Common Europe would like to thank the following volunteers, and their companies, who contribute their valuable time to serving on the Common Europe Advisory Council (CEAC):
STEVE BRADSHAW
(i-UG, UK)
Liaison to IBM & CE Board
ROWTON IT Solutions Limited
Steve has worked in the IBM Business Partner world for over thirty years and despite IBM’s best attempts he still love them 😉
His career started as an RPG developer but for the last twenty years he has specialised in System Design, installation and management.
In 2008 he founded his own company (Rowton) and now he and his team spend their time supporting clients or designing new IT solutions using a combination of Power servers, Intel and storage with a little extra cloud magic where it’s needed.
When he’s not looking after his own clients, he helps run the UK’s largest IBM i User Group, the i-UG. In 2019, IBM made him an IBM Champion in recognition of the work he has done to help and evangelise the IBM i platform, Happy Days 🙂
He has a love of teaching IBM i and has spent the last ten years volunteering to teach at IBM i events around the world. In more recent times he has been writing technical Articles on PowerWire.EU and creating his online webinars. He is a firm believer that the more he teaches, the more he learns.
MARIUSZ ANDRZEJCZAK
(Common Poland)
TRENTON SOLUTIONS
Mariusz has 20 years of experience in IT consulting and software development.
He graduated from the University of Lodz in Statistics and Econometrics. During his career he has worked as admin, developer, project lead, solution architect and IT manager for companies only having IBM i in their ecosystem.
For several years he held a technical lead position in SAP & PIM implementations in Nordic and Baltic countries. His major expertise area is software development in RPG, SQL & .NET.
In 2016 Mariusz found TRENTON SOLUTIONS, a creative software house and has been supporting his customers in digital transformation.
His credo is “If you have faced problems with your app, let us move it onto the IBMi platform and the problem disappears”
Mariusz is passionate about integration, digitalization and automation.
EDDIE CHAFFIN
(i-UG, UK)
ABP FOODS
Eddie was first introduced to the AS/400 in 1990 as part of an ERP implementation. Recognising the potential of the system, he moved development onto the platform to provide reliable management information. IBM i has been at the heart of every business he worked for since then. In 2015, Eddie rejoined and currently works for ABP Foods, a large, privately owned group of companies producing beef, lamb, petfood and renewable energy. IBM I was key to realising the ambition to harmonise all independent operating divisions on a single ERP and platform. He now operates Power10 systems and IBM FS5200 SANs. Security and resilience are a key area of focus.
Eddie is also an IBM Champion, Committee Member and STEM Ambassador for the i-UG, Steering Group Member, and Treasurer, for the UK’s M3UA (Infor ERP).
NICOLAE CHIREA
(Common Iberia)
SEIDOR
Nicolae began his journey with AS/400 in 1999 as an RPG developer. After gaining experience in both development and administration, he transitioned to full-time system administration, managing over 120 iSeries systems.
Since 2007, Nicolae has been working at Seidor, an IBM business partner, where he has been involved in the entire lifecycle of IBM Power systems, from initial setup to production deployment. He has expertise in implementing high-availability solutions using PowerHA (or not), configuring BRMS, Advanced Job Scheduler, and other software solutions. Additionally, he is a recognized expert in IBM storage technologies, both Flash Systems and DS8K.
Many IBM i customers rely on Nicolae’s expertise to optimize their systems and boost performance. In recent years, he’s expanded his skills to Linux on Power, leading major HANA implementations in Spain. He’s a big fan of automation and is actively promoting Ansible in the IBM Power community.
As an IBM Champion since 2021, Nicolae is a regular speaker at industry events, sharing his knowledge and passion with the community.
LESZEK CZAJKA
(Common Poland)
KDPW S.A (POLAND)
Leszek is software developer, architect and designer working on the IBM i platform since 2001. As Head of the IT Application Systems Section at KDPW, he develops and maintains depository, clearing and settlement systems for KDPW, which is the central infrastructure institution responsible for the management and supervision of trading in financial instruments in Poland.
KOEN DECORTE
(Common Belgium)
CD INVEST
Koen Decorte is the proprietor of CD Invest, a distinguished international IBM business partner operating across Belgium and Spain. CD-Invest stands out for its specialization in innovating and modernizing IBM i applications, alongside its notable AI and BI solutions tailored for IBM i platforms. Koen’s academic background includes philology and computer linguistics, aligning well with his primary focus on integrating and leveraging open-source applications within IBM i environments. Recognized as an IBM Champion since 2018, Koen also serves as the Treasurer of Common Belgium. Under his leadership, CD-Invest secured multiple prestigious industry awards in the previous years.
ASH GIDDINGS
(i-UG, UK)
MAXAVA
Ash Giddings leverages over 30 years of profound IT industry experience, boasting a strong operational background that underlines his prowess as a technically adept Product Manager. His tenure includes pivotal roles in some of the globe’s largest data centers where he has spearheaded projects aimed at cost reduction and operational efficiency for major corporations. With a robust multi-platform expertise, Ash excels in troubleshooting and resolving complex IT challenges.
A sought-after figure in the industry, Ash frequently leads educational talks and webinars focused on the IBM Power platform. His influence transcends speaking engagements; serving as a distinguished member of the Common Europe Advisory Council (CEAC) since 2014, Ash actively collaborates with IBM to shape the strategic trajectory of the IBM i platform. As an IBM Champion, he garners acclaim for his exceptional leadership in High Availability/Disaster Recovery (HA/DR) and systems management realms.
KATHARINA KARNER
(Common Austria)
AXIANS ICT
MATS LIDSTRÖM
(Common Sweden/Data3)
NICE SOLUTIONS AB
Mats has been working with IBM i (and it predecessors) since 1987 as a Programmer, Designer, Head of development, CIO and Architect. He has been part of a number of national and international projects throughout the years. Since 2018 he has been working for Apper and is helping customers to take care of their applications with the focus on using the latest IBM i technology to make their business processes as effective as possible. He also does presentations and runs education around the platform and its technologies.
Mats is President of Common Sweden/Data3 and an IBM Champion for Power Systems.
NIELS LIISBERG
(Common Denmark)
SYSTEM & METHOD A/S
Niels has developed IBM i middleware and tools used in numerous applications worldwide. He is the architect of the IceBreak application server for IBM i. Over the years he has contributed to the IBM i community with presentations, demos, and loads of open source: ILEastic and noxDB to name a few projects. IT Transformation, modernization and tools around this process is his passion and he moves anything from 5250 into an era of microservices and containers. He is also a an IBM Champion.
STEFAN PELZER
(Common Germany)
PROFI ENGINEERING SYSTEMS AG (GERMANY)
Stefan has been working with IBM Power Systems and IBM i since 2001.
The focus here is on system integration. This ranges from consulting, sizing and planning to installation and commissioning of the systems, including the training of administrators and further system management.
He is team leader of the biggest IBM i team in Germany with altogether more than 350 years of deep experience.
Stefan is an IBM Champion and joined CEAC in April 2019 to represent the German Common User Group.
MAURO SANFILIPPO
(FAQ400 -Italy)
SMEUP (ITALY)
Mauro is very experienced in redesigning, modernizing, revamping outdated software applications, as well as the company’s organization, culture and business model behind the software. Mauro loves consuming and producing content, sharing his work, his vision, his thoughts. Mauro is the General Manager of Smeup LAB, the tech company up Smeup holding. He is also responsible for the Technical Committee for the CVC S2Capital and lead startup mentor. Mauro has been an IBM Champion since 2022. He is also a member of the IBM ISV Council.
HOLGER SCHERER
(Common Germany)
RZKH GmbH (GERMANY)
Holger has been active in the IBM AS/400 and IBM i world since 1988 when he first came into contact with a big beige box at a customers. Working in the IT branch since then as a programmer, ERP analyst and IT director, he started his own company in 2000 for services, programming and hosting. Since then, Holger has also been running a public system project for everyone to learn about IBM AS/400 and now IBM i at http://pub400.com.
Currently his company RZKH GmbH runs more than 150 servers for customers all over the world hosting IBM i in their own fallout shelter below ground, concentrating on IBM i services and consultancy with a team of 5 people. Holger is an IBM i evangelist and is happy to show each customer the unique features of that wonderful system.
RUDI VAN HELVOIRT
(Common Netherlands)
EASI (VAN HELVOIRT AUTOMATISERING)
After having started as a System/38 programmer in 1986. In 1989 the switch was made to system programming and systems management. Being passionate about systems management he founded van Helvoirt Automatisering in 1993. Rudi enjoys helping IBM i customers ever since for running their business applications. He is an early adopter of the IBM i GUI’s, System Object Access that later evolved into System i Navigator and since 2019 Navigator for i. He has been involved in IBM i BRMS for the past 20 years, helping to improve the backup strategy of IBM i data. Systems management modernization using IBM i services is a no brainer for him. Rudi is a Common Nederland board member and also a member of the COMMON Europe Advisory Council, an IBM and End User Experts strategy think tank for the IBM i. On top of that IBM made him an IBM Champion since 2020. In 2020 van Helvoirt Automatisering was acquired by EASI in the Netherlands
PHILIPPE VANDEN BUSSCHE
(Common Belgium)
GG NOOR
Philippe Vanden Bussche started 40 years ago on S/38 and never quit the platform since then. His focus moved from development over IT management to IT architecture and system management. As a GDPR trained IT professional he gives much attention to security and privacy on IBM i.
SABINE JORDAN,
Senior Power Technical Specialist / IBM Technology, DACH
IBM LIAISON
Sabine is a Consulting IT Specialist working at IBM Germany. She has worked as a Technical Specialist in the IBM i area for more than 30 years specializing in high availability (HA). She has worked on IBM PowerHA SystemMirror® for i implementations for both SAP and non-SAP environments. Among these implementations, she created concepts for the design and implemented the entire project (cluster setup and application changes) in addition to performing client education and testing. She has also specialized in new concepts that can help clients with setting up HA environments that meet the technical requirements and budget expectations, such as Capacity BackUp (CBU) editions, Power Enterprise Pool, or Shared Utility Capacity.
Since March 2022, Sabine is the IBM liaison for the Common Europe Advisory Council.
SARA ANDRÉS
IBM POWER TECHNICAL SPECIALIST
IBM LIAISON
Sara Andrés is a Biomedical engineer specialized in medical image analysis through AI techniques. She completed her master’s thesis in cardiac MRI segmentation and worked on investigation projects for hospitals such as Barcelona’s Clinic hospital through the IDIBAPS platform. Starting the world of technology through artificial intelligence, currently, she works as a Power Systems Technical Specialist at IBM and on the last year has taken the position of IBM Liaison with the Common Europe Advisory Council (CEAC)