Research Team


Dale Vile
CEO / Managing Director
dale@freeformdynamics.com



As head of the company, Dale is responsible for Freeform Dynamics’ overall 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: IT strategy, architecture, cloud computing, end user computing


Helen Vile
VP, Head of Operations
helen@freeformdynamics.com



As VP, Head of Operations, Helen is responsible for the general managment of the business on a day to day level, which includes all commercial, financial and legal matters, as well as research operations and delivery. As part of this, Helen manages the core project delivery team, oversees our project portfolio, and is ultimately responsible quality and client satisfaction.

In terms of experience and expertise, Helen has a strong background in business administration and customer services, as well as market research. She has been involved in IT industry research and analysis since 2003, and co-founded Freeform Dynamics in 2005.

Current areas of focus: Commercial and operational management


Martha Bennett
VP, Head of Strategy
martha@freeformdynamics.com



As VP, Head of Strategy, Martha is responsible for defining and overseeing strategic development activities to help the company meet its medium and long term objectives. Martha is also a senior decision maker on client and research related matters, playing a critical day to day role as part of the operational management team.

Also an active industry analyst, Martha covers IT strategy and investment, with a particular focus on IT/business alignment, IT governance, business case development, and software/solution selection. Martha has extensive direct experience of IT strategy and delivery gathered while working as the Head of Advanced Technology at Prudential Corporation, and in other management roles within blue chip companies such as Price Waterhouse.

Before joining Freeform Dynamics in 2011, Martha was Practice Leader at Ovum/Datamonitor, with responsibility for global financial services and retail technology coverage. Prior to this, Martha worked as a VP and Research Director at Forrester, joining the company as part of the Giga acquisition.

Current areas of focus: IT/business alignment, IT governance, business case development


Tony Lock
Programme Director
tony@freeformdynamics.com



As Programme Director, Tony is responsible for driving coverage in the areas of Systems Infrastructure and Management, IT Service Management, Outsourcing, and emerging hosting models such as Software as a Service and Cloud Computing. Beyond technology, Tony also considers the role of financial models in relation to IT investment.

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 and their operational management puts him in an ideal position to drive through theory and hype to real world practicalities.

Based in Germany, Tony joined Freeform Dynamics in 2007. He has been an industry analyst since 2000, originally with Bloor Research, then later with Sageza. Before this, he gained extensive experience in the vendor arena working for companies such as Amdahl, and also has a strong IT practitioner background with companies like BP and BT.

Current areas of focus: Systems, ITSM, Outsourcing, SaaS/Cloud


Andrew Buss
Service Director
andrew@freeformdynamics.com



As a Service Director, Andrew is a member of the Freeform Dynamics management team, and is responsible for managing the company’s services portfolio for both end user and vendor organisations. As an active analyst, Andrew covers end-user client computing and access and infrastructure communications technologies.

Andrew is particularly interested in the convergence of computing, comms, security and management. Convergence remains a challenge for many IT suppliers, often hampering the delivery of holistic solutions. Andrew looks to bridge the gaps between technologies and develop solutions that bring IT vendors, their channel and customers into alignment.

Andrew has been an industry analyst since 2001. Prior to joining Freeform Dynamics he held a variety of senior positions within Canalys, developing services across both client (notebooks, desktops & tablets; smartphones, PDAs & navigation) and infrastructure (server & datacenter; IP routing, switching & wireless; security). Prior to this Andrew worked as a consultant in IT Service Level management working in diverse industries including government, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing and publishing.

Current areas of focus: Client, datacenter, convergence, unification, networking


Colin Beveridge
Principal Analyst
colin@freeformdynamics.com



As Principal Analyst at Freeform Dynamics, Colin covers IT transformation and service delivery optimisation. In this role, he draws upon extensive experience gatherered while working as a Management Troubleshooter and interim CIO immediately before joining the company. His recent activities have involved the delivery of complex change for a wide range of blue-chip enterprises and SMEs.

Colin has a wealth of hard-won IT practitioner and consultancy experience, gained in the private, public, academic and not-for-profit sectors. He has worked with companies right across the IT value chain and held top-level roles in strategy, service delivery, infrastructure management and applications development.

Since 1999, Colin has also become a well-respected writer, commentator and speaker on the effective management of technology, with a particular focus on effective information systems, organizational cohesion, communication and engagement.

Current areas of focus: IT transformation & service delivery optimisation


Linsey Berry
Publications Manager
linsey@freeformdynamics.com



Linsey has two primary areas of responsibility within the Freeform team. As a talented data analyst with a good eye for visualisation, she specialises in the preparation and exploration of primary research data to identify correlations and trends, working closely with the industry analysts in the team who provide the necessary domain expertise. This collaborative approach to analysis and interpretation maximises the original insights that stem from community research and other studies.

Linsey’s success in this role is not surprising given her 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.

In addition to her work as a Data Analyst, Linsey also looks after day to day dealings with the editors of Freeform’s media partners, coordinating publication schedules and managing the release and publication process for articles, blogs and other materials. Given the importance of both traditional and social media to Freeform’s communication program, this is a key aspect of Linsey’s responsibilities.

Current areas of focus: Data Analysis, Project Support, Publications