Jon Seidel, CMC
Certified Management Consultant

3373 Guido Street Oakland, CA 94602-3507
+1-510-530-6314 / +1-510-531-1522 FAX
Contact Jon:

Detailed PDF file

Mr. Seidel is also an expert witness, with some 20 cases spanning over a decade.
Review his List of Cases or view his Detailed Legal CV.

Jon Seidel has over thirty years experience in the computer industry, including positions as Director of Data Processing for the University of Florida and Data Center Director for Crocker National Bank. He's been around long enough to see the recurring computing cycles and to learn from them (His first machine was an 8K IBM 1401 using autocoder and two tape drives - compare that to an 8K Imsai personal computer using assembler language and two floppy drives - now compare that to an 8K Palm Pilot using Grafitti and two hands.)

He is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC), a mark of distinction awarded by the Institute of Managment Consultants which attests to his qualifications and adherence to the IMC's code of ethics (http://www.imcusa.org/ethics.acgi). The CMC is awarded only after the candidate has demonstrated extensive consulting experience, been recommended by a number of past clients, passed a written examination on the IMC's code of ethics, and been accepted by an oral review by current CMC practitioners.

Mr. Seidel began his career in 1969 at the University of Florida where he intended to obtain a CPA. The lure of computers intervened, and he was soon an assistant at the UF Research and Development Center, charged with developing systems utilities in IBM Assembler language and helping faculty, staff, and students debug their programs. He learned early on the folly of believing "But I only changed one little thing and that couldn't have had anything to do with the problems I'm having!"

The ability to come in on weekends and power up his own 'personal computer' (a water-cooled IBM 370/168 mainframe) was compelling; it formed the basis for Mr. Seidel's deep understanding of how computing systems work and his ability to discover root causes that stumped everyone else. In spite of the fun he was having at the Computer Center, he received his BS in Engineering Science and Mechanics (Cum Laude, with an emphasis on theoretical physics and applied mathematics) in 1974 (there were no Computer Science departments in those days).

As Director of Data Processing for the Registrar's Office (and responsibility for 35,000 student records, Admissions, the Graduate School, the Alumnae Association, and state-wide reporting), his future was assured. However, it seemed clear to him that he needed to broaden his experience, so he moved to California where he worked for the consulting firm of Programming Methods Incorporated. Here he continued to hone his technical and management skills, traveling across the US to install, implement, train, and support organizations in the system-level support and modification of IBM's telecommunications product, CICS.

Crocker Bank beckoned in 1976, with the promise of learning new methods and methodologies for software development, and he worked there for three years, first as team leader, next as the first Consulting Engineer, then as the Manager of Systems Software, and finally as the Director of Data Processing, with a staff of 110 and 24x7 operational responsibilities. It was here that Jon began his transition to technology manager, and learned that organizational and management issues are where the most leverage can be obtained. During this period, Mr. Seidel obtained his MBA in Banking from Golden Gate University, SF.

He founded EDP Consulting, Inc. in 1979, with the view of helping companies marry technology, business, and management in more productive ways. He's been doing that ever since.

His philosophy centers on helping clients learn to do what they need to do, rather than doing it for them (although there are times when things need to be accomplished and Jon can make things happen with the best of them). Through his example and leadership, Mr. Seidel identifies a vision, communicates that vision to the people on the team, helps each person understand their place in that vision, and then facilitates the process so that everyone can participate in the success and earn a sense of accomplishment. What results is a true team effort, with ownership of the actions and results.

The great diversity of projects, organizations, and situations he has dealt with in the past 21 years as an independent consultant have increased his ability to serve his clients and help them get what they want from their information technology investment, whether in terms of organizational development, staff development, strategic technology planning, project management, project life-cycle methodologies - or just turning around an activity that's in deep trouble.

Education

BS/Engineering Science, with Honors, University of Florida, 1974

MBA/Banking, Golden Gate University, 1979

.