Board of Directors

Rosemary Gurney - Chair

I joined itSMF UK in 2003, on the recommendation of David Wheeldon, as good way to introduce myself to the ITSM community and to network with colleagues.

I joined the UK board in 2006, became Vice Chair in 2013 and Chair in 2015. I also chaired the International Q&C committee. itSMF has also given me numerous opportunities to work with other likeminded people around the world, to travel to speak at other conferences and build long lasting friendships.

David was right, this organisation is all about our community and the ability to work, share, learn and grow to meet the needs of our individual chapters but also to see across boundaries.

The future of the itSMF brand has great potential, but I believe the current model isn’t working. The international movement must take a proactive role in better unifying our community in a way that meets the requirements of an evolving audience. Closer, more relevant working relationships with chapters has to be priority if we are to remain relevant and credible within the industry. 

My day job is as an ITSM Consultant and trainer and I also work with Axelos as a contributing author and examiner.

Rosemary can be contacted on rosemary.gurney@itsmfi.org

Richard Horton -Vice Chair

Richard is the Service Management Lead at NIHR CRNCC. He has been an active member of the UK chapter for over 10 years. He ran one of their special interest groups which produced a range of collaborative content, and has continued to be a regular ITSMF UK article/blog contributor. 

Richard will be the first UK board member to complete the maximum allowed term of 8 years. On the board he has taken on a lead role around governance, and was also Vice Chair for a year. Using his governance experience he has been involved with the International board since August 2021. After running the re-write of the International constitution as a co-opted board member he is now, since 2023, an elected director.

Richard can be contacted on richard.horton@itsmfi.org

Vacant -Treasurer

Patrik Solc - Director

I have more than 20 years of experience in IT business, over the last 17 years in management positions in global IT companies, where I have led multinational IT teams in Europe/Asia/Americas. I participated in IT projects for global customers in the position of Programme/Project Manager (IT strategy and deployment of ITIL processes, IT service delivery & operation, Cloud Services, IT Outsourcing, ServiceDesk/Call Center).

I have more than 5 years of experience working for itSMF Czech Republic. We organized four annual itSMF conferences with keynote speakers from Europe and USA.  Our main message is “inspire and being inspired“.

My deep experience is to organizing workshop, online events and webinars, online/onsite conferences and establish strong and long term partnerships with our partners.

As a member of the itSMF International Board I will share my experience with leading itSMF chapter and how we could extend cooperation of chapters around the world and extend collaboration with strategic partners.

Patrik can be contacted on patrik.solc@itsmfi.org

Brad Schimmel - Director

Brad is a leader in the design, management, and improvement of IT service delivery. He blends this with strong commercial skills and entrepreneurialism into account management and business development roles. 

He has managed service delivery teams that stabilized production systems, reduced support demand and improved customer satisfaction.

Brad resolves the conflict between the competing needs of cost reduction, growth and customer sentiment through applying the frameworks of service management, Lean, operating model and business processes design, with a deep understanding of technology and innovation.

As a Director of the itSMF International Executive Board, he represents the Asia Pacific region and assists new Chapters forming.

Brad can be contacted on brad.schimmel@itsmfi.org.

Stephan Brendel - Director

Stephan has been in the IT industry since he started his career in 1983 with IBM. He has been a systems engineer for many years with several large system integrators, including General Electric, and touched base with management frameworks like ITIL around the millennium, when he was running a consultant and training organisation.

He joined APMG-International - an independent certification body - in 2009 to lead marketing and operations in EMEA. Since then, he is a member of itSMF, where he joined the board and is holding the position of the CFO since 2021.

Stephan has a deep insight in how Management Practices can be adapted. His field of expertise in the IT sector gives him a lot of live examples how changes can turn things upside down and how important it is to have a good balance of behavioral skills and methodological competencies.

Stephan holds several IT Service Management and Project Management certifications and is also a certified Business Relationship Management Professional.

His motivation to be on the board of directors at itSMF International is to work with the global community to move IT Service Management to a new meaning in the 21st century, to enable a public recognition of our profession and to help chapters connecting closer to each other.

Stephan can be contacted on stephan.brendel@itsmfi.org.