Alex Heublein is an HP Distinguished Technologist in the HP Services office of the CTO. He works with both HP and with Global 2000 customers on short and long-term IT strategy and architecture initiatives, with a particular emphasis on the impact of emerging technology standards and IT / business alignment. Alex has over 17 years of experience in architecting, designing, and developing mission-critical enterprise software applications, including 8 years of management experience. Prior to joining Hewlett-Packard in 2001, Alex was the Director of Application Servers and Middleware for IBM Global Services eBusiness group in North America. Alex also served as the Chief Technology Officer for Enterpulse, a professional services company focused on enabling companies to build and connect to B2B marketplaces. Alex holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and a Master of Business Administration degree, both from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also holds management certificates from the ICN Business School in Nancy, France and from the Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires in Argentina.