Barbara Brown is a confessed system i bigot, devoted advocate for Service Oriented Architecture and professional problem-solver. She served for 17 years as an IBM systems engineer, specializing in mid-range systems and communications and authoring two books on AS/400 communications. As the Director of Technical Services for Alliance Systems & Programming, she continues to work as a jane-of-all-trades in the system i world. She has served as program director for the Gateway/400 user group for over 20 years.