About this Blog

This LANSA blog contains posts from a variety of experts from LANSA staff around the world on a wealth of subjects. We intend to use this blog  to share information and exchange ideas with the LANSA community.

If you have a suggestion for a subject that you would like us to write about, please comment on this post and we will take it into consideration.

Blog author bios

Bob Gleisner, Director of Professional Services at LANSA Inc.
Bob draws on over 25 years experience working with a variety of IBM midrange systems across a wide range of industries. Bob has extensive experience with the LANSA suite of products and manages the LANSA Enterprise Systems (ERP) practice. He has worked with a variety of LANSA customers including Morton Salt, Kawasaki, Pitney Bowes, Motta International, Carlisle Foodservice Products and TimeMed Labeling. He’s a frequent speaker at various industry events including COMMON and has authored numerous articles.

David Brault, Product Marketing Manager at LANSA Inc.
David has over 15 years of application development experience, including extensive involvement integrating IBM i applications with various Windows, Web and wireless technologies. David draws on his knowledge of IBM i (System i, iSeries, AS/400) technology to help determine the market message for LANSA's products. He is currently responsible for launching new LANSA products and serving as the U.S. product line expert for press and analyst briefings. David is a member of the COMMON Americas Advisory Council (CAAC) and a frequent speaker at COMMON and other industry events.

Diane Joester, Chief Architect at LANSA's Product Center (LPC)
Diane has been working with LANSA for 20+ years and has extensive experience and skills on both the IBM i and windows platforms. She is presently one of the Chief Architects of the LANSA Product Suite. Her in-depth technical background and experience with the IBM i, Windows and Web development puts her in a unique position as she leads the future of LANSA Product development. Diane excels at clearly communicating the most difficult of technical details.

Diane Walker, Data Synchronization Services Manager at LANSA Inc.
With over 25 years Application Design, Development and IT Management experience, Diane is responsible for the LANSA Data Sync Direct product, the product's development team and Data Synchronization services. Diane has extensive experience with Global Data Synchronization standards, has been active on many GDSN teams and has been a speaker at GS1 events.The value she brings to an organization is to provide a complete GDSN solution that enables businesses to integrate GDSN processes with their business processes, allowing streamlined item management.

Eden Watt, Vice President of Professional Services at LANSA Inc.
Eden and her consulting teams have been implementing leading-edge eCommerce and modernization solutions for IBM i enterprise systems for over two decades. Prior to joining the executive team at LANSA, Eden was a computer science major, application architect, programmer and project manager, starting her career as a systems engineer for IBM. Over the last decade, she has contributed dozens of articles to industry publications and is a published author of both fiction and non-fiction.  Eden has presented at conferences for both IT and business-focused audiences.

Edward Jones, Country Manager for the UK & Eire territory at LANSA Ltd.
Ed is responsible for the sales, pre-sales and services teams in the UK & EIRE region. Ed has over 20 years experience in the IT industry with a focus on business systems from a technical perspective, as well as from a commercial perspective. With a background in mainframe and midrange systems, Ed has a strong affinity with, and understanding of, so-called legacy systems. Ed's specialities include Application development and integration; SaaS solutions; Data backup, recovery, archiving and retrieval; Business consulting and planning.

Ian Piddock, Marketing Manager EMEA at LANSA Ltd.
Ian joined LANSA in 2005 and is responsible for LANSA's marketing activities in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.  Ian has over 15 years experience as a marketing professional within the IT sector and specializes in marketing planning, analysis and communications. The iPulse survey is Ian's brain child and Ian was involved from initial concept, through execution and analysis of the results.

Jim Keating, Technical Support Specialist at LANSA Inc.
With more than 20 years of experience and knowledge of LANSA products, Jim has deep IBM i (System i, iSeries, AS/400) expertise – which he applies to his work on services projects as well as his support duties. Currently, his focus is on Web Application Modules (WAM) development and LANSA Open for .NET applications.

Jurgen Rentinck, Senior Consultant at LANSA Benelux
Jurgen has over 10 years experience working with all the LANSA products. Jurgen has extensive knowledge of software architecture and development and has been involved in a large number of modernization, development and integration projects in the Benelux region,  ranging from proof-of-concept to realization.  Jurgen also provides LANSA workshops, personal coaching and/or project mentoring, audits and is involved in pre-sale activities.

Lana Ho, Director of Professional Services at LANSA Inc.
Lana has worked extensively with LANSA and related products since 1996, and has played key roles including quality manager, architect, designer, developer and project manager, on many large high-profile Web, business integration and client/server projects. As Director of Professional Services, Lana is a primary manager of resource planning and skills development for a staff of consultants across North America and also coordinates LANSA’s North American Education. Lana is a regular speaker at LANSA user conferences, has given various seminars, and has published technology articles in industry magazines.

Mark Duignan, Principal Application Modernization Tools Architect at LANSA's Product Center (LPC)
Mark is one of the original brains behind LANSA's 4GL and Repository architecture, starting from LANSA/AD in the eighties (now LANSA for iSeries), RUOM (Rapid User Object Method, the predecessor of LANSA's current modelling tools), LANSA Open, Visual LANSA Framework and RAMP (LANSA's Rapid Application Modernization Method). More recently Mark has also been responsible for several major releases of aXes, LANSA's Web, mobile and cloud enablement solution for 5250 applications.

Martin Fincham, Chief Operating Officer, LANSA Group
Martin is LANSA's Chief Operating Officer and as such is ultimately responsible for field operations in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Martin joined LANSA in 2005 having spent the previous 15 years working within the enterprise software market in EMEA and the Americas. Martin is a frequent speaker and published authority on trends in enterprise application development, modernization and integration.

Michael Otey, Senior Technical Editor for System iNEWS magazine
Michael is president of TECA, Inc., a software development, technical writing and consulting firm.  Michael is also the industry's foremost authority on IBM i and Microsoft development and integration. Mike draws on his experience as senior technical editor for System iNEWS magazine and senior technical director for Windows IT Pro and SQL Server magazines

Patrick Fleming, Modernization Practice Manager at LANSA Inc.
Patrick has more than 20 years consulting experience with LANSA in both the Australian and Chicago office, and has worked on and managed projects across the LANSA product range, starting with LANSA Version 2.0. He has authored and conducted presentations and training at LANSA events. Patrick's recent success in our Modernization Practice area has helped LANSA customers and business partners get rapid business value out of using LANSA's modernization and integration tools and processes.

Paul Conte, President of PCES, a consulting and educational service company in Eugene, Oregon. Paul has been a software developer and consultant for more than 20 years and is a widely published expert on application development, programming languages and database systems/design. Paul's articles have appeared in System iNEWS, DB2 Magazine, Database Programming & Design, and numerous other publications. Paul is a well-known speaker and author or co-author of seven books.

Paul McDonald, Professional Services Manager at LANSA Inc.
Paul has extensive experience across the LANSA product suite as both a developer and project manager. During his 10 years at LANSA, Paul has played a pivotal role in delivering efficient, strategic and often 'bleeding-edge' business solutions for many LANSA clients. He has authored and delivered numerous presentations, labs and training sessions at LANSA, COMMON and other conferences. Prior to joining LANSA, Paul spent over 18 years working in the IBM midrange environment and during this time he managed a highly successful out sourcing and applications provider.

Richard Lancaster, Product Manager at LANSA's Product Center in Sydney, Australia
Richard is LANSA's Technology Evangelist with a deep understanding of development and integration technologies on the IBM i, Windows, UNIX and IBM mainframe platforms. With over 30 years of experience in the technology industry, Richard previously worked as a solutions architect for systems integrators Aspect Computing and the KAZ Group – and held a range of roles from Computer Operator to Systems Development Manager at various banks and insurance companies.

Sean Szarkowicz, Technical Support Specialist at LANSA Inc.
Sean has extensive knowledge in all LANSA products, with a focus on Web development and modernization. His expertise and experience in HTML, JavaScript, CSS and design skills – coupled with his networking knowledge – provide him with a unique perspective in dealing with both the server- and client-side aspects of Web development when working with customers and partners.

Steve Collins, Director of Professional Services at LANSA Inc.
With a solid academic background in mathematics and software engineering, Steve began his career as an application programmer using many different languages and platforms. In his 18 years with LANSA, Steve has played roles of architect, designer, project manager and quality manager on many large and innovative projects and actually prototyped LANSA’s very first Web application. Steve is a regular speaker at LANSA user conferences, has presented at various seminars and has written technology and project management articles for industry publications.

Steve Gapp, President of LANSA Inc.
Steve is responsible for LANSA's sales, marketing and services in the Americas.  Steve has over 30 years experience in the industry. His background in midrange systems include working for London based Compass Ltd, a small software consultancy company active on the IBM System 32, 34, 36, 38, AS/400 platforms. Steve founded Oasis 400 Software Ltd in 1988, which was bought by the American change management company, SoftLanding in 2002. Steve then moved to the US and became president and CEO of SoftLanding, before joining LANSA Inc. in 2007.