Our Mentors

David Nichols
Dave is a founding member and President of itSM Mentor LLC. He has over 35 years in information technology (IT); including graphic arts, medical, newspaper and computer graphics industries. As one of the founders of itSM Mentor he drew on that experience in the development and delivery of innovative consulting and training products that meet the real life needs of today’s IT professionals.

Dave was also an early pioneer in the development of Web-based ITIL certification programs along with many other online classroom and blended learning training solutions. Together with his partner the late Janet Kuhn, Dave developed the first accredited ITIL Foundation online training program and was awarded the itSMF 2001 Product of the Year award for ITSM Best Practices Online .

David was also an early pioneer in the development of classroom style video training programs for ITIL, Prince2, Cobit 5 and Agile/SCRUM certifications. These programs are the bedrock of many corporate ITSM training programs including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Disney and HP.

Dave also co-authored numerous study guides and “Do IT Yourself” guides and newsletter for the service management industry. Along with partner Rick Lemieux, he’s co-authored several whitepapers on ITIL adoption and IT Service Management training.

Over the years he’s worked with several Fortune 500 companies to align their IT goals to meet the business’ objectives and achieve IT operational excellence. David holds an Expert certification in IT Service Management and has served several years as a representative of the ITIL Accredited Training Organizations (ATO) on the ITIL ATO Sub Group, and the ITIL Qualifications Board.

 

Lawrence J. ‘Butch’ Sheets
“Butch” Sheets has worked as an IT professional for over 39 years and has been
involved with IT Service Management since 1997. He received his ITIL®
Foundation Certification in October 1999, Service Level Management Practitioner
Certificate in June 2000 and IT Service Management (Masters) Certification in
September 2001. Butch received a V3 Foundation Bridge certification in
February 2009 and in March of 2009 received his V3 Manager Bridge
certification and ITIL Expert Credential. He is a 2004 BSBM graduate from
University of Phoenix.

Butch retired from Caterpillar, Inc. in Peoria, Illinois. In his last role, he fulfilled
the IT Service Management Architect position. He held numerous other technical
and managerial positions in his Caterpillar career. He has been instrumental in
that company’s adoption of IT Service Management best practices in support of –
and in conjunction with – their record-setting Six Sigma initiatives. Butch is also
certified in The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF).

Butch’ desire to share his experience from a broad background in IT, including
technical and managerial roles, led him to present at the itSMF USA’s 2001,
2002, 2003, 2004 and 2009 Annual IT Service Management USA conferences. In
addition, he has personally taught ITIL® classes to over 1,000 staff members at
Caterpillar, Inc.

Butch is an active and lifetime member of the itSMF USA, including having
served as President in 2005. He is an itSMF USA Lifetime Achievement Award
recipient (2006). He currently works as an independent contractor delivering
ITSM training and consulting as a co-owner of Service Management Dynamix,
LLC.

 

Keith D. Sutherland
Keith is a partner, and fully accredited instructor, with Service Management Dynamix, LLC, a South Carolina based company. Since January of 2004, Keith has facilitated a number of sessions for organizations interested in the value of a true IT Service Management framework. Keith’s varied background allows him to share real and practical experiences with clients, while his dynamic presentation skills aid in helping ‘learners’ and clients absorb the ITIL® Framework and content, while also speaking to complementary frameworks and methodologies.

From 2002 (thru December, 2007), Keith served as the Membership Chair for the ‘Heartland’ local interest group (LIG) of the itSMF USA in Central Illinois. He has also been instrumental in the start-up of many of the LIGs throughout the Midwest, including Gateway (St. Louis), Chicago-Milwaukee, Lehigh Valley (Allentown/Bethlehem, PA), and Great Lakes (Greater Detroit, MI). Though considered a ‘vendor’ in the ITSM field these days, Keith started as a practitioner. His involvement in the itSMF USA dates back to 1998, where one of the very first ITSMF USA interest group meetings occurred at Holy Cross Health Systems in South Bend, IN (while an IT Manager there).

Keith’s ITSM Credentials and Certificates include: Foundation Certificate in ITSM (Jan, 99), Manager Certificate in ITSM (ITIL® v2 Service Manager, September, 2001), ITIL® v3 Manager Certified (January, 2008), aka “ITIL® Expert™ credential”

Keith’s achievements include: 35+ years of experience in IT working in a variety of industries, including:  eight years in manufacturing, four years in banking/finance, two years in catholic health care, five years in customer care and eight years training and consulting in service management.

In Keith’s home community of Peoria, IL, he is a past board member for the Center for Prevention of Abuse Peoria, and has participated in a number of philanthropic activities for not for profit organizations.