Research Team


Dale Vile
Managing Director



As Managing Director, Dale looks after Freeform Dynamics’ overall strategy and direction, as well as overseeing the company’s primary research activities, which provide ongoing insights into how IT industry developments map onto practical business needs in the Enterprise and SMB mainstream.

Also an active industry analyst, Dale has extensive experience in both end-user and vendor environments. In the first part of his career, he held positions as developer, architect and project manager within companies such as Glaxo and Heineken. He later moved on to the vendor community and worked in various consulting, business development and management roles at Nortel Networks, SAP, JD Edwards and Sybase.

Dale has worked as an industry analyst since the year 2000, initially with Bloor Research, and later with Quocirca, where he developed and ran the company’s core primary research business until co-founding Freeform Dynamics in 2005.

Current areas of focus: Application Delivery & Access, Business Intelligence

Dale Vile's full biography may be downloaded here.


Jon Collins
Service Director



As Service Director, Jon is a member of the Freeform Dynamics management team and is responsible for looking after the company’s portfolio of services and alliances strategy, which are intimately linked given the open collaborative culture of the organisation.

Also an active industry analyst, Jon has an end-user background, having worked as an IT consultant, network manager and software engineer for companies such as Admiral Management Services Ltd, Alcatel and Philips Electronics. Through positions such as these, Jon has accumulated significant real world expertise and experience in many areas of IT service delivery over the years, including IT service management, IT security, infrastructure management, IT architecture and application development.

Jon has worked as an industry analyst since 1999 for companies including IDC, Bloor Research, Quocirca and Macehiter Ward-Dutton. He is a widely published author and has acted as an advisor to leading vendors including Cisco, EMC, IBM and Microsoft; and to large IT user organisations in the Government, Telecommunications and Financial Services sectors.

Current areas of focus: Information Management, Information Security

Jon Collins's full biography may be downloaded here.


Helen Vile
Operations Director



As Operations Director, Helen oversees all operational aspects of the business. Within this, she is a key member of the research team and is responsible for designing the practical aspects of primary research studies, managing their execution and analysing the output from them.

In terms of experience and expertise, Helen has a strong background in the customer services arena, having run technical support and field service functions in safety critical areas such as hi-tech medical equipment and building management systems during her career.

Helen has been involved in IT industry research and analysis since 2003. In her previous role at Quocirca, she was responsible for customer service monitoring activity as well as being intimately involved in traditional project based research studies, before moving on and co-founding Freeform Dynamics in 2005.

Current areas of focus: Primary Research Execution

Helen Vile's full biography may be downloaded here.


Martin Atherton
Research Director



As Research Director, Martin is a member of the Freeform Dynamics management team, and is responsible for defining areas of coverage and managing the company’s research agenda. As an active analyst, Martin is also responsible for covering the rapidly evolving areas of Business Service Management (BSM), IT Service Management (ITSM), and application delivery. This includes intelligence gathering from vendors and users of solutions in this space.

One area Martin is particularly interested in is the relationship between industry-specific drivers and dynamics, and IT-related strategies and requirements. The reality is that this area remains a challenge for many suppliers, often hampering their ability to tune into the requirements of their customers, and Martin is committed to helping close this gap and drive better alignment between the two camps. As part of this, he has accumulated significant research and project experience in the Manufacturing, Financial Services, Energy, Utilities and Retail sectors during his career.

Martin has been an industry analyst since 1997, and prior to joining Freeform Dynamics, held a variety of positions within Datamonitor, running research teams exploring industrial automation, enterprise applications, mobility, security, integration and IT service delivery.

Current areas of focus: Business/IT Service Management, Application Delivery

Martin Atherton's full biography may be downloaded here.


Tony Lock
Programme Director



As Programme Director, Tony is responsible for developing a new business solution assessment platform for Freeform Dynamics. In his analyst capacity, he covers hosting and services, taking a view of delivery across the major IT solution domains, including both infrastructure and applications.

One of the areas that interests Tony is how developments in infrastructure and communications technologies allow more innovative and effective ways of delivering services to the business. His in depth knowledge of mainframe, server and storage technology puts him in an excellent position to drive through the theory and hype to real world practicalities and considerations. Beyond technology, Tony also considers the role that financial models increasingly play, both in assessing the impact of IT solutions and services within organisations, and on how vendors make their offerings available to customers.

Based in Germany, Tony joined Freeform Dynamics in 2007. He has been an industry analyst since 2000, originally with Bloor Research, where he became Chief Analyst, then later with Sageza, where he was instrumental in developing the firm’s presence in Europe. Before this, he gained extensive experience in the vendor arena working for companies such as Amdahl, but also has a strong IT practitioner background from various technical and management roles at the University of London and large blue chip commercial companies like BP and BT.

Current areas of focus: ITSM, hosting and services, software as a service

Tony Lock's full biography may be downloaded here.


Josie Sephton
Principal Analyst



Josie Sephton is Principal Analyst at Freeform Dynamics covering telecoms solutions and services in the enterprise and SMB sectors, and is responsible for Freeform’s research agenda in this area.

As a seasoned analyst and consultant with over 19 years in the telecoms and IT services industry, Josie has extensive experience of researching and analysing requirements and offerings across the communications landscape. She also has a strong project management background and a consistent track record of successful delivery, working with a broad list of clients, from global service providers and equipment vendors, through to multinational corporations across various verticals.

Prior to joining Freeform Dynamics, Josie held positions at Ovum, Eurodata Foundation and LogicaCMG.

Current areas of focus: Telecoms services/solutions, telecoms infrastructure

Josie Sephton's full biography may be downloaded here.


David Tebbutt
Programme Director



As Programme Director, David oversees all of Freeform Dynamics’ training, coaching and other personal development consulting activities. In addition, he works as an industry analyst specialising in the human and environmental aspects of IT, with a particular interest in areas such as personal productivity, collaboration, social computing and sustainable computing.

David has extensive practical and management experience in end-user and vendor environments. In the first part of his career, he held positions as a programmer, analyst, project manager and IT manager within companies such as NCR, Givaudan and ICL, where he also developed and ran a series of management skills courses. Through a later move into the media sector, David has helped in the launch of a number of magazines over the years, and as an analyst today, still continues to contribute columns, features and blogs to various IT, business and mainstream media titles in the in-depth and well researched style he has become known for.

In addition to his IT, media and analyst skills, David is a fully trained and experienced instructor, and has coached over 3,000 media-facing staff for blue chip IT companies during his career. Building on his deep involvement in sustainability-related projects in the public sector, David is also an authority on the environmental aspects of IT deployment and use.

Current areas of focus: Personal productivity, social media, sustainability

David Tebbutt's full biography may be downloaded here.


Linsey Berry
Research Assistant



As Research Assistant, Linsey is responsible for data analysis on specific projects, and works closely with the analyst team on interpretation of primary research findings. This includes both community research studies as well as bespoke client engagements.

Linsey has a strong background in primary research execution within and beyond the technology sector. Having worked as a team leader in more traditional market research organisations such as the GfK Group, Linsey’s direct experience of both business-to-business and consumer research techniques, including data quality management, is invaluable to Freeform Dynamics.

Prior to her career in research, Linsey worked in retail administration and held various customer service roles, primarily in the utilities sector.

Linsey Berry's full biography may be downloaded here.