Jan Aleman

CEO, Servoy, B.V.
 

Jan Aleman is the CEO of Servoy, B.V. - an application development and deployment software that specializes in assisting ISVs move their products to SaaS while maintaining their on-premises clients. Prior to helping found Servoy, Mr. Aleman was an owner of Professional Data Management (PDM) -- an IT company specializing in building data-oriented solutions. Besides custom solutions, PDM developed a number of innovative products for Internet and Database solutions, like plug-ins. More than 20,000 users are currently employing these products worldwide in companies such as: Apple, Sony, Genentech, Endemol, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Time, USA today and others. Mr. Aleman is a sought after speaker about SaaS and Rich Internet Applications (RIA) presents at conferences and conferences across Europe, South America and the USA.  His keynote sessions at ServoyWorld are always highly anticipated.

Patrick Bultema

CEO, Codebaby

Patrick Bultema is CEO of CodeBaby, a new media, internet software company providing innovations for online customer experience and conversion metrics. Throughout his career, Patrick Bultema has been recognized as an industry and company maker. He has served as an executive, venture investor, board member, and advisor to tens of venture-financed startups.  He was most recently a Venture Partner with vSpring Capital. He was CEO of XAware, and CEO of FrontRange Solutions, a global CRM software company. He was founder and Executive Chairman of Knowlix, and was Chairman and General Manager of the Help Desk Institute, then a Ziff-Davis company.

A noted author and speaker, Patrick is recognized as one of leading experts in the customer industry ... bringing together technology and customer experience.  He was founding Executive Editor of Customer Support Management Magazine, and has been an thought leader in the CRM space.  Patrick holds a Bachelor’s degree from California State University and a Master’s from Princeton.

Merrill R. (Rick) Chapman

Managing Editor and Publisher of Softletter & Conference Chairman
 

Rick Chapman is the managing editor and publisher of Softletter, the industry's premier business publication. Rick has worked in the software industry for over 24 years with such firms as MicroPro and Ashton-Tate. He is the author of The Product Marketing Handbook for Software (Aegis Resources) and In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High Tech Marketing Disasters.

Peter Coffee

Vice President of Platform Intelligence, salesforce.com
 

Peter Coffee is director of Platform Intelligence at salesforce.com. He was formerly the Technology Editor at eWEEK, a national multimedia center of expertise in enterprise infrastructure technology and practice. He has 23 years' experience in advancing and evaluating information technologies and practices as a developer, manager, consultant, educator, and internationally published author and industry analyst.

Based near Los Angeles, Coffee has written product reviews, technical analyses and opinion columns concerning disruptive forces in IT tools and practices; he has appeared on CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox, and PBS newscasts addressing Internet security, the Microsoft antitrust case, wireless telecom policies, and other eBusiness issues.

His two books to date are the Ziff Davis Press tutorial "How to Program Java" in 1996 and "Peter Coffee Teaches PCs." Coffee holds an engineering degree from MIT and an MBA from Pepperdine University, and has taught in the department of computer science at UCLA and at Pepperdine's Graziadio School of Business and Management and the Chapman College School of Business.

Sharon Mertz

Gartner Research Director, SaaS, CRM, Russian Software Markets
 

Sharon Mertz is a director in Gartner Research, where she is focused on customer relationship management (CRM), software as a service (SaaS) and the software markets in Russia. Ms. Mertz is an international business professional with more than 25 years of experience in strategic consulting and management directed toward the introduction and impact of emerging technologies in the marketplace.

Prior to joining Gartner, Ms. Mertz was an associate partner at IBM, working with the global research organizations to evaluate emerging business opportunities. She held an international assignment as practice leader for IBM's strategic consulting organization in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Ms. Mertz also held management roles at KPMG, HP, Bull Worldwide Information Systems and Digital Equipment. She is an accomplished speaker and has addressed audiences at conferences and events internationally. Ms. Mertz is also a member of the faculty at the Graduate School of Business, Southern New Hampshire University.

"I enjoy analyzing the implications of global market forces and IT industry trends on our clients' strategic business models. Emerging technologies have significantly altered the international business landscape and have transformed the globalization process. Anticipating the impact of these forces on the market and extrapolating from them to form actionable strategies and opportunities for our clients is an exciting and ongoing challenge." She has a Doctorate in Business Administration from Sourthern New Hampshire University, a C.S.S. C.S.S., Administration and Management, Harvard University, Class Marshal, and a B.A., Art History and German Literature, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi.