Board of Management

Mike Webb - Chairman (Interim), Governance/International & Chapter Services/Research

Mike Webb has over 30 years' experience in the IT industry employed in various roles in both the UK and Australia, and is now the Executive Manager, ICT Service Management with WA Police. Achieving his ITIL Foundations certification in 2001, Mike performed a key role within the team that implemented WA Police's ITIL's framework.

Mike's portfolios are Governance & Chapter Services / Research. As the chair his portfolio includes all governance and risk issues as well as providing the strategic direction and leadership.  In the chapter services role, Mike ensures that knowledge and information are shared nationally as well as internationally, offering other chapters in the Asia Pacific region our excellent office services and years of experience. As Research Director, he is responsible for liaison with our research partners and management of projects. 

Mike has been a very active member of the itSMF professional body since 2001, when he assisted in forming the Perth Chapter of itSMF Australia. He got involved because he believed there was ‘a lot of good stuff' happening in WA that could contribute to the Forum, and it has been a great way to share knowledge and learn from his peers.

mike.webb@itsmf.org.au 

Harry Powell - Deputy Chair, Strategic & Business Planning

Harry moved to EDS in 1996 from the South Australian Government, where he was Manager of IT Infrastructure for the Department of Treasury and Finance. He became the Team Leader for the Justice portfolio in 1997 and then Manager in 1998. He has also performed the role of Service Delivery Leader on the GMH Account in 1997, participated in the transition of the Ericsson account in 2000 and was a member of the Qantas bid team in 2001. Before re-joining the SA Government in 1990 he worked at Elders IXL as System Manager on their videotex based Elderlink product. Harry holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Computing Studies and Civil Technicians Certificate from the University of South Australia. He has also undertaken various EDS leaders and management training courses, including the Leaders Internship Program.

Harry’s portfolio is Strategic & Business Planning, which focuses on ensuring that itSMF Australia has a vision of where the organisation is going and strategies in place to enable it to get there.

Harry joined itSMF Australia to meet other people who were interested in ITIL. He says that these contacts have enabled him to continually develop his knowledge of ITIL and IT Service Management. Another benefit is that he is able to provide his employer with useful information on what is happening in the industry.

harry.powell@itsmf.org.au

Garry Long - Treasurer, Financial/Risk/Industry Awards

Currently Principal Consultant with Planwell Technology, Garry is a highly proficient IT professional. He has eighteen years' IT experience across IT Service Management, IT Project Management and IT Operations Management. Recent experience includes the establishment of life-cycle strategic Service Management Programs at Gold Coast City Council and Queensland Department of Natural Resources & Water. Garry is highly skilled in the alignment of Service Management Tools to Business and Service Management processes - particularly Incident, Problem, Change and Configuration/Asset Management. This experience is utilised with various toolsets and is transferable to any ITIL aligned Service Management Product.

Garry manages two itSMF portfolios: Treasurer and Awards Director. As Treasurer, he is responsible for the overall financial management of the Forum. He is also responsible for financial strategy in conjunction with the General Manager and the Board. As Awards Director, he is responsible for creation and management of the itSMF Awards, which are a genuine indicator of quality in ITSM implementation and Project Management.

Garry says he joined itSMF Australia for several reasons. As a stakeholder in ITSM and ITIL, he wanted to play a part in its future by giving something back to an industry that has treated him well, to forge closer links with his peers in IT and actively contribute to growing the industry as a whole as a force for good.

garry.long@itsmf.org.au

Kathryn Heaton is currently the Service Operation Manager for SA Water, and a specialist in helping organisations to understand how ITSM can work for them.  Having worked in the Information Technology space for 20 years Kathryn fully understands the differences between the way "IT" people and "business" people think.  Her goal is to assist these two groups to get the most from the ITIL framework and as a consequence improve the service provided by IT to the business.

Kathryn's portfolio is National Events, supporting the Membership that is the basis of itSMF's success.  National Events allow us to reach IT professionals in all states at local Seminars and Special Interest Groups as well as the National Conference held each year in August.  These National Events provide IT professionals with a forum at which they can gain information, increase their knowledge and share experiences.  Kathryn joined itSMF because she is very enthusiastic about improving the way things are done.  Her focus on process improvement is a good fit with IT Service Management.  Kathryn says she has gained both personal and professional benefits from her Membership; personally through her experience as a Board Member and interacting with new people, and professionally through a recently completed project that was a direct result of her involvement with itSMF.

kathryn.heaton@itsmf.org.au

Karen Ferris - Publications

Karen is a Director of Macanta Consulting providing business consulting to small, medium and large organizations in IT Service Management. She is a regular contributor to IT Service Management publications worldwide, either in a contributory, review or quality assurance role. Karen has been involved with ITIL and ITSM Best Practice since 1994 in the capacities of manager, practitioner, consultant and trainer, both in the UK and Australia. She has assisted many organisations to adopt Best Practice IT Service Management as per ITIL, including NAB, Telstra, Department of Defence, Monash University, NSW Health Department, Coles Myer and Victorian Parliamentary Services.  An outstanding speaker at the inaugural itSMF Conference in 1998, Karen went on to win the President's Award at the 2005 itSMF conference in Brisbane.  She has presented on ITIL and ITSM related topics in USA, UK,  & New Zealand and is our most popular speaker for itSMF state chapter seminars.  In 2007 Karen was awarded the inaugural Service Management Champion Award for her contribution to the industry.

Karen's portfolio is Publications - one of the most important benefits of belonging to the itSMF community.  She plays an active role as a member of the itSMF International Publication Editorial Sub-Committee (IPESC), which coordinates and reviews publications produced by all chapters, and provides endorsement for publications to carry the itSMF identity. She is a member of the international Editorial Advisory Board working on the itSMF International Library.

Karen joined itSMF to contribute to the Service Management community and promote Best Practice.  She has found that a major benefit of belonging to itSMF is the ability to learn and leverage from the experience of others in the industry.  She says the networking opportunities at a local and national (and international) level are also invaluable in helping to improve service within your own organisation. 

karen.ferris@itsmf.org.au

 Marketing & Communications (Vacant)

Nevine Iskandar - Membership Services/Business Partnership & Relationships

Nevine has been with EDS for the last 8.5 years holding several positions both within the hardware side of the organisation as well as the software side of it. Positions she held within the hardware side of the organisation include ITSM consulting architect within the APJ Enterprise Service Management group. Prior to that she was seconded to the Global Enterprise Service Management group where she lead two of EDS consulting competencies at a global level: The ITIL @ EDS Training Institute and the ITIL Process Assessment and Organisational Maturity. Her roles within the software side of the organisation include SW-CMM/CMMI Subject Matter Expert, and Software Quality Assurance Manager. She is qualified as a lead ISO 9001 auditor and has project managed the implementation of the organisation's Quality Management system tool/repository in 2003 using the organisation Integrated Change Management process (ICMP) for all Management of Change activities.

Nevine's portfolio is Member Services.  She has an MBA in Operations Management and International Business.  She obtained her ITIL Expert certification (ITIL V3) in July of this year, and is a Manager Certificate (ITIL v2) exam marker for EXIN South Pacific. Nevine is also qualified as an ISO/IEC 20000 consultant.

nevine.iskandar@itsmf.org.a

Claire Brereton - Standards 

Claire has experience as an IT Project Director, and has been responsible for the introduction of Project Management, Methodology and Standards.  Claire has been a mentor to Project Managers and implemented Service Management Standards, Processes and Disciplines.  Claire and her family migrated to Australia from the UK in 2001. Claire's extensive experience in the UK included management roles encompassing Operations Architecture, Systems development and maintenance, project management and education. She is credited with having turned around two ineffective and demoralised IT organisations (Hagemeyer UK IT and Birmingham Midshires System Development), and building them into competent and respected partners in their respective fields.

Claire's portfolio is Certifications and Qualifications, supporting and influencing the development and consistency of qualifications and certifications within the field of IT Service Management - in particular ITIL® and ISO/IEC 20000. This portfolio also encompasses ensuring that Australian views are represented in the development of global standards.

Claire joined itSMFA because, as a new arrival in Australia, she wanted to make professional and personal contacts. Claire says she discovered that itSMF is a real community, through which she has found friendships, career opportunities and constant encouragement.

claire.brereton@itsmf.org.au  

Michael Nyhuis (MAICD) - Certification/Qualifications/Academic/IT Strategy & Infrastructure

Michael is the Principal Consultant and Managing Director of Solisma. In his professional capacity, Michael provides extensive IT Service Management consulting, education and assessment services for organisations throughout Australia and the Asia Pacific region with frameworks and standards including ITIL and ISO/IEC 20000. Michael is also a regular speaker at the itSMF Australia National Conference and State Branch Seminar events. 

Michael is responsible for two portfolios - Qualifications & Certifications and IT & Infrastructure.  

In collaboration with other industry bodies, the Qualifications & Certifications portfolio seeks to promote ITSM in Australia through the establishment of an ISO/IEC 20000 Certification Scheme for organisations and a National Qualifications Scheme (NQS) for individuals. The goal of this professional development initiative is to improve the quality of ITSM professionals working in the IT industry through the continued adoption of leading ITSM standards and frameworks such as ISO/IEC 20000 and ITIL. 

The IT & Infrastructure portfolio has also been formed to deliver a comprehensive and robust IT Infrastructure that will underpin all of itSMF Australia's management portfolios and business operations. Through the establishment of an effective IT Strategy, itSMF Australia will be able to better streamline its own internal process and provide a range of enhanced benefits to its members.

Michael is also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) that provides him with a means of continuing professional development for his directorship at Solisma and the experience he brings to the Board of Management at itSMF Australia.

michael.nyhuis@itsmf.org.au

Peter Cross - Immediate Past Chairman 

Peter Cross was elected as the Australia representative member to the itSMF International Executive Board of Management based in the UK.  In Australia, he will hold the position of ‘immediate past chairman' and attend meetings as a non-voting member of the board.

Peter is Managing Director of GCI (Global Certification Institute) and has been involved in IT for 20 years, including a distinguished period as the Business Development Manager for itSMFA.  Peter re-established the Victoria Branch, served on the Board of Management and has many years' experience as a General Manager in ITSM consulting and Project Management.

He joined itSMFA in 1991 because he is passionate about the difference this organisation can make to the ITSM professsion in Australia.  He sees the enormous contribution that can be made through a grass roots forum which is owned and run by its members.  

peter.cross@itsmf.org.au