I. Saridakis, MEng
Contributing Author

Ioannis Saridakis, M.Eng. is a Chemical Engineer and Head of the Chemistry and Chemical Department at the Hellenic Organization for Standardization (ELOT).

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Kumar Sarma, PMP
Contributing Author

Kumar Sarma is a CCNA,CCNP*,PMP and Six sigma green belt certified and also currently pursuing CISSP.He is currently working as team lead in Quality Assurance with Netscout Systems India Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India. Prior to that he was associated with companies like HCL technologies (Cisco division) and EMC data storage Ltd. His main area of interests include Information security, leadership, people/risk management and six sigma in addition to his core area of Networking domain.  About his present company Netscout systems-(NASDAQ: NTCT) has been an industry leader for advanced network and service assurance solutions for over twenty years. NetScout's breakthrough technology solutions provide trusted, comprehensive real-time and historical performance intelligence, including advanced early warnings and rapid, definitive problem analysis. These capabilities are vital to IT operators who are accountable for reducing the Mean Time to Resolution  For more info on company products ,visit www.netscout.com.
He can be reached at kumarsarma@yahoo.com. 

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John Schlichter
Contributing Author

John Schlichter, founder and CEO of OPM Experts, is a recognized leader in the field of Organizational Project Management. "John Schlichter has contributed greatly to the Project Management Institute," said Greg Balestrero, CEO, PMI. John was the original Program Manager of the PMI OPM3 Program from the origination of the program in 1998 through delivery of the OPM3 prototype in 2002, and was subsequently contracted by PMI and DNV in the development of the OPM3 ProductSuite. "In John Schlichter's role as leader of the OPM3 program, he has immeasurably contributed to the growth of the (project management) profession," said Rebecca (Becky) Winston, J.D., Chair of the Board of Directors, PMI. John has implemented OPM3 in leading federal and commercial organizations in a variety of industries, and he is widely regarded as the world's foremost expert in the content and application of PMI's OPM3 Standard. John holds an MBA from the Goizueta Business School of Emory University and is a PMI Certified OPM3 ProductSuite Consultant. Visit http://opmexperts.com. For further discussion on the subject, please visit http://opmexperts.com/mb/viewtopic.php?t=61. Registration to join the discussion on the message board is free. Email address is jschlichter@opmexperts.com, and phone number is +1-404-252-4299.

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Galina Sekletova
Contributing Author

Galina Sekletova PhD, is a Vice President of the Russian Project Management Association – SOVNET, Russian National Certification Organization SOVNET – SERT Chief. She has a PhD in Technical Science and is an assistant professor for project management on the Faculty of State Academy's Program for Professional Retraining and Professional Skill Development for Executives and Specialists in Investment Fields. She has published more than 40 scientific research works including 3 monographs and 2 textbooks on the subjects of organization and planning of construction, management of information systems, and project management..

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Jed Simms
Contributing Author

Jed Simms, Founder and Executive Chairman of Capability Management and project-sponsor.com, has pioneered the focus on project delivery capability as a competitive weapon. Born in Britain, Jed has lived and worked in Europe, the Middle East and, for the past 30 years, in Australia. The project-related positions he has held include analyst, project manager, sponsor, steering committee member, investment management committee member, PMO Manager, CIO and business line manager. The industry sectors he has worked in include utilities, manufacturing, insurance, banking, telecommunications, and services, and he has consulted to many more. Jed is a former Asia-Pacific IT Strategist for The Boston Consulting Group and led worldwide studies into what drives and destroys project value. Through these studies he discovered and quantified the correlation between the maturity of an organization's capability to direct and manage projects and the financial returns it receives over time. Using these findings, he developed a suite of value delivery management approaches and methodologies (Programs) to help organizations to quickly learn for themselves how to increase their capability and consistently get extraordinary value from their projects. Professor James McKinney of Harvard Business School rate Jed's work as "World class, three to five years ahead of competition." The Australian Information Industry Association recognized his Programs as one of Australia's "Outstanding Product Innovations" in 2004. An awarded public speaker in Australia and internationally, Jed has written extensively on how business can better manage projects and use IT. His book, The Search, written as a novel, provides business executives with the knowledge they need to confidently and successfully direct and manage IT. He has also published more than 100 articles and a series of eBooks and "How To" guides. He has pioneered the concept of ‘value delivery management.  Jed can be contacted at Jed_Simms@capability.com.au.

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Peter Simon
Contributing Author

Peter Simon, FAPM, APMP, is managing partner at Lucidus Consulting Limited in the UK.  He has nearly 30 years of experience as a project management consultant and practitioner across a wide range of industries and business sectors.  In his early career he worked for a variety of organizations in the Oil & Gas, Transportation and Utilities sectors and was responsible for all aspects of project planning, control and risk management on projects in Europe, the Middle East and the USA.  In his later career, he was successful in building up the PM consulting businesses for PMProfessional Group and ESI International.  Peter was an elected member of Council for the Association of Project Management (APM) during 1998-2000 and is a former member of APM's Executive and Professional boards.  He was Chairman of the APM's Risk SIG for four years, and was Project Manager and Managing Editor of the APM's PRAM Guide published in October 1997.  Peter is a co-developer of the APM's Introductory Certificate and Practitioner Qualifications for project management, and has been highly involved in other APM certification programs.  He is also a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and is a Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) and PRINCE2 Practitioner.  He is widely published and provides PM consulting support to a wide range of organizations.  More information about Lucidus can be found at www.lucidusconsulting.com.  Peter can be contacted at Peter@LucidusConsulting.com.

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Dennis Stauffer
Contributing Author

Dennis Stauffer is a PMI SeminarsWorld leader and President of Insight Fusion, Inc. an idea lab and consultancy that helps individuals, teams and organizations break through their self-imposed barriers to innovation. His work includes research into the behaviors that contribute to innovation. Dennis leads Igniting Innovation, A Clockwise Approach – A Two-Day Seminar on Innovative Thinking and Leadership. Questions and comments can be directed to dstauffer@insightfusion.com.

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Cheryl Strait

Contributing Author

Cheryl L. Strait is a principal consulting manager at Robbins-Gioia, LLC, in the United States. She has more than 20 years of experience in business management, including project management, process re-engineering, organizational change management, and records and information management. Her career includes serving as a global program manager for a records management implementation spanning 34 countries and involving more than 100,000 individuals. There, Cheryl helped the organization successfully manage its records in all phases—creation, storage, retrieval, and disposal. Robbins-Gioia has been dedicated to delivering management consulting solutions to government agencies and Fortune 500 companies since 1985. Robbins-Gioia combines thought leadership, disciplined processes, industry-based knowledge, and integrated tools to help global customers optimize their business processes, accelerate change, and establish time, cost, and quality improvements to transform their businesses. For more information, please call Robbins-Gioia, LLC at 800-663-7138, or visit the Web site at www.robbinsgioia.com.

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Alan Stretton, PhD
Contributing Author

Alan Stretton, PhD, Fellow of the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) and former chair of the PMI Standards Committee, is one of the world's most widely respected figures in the project management profession. Alan retired from his second project management-related career in 2006, as Adjunct Professor of Project Management in the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), Australia, which he joined in 1988 to develop and deliver a Master of Project Management program. Alan has a BE Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Tasmania and a Masters Degree in Mathematics from the University of Oxford (UK).  He was Tasmanian Rhodes Scholar for 1948. He was awarded an honorary PhD in Strategy, Programme & Project Management by Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Lille, France in 2005.  Prior to joining UTS, Mr Stretton worked in the building and construction industries in Australia, New Zealand and the USA for 38 years, which included the management of construction, R&D, information and control systems, internal management education programs, and organisational change projects. At the end of 1987, Alan retired from his first career after 26 years at Lend Lease Corporation, now one of the world's largest construction and property development companies. Since 1982, Alan has been involved in the development of PM-related courses and curricula at major universities in the Sydney area, and in the development of professional standards for both the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the USA and the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM). Alan Stretton was elected a Life Fellow of AIPM in 1996. Since 1977, Alan Stretton has published over 70 professional articles and papers related to project management, including 34 presentations at various project management conferences around the world.  Alan was named a global advisor to PMForum in August 2007.  Additional information about Alan Stretton can be found at http://www.pmforum.org/pm%20forum%20team/advisors.htm#3.

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Kenneth T. Sullivan, PhD
Contributing Author

Kenneth Sullivan is the deputy-director of the Performance Based Studies Research Group (PBSRG) and the director of the Facility Management Research Institute (FMRI) as an assistant professor in the Del E. Webb School of Construction at Arizona State University. His research focuses on risk management, cost engineering, productivity, best value, and leadership in facility management and the built environment. He is well versed in quantitative methodologies, statistics, and data analysis techniques and teaches courses in advanced estimating, research methods, and facility management. Sullivan's research fundamentally seeks to shift established organizational paradigms into a more efficient structures composed of measurement-based systems of accountability, resulting in the reduction of inefficient practices of over-management and the increase of risk control. As co-founder, and now Secretary of Research for the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB) Task Group 61, Kenn has been commissioned to generate a global performance metric for construction and facility management, and create a new journal focusing on performance information and risk. Kenn has also published 58 peer-reviewed papers and is a frequent speaker, both domestically and internationally. Kenn can be contacted at Kenneth.sullivan@asu.edu.

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Marie Sullivan
Contributing Author

Marie Sullivan is a research specialist at Arizona State University's Del E. Webb School of Construction. Marie's key principal areas of teaching and research are in Quality Assurance and Risk Minimization. Her studies also include theoretical modeling, prototype development and testing, and implementation of systems. She has authored over 20 International conference proceedings (papers) in efficient processes, best value, and construction performance. She oversees training and projects from the following research clients: US Army Medical Command, City of Miami Beach, State of Washington and the University of Minnesota. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in Public Administration. Her eight years of research expand in the following areas of performance documentation, implementation of performance concepts and information, and theoretical development of the systems delivering construction, services, and systems. Marie can be contacted at Marie.kashiwagi@asu.edu.

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Myroslava Symonenko
Contributing Author

Myroslava Symonenko, Brand Manager at Program-Ace LLC, is an experienced business analytics and marketing specialist, focused on international campaigns and cooperation projects. As brand-manager of AceRemoteProject she is responsible for development and promotion of new IT-tools targeted at PM professionals worldwide. You can send an e-mail for Myroslava to M.Symonenko [at] program-ace.com. 

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Hiroshi (Hiro) Tanaka
Contributing Author

Hiroshi (Hiro) Tanaka is the PMFORUM Correspondent for Japan and is the founder and the National President of the Japan Project Management Forum (JPMF), fellow and special project management delegate of ENAA, Japan and is one of the distinguished leaders of the global PM community. He was an invited speaker at PM conferences in 15 countries. Hiro is also a member of PMI, IPMA-PMA (India; fellow), IPMA-SOVNET (Russia), AIPM, PMCC (Japan) and SPM (Japan).

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Aleks Tarabykin
Contributing Author

Aleks Tarabykin is a software engineer. He completed his Bachelor and Master degrees in Computer Science at Tomsk State University (Russia) in 1997. He was working for TomskTelecom Corp and Contek Ltd in Russia and moved to Boston, USA in 2001. He was working for 6 years in Eagle Investment Systems, a fast growing company providing an enterprise-level system for Investment Accounting and Reporting for Mutual/Hedge Funds, Brokerage and Insurance Companies. Currently, Mr. Tarabykin attends Harvard Extension School and works towards earning his Master Degree in Management. He also works as an independent consultant helping several companies to set up and successfully operate offshore software development teams. He lives in the Greater Boston Area, MA, USA and can be reached with questions or comments regarding this article, ideas for new ones or business opportunities by email at sas@tarabykin.com.

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Tom Taylor
Contributing Author

Tom Taylor is a founding partner of Buro Four - an eminent project management outfit based in UK - see www.burofour.co.uk. He is a Certificated Project Manager, a former chairman and current vice President of Association for Project Management (APM). He was awarded the inaugural President's Medal by APM in 2007. - see www.apm.org.uk for information about APM. Tom has over thirty years experience in front line project and programme management including the Centenary Project for Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), the Cable and Wireless College, National Tennis Centre for Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and with many other types of projects, contract forms and teams. He is an active manager, advisor, consultant, lecturer, speaker, author and occasional broadcaster - with an enthusiastic, knowledgeable approach. His recent publications for project management practitioners, through dashdot, include "Characteristics of Effective Project Managers", "GMPM and other modern afflictions affecting project managers", "Management in Practice" and "How to Select the Right Project Manager" - which have touches of good sense and good humour. He is continuing to research and promote further pragmatic topics including PM's contributions to Sustainability, the Environment and Green Issues. Tom is a principle of dashdot - see www.dashdot.co.uk and can be contacted at ttaylor@dashdot.co.uk.

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Brenda Treasure
International Correspondent Australia
Based in Melborne

Brenda Treasure, PMP, is an International Correspondent for PMForum and PM World Today in Melbourne, Australia. She is also a contract project manager for Telstra Corporation in the Service Management Group as Senior Project Manager for the National IT Transformation Project for Customer Care & Billing. Brenda is also a certified SDI (The Strength Deployment Inventory®) facilitator and delivers leadership training for organisations throughout the Asia/Pacific Region. Brenda has been actively practicing Project Management for over 15 years in both a permanent role and consulting through her own company for private organisations, government agencies and in the IT & Telecommunications arena. Previous contract roles as Senior Project Management for a key technology program – Jersey for Ericsson Australia, involving the delivery of the 3G Mobile network technology across Australia for Telstra; Business Services Manager for Toll, Corporate IT, responsible for delivery of all IT projects and overall governance of the project delivery team incorporating the Project Office. Brenda served as Technology Implementation Manager for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, during 2005-2006 where she was responsible for the overall implementation of technology across all venues. From 1994 until 2005, Brenda held IT project management or technical lead roles for such companies as Superpartners, Toll Logistics, Workcover, Accompli Technologies, Ansett Australia, Telstra, Hermes Precisa, Eastern Energy/TXU and Ernst & Young. Very active within the Project Management Institute (PMI®) for over 8 years, Brenda served as Professional Development Director & President of the PMI Melbourne Chapter during 2001-2003. In 2003 Brenda received the PMI Australian Chapters' Distinguished Contribution Award'. She served as Communications Director for PMI's Women in Project Management Specific Interest Group (WiPM SIG) during 2004-2006; Asia/Pacific Representative for PMI's Component Services Member Advisory Group during 2006-2008 and Volunteer Coordinator on the Core Team of PMI's 2nd Edition of the Program Standard and Program Chair PMOZ2008. Currently Brenda is serving on the 2009 PMI Board Nominating Committee and is Program Chair PMOZ 2009. Brenda graduated as Australia's first Representative from PMI's Leadership Institute Masters Class 2007 in Budapest. She speaks regularly at PMI Component & Leadership Meetings and global Congresses. Brenda has a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management from the University of Canberra and is certified by PMI as a Project Management Professional (PMP®). Based in Melbourne, Australia, Brenda can be contacted at brenda.treasure@bheservices.com.au.

PMI® and PMP® are registered trademarks of the Project Management Institute.

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Michel Thiry
Contributing Author

Michel Thiry, MSc, FAPM, PMI Fellow, is Managing Partner of Valense Ltd.  He has over 30 years worldwide professional experience and has worked in many cultural environments. He is recognized as a worldwide authority in strategic applications of project, program and value and has supported the development and implementation of a number of strategic programs and organisational change for large multinational organizations. Michel is a regular Keynote Speaker for major International events and has been a Seminar Leader for PMI® SeminarsWorld since 2001. He is a visiting professor at Henley Management College (UK), UTS in Sydney (Australia) and Polyfinance Business School in Casablanca (Morocco). He has written and lectured widely in International forums, both at the Academic and Practice levels, and written many book chapters and a book. In 2006 he was awarded PMI Fellowship for his continued contribution to project management and in 2007 he was nominated Fellow of the Association for Project Management (APM) in the UK.  Michel is also a PM Ambassador™ and is available for speaking engagements worldwide; see his profile at http://www.pmforum.org/ambassadors/ambassadors.htm


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John Tiso
Contributing Author

John Tiso is a senior engineer in the Cisco Technical Assistance center (TAC). He is currently the speaker for the Cisco Networkers troubleshooting IPCC Express seminar and the Contact Center troubleshooting seminar at the CIPTUG conference. He has served as an Expert on the “Ask the Experts” for Cisco's Netpro Forum. Mr. Tiso is a published author and serves as a technical editor for Cisco Press. He is also CCIE certified #5162. Prior to Cisco, he architected and managed large scale technology deployments. He is currently enrolled part-time in graduate studies at Harvard University.


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Ishkhan Topalian
Contributing Author

Ishkhan Topalian is the Compliance Project Manager for an auto insurance company and manages all projects that result because of changes in laws resulting from legislative, judicial, or regulatory actions. He has been handling projects for the past 4 years in this same capacity. Mr. Topalian is enrolled in the Project Management EMBA program at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and just completed the PM Certificate phase (year 1) of the program.


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