Speakers

Conference Speakers

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Rich Gibbons

Head of Content and Training, The ITAM Review

Rich has almost 15 years’ experience in the world of IT and software licensing, having been both a software sales manager for a VAR and a Microsoft licensing endorsed trainer.
A Northerner renowned for his shirts, Rich is a fan of most films, Hip-Hop, travel, football in general (and specifically MUFC), Marvel and reading as many books as possible. Finding ways to combine these with software licensing is always fun!

Rich Gibbons
Head of Content and Training, The ITAM Review

Amit Verma

Software Asset Expert, Philips

Amit Verma has almost 16 years of experience in the world of IT, Software asset management & licensing, having been both a SAM consultant and Microsoft licensing expert in Philips. He is a keynote speaker in various IT events held in India and globally, last year he was invited as an Independent speaker for SAM/Cloud challenges in the ITSMF Global conference held in Moscow Russia. This year he was nominated as the ITAM Professional of the year by ITAM Review.

Amit Verma
Software Asset Expert, Philips

AJ Witt

ITAM Industry Analyst, The ITAM Review

AJ Witt is ITAM Industry Analyst at The ITAM Review. Previous to joining the ITAM Review team in April 2018, he was Software Asset Manager for Carnival UK, operators of the P&O & Cunard cruise lines. Coming from a background in IT Infrastructure technical operations IT Security & Compliance, AJ is well-placed to share his experience of how dynamic SAM teams can build mutually-beneficial stakeholder engagement. 

AJ Witt
ITAM Industry Analyst, The ITAM Review

Rachel Ryan

Global Head of ITAM, Danske Bank

With 20+ years working within IT covering Software Asset Managing and Software Licencing I have gained experience working in global organisation with complex environments. I specialise in building winning ITAM Functions and ITAM Programs to ensure organisations can optimise their Software Estate while minimising risk and maximising value. In my role at Danske Bank I work with teams in the UK, Copenhagen, Vilnius -Lithuania) and India.

Rachel Ryan
Global Head of ITAM, Danske Bank

Martin Thompson

Owner & Founder, The ITAM Review

Martin is owner and founder of The ITAM Review, an online resource and community for worldwide ITAM professionals. Martin is also author of the book “Practical ITAM – The essential guide for IT Asset Managers”, a book that describes how to get started and make a difference in the field of IT Asset Management. On a voluntary basis Martin is the Chief Agitator at the Campaign for Clear Licensing, a contributor to ISO WG21 which develops the SAM International Standard ISO/IEC 19770 and board member of Free ICT Europe which supports the ICT secondary market.

Martin Thompson
Owner & Founder, The ITAM Review

Nigel Hopkins

IT Capacity Manager, IKEA

Nigel has been working in the IT domain for over 30 years across a number of countries. A common theme over the years has been his focus on process efficiencies, optimisation and risk mitigation. A little under a decade ago, he became involved in understanding and reporting on the license footprint across the IKEA estate. Over the past 18 months, along with a small internal team and their primary vendor, he defined, implemented and continues to develop an agile approach to license management and compliance reporting which directly empowers stakeholders in the larger organisation, through highly focused engagements, to understand, control and improve their license footprint.

Nigel Hopkins
IT Capacity Manager, IKEA

Aadil Nanji

Research Director, Info-Tech Research

Aadil Nanji is a Research Director at Info-Tech Research Group focused on contract review and vendor management. He also has experience in the areas of IT asset management (ITAM), software asset management (SAM).
At Info-Tech, Aadil provides IT leaders with the guidance, analysis, and tools they need to ensure their technology contracts are thoroughly vetted, benchmarked, and optimized. Aadil is also focused on the development and delivery of research to assist our members with the various aspects of vendor management to help drive accountable partner relationships. He has experience reviewing top IT contracts across both the public and private sectors, and helps clients evaluate products, software licensing, and vendors when negotiating the optimal contract terms for their unique requirements. He also assists clients in developing their approach to software compliance defense actions, resulting in a defensible IT deployment environment.

Aadil Nanji
Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group

Barry Pilling

Software Licensing & Asset Management Consultant, Cortex Consulting

Barry has worked in the IT industry for 20 years, with a decade in IT Asset Management.  He is an expert SAM consultant who has worked with multiple clients across a huge range of industry sectors. He specialises in data centre and infrastructure licensing, audit defence and processes across all platforms, and is a firm believer in simplifying software asset management. He is a tech geek at heart and is always looking to learn, whilst trying to help others.

Barry Pilling
Software Licensing & Asset Management Consultant, Cortex Consulting

Steve Carr

Founder & Managing Director, Mindcanyon

Steve Carr is a wellbeing, mental health, mental health recovery and suicide first-aid tutor, author, pilot, inspirational speaker and former IPS Service Manager integrated within AWP NHS Mental Health Teams.
He's qualified in many areas of mental and physical health, including youth and adult mental health first aid, awareness of mental health problems, life coaching, counselling skills, level 4 Suicide First Aid, level 3 personal training and one of only a handful of Suicide First Aid tutors in the country.

Steve Carr
Founder & Managing Director, Mindcanyon

Nyree Leslie

IT Controller, Swiss Post Solutions

I am the IT Controller at Swiss Post Solutions Ltd UK. We are a small IT Department so my role is very broad covering HAM, SAM, Licensing, Supplier Management, Contract management, Stock Control, IT Procurement, IT Budget and Financial Reporting, and I also pick up anything else that needs sorting out along the way!
In September 2019 I became a certified Mental Health First Aider and have found that using the tools I learned along with my own experiences of mental health has had an extremely positive impact on my work in ITAM and relationships with the wider business, earning me a Valued Award in March 2020 for my internal article “Adjusting to Homeworking and Social Distancing Tips”, and a nomination for Employee of the Year.
I’m also Co-Lead of the very newly formed ITAM Forum UK Chapter where we hope to create a valuable and inclusive community for ITAM Professionals. Please get in touch if you are interested in becoming a Member!
Outside of work, (or more accurately non-ITAM related stuff as I love to study ITAM) I play the flute in Audentior Symphony Orchestra in Watford and am a published Arranger of flute ensemble music. I enjoy reading, movies, baking, craft, nature walks, and napping with my dogs.

Nyree Leslie
IT Controller, Swiss Post Solutions

Piaras Macdonnell

Founder, License Hawk

Piaras MacDonnell is an expert in IBM Licensing. He is the founder of License Hawk – “Your Independent IBM License Experts”
His clients include Fortune 500 companies in the Logistics, Telecom, Banking and Healthcare sectors. Piaras and his team have assisted some of the largest companies in the world with their preparation for IBM License audits, Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) renewals and license and support cost reduction projects. Savings are frequently in the millions of dollars.
He is the Chapter Leader for ITAMorg in Ireland and EXIN accredited trainer. Piaras also represents Ireland on the ISO/IEC 19770 standards working group for IT Asset Management.
He is a regular speaker at ITAM conferences and online contributor on all areas of ITAM and SAM.

Piaras Macdonnell
Founder, License Hawk

Geoff Worsley

Independent SAM Consultant

Geoff Worsley, described as a “SAM Veteran”, over 20 years in the SAM industry – Ex-Auditor with a Big 4, SAM Manager in the Oil and Gas industry, SAM Solution Designer, SAM Strategist. Now supporting a number of organisations across Pharma and Retail with SAM Strategy and Optimisation of software licenses.

Geoff Worsley
Independent SAM Consultant

Désirée Weiss

EMEA Practice Lead for SAP License Consulting, Insight Technology Services SL

Désirée joined Insight SAP Licensing Consulting Services in October 2017 as Executive Consultant and now acting as EMEA SAP Practice Manager after working 20 years as IT Procurement Specialist and as Global SAP Engagement Manager for SAP Licenses, Support and Education in the Finance & Insurance sector.
“It is a passion for me and the team to add value to any company in need to receive the right guidance in SAP Software Licensing to secure compliance, cost reduction and future strategy.“

Désirée Weiss
EMEA Practice Lead for SAP License Consulting, Insight Technology Services SL

Justine McSweeney

IT Asset Manager, Volkswagen Financial Services

Justine McSweeney
IT Asset Manager, Volkswagen Financial Services

David Foxen

Principal Consultant, SAM Beast Consulting

David is an award winning ITAM professional and currently the Principal Consultant for SAM Beast Consulting Ltd, helping customers implement and mature successful IT Asset Management functions.
He has already implemented a successful IT Asset Management structure in a number of organisations. He has also saved millions of pounds via contract renegotiation, internal audits and optimising existing licenses. He has previously held a number of SAM roles including SAM Evangelist, ITAM Director, Global Software Asset Manager, Software Asset Manager and Software Asset Analyst.
Whilst always looking to learn, he is very enthusiastic and passionate about software asset management, IT Asset Management, Mobile Asset Management and software licensing. If you want to get in touch with David then the best way to do so is at david.foxen@sambeast.co.uk.  

David Foxen
Principal Consultant, SAM Beast Consulting

Nora Stolz

Well-being Strategist, Yoga Teacher, Breathing Expert and Executive Coach

Nora is a well-being strategist, yoga teacher, breathing expert and executive coach. Prior to building her own well-being practice that caters for corporate and team needs; as well as bespoke 1:1 and family well-being, Nora worked for 12 years in strategy roles at Facebook, BlackRock, PIMCO and JPM Morgan in London and Geneva; she also founded and ran a technology start-up in the payment and consumer technology space which reached users in 27 countries.
Nora is a certified and registered Vinyasa Yoga teacher (Global Yoga Alliance), a certified Happiness coach (Museum of Happiness). Academically, she holds a foundation degree in Positive Psychology from University of Pennsylvania (remote), two Masters’ degrees with a focus in organisational behaviour and innovation from Brighton University and Grenoble Graduate School of Business respectively (with distinction) and a Bachelor degree from University of Passau where she studied Economics, Law and Social Sciences. She is currently working towards her International Coaching Federation accreditation.

Nora Stolz
Well-being Strategist, Yoga Teacher, Breathing Expert & Executive Coach

Stéphane Joret

Senior Expert Consultant, Liscience

With 29 years of experience, Stéphane JORET is an ITSM and ITAM expert consultant. Amongst the French pioneers in these domains, he made his first ITAM project in 1993, SAM in 2000 and ITSM in 2005. He is an accredited ITIL trainer since 2009 and contributes to ITIL 4 at AXELOS, notably for ITAM as the lead author for this practice. He translated into French the EXIN SAM Specialist exam and the ITAMOrg ITAM Foundation training material.
Stéphane is specialized in ITAM, SAM and ITSM operating model implementation: process, organization and underpinning technology with transformation methods. Over the years, he developed a practical framework to drive such ITAM and SAM projects on the fast lane with ITIL integration.

Stéphane Joret
Senior Expert Consultant, Liscience

Rob Lees

Managing Director, Rob Lees Enterprises

Rob Lees is an experienced leader, manager and consultant with expertise in Procurement, IS,
Programme and Product Management. Rob has worked with the MoD, Vodafone, BT, Gartner,
Cadbury, Travelex, Unilever, Mitie, London Metal Exchange and others. Rob has a MBA from Henley
Business School and a BA from Oxford University. He is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute
of Procurement and Supply.

Rob Lees
Managing Director, Rob Lees Enterprises

David Nadal Morales

Global IT Vendor Management Lead (VMO), Israel Chemicals Ltd Group

David joined Israel Chemicals Ltd (ICL) in 2000 as IT Technical Manager and now acting as Global IT Vendor Manager for all Vendors.
"I am passionately believing in supporting my company providing needed support and guidance in gaining added value from existing Vendor contracts to make real our future IT strategies and roadmaps”

David Nadal Morales
Global IT Vendor Management Lead, Israel Chemicals Ltd Group

Kylie Fowler

Principal Consultant, ITAM Intelligence

Kylie is an experienced Software Asset Manager with a track record of enabling companies to optimise their IT estate through the creation of best practice and compliant SAM frameworks. Adept at leading vendor negotiations to drive outcomes that maximise IT investment, Kylie develops highly responsive SAM strategies that deliver reduced costs through efficient licence management and support future direction requirements.
Kylie operates as an independent consultant and has done since 2009, supporting organisations including Balfour Beatty and Interserve to leverage the benefits of IT asset management and achieve critical business objectives.
She is passionate about supporting businesses of all sizes to drive continuous improvement, reduce risk and achieve return on investment through the development of creative asset management solutions.

Kylie Fowler
Principal Consultant, ITAM Intelligence

Lauren Scott

Director Software Asset Management, Kronos

Lauren Scott has over 10 years of professional experience in program management, strategic sourcing and software asset management.  Lauren’s expertise includes contract negotiation, audit management, software asset management and program development and maturity. Currently, Lauren is the Director of Software Asset Management at Kronos Inc, a $1B+ software company that specializes in work force and human capital management. In this role she has helped mature the Kronos SAM program, reduced software spend, increased compliance and resolved several audits. This year she is expanding her role to include vendor management. Lauren is a Certified Software Asset Manager and is Six Sigma certified.  She holds a BS in Business Administration and Management from Nova Southeastern University. Lauren resides with her husband and two young children in Massachusetts.

Lauren Scott
Director Software Asset Management, Kronos

Solution Spotlight Speakers

Rob Price

Solutions Consultant, Snow Software

Rob has a 20 year Pre-Sales background in providing data protection and high availability solutions to safeguard some of the largest and most complex computing environments in the world. From large clusters to multi-tier information lifecycle management solutions, Rob has been at the forefront of data and information management solutions. Prior to entering ‘vendorland’ Rob held a variety of Systems Administration roles within large industry before taking a role as IT Manager for a large multi-site logistics organisation helping them navigate both the millennium bug and wholesale migration of their IT estate.
Since joining Snow Rob has bought new insights into the versatility of the Snow platforms and how they can be used to answer questions and provide capabilities outside of traditional SAM. And is leading the charge for Governance, Risk and Compliance capabilities.

Rob Price
Solutions Consultant, Snow Software

Brendan Walsh

Chief Commercial Officer, Origina

Brendan Walsh, Chief Commercial Officer at Origina, has over 20 years professional experience in the IT industry. Brendan leads the commercial team at Origina and is responsible for building their enduring customer relationships.

Brendan Walsh
Chief Commercial Officer, Origina

Andy Hill

ITAM Solutions Consultant, SHI

Having worked in the IT Service Management industry for many years, Andy transitioned across to assisting customers overcome the challenges of ITAM. Since his transition, he has worked for leading independent ITAM service providers, has been a consultant for a leading Licensing Services Provider and has recently joined the ITAM team at SHI where he works as a Solutions Consultant for the UK, France and US.

Andy Hill
ITAM Solutions Consultant, SHI

Herve Le Fell

Country Manager, France/Iberia

Hervé Le Fell dispose d’une solide expérience commerciale et managériale exercée au sein de différents acteurs du marché IT tels que Fujitsu ou encore Comparex dont il a été le Directeur général de 2013 à 2016. Avant cela, M. Le Fell était Directeur Général France d’Insight, un revendeur américain de licences logicielles et produits informatiques. Ces expériences lui permettent d’être déjà très au fait des enjeux liés à la gestion des actifs logiciels. Ingénieur diplômé de l’ESTI en 1984, il a débuté sa carrière en tant qu’ingénieur logiciel chez ICL France avant de se tourner vers l’avant-vente et le marketing. Après une dizaine d’années passes chez Fujitsu au poste de Directeur des ventes, Hervé Le Fell a intégré Econocom en tant Directeur general adjoint puis NEC Computers comme Directeur Général pour la France, la Belgique et UK. Hervé est aujourd’hui le Directeur général France et Ibéria chez Snow.

Herve Le Fell
Country Manager, France/Iberia

Jan Van Kalkeren

Service Line Lead IT Service Management, Softline Solutions

Jan Van Kalkeren
Service Line Lead IT Service Management, Softline Solutions

Mark Lillywhite

Solutions Consultant, Snow Software

Mark is a specialist in IT Asset Management (ITAM) and Configuration Management, working at Snow for 4 years. Mark speaks with 100’s of customers a year about their ITAM and SAM requirements and, increasingly, around SaaS discovery and cost optimization. Mark regularly contributes to the Snow Customer Community and presents regularly at Industry events, albeit virtually in the current climate!

Mark Lillywhite
Solutions Consultant, Snow Software

Lennart Martens

Key Account Manager Europe, PREO AG

Lennart Martens is a passionate licensing expert with a knowledge 10 years in various industries. For PREO, he is responsible for key (customers) account management all over Europe. He consults customers in licensing issues as well as in preparation for SAM-projects and audits and help them to optimise their IT-environment in order to find the best and efficient solution. Based on his broad knowledge of software-licensing, especially for Microsoft and Adobe, he is able to point out new opportunities for license optimisation and for an alternative approach into cloud-computing.

Lennart Martens
Key Account Manager Europe, PREO AG

Damien Juillard

Chief Operating Officer, Elée

Damien Juillard started his career in Telcos consulting +15 years ago. He joined Elee 8 years ago and has developed the Software Asset Management practice within the company. Damien now leads the new SamBox.io saas platform powered by Elee.

Damien Juillard
Chief Operating Officer, Elée

Mikkel Hessner

Cloud Solution Sales EMEA, Flexera Software

Mikkel thrives in formulating visions, use cases, and business cases in support of making the journey to a better future.
Addressing business challenges and opportunities with tech based solutions is what he does, evangelizing to all levels of business and driving sales cycles into large, complex organizations, to generate tangible value for end user organisations.

Mikkel Hessner
Cloud Solution Sales EMEA, Flexera Software

Solution Director, License Dashboard

Sean is a pioneer of Software Asset Management with over 20 years’ experience of helping organizations with software licensing compliance. He has been involved in more than 1,000 Software Asset Management (SAM) projects throughout the world, for organizations of all sizes (typically 500 to 120,000 desktops) and across all sectors.
During the last 10 years he has developed an industry-leading software asset and licence management tool (License Manager) that continues to deliver SAM services to some of the largest companies in the world.
Sean has been a Director at Investors in Software and Federation Against Software Theft (FAST), the world’s first organisation to promote the legal use of software and defend the intellectual property rights of software publishers as well as being instrumental in developing and specifying the internationally established ISO 19770-1 Software Asset Management standard.

Sean Robinson
Solution Director, License Dashboard

Mark Potts

Solutions Consultant, Snow Software

Mark has over 30 years of experience working in the IT Asset Management (ITAM) space, Mark is a specialist in automation and cloud management, working at Snow for over 2 years. Prior to working for Snow Mark was a Snow customer, so he has many years’ experience of using the Snow tools. Mark often speaks at our Snow Customer Community events and external industry events.

Mark Potts
Solutions Consultant, Snow Software

Phil Merson

Director of ITAM Consulting Services, SHI

As a 20-year veteran of the ITAM industry, Phil Merson has built ITAM solutions for hundreds of customers. Over the span of his career, Phil’s focus has been on designing and delivering world class consulting solutions to some of the world’s largest and most complex clients across a full spectrum of industry verticals.
Phil has built a name for himself in the industry as having a wealth of knowledge and experience, working with businesses to make sure their ITAM processes are relevant, efficient and operational, advising them on how to improve on their impact within the business and guiding them through the intricacies of managing hardware and software assets. Over the last two decades, Phil has steadfastly worked as a trusted counsel to a myriad of multi-national customers and has been deeply involved in business transformation for companies wanting to execute their ITAM and SAM projects.

Phil Merson
Director of ITAM Consulting Services, SHI

Michael Høegh Vilain

International Sales & Marketing Director, Relicense

Michael has worked in the IT industry for more than 30 years. IBM software division, Microsoft, Crayon Group. Michael joined Relicense 2 years ago, to build up their business in the Northern Region, and today he is also leading the international sales team, and drives the Marketing initiatives.

Michael Høegh Vilain
International Sales & Marketing Director, Relicense

Youssef Bouchakor

Key Account Manager France, PREO AG

Youssef is an expert in International Business Management. He started his career with the deployment, monitoring and maintenance of optical fiber networks. Youssef was active in Telecom Software, network testing, and measurement tools. He has been an active member and participant of several Hackathons regarding Circular Economy. Since his curiosity made him discover the pre-owned software market, Youssef has supported PREO Software as an account manager for French-speaking countries in Europe.

Youssef Bouchakor
Key Account Manager France, PREO AG

Matthias van Beeren

Service Line Lead Software Asset Management, Softline Solutions

Matthias van Beeren
Service Line Lead Software Asset Management, Softline Solutions