About the Authors
Stephanie Ramsay
Stephanie Ramsay (www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-l-ramsay/) has worked for more than 30 years in Information and Digital Technology, with extensive experience in Service Delivery, Applications, and Infrastructure in three industries (Defense, Healthcare, Retail). Her education includes: a Bachelor of Science in Business and a Master’s degree in Supply Chain Management and Architecture Certifications. She is a leading authority in Business Architecture and Product/Service Integration with strong competencies in Enterprise Architecture, Portfolio Management, Business Relationship Management, Service Management, Sourcing & Supplier Management, and Program Management. Stephanie is an active member of The Open Group IT4IT and Architecture Forums. Her hobbies include: writing, hiking, and travel.
Kees van den Brink
After being an officer in the Merchant Marines, Kees (www.linkedin.com/in/keesvandenbrink/) started his career in IT as a developer working in a team to maintain a network administration system. Over time, Kees has been a Sales Engineer, a Solution Architect, a Platform Architect, an Architecture Practice Lead, and an Engagement Lead. Currently, Kees works for ServiceNow and is managing a team of Platform Architects for the northern part of Europe. Throughout the larger part of his career, Kees has been working on solutions related to managing the different parts of the IT Department; for example, IT Project, Program & Portfolio Management, IT Service Management, and IT Operations Management.
Kees strongly believes IT should be regarded as a utility, just like electricity and water, enabling businesses to interact, optimize, and innovate. As a user/consumer of products with IT components, there should be no concern about how IT is delivered; it should be consumed according to choice. In his view, an important prerequisite is standardization in the way IT is delivered, fueled, for example, by cloud and containerization. This means a shift to thinking in products and value streams and how they are used to help an organization on their digitalization journey. Kees is a strong believer, therefore, in initiatives that help to bring standardization to life, like the IT4IT Standard, which he helped to establish and maintain.
Sylvain Marie
Sylvain Marie (www.linkedin.com/in/sylvain-marie-b101341) has worked in Information Technology and Service Delivery for more than 30 years as a consultant. 15 years ago, he extended his experience in the field of Enterprise Architecture and is now a leading IT4IT architect. He is TOGAF Certified, certified in IT4IT Foundation and Business Architecture, and is an ITIL expert. He has been involved in ITSM and IT4IT consulting projects in major European companies. He also likes to share his experience in using the TOGAF and IT4IT Standards, and ITIL as a trainer and as an active member of The Open Group. During his free time, he likes to play jazz piano in his jazz quartet.