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Object First Aces

The Object First Aces Program recognizes our community leaders and showcases their expertise and contributions to data backup protection.

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About the Aces Program

Object First Aces are a distinguished group of expert and Veeam Backup and Replication software admins who are committed to advancing the industry, sharing candid points of view, and helping the wider community to succeed in their pursuit of data protection.

These individuals have been selected based on their remarkable accomplishments, extensive Object First and Veeam product knowledge, and commitment to engaging with the community both in person and online.

Object First Aces group of expert and Veeam Backup and Replication software admins
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    Values

    Our community thrives on collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and mutual support. The Aces embody the values we cherish:

    • Helping peers and newcomers alike.

    • Collaborating to solve problems and innovate.

    • Sharing expertise and insights to benefit the entire community.

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    Benefits

    Join Object First Aces and connect with a network of professionals dedicated to data protection. Members benefit from:

    • Early insights into new product features and updates.

    • Connections with industry leaders and fellow experts.

    • Access to webinars, tutorials, and hands-on training sessions.

Meet the Object First Aces

The Aces are not just experts but pioneers who lead by example. Meet our distinguished Aces below and learn what makes them invaluable members of the Object First community.

    • Jos Maliepaard photoJM
      Jos MaliepaardNetherlands

      Jos is a data protection consultant the Netherlands. His days are filled with giving advice, designing and implementing Data Protection, Business Continuity, and VMware solutions. VMware VCP-DCV, VMCE + VMCA, HPE ASE and NL VUG Leader.

    • Luciano Patrao photoLP
      Luciano PatraoGermany

      Working with Virtualization for 15+ years (mainly VMware). vExpert last 7 years, Veeam Vanguard 6 years. Specialties, Virtualization, Storage, and Backups. Working for ITQ as a Senior Consultant/Solution Architect and allocated In Germany.

    • Christian Eromosele photoCE
      Christian EromoseleGermany

      A seasoned IT Infrastructure Professional and the founder of TechDirectArchive with expertise and a strong commitment to knowledge sharing and community engagement. With a proven track record of success in technology and project delivery, operations management, and IT service management.

      He is a Microsoft MVP, Veeam Legend and Cisco Champion.

    • Maurice Kevenaar photoMK
      Maurice KevenaarNetherlands

      Maurice Kevenaar is a System Engineer at INFO located in Amsterdam, NL, Package maintainer and moderator for the Chocolatey Community Repository (CCR), and contributor to OSS projects. Creator of Veeam Chocolatey packages and BoxStarter scripts. Veeam Vanguard 2020-2024, Veeam Legend 2023-2024, Leader of the Automation Desk, Leader of Veeam Usergroup Netherlands and Co-founder of the Veeam Community Hackathon.

    • Luiz Eduardo Serrano photoLE
      Luiz Eduardo SerranoBrazil

      Luiz Eduardo Serrano is a System Engineer and Cloud Architect with over 25 years of experience in the IT industry. His expertise lies in consultative sales, working with technologies such as cloud, modern applications, data protection, virtualization/HCI, storage, security, and networking. Luiz possesses numerous certifications, including Veeam VMCA 2024/VMCE, VMware VCP Security, 04 x HPE Master ASE, AWS Architect Associate, Red Hat Ansible SE, Nutanix NCA, and others. He has been recognized as a Cisco CISG and HPE Datacenter Champion and is a VMware Tanzu Vanguard, Object First Ace, HPE Certified Instructor, and AWS guest mentor. His degree is in Electronics Engineering and his hobby is reading.

    • Chris Childerhose photoCC
      Chris ChilderhoseCanada

      Chris works for ThinkOn as the Principal Cloud Architect. He has a passion for technology & stays on top of the ever-evolving IT realm. He’s a Veeam Vanguard 7*, Veeam Legend 3*, vExpert 5*, and VMCA/VMCE certified. He is also the author of Mastering Veeam Backup & Replication 10/11/12 by Packt Publishing.

    • Derek Loseke photoDL
      Derek LosekeUSA

      Senior Systems Engineer at Kidwell Technologies in Omaha, Nebraska focusing on SMB’s after spending several years at a private cloud service provider. With over 20 years of IT experience, Derek is VCP6-DCV and CCNA certified with a focus on Data Protection and Business Continuity, Virtualization, Infrastructure and Cloud Services.

    • Stijn Marivoet photoSM
      Stijn MarivoetBelgium

      Stijn is a Veeam system engineer based in Belgium, covering Belgium-Luxembourg. He has a strong focus on end-user based problems and therefore also solutions. He loves having an audience and is fan of events. For assisting more partners then he could handle he started to promote his www.veeamclick.be website.

    • Michael Paul photoMP
      Michael PaulUnited Kingdom

      Michael Paul is a Data Protection Consultant from the United Kingdom. Specialising in all things Veeam and with an interest in Microsoft Cloud & SaaS, and infrastructure. Michael can be frequently found blogging over at Michael Paul | @micoolpaul or delivering talks on data protection best practices!

    • Nico Stein photoNS
      Nico SteinUSA

      Nico Stein is a VP of IT at Signal Financial FCU, a Maryland based Credit Union. Originally started with IBM Germany, he has over 25 years of IT experiences, managing campus networks, people, and critical systems. He is also a Veeam Vanguard, VMUG leader, Cisco Champion, and vExpert.

    • Maximilian Maier photoMM
      Maximilian MaierGermany

      Max is working as a Systems Engineer for Veeam in Germany and has over 15 years experience in IT with a focus on data protection & virtualization. He is active in many IT Communities and likes to share his knowledge with others.

    • Luis Alberto Freixas Reyes photoLA
      Luis Alberto Freixas ReyesSpain

      Working as Global Infrastructure Business Analyst, passionate about virtualization, data protection and technology, With more that 20 years of experience in the IT world. Now focused on helping others and share knowledge and experiences. vExpert, VMUG Leader, VUG Leader, Blogger, Father, Friend.

    • Tyler Jurgens photoTJ
      Tyler JurgensCanada

      Tyler Jurgens is a Cloud Infrastructure Engineer specializing in Cloud Infrastructure, Backup, and Disaster Recovery at Stage2Data Inc. He’s an Object First Ace, Veeam Legend, vExpert, Tanzu Vanguard, and has his VMCE and VCP. He has a passion for technology and community building, running the Calgary VMUG community and being a Veeam User Group leader in Canada. Family is his passion above all, so expect proud Dad conversations from him about his children.

    • Jim Jones photoJJ
      Jim JonesUSA

      Jim Jones is a Senior Product Infrastructure Architect at 11:11 SYSTEMS. Jim has over 20 years of experience both as a Systems Administrator in SMB and Enterprise organizations as well as an architect for service providers, specializing in virtualization and disaster recovery capabilities. Holding technical certification from vendors such as Cisco Systems, Veeam and VMware. Jim also holds degrees from Marshall University and University of Maryland. He can be found most places online @k00laidit and blogs at https://koolaid.info.