Pierre Gauthier is a professional software architect with over 18 years of experience in the computing and telecommunications industry, primarily concerned with the design, architecture and implementation of OSS distributed systems. A recognized Java specialist and a Java Community Process Star Spec Lead, Pierre has been involved in the standardization of the Java for OSS applications. He is recognized within international standardization circles for his strategic leadership, diplomacy, commitment, and technical competence. During his career, he has built an extensive network of contacts within the telecommunications and software engineering industry. He has worked for a number of companies including Oracle Corporation, MetaSolv Software and Nortel, designing and implementing OSS systems using Corba, J2EE, XML and Web Services. He has extensive knowledge of the Java, XML and Web Service Specifications. He is an Alumni Speaker at Java One. He is currently the CEO of OSS Wave, a consulting company, where he architects and provides training on SOA and J2EE based OSS solutions. He is the coauthor of the “OSS Design Pattern—A Pattern Approach to the Design of Telecommunications Management”—a book that advocates a pattern-based approach to the design of interfaces to Operations Support Systems to reduce the cost of delivering telecommunications management solutions. He can be contacted at [email protected]