JUAN MANUEL ALCUDIA
President
Representing COMMON Iberia
Juan Manuel is a former WebSphere Portal Server Specialist and Specialist on Performance and DB2 on IBM i Software Services and RPG programmer. He is also a longbow archer and a bass player. A renaissance man.
TORBJÖRN APPEHL
Vice President
Torbjörn has been working with IBM i and its predecessors since 1997. Today he has his own company focusing on helping IBM and their Independent Software Vendors (ISV) to fully take advantage of all technologies available on the platform. Currently Vice-president of Common Europe, he was a member of the board for Common Sweden for 10+ years, member of the Executive Committee for Common Europe for several years and is an IBM Champion for Power systems since 2016
PIOTR TKACZYK
Treasurer
President, COMMON Poland
Piotr has been working with the IBM I since 1998 focusing on training, system management and technical support for biggest BP in Poland. He has a BS of Polish – Japanese Institute of Computer Science and numerous IBM’s certification.
He has been a member of Common Poland since 2002, a Board Member since 2013, and President since 2015. He has held the position of Common Europe Treasurer since 2016.
NATHANAËL BONNET
Marketing Director
President, COMMON France
Nathanaël , president of Common France, is co-owner of Gaia Mini Systems, a company specialized in IBM i training and expertise.
His entire career is tied to IBM i: share knowledge, support customers, implement new solutions, modernize and allow more possibilities. It is in this spirit that he participates in Common France.
ROBERTO DE PEDRINI
Technical Director
FAQ400 (Italy)
Roberto has been an RPG Developer for about 30 years, IT Manager before that, and then founder of different small companies in Italy. He has been an IBM Champion for the last three years.
His passion for AS400 before and IBM i after has always led him over the years to create services for the IBM i community in Italy: starting from a forum (Faq400.com) that has collected a community-usergroup (the Faq400 community) and finally a service company (Faq400 Srl). “I believe in i.”
SHRIRANG ‘RANGA’ DESHPANDE
Immediate Past-President
Representing COMMON Belgium
“Ranga” has been using IBM i and its predecessors in his entire IT professional career at Institut Jules Bordet, the Comprehensive Cancer Centre of the University of Brussels, Belgium.
Ranga is an IBM Champion since 2012 and is a recipient of Lifetime Achievement Award of the CIO Executive Circle, Belgium. He is President of COMMON Europe and Vice-President of COMMON Belgium. He is also Senior Advisor at the CIO Executive Circle, a premier CIO think tank in Belgium. Ranga is on the Common Europe Advisory Council (CEAC) since its launch in 1991 helping IBM shape the future of IBM i. He is a frequent speaker at national and international events.
With a doctorate in Biology, Ranga also had a previous academic career. Constant improvement of people’s quality of life through the informatics ecosystem is Ranga’s passion.
JONATHON SAWDON
Executive Secretary
Jonathon is a professional actor, writer, drama teacher, presenter and voice coach.
He has several film and TV credits to his name, has appeared in numerous corporate films and advertisements as well as various corporate and commercial voice overs.
He also works in the business sector as a drama-based trainer and facilitator.
He has been Executive Secretary for CE since 2018.
CHRISTOPH CUSCOLECA
Representing COMMON Austria
Christoph has been Vice President of COMMON Austria since 2000 and on the COMMON Europe Board of Directors since 2008. He is a Professor of IT, teaching mainly IBM i System Management and programming at schools and Universities in Austria. He is also a freelance consultant targeting Europe & East Asia.
IGOR NOVOTNY
COMMON Czech Republic & Slovakia
Igor is an eternal IT pilgrim who has already experienced the position of a teacher, customer and also supplier and for more than 30 years has been fully engaged in data processing and storage systems.
Founding member & standing president of Common Czech Republic.
Anders Gronbech
COMMON Denmark
Anders Grønbech is CDIO at Logitrans A/S, which manufactures internal lifting equipment, with facilities in Denmark, China and USA. He has worked in Logitrans since 1989.
Logitrans have used IBM solutions since 2002. IBM I, AIX and Linux on Power systems.
He has been an active member of the Common Denmark board since 2013, working as treasurer / administration.
He is a 2022 IBM Champion, and sees a big benefit of having a worldwide network of experts due to Common communities.
HEIDI SCHMIDT
COMMON Germany
Heidi studied sociology and technical computer science. In this, at first glance, contradictory professional combination, she has discovered exciting (success) potential in the course of her career, which she likes to share with other managers in lectures and workshops. She is the managing partner of PKS Software GmbH and, with her team of over 50 women and men, she concentrates on software transformations in the legacy enterprise environment.
ANDREA RIBUOLI
ItPAss (Italy)
CLAUDE MULLER
COMMON Luxembourg
Claude has been working at Intesa Sanpaolo Servitia since 1986, starting on S/38 and then from 1989 on AS400.
He runs all activities around production, development, security, quality and system engineering.
He has been President of Common Luxembourg since 2012.
JAN VAN DE GRIENDT
COMMON Netherlands
JAN FREDRIK SAGDAHL
COMMON Norway
Jan Fredrik has been in IBM a long time, serving in many different positions. After he left IBM, he has worked as an independent business consultant.
He has been in the COMMON Norway Board the last 10 years and is now elected Chairman.
MICHEL ROETHLISBERGER
COMMON Romandie (Switzerland)
Michel is co-founder and CEO of InnoBoost SA and president of COMMON Romandie IBM Users Group since 2021. As IBM business Partner, he has more than 20 years experience in the Swiss market, notably in the banking sector and with scientific institutions. He is now focused on new IBM technologies like AI, post-quantum cryptography and Quantum computing.
Besides his strong interest in fundamental physics, he is also passionate about sailing and astronomical observations.
MATS LIDSTRÖM
COMMON Sweden
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.
He is president of Common Sweden/Data3, a member of CEAC – Common Europe Advisory Council and an IBM Champion for Power Systems.
HEIDI SCHMIDT
COMMON Switzerland
Heidi studied sociology and technical computer science. In this, at first glance, contradictory professional combination, she has discovered exciting (success) potential in the course of her career, which she likes to share with other managers in lectures and workshops. She is the managing partner of PKS Software GmbH and, with her team of over 50 women and men, she concentrates on software transformations in the legacy enterprise environment.
Steve Cast
Chairman, i-UG (UK)
Steve is the owner and Managing Director at Redbourn Business Systems, UK.
SIMON PORSTENDORFER
ISV Ecoystem Leader EMEA – IBM Systems Power
Simon spent the last 20 years with IBM in various sales roles from Client Executive in the Business Partner Channel up to being the Sales Leader for Scale Out Servers in Europe. He was the responsible Principal Offering Manager for Power Scale Out Worldwide during the Power9 launch with a focus on the non Linux business around IBM i and AIX. Right now he is driving an initiative in Europe to revitalize the ISV ecosystem for Power.