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Ask the Expert

Grappling with a tough business-technology challenge? Tap one of our battle tested experts. They have know-how to help you understand and leverage IT for competitive advantage.

Alison Smith
Senior Research Analyst, AMR Research Inc.
Over her 25-year career, Alison has developed, installed, and supported supervisory control and manufacturing execution systems in a number of Fortune 500 manufacturing environments.
Colin Masson
Research Director, AMR Research Inc.
Colin is a research director for manufacturing operations and chemical and process industries at AMR Research. He began his career with National Chemical Products, a Division of Sentrachem and now a Dow Chemical subsidiary, in plant operations, working with the company for fourteen years and eventually serving as Chief Information Officer. He also served as Chief Technology Officer for Marcam, a process Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) company, in addition to working at Invensys developing the company's real-time enterprise strategy. His expertise also includes business process management and enterprise application integration. Masson holds a BSc Honors in Chemical Engineering from The University of Surrey, England.
Dave Kasabian
Research Director, AMR Research Inc.
Dave Kasabian brings more than 20 years of business experience within performance management and business intelligence to his position as a research director in AMR Research's Enterprise Strategies Service group. Before joining AMR Research, Dave was a practice director at Alvarez & Marsal Business Consulting, where he focused on requirements definition and vendor selection of business intelligence and performance management solutions. Prior to Alvarez & Marsal, Dave spent 13 years in a variety of roles at performance management software vendors, gaining diverse experience in product marketing, services management, client advocacy, and channels and implementation. Dave received his BA from the University of New Hampshire.
David Alschuler
Principal, Industry Directions Inc.
David has been an industry analyst in the enterprise software sector for 10 years and was a software marketing executive for the prior 15 years. He currently follows manufacturing software solutions for Industry Directions. From 1998 to 2005 he directed the Enterprise Applications research teams at Aberdeen Group. Before joining Aberdeen, David held executive leadership positions including: VP of Sales and Marketing at Xchange, Inc., a leader in customer relationship management; SVP of Sales and Marketing for Work Management Solutions, a developer and marketer of project and program management software for Fortune 1000 IT organizations; VP of Marketing for leading PLM vendor Parametric Technology Corporation; and VP of Alternate Channel Distribution for Computer Corporation of America.
Doug Engel
National Manufacturing Practice Leader, Deloitte
With over 30 years of Big Four client service experience, Doug has served manufacturers in virtually every industry, many with significant global operations, primarily in the consumer products, life sciences and distribution sectors. He functions in a variety of roles, from lead client service partner to practice and industry leadership. Doug is also a member of the firm's Global Manufacturing Industry Steering Committee and the Management Committee of Deloitte's Management Solutions Practice. Most recently, he led Deloitte's efforts to perform a global manufacturing benchmarking survey covering over 650 manufacturers. Doug has authored numerous articles about various issues impacting today's manufacturers, including how supply chains are a key differentiator. In addition, he has addressed a number of professional audiences on topics such as supply chain management, globalization, innovation, product development, collaboration and cost management.
John M. Hill
Principal, ESYNC
John advises clients on strategies for implementing bar code, RFDC & RFID, warehouse and transportation management systems. Prior to joining ESYNC, John was COO/CEO of a number of automatic data collection and supply chain execution systems firms. He is also a co-founder of the Automatic Identification Manufacturers (AIM) Trade Association and a charter member of AIDC 100, a non-profit association of automatic identification / data capture (AIDC) professionals. John is also former president of the Material Handling Education Foundation Inc. and the Material Handling Institute Inc., and is a member of the Board of Governors of the Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA). He is also a co-founder of MHIA's Supply Chain Execution Systems & Technology Group and is a faculty member of The Logistics Institute at Georgia Institute of Technology.
Joshua Greenbaum
Principal, Enterprise Applications Consulting
Mr. Greenbaum is a market research analyst and consultant specializing in the intersection of enterprise applications and e-business. Greenbaum has more than 15 years of experience in the industry as a computer programmer, systems analyst, author and consultant.
Kenneth B. Amann
Director of Research, CIMdata Inc
A graduate of Georgia Tech, Mr. Amann has 35 years of experience researching and working with Product Lifecycle Management and Product Data Management architectures, as well as developing computer-based engineering applications and document / information management systems. Mr. Amann has held senior positions in PLM marketing, development, and consulting. His experience includes evaluating corporate engineering and manufacturing operations, managing PLM programs, recommending collaborative and concurrent engineering and product information management solutions, implementing PLM solutions, and developing and evaluating requests for proposals. Prior to joining CIMdata, Mr. Amann was the managing director for PricewaterhouseCoopers' Technology Leadership Group, where he conducted research into and evaluated emerging PLM technologies and vendor products based on these technologies.
Mike Donovan
President,R. Michael Donovan & Co. Inc.
Mike Donovan has over 30 years of experience as a consultant to mid- and large manufacturers. His firm, R. Michael Donovan & Co., Inc. has completed over 1000 consulting engagements assisting client organizations in many countries to achieve operational excellence in all areas of a manufacturing enterprise. Mike has authored two books, over 200 articles and frequently speaks to business groups about operational excellence topics. In addition to his consulting career, Mike served as vice president of operations for an international multi-plant manufacturer.
R "Ray" Wang
Principal Analyst, Forrester Research Inc.
As a member of Forrester's Tech Vendor Strategy and Enterprise Applications & Business Process Platforms research teams, Ray analyzes trends in ERP for the enterprise and mid-market, delivers strategic guidance in software licensing and pricing, researches business processes such as the order management cycle and continuous customer management, and assesses functional areas such as Customer Data Integration and the impact of SOA on packaged applications. With this understanding of the overall ecosystem of solutions, technology, and system integrators, Ray provides strategy and guidance for many governmental and commercial clients navigating through the vendor selection process.
Richard H. Caro
CEO, CMC Associates
In addition to running CMC Associates, Dick is the Chairman of ISA SP50 and formerly of IEC (International Electrotechnical Committee) Fieldbus Standards Committees. Before joining ARC Advisory Group, Dick held the position of Senior Manager with Arthur D. Little, Inc. in Cambridge, MA, and was a founder of Autech Data Systems, and director of marketing at ModComp. In the 1970s, The Foxboro Company employed Dick in both development and marketing positions. He holds a BS and MS in Chemical Engineering, and an MBA. He holds the rank of Fellow of the ISA, and is a Certified Automation Professional. In 2005 Dick was named to the Process Automation Hall of Fame. He has published three books on automation networks.
Sath Rao
Director - Industrial Automation and Process Control
Sath has over 12 years of experience in design, engineering, deployment of automation solutions and has been part of best practices benchmarking assignments for several Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Rao has also consulted for several leading blue-chip clients and venture capital firms on growth strategy, innovation and manufacturing strategies.
Simon Ellis
Research Program Director
In his 15-year career, Ellis has developed specialized knowledge of low-cost sourcing, RFID, data synchronization, lean, Six Sigma, and other supply chain disciplines and technologies.