As founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief of Techstrong Group, Alan manages a broad array of businesses and brands including Techstrong Media, Techstrong Live, Techstrong Research, Devops.com, Security Boulevard, Techstrong TV, and Techstrong Learning. To do so and succeed, Alan has to be attuned to the world of technology, particularly DevOps, cybersecurity, cloud-native and digital transformation.
With almost 30 years of entrepreneurial experience, Alan has been instrumental in the success of several organizations.
Shimel is an often-cited personality in the security and technology community and is a sought-after speaker at conferences and events. In addition to his writing, his DevOps Chat podcast, TechStrong TV and Digital Anarchist audio and video appearances are widely followed.
Alan attributes his success to the combination of a strong business background and a deep knowledge of technology. His legal background, long experience in the field and New York street smarts combine to form a unique personality.
Mr. Shimel is a graduate of St. John's University with a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics, and holds a JD degree from NY Law School.
Currently, Howard is the CTO of an engineering research firm and runs the advisory portion of the business. He works with end user executives on strategic planning and technology vendors on market direction and how to reach their ideal customer.
She also runs Girls In Tech Uruguay, a global non-profit organization focused on the engagement, education, and empowerment of women and girls in tech, as well as educating children on STEAM. Mikaela is a member of a community of girls in AI called AI Wonder Girls and is also on the AI Research team at ORT University in Montevideo, Uruguay.
In addition, Mikaela plays a key role as part of the interdisciplinary group ANT. ANT aims to create artistic devices by integrating its three core disciplines - Art, Neuroscience and Technology. She also is part of Fibras, a community that supports projects using technology as a platform to generate social Impact.
For all her contributions in STEM, she won the Globant Award ¨Women That Build¨ and was selected as a finalist in Women In Tech awards under the category ¨Global AI Inclusion¨.
She’s also been featured in several publications, most recently with LifeWire, BBC news and MKAI, regarding AI. She has spoken at some conferences and events, including Women in Tech Global Conference, ValleyML, and Airflow Summit.
John Willis has worked in the IT management industry for more than 35 years. Previously he was an evangelist at Docker Inc., VP of solutions for Socketplane (sold to Docker) and Enstratius (sold to Dell), and VP of training & services at Opscode where he formalized the training, evangelism and professional services functions at the firm. Willis also founded Gulf Breeze Software, an award-winning IBM business partner, which specializes in deploying Tivoli technology for the enterprise. Willis has authored six IBM Redbooks for IBM on enterprise systems management and was the founder and chief architect at Chain Bridge Systems.
https://itrevolution.com/author/john-willis/
He has been consulting in many of these areas since 2001, starting as an analyst at Frost & Sullivan, and his independent practice was founded in 2005. JAA is based in Toronto, Ontario, and serves clients across North America as well as in Europe.
Jon’s thought leadership can be followed on his widely-read JAA’s Analyst Blog, along with daily commentary on Twitter and LinkedIn. In addition, Jon produces a monthly podcast - Watch This Space – which is a regular feature in his monthly newsletter, JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review.
He served as a judge for the Voice Summit 2019 Awards, and has been a Best in Biz Awards International judge since 2016. Also in 2019, Jon was named a “Top 50 Unified Comms Influencer”, and a “Top 30 Contact Center Influencer”. In 2018, Jon was included in a listing of “Top 10 Telecoms Influencers”, and “TOP VoIP Bloggers to Follow”.
He has been consulting about these technologies since 2001, and contributes to publishers and portals such as UCStrategies, Ziff Davis/VoIP News, TechTarget and Internet Telephony Magazine. Jon is frequently cited in the media, speaks regularly at industry events, and is an active member of the SCTC.
Mike Vizard is a seasoned IT journalist with over 25 years of experience. He also contributed to IT Business Edge, Channel Insider, Baseline and a variety of other IT titles. Previously, Vizard was the editorial director at Ziff-Davis Enterprise as well as editor-in-chief at CRN and InfoWorld.
ValueOps is a new approach to data-driven decision-making that connects your business operations and technology functions together to drive business outcomes. By successfully employing ValueOps, your teams can build a new level of transparency, traction and trust that drives collaboration across departments. This will allow your teams to maximize resources and align efforts toward delivering meaningful business outcomes.
Outside of work, you'll find me traveling the globe and satiating my voracious appetite to learn new things. I love science, science fiction, and learning about people and cultures.
You can learn more about Broadcom Software, Value Stream Management, and ValueOps by clicking the below links in the ‘Featured’ section. Please don’t hesitate to connect with me on LinkedIn if I can be of assistance
Caroline Wong is the chief strategy officer at Cobalt. As CSO, Caroline leads the security, community and delivery teams at Cobalt. She brings a proven background in communications, cybersecurity and experience delivering global programs to the role. Caroline’s close and practical information security knowledge stems from her broad experience as a Cigital consultant, a Symantec product manager and day-to-day leadership roles at eBay and Zynga. Caroline also hosts the Humans of InfoSec podcast, teaches cybersecurity courses on LinkedIn Learning and has authored the popular textbook, Security Metrics, A Beginner's Guide. Caroline holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and computer sciences from UC Berkeley and a certificate in finance and accounting from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Andy is the Advisory CISO at Orca Security. He is the Operating Partner at cybersecurity venture capital firm, YL Ventures, and is an advisor to several cyber security startups, including Vulcan, Uptycs, Grip, Perygee, Vendict, Valence, Piiano, and Eureka. He is the founder and CEO of Duha, a leadership development company that focuses on bringing training to people earlier in their careers, and is writing a book on leadership. Andy writes the Straight Up Security column for CSO Online.
Andy Ellis is a seasoned technology and business executive with deep expertise in security, managing risk, and leading an inclusive culture. A graduate of MIT and former US Air Force officer, Andy designed, built, and brought to market many of Akamai’s security products. His leadership helped propel the Fortune 1000 company from its start as a content delivery network into an industry powerhouse with a billion-dollar dedicated cybersecurity business. In his twenty-year tenure, Andy led Akamai’s information security organization from a single individual to a 90+ person team, over 40% of whom were women. In running Akamai’s security program, Andy designed systems, governed risk management, implemented policy, and supported go-to-market functions. Widely respected across the cybersecurity industry for his pragmatic approach to aligning security and business needs, Andy regularly speaks and writes on cybersecurity, leadership, diversity & inclusion, and decision-making.
Long active in internet policy and governance circles, Andy supported Akamai CEOs in roles on the NIAC and NSTAC, as well as directly served on the FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council. A recognized thought leader on security issues, Andy has spoken at conferences like RSA and Business of Software, and lectured at the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, Army War College, BC Law, and the MIT Sloan School.
Andy has received a wide variety of accolades, including the CSO Compass Award, Air Force Commendation Medal, Spirit of Disneyland Award, Wine Spectator Award of Excellence (for The Arlington Inn), and was the winner of the Sherman Oaks Galleria Spelling Bee. He was inducted into the CSO Hall of Fame in 2021.
He currently serves on Harvard University’s Visiting Committee to IT. After receiving a degree in computer science from MIT, Andy served as an officer in the United States Air Force with the 609th Information Warfare Squadron and the Electronic Systems Center.
His accomplishments include:
- Helped create the CVE and is now an Emeritus member of the advisory board.
- Fixed Autorun for hundreds of millions of systems
- Led the design and delivery of the Microsoft SDL Threat Modeling Tool (v3)
- Created the elevation of privilege threat modeling game
- Wrote Threat Modeling: Designing for Security and Threats: What Every Engineer Should Learn from Star Wars
- Co-authored The New School of Information Security
Beyond consulting and training, Shostack serves as a member of the Blackhat Review Board, an advisor to a variety of companies and academic institutions and as an Affiliate Professor at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington.
As founder and president of digital transformation analyst firm Intellyx, he advises, writes and speaks on a diverse set of topics, including digital transformation, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, DevOps, cloud-native computing, AI/big data, cybersecurity, no-code/low-code platforms and tools, observability, legacy modernization, internet of things, enterprise architecture, mainframes and hybrid IT, among other topics. He is also a notorious skeptic on the topics of cryptocurrency, NFTs, DeFi, Web 3.0 and the Metaverse.
Mr. Bloomberg currently writes for SiliconANGLE and other publications. During his five years writing for Forbes, his articles were often viewed by more than 100,000 readers. He has published over 1,900 articles (270 for Forbes alone), spoken at over 500 conferences and webinars and he has been quoted in the press and blogosphere over 2,600 times.
Mr. Bloomberg is the author or coauthor of five books: Low-Code for Dummies (Wiley, 2019), The Agile Architecture Revolution (Wiley, 2013), Service Orient or Be Doomed! How Service Orientation Will Change Your Business (Wiley, 2006), XML and Web Services Unleashed (SAMS Publishing, 2002) and Web Page Scripting Techniques (Hayden Books, 1996).
At SOA-focused industry analyst firm ZapThink from 2001 to 2013, Mr. Bloomberg created and delivered the Licensed ZapThink Architect (LZA) Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) course and associated credential, certifying over 1,700 professionals worldwide. He is one of the original managing partners of ZapThink LLC, which was acquired by Dovel Technologies in 2011.
Prior to ZapThink, Mr. Bloomberg built a diverse background in eBusiness technology management and industry analysis, including serving as a senior analyst in IDC’s eBusiness Advisory group, as well as holding eBusiness management positions at USWeb/CKS (later marchFIRST) and WaveBend Solutions (now Hitachi Consulting) and several software and web development positions.
Michael began his career leading business process transformation and ERP implementation programs for global clients across Consumer, Life Sciences & Health Care, and Technology, Media & Telecom industries. Then, after spending time as a technology executive at a leading software company, Michael returned to Deloitte to lead the firm’s Global Innovation efforts focused on the development, scaling, and commercialization of technology solutions.
A graduate of the University of Kansas, having earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Michael resides in Boca Raton, FL with his wife and two children.
With over 15 years of experience as a professional writer, editor and project coordinator, Amanda’s work can be found in magazines, newspapers, books, blogs and podcasts around the world. She has been recognized as a Top 20 Under 40 Professional and is regularly invited to tech conferences to report on the latest tech announcements. Amanda draws her inspiration from constant learning, reading, volunteering and networking. She is a proud wife and momma, and Angelo State University graduate who currently resides in Texas.
Kevin has authored several books and is often asked for comment by the world’s leading media including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, Fortune, BBC, Suddeutsche Zeitung, USA Today, Associated Press, Guardian and The Telegraph, along with security press including SC Magazine, Dark Reading and Network World. Kevin has a B.S. in chemistry from the College of William and Mary and an MBA from Wake Forest University.
Tracy is CEO and co-founder of DeployHub. She is an expert in software supply chain management and pipeline DevOps practices with a hyper-focus on microservices and cloud-native architecture. She has served on the OpenSSF Governing Board (2022-23) as a General Member Representative, the OpenSSF Governing Board Committee, and the Continuous Delivery Foundation (CDF) Technology Oversite Committee. She previously served as a founding board member of the CDF and the Eclipse Foundation. She is the executive director of the Ortelius open source project, a supply chain evidence catalog.
Tracy is recognized by TechBeacon as one of the top 100 DevOps visionaries and speaks at many professional events such as CDCon, Open Source Summit and CloudBees DevOps World. She also hosts Tech. Strong. Women. on TechstrongTV, where she celebrates amazing technologists who happen to be women. Tracy was recognized as a Women In Technology (WIT) Honoree for her work in the DevOps area. You may also find her as an expert panelist on webinars along with some of her friends at JFrog, Techstrong Group and the Linux Foundation, or quoted in various technical journals around DevOps and open source security subjects
Passionate Architect! Tracy (Trac) Bannon is a senior principal with MITRE Labs. She is an accomplished software architect, engineer, and DevSecOps advisor, having worked across commercial and government clients. She thrives on understanding complex problems and working to deliver value at speed.
She’s passionate about mentoring and training, and enjoys community and knowledge-building with teams, clients and the next generation. Trac guest lectures at universities, leads working groups, and shares experience stories.
Trac is a long-time advocate for diversity in technology, helping to narrow the gaps as a mentor, sponsor, volunteer and friend. Ms. Bannon is a featured industry speaker, blogger, author and accomplished podcaster - including 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 and 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝟱𝟬𝟱! 𝗗𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 (part of Sourced Network Productions).
Prior to joining AT&T, Theresa was an industry analyst with the boutique analyst firm voke and Gartner. While at Gartner, Theresa spearheaded the application quality ecosystem, championed application security technology and created the successful Application Development conference.
As a product manager at Borland International Software, Theresa launched the iconic Java integrated development environment JBuilder. While at Sun Microsystems, Theresa led strategic marketing for the Jini project – a precursor to the internet-of-things (IoT).
Theresa’s professional career began with McDonnell Douglas where she was a software developer on the C-17 military transport plane and held a U.S. Department of Defense Top Secret security clearance.
Theresa holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
As founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief of Techstrong Group, Alan manages a broad array of businesses and brands including Techstrong Media, Techstrong Live, Techstrong Research, Devops.com, Security Boulevard, Techstrong TV, and Techstrong Learning. To do so and succeed, Alan has to be attuned to the world of technology, particularly DevOps, cybersecurity, cloud-native and digital transformation.
With almost 30 years of entrepreneurial experience, Alan has been instrumental in the success of several organizations.
Shimel is an often-cited personality in the security and technology community and is a sought-after speaker at conferences and events. In addition to his writing, his DevOps Chat podcast, TechStrong TV and Digital Anarchist audio and video appearances are widely followed.
Alan attributes his success to the combination of a strong business background and a deep knowledge of technology. His legal background, long experience in the field and New York street smarts combine to form a unique personality.
Mr. Shimel is a graduate of St. John's University with a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics, and holds a JD degree from NY Law School.
Currently, Howard is the CTO of an engineering research firm and runs the advisory portion of the business. He works with end user executives on strategic planning and technology vendors on market direction and how to reach their ideal customer.
She also runs Girls In Tech Uruguay, a global non-profit organization focused on the engagement, education, and empowerment of women and girls in tech, as well as educating children on STEAM. Mikaela is a member of a community of girls in AI called AI Wonder Girls and is also on the AI Research team at ORT University in Montevideo, Uruguay.
In addition, Mikaela plays a key role as part of the interdisciplinary group ANT. ANT aims to create artistic devices by integrating its three core disciplines - Art, Neuroscience and Technology. She also is part of Fibras, a community that supports projects using technology as a platform to generate social Impact.
For all her contributions in STEM, she won the Globant Award ¨Women That Build¨ and was selected as a finalist in Women In Tech awards under the category ¨Global AI Inclusion¨.
She’s also been featured in several publications, most recently with LifeWire, BBC news and MKAI, regarding AI. She has spoken at some conferences and events, including Women in Tech Global Conference, ValleyML, and Airflow Summit.
John Willis has worked in the IT management industry for more than 35 years. Previously he was an evangelist at Docker Inc., VP of solutions for Socketplane (sold to Docker) and Enstratius (sold to Dell), and VP of training & services at Opscode where he formalized the training, evangelism and professional services functions at the firm. Willis also founded Gulf Breeze Software, an award-winning IBM business partner, which specializes in deploying Tivoli technology for the enterprise. Willis has authored six IBM Redbooks for IBM on enterprise systems management and was the founder and chief architect at Chain Bridge Systems.
https://itrevolution.com/author/john-willis/
He has been consulting in many of these areas since 2001, starting as an analyst at Frost & Sullivan, and his independent practice was founded in 2005. JAA is based in Toronto, Ontario, and serves clients across North America as well as in Europe.
Jon’s thought leadership can be followed on his widely-read JAA’s Analyst Blog, along with daily commentary on Twitter and LinkedIn. In addition, Jon produces a monthly podcast - Watch This Space – which is a regular feature in his monthly newsletter, JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review.
He served as a judge for the Voice Summit 2019 Awards, and has been a Best in Biz Awards International judge since 2016. Also in 2019, Jon was named a “Top 50 Unified Comms Influencer”, and a “Top 30 Contact Center Influencer”. In 2018, Jon was included in a listing of “Top 10 Telecoms Influencers”, and “TOP VoIP Bloggers to Follow”.
He has been consulting about these technologies since 2001, and contributes to publishers and portals such as UCStrategies, Ziff Davis/VoIP News, TechTarget and Internet Telephony Magazine. Jon is frequently cited in the media, speaks regularly at industry events, and is an active member of the SCTC.
Mike Vizard is a seasoned IT journalist with over 25 years of experience. He also contributed to IT Business Edge, Channel Insider, Baseline and a variety of other IT titles. Previously, Vizard was the editorial director at Ziff-Davis Enterprise as well as editor-in-chief at CRN and InfoWorld.
ValueOps is a new approach to data-driven decision-making that connects your business operations and technology functions together to drive business outcomes. By successfully employing ValueOps, your teams can build a new level of transparency, traction and trust that drives collaboration across departments. This will allow your teams to maximize resources and align efforts toward delivering meaningful business outcomes.
Outside of work, you'll find me traveling the globe and satiating my voracious appetite to learn new things. I love science, science fiction, and learning about people and cultures.
You can learn more about Broadcom Software, Value Stream Management, and ValueOps by clicking the below links in the ‘Featured’ section. Please don’t hesitate to connect with me on LinkedIn if I can be of assistance
Caroline Wong is the chief strategy officer at Cobalt. As CSO, Caroline leads the security, community and delivery teams at Cobalt. She brings a proven background in communications, cybersecurity and experience delivering global programs to the role. Caroline’s close and practical information security knowledge stems from her broad experience as a Cigital consultant, a Symantec product manager and day-to-day leadership roles at eBay and Zynga. Caroline also hosts the Humans of InfoSec podcast, teaches cybersecurity courses on LinkedIn Learning and has authored the popular textbook, Security Metrics, A Beginner's Guide. Caroline holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and computer sciences from UC Berkeley and a certificate in finance and accounting from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Andy is the Advisory CISO at Orca Security. He is the Operating Partner at cybersecurity venture capital firm, YL Ventures, and is an advisor to several cyber security startups, including Vulcan, Uptycs, Grip, Perygee, Vendict, Valence, Piiano, and Eureka. He is the founder and CEO of Duha, a leadership development company that focuses on bringing training to people earlier in their careers, and is writing a book on leadership. Andy writes the Straight Up Security column for CSO Online.
Andy Ellis is a seasoned technology and business executive with deep expertise in security, managing risk, and leading an inclusive culture. A graduate of MIT and former US Air Force officer, Andy designed, built, and brought to market many of Akamai’s security products. His leadership helped propel the Fortune 1000 company from its start as a content delivery network into an industry powerhouse with a billion-dollar dedicated cybersecurity business. In his twenty-year tenure, Andy led Akamai’s information security organization from a single individual to a 90+ person team, over 40% of whom were women. In running Akamai’s security program, Andy designed systems, governed risk management, implemented policy, and supported go-to-market functions. Widely respected across the cybersecurity industry for his pragmatic approach to aligning security and business needs, Andy regularly speaks and writes on cybersecurity, leadership, diversity & inclusion, and decision-making.
Long active in internet policy and governance circles, Andy supported Akamai CEOs in roles on the NIAC and NSTAC, as well as directly served on the FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council. A recognized thought leader on security issues, Andy has spoken at conferences like RSA and Business of Software, and lectured at the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, Army War College, BC Law, and the MIT Sloan School.
Andy has received a wide variety of accolades, including the CSO Compass Award, Air Force Commendation Medal, Spirit of Disneyland Award, Wine Spectator Award of Excellence (for The Arlington Inn), and was the winner of the Sherman Oaks Galleria Spelling Bee. He was inducted into the CSO Hall of Fame in 2021.
He currently serves on Harvard University’s Visiting Committee to IT. After receiving a degree in computer science from MIT, Andy served as an officer in the United States Air Force with the 609th Information Warfare Squadron and the Electronic Systems Center.
His accomplishments include:
- Helped create the CVE and is now an Emeritus member of the advisory board.
- Fixed Autorun for hundreds of millions of systems
- Led the design and delivery of the Microsoft SDL Threat Modeling Tool (v3)
- Created the elevation of privilege threat modeling game
- Wrote Threat Modeling: Designing for Security and Threats: What Every Engineer Should Learn from Star Wars
- Co-authored The New School of Information Security
Beyond consulting and training, Shostack serves as a member of the Blackhat Review Board, an advisor to a variety of companies and academic institutions and as an Affiliate Professor at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington.
As founder and president of digital transformation analyst firm Intellyx, he advises, writes and speaks on a diverse set of topics, including digital transformation, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, DevOps, cloud-native computing, AI/big data, cybersecurity, no-code/low-code platforms and tools, observability, legacy modernization, internet of things, enterprise architecture, mainframes and hybrid IT, among other topics. He is also a notorious skeptic on the topics of cryptocurrency, NFTs, DeFi, Web 3.0 and the Metaverse.
Mr. Bloomberg currently writes for SiliconANGLE and other publications. During his five years writing for Forbes, his articles were often viewed by more than 100,000 readers. He has published over 1,900 articles (270 for Forbes alone), spoken at over 500 conferences and webinars and he has been quoted in the press and blogosphere over 2,600 times.
Mr. Bloomberg is the author or coauthor of five books: Low-Code for Dummies (Wiley, 2019), The Agile Architecture Revolution (Wiley, 2013), Service Orient or Be Doomed! How Service Orientation Will Change Your Business (Wiley, 2006), XML and Web Services Unleashed (SAMS Publishing, 2002) and Web Page Scripting Techniques (Hayden Books, 1996).
At SOA-focused industry analyst firm ZapThink from 2001 to 2013, Mr. Bloomberg created and delivered the Licensed ZapThink Architect (LZA) Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) course and associated credential, certifying over 1,700 professionals worldwide. He is one of the original managing partners of ZapThink LLC, which was acquired by Dovel Technologies in 2011.
Prior to ZapThink, Mr. Bloomberg built a diverse background in eBusiness technology management and industry analysis, including serving as a senior analyst in IDC’s eBusiness Advisory group, as well as holding eBusiness management positions at USWeb/CKS (later marchFIRST) and WaveBend Solutions (now Hitachi Consulting) and several software and web development positions.
Michael began his career leading business process transformation and ERP implementation programs for global clients across Consumer, Life Sciences & Health Care, and Technology, Media & Telecom industries. Then, after spending time as a technology executive at a leading software company, Michael returned to Deloitte to lead the firm’s Global Innovation efforts focused on the development, scaling, and commercialization of technology solutions.
A graduate of the University of Kansas, having earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Michael resides in Boca Raton, FL with his wife and two children.
