Speakers

There is a wealth of experience and talent in this user community (I’m talking to you), and one of the high points is having you present it. We’re actively seeking professionals interested in presenting session segments in 5-10 minute Lightning Talks. Just send us an email to info@plex2e.com and indicate what session you are interested in being a presenter, or just let us know you would like to lend a hand and present at the 14th conference October 2024. We’ll work with anyone who has expertise in a relevant area and wants to talk about it.

– Roger Griffith, User Community President

2024 Conference Speakers

Mary Langen

Vice President, Midrange Dynamics North America
President, Northeast User Groups Conference

Mary began her career as a bar code champion during the AS/400 years, followed by stints as a high-performance semiconductor technical product marketer at AMD and Motorola. She rejoined the IBM midrange community in 2003 and subsequently founded Midrange Dynamics North America with President and CTO Donna Westmoreland. She has been actively working within the IBM i community since then, serving in various volunteer roles, including president of NEUGC (Northeast User Group Conference) and member of various COMMON committees.

Tim Higgins

Tim, a Sr. Solutions Architect who has been with A&I for over 11 years and has worked with software for over 30! Fueled by copious amounts of coffee, good music, and all things tech, Tim takes pride in utilizing his extensive IT background to support A&I’s diverse technical needs, specifically for DevOps products.

JP Gallo

JP is a Senior Account Director working at A&I Solutions for more than 3 years and was previously with Computer Associates & Broadcom for 25 years. He has been partnering and supporting CM First on DevOps products for more than a decade. JP enjoys playing pickleball.

Russell Berkeley

Experienced professional software publisher, architect, manager, and developer with over 25 years’ experience designing, testing, and delivering enterprise scale applications, Russell Berkeley has been in the Synon/2E world since the late 80’s. Originally working on 2E 2.0 back on a system/38. Through the past 30+ years he has been involved “on & off” with 2E working for various companies such as: TD Bank, Slater Steels, Synon Professional Services, Sterling Software, Datanomix, American Express, Coca-Cola, Scotia Bank and currently ICS Courier.

Russell has also done various talks in the Late 90’s at the 2e/PLEX user conferences throughout the world providing his own Tips’s, Tricks and Techniques to bend and twist 2E to do things not thought possible.

Russell’s last presentation done in October 2020 showed many tricks with DSPFIL sizing, auto refresh, group jobs, PC Command, use of QCM.

Jordy Castillo

Software engineer with experience developing and integrating applications made with CA Plex and Visual Studio. Experience with Administrative, Agricultural and Education solutions.

Abram Darnutzer

Abram has worked with CA Plex for over 10 years, primarily on modernizing applications using CMFirst’s M3 Solution and WebClient. He particularly enjoys working on modernizing User Interface design and streamlining applications for the end users. He works on all aspects of development for a wide variety of Plex applications, but using HTML5/Javascript to bring out the full potential of an application is his personal favorite endeavor.

Don Estes

Don Estes has more than 40 years’ experience in IT, and has been specializing in application modernization since the late 1980s. He has worked with 6 different specialist modernization companies, and had his own independent consultancy in modernization for 20 years until accepting a position with Atos Syntel in 2016 to head up their modernization practice in North America. As part of his goal to eliminate risk in modernization projects, he developed the Dynamic Business Rule Extraction process, for which he was issued a patent in 2017.

He has a multi-disciplinary academic background, holding a degree in Physics from M.I.T. and a Master’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Texas. He lives in suburban Boston.

Eamonn Foley

Eamonn as 25 years of experience in the Synon/2e world with roles that include architect, project manager, developer, and instructor. Covering diverse business such as manufacturing, warehouse, finance and insurance. He is currently the IT Operations Manager at Feralloy Corporation.

Eric Giron

Eric has been working with CA Plex for 17+ years developing specialized solutions for multiples companies in the Americas. He works as a Senior consultan at CMFirst as lead developer por CM MatchPoint and lead support engineer for CM MatchPoint and CM Webclient.

Roger Griffith

Roger Griffith is president of the Plex/2E community. He has been developing enterprise applications with Plex/2E for over 32 years and is a world-leading Plex/2E Evangelist. His passion for these tools is legendary.

Roger Hammer

Roger is Director of Software Development & Services Managing internal product development and also services projects for CM First customers. Roger is Product Owner for CM evolveIT and provides knowledge of HelpSystems Automate RPA tools to support CM First Customer RPA needs.

Andrew Leggett

Andrew has over thirty years in the IT industry working in both the US and the UK. He began his career in the UK as a mainframe COBOL programmer, then stepped up to model-based design with Synon’s Obsydian product (now CA Plex) while it was in its infancy. In 1996 he joined Synon Professional Services in the USA as a software consultant, working with customers around the country. After two years, he joined Synon in the UK, then worked as an independent contractor for a number of companies around London. In 2006, he returned to the USA to join ADC Austin and then CM First, where he provides consultancy, mentoring, and training for CA Plex, CM WebClient, HSync and mobile development.

Alexandre Lévis

Alexandre began his CA Plex career nearly two decades ago as a developer for an insurance broker, where he spent nearly 15 years. He then transitioned into management as a software team coordinator. Now at le Barreau du Québec, Alexandre leads a team focused on modernizing our legacy applications to newer languages.

Maya Najjar

Maya is a Computer Engineer with 20 years of experience as a software developer. She worked for 2 years in a French-Lebanese Bank as an Analyst Programmer using COBOL, then as a Technical Team Leader in a French-Lebanese Software Solution provider for Banks. She moved to work in one of the largest Banks in Lebanon for 13 years as a Senior Developer using CA 2E (Synon 2E) on the IBMi (AS400), where she Worked extensively on the development of the Core Banking application. After that she moved to the US and worked with CMFirst as Senior Consultant for different clients in different industries. Maya worked also on HelpSystems’ Automate RPA tool to support CM First Customer RPA needs.

Mark O’Brien

As head of CM M3 sales, Mark is responsible for driving worldwide revenue, helping customers transform their legacy software assets into modern applications that exploit the latest technologies. He is also manages the company’s strategic partnerships with IBM, CA Technologies, and others. Prior to joining CM First, Mark spent several years as a marketing and sales executive selling software tools and modernization services worldwide for MicroFocus, Borland, TogetherSoft and Semantic Designs. Previously Mark was Corporate Vice President of Marketing for Xerox Corporation, and held leadership roles at IBM, Okidata and Radius Corporations.

Mark holds an MBA from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. Away from the office, he is a competitive multi-hull sailboat racer, hiker and tennis player.

John Rhodes

A founder of CM First Group in North America, John is a seasoned technology professional focused on enterprise software development. As an architect and project lead for Kraft Foods, John developed and managed large scale IBM i (CA 2E/Synon) and IBM z based business intelligence systems centered on logistics, transportation, and ERP. Later with CA Technologies and CM First Group, John has worked across different industries on the modernization and mobile/web enablement of CA 2E and CA Plex based systems. John holds a degree in Computer Science from Texas A&M University and a Master’s from New York University, and enjoys boating and wakeboarding on Lake Austin.

Mark Schroeder

Mark has worked in software development for over 20 years. He utilized his extensive experience in application development and web development to help CM First move forward in enhancing and modernizing. Mark is an expert in the using CA 2E (Synon 2E) for developing applications on the IBMi (AS400). Mark is particular interest in helping companies with 2E applications extend the life of their applications and modernize the applications to fit business needs.

Lily Taharudin

Lily is the lead developer for CM WebClient, and is an expert in UX design and implementation using JavaScript.

Kiyoshi Terasawa

Kiyoshi has worked with Synon, Sterling Software, and CA Technologies, and has devoted his career to CA Plex (and 2E). He was the one of the last core Plex architects and is an author of ObVariableGroupX and CA Plex .NET-Client (WPF) and many other features. Surprisingly, he doesn’t have a degree in Computer Science, but rather a degree in Agriculture Science.

Boris Vulgarin

Borys’ day job includes support and development of Plex solutions for CM First Group customers.

Past Conference Speakers

Lauren Arakawa

Lauren Arakawa is a Client Success Manager for North America evangelizing the value of data security on cloud to clients across the country. In Lauren’s current role, she is viewed as an ambassador to deliver new and existing business strategy and support for IBM’s data security on cloud. Lauren has been featured on IBM’s webcast – Riding the Data Privacy Wave – How Will You Stay Afloat? and worked alongside IBM CTO, Cindy Compert, to identify classification patterns for California Consumer Privacy Act.

John Balsavage

John Balsavage is a tech entrepreneur and the President of A&I Solutions, a leading IT software and services provider and Broadcom Tier 1 Partner. He has over twenty years of IT experience and is passionate about leveraging advanced and integrated solutions to help companies maximize efficiency and drive business success.

Tyler Band

Experienced professional software publisher, architect, manager, and developer with over 25 years’ experience designing, testing, and delivering enterprise scale applications, products, and services.

Jonathan Bolton

Jonathan Bolton began his IT journey in 1982 when he purchased and installed a System/34 running IBM MAPICS in a family business in which he was one of the principals, migrating to the first generation of AS/400 in 1989. With the sale of the business assets to larger firm in 1995 he took up IT as a full-time occupation. Working with MAPICS (now Infor XA) for over 25 years at two different firms he added 2E to his portfolio. Having recently left his last position he is now with CM First Group in both 2E development and IBM i operations roles.

Alberto Calvo Garcia

Alberto Calvo is an engineer with Sodisa and presents our spanish language sessions.

Pat Cameron

Director, Automation Systems at HelpSystems. Certified RPA Professional with 25 years experience in the software-driven automation industry including 16 years in professional services and 9 years as a presales architect/engineer.

Chris Carlson

I was born in Rockford, IL but grew up in Atlanta. I graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.A. in Business Marketing. I live in Atlanta with my wife, 3 boys and our black lab, Bo. My favorite hobbies are playing golf, watching football, grilling out and spending time with my family and friends.

Ramon Castillo

Product Manager at SODISA. Ramon has 9 years of experience on analysis, development and implementation on various development projects. Including projects in the financial sector, agroindustrial production cycles and education.

Gerente de Producto en SODISA. Ramon tiene 9 años de experiencia en análisis, desarrollo e implementación de proyectos de sistemas de información. Entre ellos sistemas de Control Financiero, Control de Producción Agroindustrial y Control Estudiantil-Cobros Bancarios.

Daniel Cruz

Daniel is a software developer with 5 years of experience working on CA Plex and CM WebClient. He’s specialized on projects involving Plex to WebClient migrations and enhancements.

Ingeniero en Sistemas con 5 años de experiencia trabajando con CA Plex y WebClient, especializado en proyectos de migración a WebClient y diseño de mejoras personalizadas para este mismo.

Raghu Daita

Raghunath Daita (Raghu) has been a Principal Software Engineer in the CA 2E Team for the past five years. He has over 11 years’ experience in the software industry on IBM i and allied technologies. He is based out of Hyderabad, India. Outside of work, he is an avid trekker with a love for the outdoors.

Dinar Dhond

Dinar Dhond is CIO at FMS Solutions.

Robert Graybill

Robert Graybill joined FMS in 2000 and has over 25 years of experience in the retail grocery industry. Currently, Mr. Graybill leads the FMS team in meeting their goal of helping retailers to succeed through benchmarking, best practices, and decision support.

Christoph Heinrich

Christoph has spent more than tweny years in the IT industry in the areas of software development and project management. During this period he has held positions as senior consultant and development manager for several companies in Switzerland and the USA. Over the past fourteen years Christoph has managed CM First, focusing on the development of the MatchPoint Software Change Management solution and on creating enterprise software solutions for many different customers worldwide. Christoph holds a B.S. degree in Information Technology and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He enjoys skiing in the slopes of Utah and competitive cycling.

Jon Kelly

Jon Kelly helps clients reduce IT risk and achieve regulatory compliance by protecting their data. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 2011 and began his IBM career selling middleware infrastructure solutions. Jon ran the Analytics SaaS business in the southeast for 4 years before moving to the client success team in support of the Data Security business, the role he presently occupies.

Amy Lugibihl

Amy Lugibihl is CA Plex/2E Community Co-President and an independent consultant who works in various roles on high visibility projects for major corporate clients. She is a project leader, project coordinator, developer, and mentor for her clients.

Dan Magid

Dan Magid has decades of experience with the IBM midrange and is a frequent speaker and writer on IBM i modernization topics. He began his career at IBM working with System/34s, System/36s and System/38s.  He went on to become CEO of Aldon and oversaw the creation of the Aldon Change Management System and led its growth into the leading software change management system for IBM i.   At Aldon, he worked with the Synon staff (in their Larkspur headquarters) on their change management strategy.   He then held several executive positions in the IBM i arena at Rocket Software, before returning to the entrepreneurial world and founding Eradani and serving as CEO.   At Eradani, Dan works with IBM i users to help them take advantage of the latest technology and innovations on the IBM i.

Darryl Millington

Darryl brings a unique capability to any role in IT as a high-calibre professional with 25+ years experience in business and technology across industries in Australia, NZ, Asia, UK and USA. Darryl is the founder of Hawkbridge, a solutions provider to the CA 2E community.

Renu Motwani

A strategist by profession, and an entrepreneur by design -Renu has led product directions and strategies in startups as well as big technology companies. Renu’s work is driven by the principles of delivering value to businesses, and productivity to her products’ users. Renu believes that technology should continue to evolve to become more relevant and applicable to not just new use cases but also to innovate the ways in which we do things today. Her products exemplify these principles.

Arun Painuly

CA Plex Principal Software Engineer, Arun Painuly, has worked with the CA Plex Team for over 8 years. Arun has over a decade of software industry experience and is skilled in C/C++/.Net/Windows/Unix and allied technologies. He is based in Hyderabad, India.

Dheeraj Pershad

Result-oriented Product Manager with diverse experience across IT Product Management, Services Sales, Software Design and Development with exposure to the entire Product Development Lifecycle.

Marcel Prugel

Marcel holds a Master of Science in Informatics degree, with a focus on business information systems and business processes. With an impressive college rap sheet, Marcel had already held three solid positions before graduating in 2015. With each position bringing their own unique challenges, Marcel has gained a deep understanding on everything from application development, to predictive analytics and cloud marketing. It’s no wonder that he’s now a solutions engineer for AXON IVY. From POC to implementation, Marcel has become the “go to” guide for AXON IVY. In his downtime, Marcel enjoys sailing, skiing, and anything that involves traveling with a backpack.

Hugo Rodriguez

Hugo has developed software computer systems since 1982. In 1997, Hugo founded Sodisa for CA Plex consulting and developing software in Honduras. Today, Sodisa develops software for export and performs outsourced projects for companies located in the Americas.

Hugo Rodriguez

CEO at SODISA. Hugo has been a full time software developer since 2011 and has focused on developing digital products for more than 5 years. His favorite development area to work on is mobile and web development.

Gerente General en SODISA. Hugo es un ingeniero en sistemas a tiempo completo desde 2011 y ha estado enfocado en el productos digitales por más de 5 años. Su area favorita de desarrollo es el desarrollo móvil y web.

Jose Sanchez

Software developer born in Choluteca, Honduras. José has 5 years of experience developing various projects and informational solutions. He has experience on analysis, development and implementation on both CA Plex and CM WebClient.

Ingeniero en Sistemas, nacido en Choluteca, Honduras, 5 años trabajando en el area de Desarrollo de Sistemas y Soluciones Informáticas. Experiencia en Desarrollo e Implementación de Proyectos de Sistema de Información, Análisis y Programación, Desarrollo con CA Plex y WebClient.

Dario Soria

Dario is a Lead Technical Consultant working with HelpSystems Services. He consults on a variety of accounts, enabling them to automate their processes across their organization. He helps customers every day looking to optimize their processes to ensure efficiencies and automation opportunities.

Jeremy Stent

I currently live in Boise Idaho where I work for United Heritage Insurance. I have been a Plex developer since about 2000, working in Texas, South Carolina, Georgia, and now here.
I have enjoyed many of the Plex/2E conferences and gatherings where I have learned a lot. I hope to be able to share some ideas I have had to boost usability for other Plex developers.

Rolph Stephan

Rolf is COO and Managing Director for Axon Ivy, a Swiss-based low code business process automation platform.

John Sullivan

Cybersecurity Specialist, IBM Security Guardium
John Sullivan is technical specialist covering North America for IBM Security Guardium Data Protection family of products. He has over 25 years of experience in various development, support, sales and deployment teams, working to help customers solve their complex security problems. John is based out of Austin, Texas.

Zlatko Talevski

Zlatko Talevski leads the digital transformation and delivering of all IT strategies and capabilities across a global enterprise at Laufer Group Intl. This includes data analytics, business intelligence, software development, technical support, infrastructure, cyber security, and all technology services. As a key contributor to the company’s strategic and planning process, he is responsible both for the day-to-day technology operation and (BPQM) Business Process Quality Management team.

Andreas Tyart

Andreas Tyart heads Laufer Group’s “Think tank” – the Business Process and Quality team. The department is helping all areas of the company improve efficiency and quality with better processes, business intelligence and tailored software solutions. Andreas has been 20 years in IT, most of that in Logistics.

Leslie Wiggins

Senior Product Manager with a rich background in both product marketing and product management, with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry. Skilled in Product Launches, Pricing Strategy, Sales Enablement, Go-to-market Strategy, and Product Marketing. Strong professional with an MBA from Georgetown University – The McDonough School of Business.

Hugo E. Rodríguez T.

Ingeniero de Sistemas, nacido en Guatemala, con más de 30 años de experiencia en el Análisis, Diseño, Desarrollo e Implementación de Sistemas de Información Bancarios, Financieros, Comerciales, Hospitalarios y de Producción Agroindustrial.

Gerente General de Soluciones de Información y Sistemas Automatizados, S.A. (SODISA) y presidente de Grupo SODISA a nivel centroamericano, empresa con contratos de desarrollo de software y servicios en Centroamérica y USA.

Experiencia en formulación de estrategias sobre tecnologías de la información en diferentes empresas a nivel Centroamérica.

Amplio conocimiento del mercado de bienes y servicios tecnológicos a nivel de la región centroamericana.

Participación en congresos internacionales en Montevideo, Uruguay, San Jose Costa Rica, Guatemala, Managua, Nicaragua, Austin, Texas y Montreal, Canadá promoviendo los servicios de personal técnico Hondureño en modalidad de nearshore services.

Ramon Edgardo Castillo Núñez

Ingeniero en Sistemas, nacido en Choluteca, Honduras, 6 años desempeñándome en el área de Análisis, Desarrollo de Sistemas y Soluciones Informáticas en el rubro Estudiantil, Financiero y Control de Producción Agroindustrial.

Gerente de Producto de Soluciones de Información y Sistemas Automatizados S.A. (SODISA) actualmente con un aproximado de 12 proyectos en curso entre ellos Sistemas de Control Financiero, Control de Producción, Control Estudiantil-Cobros Bancarios y Supervisión de Proyecto Móvil.

Experiencia en Desarrollo e Implementación de Proyectos de Sistema de Información, Análisis y Programación, Desarrollo de Informes Dinámicos y Atención y Soporte al Cliente nacional e internacionalmente.

Participación en eventos nacionales e internacionales como CA Partner Fast Forward Panamá, Taller de Desarrollo de Aplicaciones Móviles Tegucigalpa – Honduras, Conferencia Internacional WebConfLatino Honduras, Simposio de Open Source Honduras, Simposio DBMS / Seguridad Informática y Desarrollo Web Honduras.