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Speakers at the Application Development Strategies
Conference |
 Allen Deary
Allen Deary is Vice President
of OPD Services for Sierra Atlantic. Deary focuses on service
methodologies, delivery strategies and corporate culture. Prior to
joining Sierra Atlantic, Deary co-founded Peritus Software Services,
Inc. in 1991. He served as both CFO and CEO of Peritus and led a highly
successful IPO of the company in 1997. Prior to Peritus, he served
as Director of Worldwide Product Development at Honeywell-Bull. Deary
also worked at Apollo Computer, where he held a number of financial
positions including Controller of Customer Support. He holds a B.S.
degree in Accounting from Northeastern University.
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 Steve Drucker
Steve Drucker is the Manager
of Global Business Systems at Fellowes, Inc., with over 17 years
experience in IT Applications. He currently manages a team of developers
and DBAs whose primary responsibility is the internal development and
support of the Oracle E-Business suite. Steve has extensive experience
in designing and implementing IT systems that are closely aligned with
the goals of the business, and is currently responsible for the
development of Fellowes’ global ERP strategy. He has successfully led
large and complex projects involving cross-functional and multi-national
teams, including the introduction of a Global Data Warehouse. Prior to
joining Fellowes, Steve spent nearly a decade as an independent IT
consultant.
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 Faisal Ghauri
Faisal
Ghauri is Senior Manager of Enterprise Applications at Sara Lee
Corporation and manages a team of 15 members including both onshore
and offshore resources. His application portfolio consists of close
to 100 applications, including the implementation of over 20
Internet facing sites (e.g., saralee.com). He also served as
manager of Sara Lee’s Web and Work Flow group. Prior to Sara Lee he
worked five years as a project manager at an international truck and
engine company and three years at a systems engineer at a leading
Internet service provider. Faisal has a B.S. degree in Electronic
Engineering, and an M.S. in Management of Information Systems. He
is a Certified Toastmaster, a Certified Project Manager and a
Certified Java Programmer.
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 Mary Johnston
Mary
Johnston has 30 years experience in both technology and operations with the
Financial Services industry and the U.S. Government. For the past 20 years
she has been with HSBC. In her current role, she is responsible for all
phases of software quality and testing for multiple mainframe and
distributed applications supporting the company's North American consumer
lending business units. Mary has worked with both in-house and outsourced
development teams in implementing software quality control and reporting
programs for these applications. She has extensive experience in software
development, quality control, metrics and reporting, logistics, project
management, capacity management, compliance, and business operations. Mary
holds a B.S. in Resource Management, an M.S. in Management, and an M.B.A.
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 John
Mech
John Mech is the Vice President of Application Development for Océ
North America, Inc. located in Chicago, IL.
John’s team is responsible for supporting SAP ERP, Oracle’s e-Business
Suite, and a portfolio of web-based applications. John has been with Océ
for eight years, three of which were spent living and working at the
company’s headquarter location in The Netherlands. Prior to joining Océ
he worked for U.S. Water L.L.C., a startup company in Chicago where, as Vice
President of Information Technology, he had overall Information Services
responsibility. Prior to joining U.S. Water, John spent several years
with Aventis Pharmaceutical as Manager of Application Development where
he played a lead role in an SAP R/3, ERP implementation. John holds a
Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from
John
Carroll University in Cleveland Ohio.
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 Juraj Siska
Juraj Siska
is an IT executive and technologist with over 15 years of experience in
creating business value with leading edge technologies. Juraj’s
professional profile includes leadership roles in development and
implementation of IT strategy and design, service oriented architecture,
enterprise architecture, identity management, and enterprise-wide
security solutions. As Vice President of Software for Laurus
Technologies, Juraj leads a team of consultants working with clients to
protect their most sensitive data, ensure compliance and streamline
access to systems. Prior to Laurus, Juraj's served as an Associate
Director at Protiviti (a consulting subsidiary of RHI) and as a Senior
Architect at Aon Corporation. He also owned his own IT consulting
practice. He is creative and innovative thinker with exceptional
analytical and decision making skills in forming technology communities,
shared services, promoting collaborative development, and information
sharing. Juraj has been a featured speaker at numerous domestic and
international forums and his articles have appeared in “Information
Security”, “IT Defense” and “Methods and Tools” and other publications.
He holds a PhD in Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and MS degree in Computer
Engineering from Iowa State University.
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 Ken Speller
Kenneth
Speller is an Associate Director of Clearing Technology at the Chicago
Mercantile Exchange Group, where he is the thought leader in the area of
Software Testing and Quality Assurance. Over the past 25 years, Ken has worked
in a diverse cross-section of industries. Ken has worked in the 'Defense
Industry’ designing tests for Radar Guidance Systems and Radar Imaging Systems,
worked in the 'Cellular Industry’ designing tests for Cellular Test Equipment,
worked in the 'Dotcom Industry’ testing Web-Sites, worked in the 'Insurance
Industry’ testing Claims Software, and worked in the 'Futures and Options
Trading Industry’ testing Clearing and Trade Management Software. Ken holds a
Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Tennessee State
University
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 Victor
Sturgeon
Victor leads the Information Security Risk Assessment team at
Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC). HCSC operates the Blue Cross and
Blue Shield plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, employing
more than 16,000 people and serving more than 13 million members. HCSC is
the fourth largest health insurance company in the United States and the
largest customer-owned health insurer. Victor has worked in IT for over 24
years as a hands-on engineer, consultant and manager. For the last 15 years
Victor has focused on information security and specialized in the areas of
secure application development, network infrastructure and risk management.
During that time Victor shaped security programs and executed major
governance, risk and compliance engagements for leading insurance, health
care, financial and CPG institutions. Currently Victor is responsible for
designing, implementing, and continuously updating risk assessment processes
supporting enterprise information security risk assessment. Victor is a
CISSP, Certified EC-Council Instructor, Ethical Hacker and Secure
Programmer. Victor also holds certifications from Microsoft, IBM and
Offensive Security. Victor obtained his Bachelor's degree in Computer
Science & Economics from the Queens University of Belfast.
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 Doug Ulrich
Doug’s 17 years of industry
experience have run the course of technical to sales, management consulting and
project management. Currently, he manages solutions sales for Micro Focus’s
Application Modernization and Migration initiatives. Micro Focus customers
include more than 70 of the Fortune 100. Doug’s experience with enterprise IT
management has helped businesses better align their goals of improving service
while reducing costs. Doug has had the good fortune to work with the some of the
worlds’ best; he has delivered global projects with Oracle, IBM, Microsoft,
Deloitte and Bearingpoint. He plays a vital role in driving Micro Focus’s
positioning as a Global Leader in unlocking and leveraging Legacy Value.
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 Bob Zimmerman
Bob’s
distinguished career in custom software development spans more
than two decades and has been largely dedicated to the process
of leveraging technology to drive innovation and growth. As
Geneca's Vice President of Delivery, Bob guides the best
practices within Geneca to continually raise the bar on client
satisfaction and the delivery of software in a visible,
predictable way. Bob is a specialist in software management,
strategic planning, and software process initiatives and is
known for his success in driving software engineering teams to
improve quality and productivity. Bob's uniquely practical,
common sense approach to software development enables him to
coach and mentor people at all levels. Throughout his career,
Bob has shared his passion on software delivery with both
executive and software development teams, enabling alignment and
success throughout the organizations he touches. Bob was
recently a finalist for the Illinois Technology Association (ITA)’s
2008 CityLIGHTS Awards in the category of individual CTOs and
CIOs making a significant impact on the Illinois technology
community. His selection as a finalist was based on his
evangelism for Getting PredictableSM.
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