ICN Expertise

Joe Auer, founder and president of International Computer Negotiations, Inc. (ICN), is a widely recognized international leader in high tech procurement. Business Week Newsletter calls him “the industry's leading bargaining expert.” Datamation says, “Joe Auer has long been justifiably known as an expert to whom others turn.”

Joe's early career was spent with Honeywell where he mastered negotiation tactics from the vendor's perspective. It became obvious to him though that those on the ‘other side of the table'—those acquiring high tech products and services—were at a decided disadvantage. Having identified this need, Joe founded ICN with the express purpose of helping technology buyers and users to do better deals when negotiating with technology vendors.

Since founding the company 35 years ago, Joe has advised, enlightened and empowered the technology professional with techniques, tools and established directions for negotiating fair contracts that meet the mutual goals of both user and vendor. Joe developed the Managed Acquisition Process™ (MAP™), which is recognized globally as the Best Practices methodology for technology procurement.

Based in large measure on his proven expertise, more than 300 of the Fortune 500 companies as well as major government organizations and principals of smaller, aggressive firms rely on ICN for advice and training. His knowledge and experience has also made Joe a sought after expert witness, a role he has filled innumerable times in litigation, mediation and arbitration actions and in state and federal courts across the country.

Gary Golub is a senior ICN consultant with more than 20 years of experience in information technology. Gary's experience comes mainly from Fortune 500 and Global 10 corporations, both as an employee and in consulting roles.

Prior to joining ICN, Gary was with Blockbuster, Inc. in Dallas. At Blockbuster Gary created a new department to focus on five aspects of the company's IT infrastructure—disaster recovery, asset management, capacity planning, development of the $40 million departmental budget and performance measurement and metrics.

Gary's expertise encompasses many disciplines in the high tech arena. In contract development and negotiations management, he developed numerous national procurement and services agreements. Gary actively negotiated agreements for computer acquisitions, software licenses and multiple application development projects. In addition, he established acceptance and performance criteria and developed contract compliance documentation. Gary's experience includes managing the acquisition process completely; from initiation through a signed contract to vendor management and contract renewal. He managed a multi-million dollar IT procurement department budget with responsibility for desktop through mainframe systems and software. Gary also established a capacity planning department to monitor and report on multi-platform systems usage. In addition, he established an on-time delivery plan that significantly reduced inventory.

Gary brings skill and experience in disaster/contingency planning, process flow/work flow analysis, budget development and financial analysis, service level measurement and metrics.

Gary has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration/Finance from the University of South Florida.

ICN's John Gonzalez has extensive experience as in-house counsel, outside counsel, VP/Director, contract negotiator, and consultant. Throughout his career, John has worked in the financial services, automotive, real estate and government sectors.

Recently, John assisted Ford Motor Company with some of its large IT procurements and served as outside counsel to Comerica Bank on vendor/supplier contract matters.

Formerly, he was the Vice President/Director of Contracts, Corporate Negotiations, and Supplier Management for Sky Financial Group, Inc.  John's role at Sky included oversight/leadership of the Contract Administration & Supplier Management Department.

Prior to that, John was in-house counsel to Comerica Bank. John was also a bank examiner for the United States Treasury Department.

John holds a Bachelor of Arts in mathematical economics from Colgate University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School.

ICN Senior Consultant Sherry Irwin has more than 25 years of experience in lifecycle IT asset management (ITAM), including software, license, contract and vendor management, across a broad spectrum of industries. She is widely recognized as a pioneer, advocate, expert and educator in this maturing discipline.

Sherry conducts assessments of clients’ current ITAM practices and assists with key elements of ITAM program planning, development and implementation, to ensure that the approach and results meet both tactical and strategic objectives and are consistent with industry practices. She also mentors clients as they operationalize their ITAM program; and, with specific operational tasks such as license compliance audits.

Sherry also conducts a series of educational seminars and workshops on various aspects of IT asset management including ITAM strategy and program development, software asset and license management (SAM), and contract and vendor management.

Sherry is the founder (1992) of the Canadian IT Asset Management Users’ Group (CITAMUG), a BSA Certified Standards Based SAM Professional (CSS(P)), and a Canadian delegate to ISO/IEC 19770 (SAM). Sherry is a former Gartner consultant (1989 to 1995) and a former advisor (2000 to 2003) to clients of Giga Information Group’s research and advisory service, as a Giga Expert and part-time consultant.

Sherry holds a Bachelor of Mathematics (Computer Science) from the University of Waterloo. She is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC), representing a commitment to the highest standards of consulting and adherence to the ethical canons of the profession. She is also a Certified Technology Procurement Specialist (CTPS).

ICN Senior Consultant Bill Kern has more than 20 years of experience spent on the inside of the computer industry.  The majority of Bill's experience is in management positions with technology vendors specializing in computer hardware, systems development, outsourcing and third party leasing. This background gives Bill a keen understanding of the vendor approach in the acquisition process, and most importantly how to negotiate with those vendors.  Bill has vast knowledge in negotiating support contracts, including outsourcing, software, software modifications, system migration schedules, service level agreements, and maintenance agreements.

Since joining ICN, Bill has advised global clients in all phases of the acquisition process including:

• data center facility management
• outsourcing of data centers and data communications
• outsourcing of application software support
• storage area network facility management
•  RFP development for off-shore software services
• outsourcing of Internet banking
• enterprise-wide software license negotiations and re-negotiations, including smart grid technology, data quality and field maintenance/inventory software
• software development and hosting of a workmen's compensation system
• renegotiation of HP hardware maintenance support
• personnel management applications on a software-as-a-service basis           

Bill's extensive experience gives him a comprehensive understanding of the financial impact of outsourcing, development of statements of work, transition plans, service level agreements, as well as, general contractual terms and conditions.

Bill earned his business degree from the University of Maryland.

Kendall Messick is an ICN Senior Consultant and instructor who possesses extensive experience on the supplier side of the negotiating table.  Having worked in telecommunication sales for nearly two decades, Kendall enjoyed consistent successes as a technology salesperson which led him to various levels of sales management. He went on to  head up  major account sales and account management for MCI in NYC.   In this role, Kendall created and implemented corporate programs that significantly increased market penetration, profitability and overall customer retention. Under his leadership, the New York division consistently achieved quotas in excess of 100% year over year. 

Prior to joining ICN, Kendall established himself as an independent consultant training Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. His primary focus was sales and sales management as well as recruiting and customer service. In this capacity, Kendall designed and wrote training modules and facilitated workshops to audiences of diverse sizes and backgrounds.

Since joining ICN Kendall has quickly become one of ICN's most sought after instructors of negotiations, procurement and vendor management to technology and non-technology clients. He has trained extensively throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico working with corporations as well as state and local government agencies.  Kendall's delivery style and high degree of credibility with audiences make the ICN learning experience both compelling and highly relevant.

Kendall has a B.A. from Wake Forest University and has studied at the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota, Columbia as well as the Universidad de Salamanca in Salamanca, Spain.

Craig Pelley is an ICN consultant with a continuous and successful record in negotiating contracts that are readily accepted by both the company and the customer. Craig has firsthand experience that makes him a specialist in both Computer Associates and IBM when it comes to software and negotiations.

Craig started his successful career working as Operations Analyst and System Programmer and then later as an applications programmer developing specialized programs for the operations area. 

Craig also installed and implemented Computer Associates (formerly known as VCI) software at both a large bank and a pharmaceutical company before being invited to officially join the Computer Associates (CA) organization. While traveling throughout North America, Europe, and South America installing software and training customers on the entire line of products Craig learned the intricacies of customer problems and needs first-hand.  This hands-on experience and skill serves him well in solving customer issues and understanding the complexity of negotiations.

Craig rose through the ranks at CA to become Divisional Vice President of Sales.  During this time Craig was responsible for contract negotiations in all of the southeastern United States.  He negotiated contracts for a wide variety of companies including everything from startup companies to very large corporations. 

Prior to joining ICN, Craig worked for IBM, and had contract negotiation responsibility for all IBM outsourced customers in the Midwest and eastern United States, as well as in Canada.   He successfully negotiated all contracts with software vendors and suppliers.

Craig attended Rockhurst College in Kansas City, and after a four year stint in the United States Marine Corp he was a recipient of a commendation from the Commandant of the USMC, the highest commendation that a non-combat Marine can receive.

Daniel A. Pepper, Esq. has been practicing law since 1994. His practice areas include information technology and business process outsourcing, including outsourcing for the financial services and healthcare industries, technology joint ventures and strategic alliances, software and technology licensing, electronic commerce, and intellectual property protection. Mr. Pepper regularly advises his clients on cross-border technology transfers, development and testing arrangements, distribution channels, technology deployment, e-commerce and Internet strategies, including compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and data security and privacy management.

Mr. Pepper also advises clients in the entertainment and media fields, handling licensing and merchandising, film production, finance and distribution, television development, production and distribution, music publishing and administration, and exploiting electronic and emerging media.

Mr. Pepper was Regional Counsel for BEA Systems, a San Jose-based software company specializing in e-commerce transaction software, where he was responsible for BEA's commercial, software licensing, services and distribution transactions for the eastern region of United States and Canada federal and provincial governments. Prior to joining BEA, he was corporate counsel for Oracle Corporation in its commercial law division, responsible for Oracle's software licensing, consulting, technical support, and education organizations for the New York and Mid-Atlantic regions. Mr. Pepper also practiced with the Computer and New Media Group of Friedman Siegelbaum, LLP, in Roseland, New Jersey, where he was part of a specialized practice in computer-related law representing clients in various technology fields, including software developers, online businesses, Internet website operators, information technology consulting companies, and outsourcing companies.

Mr. Pepper has lectured on diverse subjects, including software licensing and distribution, IT outsourcing for the health care and financial services industries, the use of application service providers, executive compensation for IT executives, and digital rights management in multimedia transactions. He also teaches legal business formation courses through the New Jersey Small Business Development Center, and regularly presents for the Individual Computer Consultants' Association, American Conference Institute, and the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education.

Mr. Pepper holds a J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law, and received his B.A. from Rutgers University. He is admitted to practice before the Bars of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

An attorney and Senior Consultant with ICN, Bruce Van Valkenburgh is a skilled negotiator and experienced technology acquisition professional.  In 1983 Bruce began his career as an attorney counseling clients in software license negotiation and leasing.

He then joined Eaton Corporation, a diversified global power management company, as an IT Acquisition Analyst, successfully negotiating hardware, software, services and master lease agreements.  While at Eaton, Bruce was Manager of Supply Chain Management Contracts, reviewing and negotiating contracts for technology transactions, direct and indirect materials and services acquired by the corporation throughout its four business units.

While serving as Eaton's corporate attorney supporting the corporate and divisional IT organization, Bruce was instrumental in designing and implementing Eaton's standard supply chain agreements and policies.  He successfully negotiated a corporate world-wide agreement for the purchase of personal computers and servers, and represented the corporation's interests in the construction of a new data center, simultaneously negotiated with five cell phone providers to optimize coverage in the United States, and reduced the corporation's help desk spending by more than 10%.

Bruce received his JD from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and his BA from Cleveland State University.  He is a frequent speaker at industry events and most recently participated as a panelist on Software Licensing in the New Century at the Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting in October 2010.

F. Elgin Ward is both an attorney and ICN Senior Consultant. A skilled negotiator, contract manager and educator, Ward has extensive experience in technology deals.

An experienced and versatile educator, Elgin has been teaching fundamental and advanced purchasing seminars to management professionals for over 10 years. He has both developed and taught the American Management Association's Contract Management Seminar for purchasing professionals in a wide variety of industries including public utilities, transportation and telecommunications. 
     
Prior to joining ICN, Elgin was Corporate Counsel for Deseret Generation Transmission Co-operative, where he successfully prepared and issued documentation for hundreds of RFPs for outsourcing maintenance, diagnostics and security for the construction of electric power transmission and distribution lines, microwave and other telecommunication facilities.   Elgin has successfully established and maintained purchasing and contracting documentation systems, and he is superbly experienced in negotiation and drafting purchase agreements for raw materials, equipment, computer hardware and software, transportation, engineering services and maintenance.

Elgin also supervised the preparation and issuing of bid documentation for hundreds of RFPs, which totaled millions of dollars, for major industrial equipment.

He also has developed and presented seminars on the legal aspects of buying and selling and on how to avoid legal pitfalls in contract administration.

Elgin holds a Juris Doctor degree from Brigham Young University -- J. Reuben Clark Law School, and a BA from the University of Maryland.