Biography

Allen Brown President and Chief Executive Officer, The Open Group

Allen Brown is the President and CEO of The Open Group. He has been with the company since 1993, when he joined the then X/Open Company Limited with the dual responsibility of Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Business Development. In this position he played a significant role in the development of the certification of conformance to the Single UNIX Specification and the licensing of the UNIX® trade mark. In 1994 he assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer and was actively involved in the merger of X/Open Company Limited with the Open Software Foundation. After the merger, as part of the integration activities, he was appointed Senior Vice President. In 1998 he was named Acting President and CEO, and later in the same year he was confirmed in his current position of the President and CEO of The Open Group.

Prior to joining The Open Group, Mr. Brown managed a consulting firm in London, which he founded in 1987. He enjoyed a mix of financial management and general management assignments, which included advising venture capitalists on investment decisions, and consulting on IT systems design and implementation. His clients included a broad range of companies and organizations in start-up, turn-around and growth situations, in a variety of industries including manufacturing, and distribution and retail.

In 1984 Mr. Brown co-founded Cambridge Venture Management Ltd, a consulting firm specializing in the provision of experienced management to small and developing companies on a part-time basis, based in Cambridge, England. During this time he led a number of general management and financial management assignments. From 1972 to 1984 Mr. Brown worked in various financial and management accounting positions for Unilever plc and Unilever Computer Services Ltd.

Mr. Brown holds an MBA from London Business School. He is married and resides in San Francisco, California and Colchester, England.