Pantelis Apostolidis is an IT professional who is passionate and has been working for a decade with almost all Microsoft IT Pro services, including the Domain, Exchange, Lync, System Center, Office 365, and Azure. His educational background includes a diploma in tourism management from the Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Thessaloniki, and a diploma in computer network engineering from the IEK of Thessaloniki. He is a Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) Private Cloud. He has other certifications, which include MCSA 2012, MCITP EMA 2010, MCTS, MBSS, MS, MCSA 2003, and MCP. During his free time, he enjoys playing the guitar and reading fiction, but most of all, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two kids. He also blogs at http://proximagr.wordpress.com.
Gianluca Bellu started his IT career in 2001 in Rome (Italy) as a system engineer and a developer, and focused on Microsoft infrastructures for Line of Business applications at Nextiraone, Italy, which is a system integrator company with its presence in 15 countries.
In 2004, he was an IVR developer and a call center engineer at Alcatel Technologies. From 2006, he started working on Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (as it was in the beta version), and he was responsible for the business proposals and presales/postsales activities based on Microsoft UC as a new and innovative technology.
In 2014, he was hired by BT Switzerland Ltd. as a UCC Specialist in the BT Advise team based in Zurich.
Gianluca Bellu is now a Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) on Lync Server and a Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD); during his career, he has also achieved Cisco CCNA certification, Snom certification (SCE), and many more on Audiocodes, Cycos, and Genesys.
He's the owner and blogger at http://msucblog.wordpress.com, in which he shares his know-how on Microsoft Unified Communications.
Tonino Bruno is a Microsoft Certified Master in messaging and a subject-matter expert on large-scale, complex, and cross-premises messaging solutions based on Microsoft Exchange and Lync Server. With over 13 years of experience as a subject matter expert, Tonino has become a trusted advisor for many of Belgium's largest and even international corporations. After having worked for 9 years at Compaq/HP, Tonino has successfully launched his own consulting firm and has been working in close collaboration with Microsoft Services in Belgium and Luxembourg for the past 5 years.
Randy Chapman is a Lync architect, evangelist, and blogger. Randy has worked with computers since the early 80s. Randy has done everything from sales and support, demonstration and design, installation, and training of everything from PCs and servers to communications systems for very small to very large companies. He has worked for over 15 years as a voice consultant and over 10 years as a Microsoft consultant with good knowledge, spanning the entire Microsoft stack. He has worked extensively with Exchange Server since 2000 and with System Center since 2008. He has been working with Microsoft-based Unified Communications for over 5 years. Over the years, he has designed, delivered, and supported many deployments of Lync 2010 and 2013. He has also integrated and replaced many PBXs from vendors such as Cisco, Avaya, Mitel, Alcatel, Ericsson, and Bosch to name a few, and provided training for end users, sales and support staff, as well as the next generation of UC consultants. He is a competent and confident speaker, who has spoken and demonstrated at Love Lync Events throughout the UK. Randy is active on many forums, including LinkedIn and TechNet, and his contribution to the TechNet Gallery has been downloaded thousands of times. Randy's Lync blog, http://lynciverse.com, gets more than 1,800 visitors a month.
Randy works for MeetingZone as a senior Lync architect and subject-matter expert. He helps companies all over the UK visualize and realize the benefits of Microsoft Lync-based UC solutions.
Desmond LEE specializes in end-to-end enterprise infrastructure and cloud solutions built around proven business processes and people integration across various industries. He is recognized as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP Lync Server) for his passion and volunteer work in the IT community. Desmond is a long-time Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) and founder of the Swiss IT Pro User Group (www.swissitpro.com), an independent, non-profit organization for IT pros by IT pros championing Microsoft technologies.
An established speaker at major international and regional events and known for his real-world insights, Desmond contributes frequently to several highly rated publications, and acts as a moderator in popular Microsoft public forums/newsgroups. You can follow his IT adventures at www.leedesmond.com.
Clinton Mann has over 16 years of professional experience in the field of IT, and over those 16 years, he has worn many hats, and man, does he like his hats. With each of the hats he has worn, Clinton has always made it a point to learn and share new technologies with anyone who would listen, and most people benefit from his expertise. Clinton has a technolust like none before him; he truly does live and breathe technology.
Clinton currently works as an IT systems engineer at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. You can also find him living the digital dream on the Internet, of all the places, at https://www.linkedin.com/in/clintonmann. You can find him on Twitter at @manncl, and his website can be found at http://clintonmann.com.
Johan Veldhuis works as a Premier Field Engineer (PFE) for Microsoft. In his current role, he delivers both proactive and reactive services to customers from Microsoft for both Microsoft Exchange and Lync.
In his spare time, Johan spends time blogging via his own website (www.johanveldhuis.nl). Besides blogging, Johan is a member of the UC Architects (www.theucarchitects.com), which is a biweekly podcast, where Exchange and Lync freaks discuss both Exchange- and Lync-related topics.