masters Degrees.
In his role as executive vice president and chief technology officer, Rubinow is responsible for continuously strengthening Catalina's global enterprise architecture through technology development, implementation and operation.Steve Rubinow brings 25+ years of technology leadership to his role as EVP and Chief Technology Officer. He is responsible for leading Catalina's global technology function, driving improvements to Catalina's global enterprise architecture through technology development, implementation, and operation to deliver personalized digital media. Widely recognized as an innovative and transformational technology leader, Rubinow served as CIO for Thomson Reuters' Marketplaces Division prior to joining Catalina. He previously served as Chief Information Officer for the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Euronext for over a decade.
Steve has authored several books on CIO/CTO leadership, and has been the recipient of numerous accolades. He was named one of the top 30 socially-savvy US CIOs in 2013 by Aternity for his use of social media, inducted into the CIO Hall of Fame in 2012, was named one of Computerworld magazine's Premier 100 IT Leaders for 2012, was recognized as one of the top 10 CIOs on Wall Street in 2010 by Securities Technology Monitor magazine, and named one of the top CIOs on Wall Street in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 by Wall Street & Technology magazine. For many years, Rubinow served as an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University, where he earned an M.S. in Computer Science. His academic accomplishments also include four degrees from the University of Illinois, including a Ph.D. in Chemistry; an MBA in Marketing & Finance; an M.S. in Chemistry, and; a B.S. in Biological Sciences and Chemistry.
Job Titles:
- Regional Transformation Representative
Steven Tan has proven replicated success in over 15 years of achieving outstanding results, ambitious growth, market share and pipeline goals across prestigious fortune 500 and global mid-sized organizations. He is highly energetic and passionate professional with deep expertise in achieving consistent measurable results, building and mentoring team players, partnering with leadership on organizational transformation to influence and achieve company's goals.
Recently, Tan was Seagate's Director of Marketing for Asia Pacific and Japan, responsible for all aspects of field marketing, marketing operations and public relations in the region. Tan oversaw strategic marketing activities to develop and maintain customer and partner programs in the region. He was responsible for building new and accelerating new logo revenue contribution to sales every quarter via demand generation, business development managers and inside sales. As an Executive Advisory Board member of the CMO Council, Tan provides advisory from branding (online, social media and traditional) to demand generation to fellow CMOs and enterprises across Asia Pacific and United States. As the Regional Transformation Representative of the BPI Network, Tan acts as a regional advisor and representative for ongoing Thought Leadership campaigns and events. He draws on his 20+ years of experience in overseeing marketing and communications across-the-board, from channels marketing management to product marketing and media relations. Prior to joining Seagate, Steven has held senior marketing positions at IBM Software Group, Lucent Technologies, HP Software, Informix Software and the most recent 4 years at Aspect Software.
Stuart Appley joined Shorenstein in 2007. He is responsible for the long-term strategy, planning, design and management of the company's information systems, applications, and computing infrastructure. Appley is a frequent speaker on the use of Cloud in the Enterprise, along with sharing best practices for using technology in the Real Estate and Investment Management sectors. He is a member of the Consortium of Information System Executives and the Realcomm Advisory Council, and a board member of the CISE Education Fund. Mr. Appley was also a contributing author on the book CIO Perspectives.
Prior to joining Shorenstein, Appley was the CIO at Walden International, a global venture capital firm, where he had worldwide responsibility for the firm's technology needs. Additionally, Appley acted as an advisor to Walden International's portfolio companies, while also participating in the due diligence of Walden's investments in IT-related companies. Prior to Walden, Appley held senior-level technology and management positions at LGT Asset Management, First Nationwide Bank, and Lomas & Nettleton Information Systems. Appley graduated from California State University, San Diego with a B.S., and from California State University, San Francisco with an M.B.A.
Job Titles:
- Asia Pacific Regional CIO of Lockton Companies
- Regional CIO APAC
- Regional CIO ASAP
Suk-Wah Kwok is the Asia Pacific Regional CIO of Lockton Companies, the largest privately owned independent insurance brokerage firm in the world. Prior to joining Lockton, Suk-Wah worked for Lockton's competitor Aon, the world's largest insurance brokerage firm. Suk-Wah was CIO of Aon Hong Kong for over 10 years, and was instrumental in leading Aon Hong Kong to be among the first few companies in Asia to successfully migrate key IT services to a public cloud.
Suk-Wah is an experienced IT professional well known for her versatility and insightful ideas on many IT areas. Her IT career spans over 20 years, with her early years specializing in application design and development, mainly in banking, finance, and government sectors in Australia. After spending her early years in Australia, she was then recruited from Australia to return to Hong Kong to lead a development project for the New Chek Lap Kok Airport. After the airport project was completed, Suk-Wah joined Sun Microsystems as a Project Manager, and her career focus changed from application development to network architecture and infrastructure. After Sun Microsystems, Suk-Wah held various IT management positions such as Head of IT, Asia Pacific for Baring Asset Management, and Operations Director for commercial data centers, before taking up CIO roles in insurance broking firms.
Suk-Wah graduated with a First Class Honors in Computer Science from the University of Sydney. She also holds an MBA focused in Finance from the University of Technology, Sydney. Aside from her roles in IT, she is also a Senior Inspector in the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force, and has a strong passion for various sports including skiing and motorcycling.
Job Titles:
- Leader
- Lecturer / Stanford University
To reverse that trend, Chou advised companies to create an environment of innovation that invites in bright, young engineers and educates them about the business goals of the company, no matter what the industry. "I think there's ample opportunity for people to seize the moment whether you're in agriculture, aviation, oil and gas, or whatever," he said.
Timothy Chou has been a leader in bringing enterprises to the cloud since 1999, when he returned to Oracle to work for Larry Ellison as the President of Oracle On Demand. During his tenure many businesses chose to have their enterprise applications delivered as a cloud service. Since leaving Oracle, he has returned to Stanford University and started the first class on cloud computing. Based on this class he published his second book "Cloud: Seven Clear Business Models." In addition, he just returned from teaching a ten lecture series on cloud computing at Tsinghua University in China.
Chou has been a visible pioneer in evangelizing this major shift in computing. He has appeared in various publications including Forbes, Business Week, The Economist, and New York Times as well as on CNBC and NPR. He has also been a keynote speaker for business and technology audiences in North America, South America, Asia and Europe. Not content to merely talk about the subject, he has invested in several new cloud service companies. Chou holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois. He serves as a member of the board of directors of Embarcadero Technologies (NASDAQ:EMBT) as well as the advisory board of Webex. In 2007 he joined the board of directors at Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB).
Umesh Patel is the General Manager, Eaton Power Quality Division - Canada and responsible for driving revenue in power quality products and service. Prior to joining Eaton, Patel was with Honeywell for 15 years in various positions of increasing responsibility in general management, sales, and business development. He has lived in five countries and earned global citizenship through his direct business involvement in over 20 countries spanning all continents. Patel holds a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, and a Master's Degree in Engineering from the University of Toronto.
Job Titles:
- CIO Remote Sites Asia & Australia
With a 33 year tenure in the pharmaceutical, food service, and specialty retail industries, Vijay's experience has been with Pfizer, ARAMARK, Sodexo, and GNC.
He started with Sodexo USA 28 years ago and has served in various roles such a VP, Information Systems and Technology for Sodexo USA's Education Markets and then as the Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer for the Education Markets of Sodexo USA. In that role, he also chaired the Sodexo USA Culinary Council. In 2009 he was appointed to the role of CIO for Sodexo UK & Ireland and the Board for Sodexo UK Limited. He currently serves as the CIO-Remote Sires, Asia and Australia or Sodexo Global Information Systems & Technology, based in Singapore.
Vijay served as the Executive Advisor and founding chairperson of Sodexo's Pan Asian Network Group. In addition, he served on the Ally Advisory Board of Sodexo's GLBT Employee Business Resource Group and as a member of the Board of Directors and then the Advisory Board of Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. He was also instrumental in starting Women Work- Sodexo UK & Ireland's Women's Network Group as an Executive Advisor.
Vijay is sought as a speaker at Fortune 500 company events; industry and non-profit conferences and at university campuses; in the areas of entrepreneurship, aligning IT with business strategy, student insights, customer segmentation, mentoring, diversity and inclusion. In the past, Vijay also owned and operated several GNC (General Nutrition Centre) franchises in the Chicago-land area- an endeavor that he was involved in for over 15 years. During that time, he was elected by the franchise community to serve a two year term on GNC's National Franchisee Advisory Board in 2005.
Vijay has a B.Sc. in Agricultural Sciences from India, M.S. in Human Nutrition & Food Services Management from University of Nebraska-Lincoln and an M.B.A. from the Keller Graduate School of Management of Chicago.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Co - Founder
- Co - Founder and CEO of Romonet
- Non - Executive Director at BCS Learning & Development Ltd
Zahl is a co-founder and CEO of Romonet and passionate about the data center and ICT industry. He is a chartered Engineer, chartered IT professional and Fellow of the BCS.
Starting his career as a chartered electrical engineer, he then moved into IT systems engineering, network engineering and later software development. Zahl is a chartered Engineer, chartered IT professional and Fellow of the BCS. Zahl has 20 years experience in companies such as Digital Island, Real Networks, Cable & Wireless as well many engineering firms writing control and automation software for production line automation and robotics.
As the founding Chairman of the BCS Data Centre Specialist Group, former Chairman of the judging panel for DataCenterDynamics Annual Awards, consultant to the EU Code of Conduct for data centers, and regular keynote speaker at industry events around the world, Zahl enjoys widespread international recognition within the data center community.
Zahl is a non-executive director at BCS Learning & Development Ltd and a member of the DPAC Oversight Committee overseeing the work on ESA's GAIA programme on behalf of the UK Space Agency.