Judith Hurwitz has been a leader in the technology research and strategy consulting fields for more than 20 years. In 1992, she founded the industryleading research and consulting organization, Hurwitz Group. Currently, she is the President of Hurwitz & Associates, a research and consulting firm with a portfolio of service offerings focused on identifying customer benefit and best practices for buyers and sellers of information technology in the United States and Europe. Judith has held senior positions at John Hancock and Apollo Computer and is a frequent keynote speaker at industry events. She earned BS and MS degrees from Boston University and was honored by Boston University's College of Arts & Sciences, when it named her a distinguished alumnus in 2005. She is also a recipient of the 2005 Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council award. Robin Bloor was born in Liverpool, England, in the 1950s, a little too late to become a member of The Beatles and, in any event, completely bereft of musical talent. In his late teens he went to Nottingham University, where he acquired a degree in mathematics, a love for computers, and a number of severe hangovers. After toiling in the English IT trenches for a number of years, Robin, following in the steps of the Pilgrim Fathers, emigrated to the United States, eventually settling in Texas. In 2003, for reasons beyond his comprehension, he was awarded an honorary PhD in Computer Science by Wolverhampton University in the United Kingdom, in recognition of Services to the IT Industry. In 2004, he became a partner in the noted IT analyst company, Hurwitz & Associates. Carol Baroudi makes technical concepts understandable to ordinary human beings. She's the primary instigator and eager co-conspirator with Judith, Robin, and Marcia on their first For Dummies venture. Clocking more than 30 years in the computer industry, she's been writing For Dummies books since 1993. (You might be familiar with The Internet For Dummies in one of its ten editions.) In 1999, she became a software industry analyst under the tutelage of Judith Hurwitz. Marcia Kaufman is a founding partner of Hurwitz & Associates. With 20 years of experience in business strategy, industry research, and analytics, her primary research focus is on the business and technology benefit of emerging technologies. Understanding the world of business data has been one of her top priorities for many years, and today that includes data quality, business analytics, and information management.
