Lead Authors

Valentine Boiarkine (MCSE, MCDBA, MCSD, MCT) is a founding partner at Blade Ltd., a software consulting firm based in Wellington, New Zealand. She is the lead architect of the revolutionary Blade File Transfer System file transfer technology. Valentine has over 10 years’ consulting and software development experience, and she specializes in enterprise software integration, security, IT alignment, and unified communications. She has designed distributed software solutions for financial, legal, and government organizations.

Valentine is the author of numerous technical training courses, guides, and white papers for Microsoft Corp. and Quest Software, including SQL Server Microsoft Official Curriculum titles. She is also an accomplished trainer and presenter. She frequently trains support engineers at Microsoft and Microsoft partners worldwide. Her technology expertise lies in SQL Server, .NET development, Exchange Server, and Office Communications Server. Valentine resides in Auckland, New Zealand, with her husband, Keith, and children Spencer and Alexander.

Herleson Pontes (MVP, MCT, MCITP, MCTS, MCP, MOS) is an IT consultant, writer and trainer of desktop, Web, and mobile environments, with more than eight years of expertise. He currently provides technical consulting and IT training to companies and Microsoft CPLS all over Brazil. His specialties include Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Windows Server System, Windows Desktop Client, Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, database design and implementation, strategic BI planning, system architecture and design, and IT environment troubleshooting and optimization. Herleson is a key speaker, writer, and contributor to many publications and Microsoft communities of Brazil.

Herleson holds a bachelor’s degree in information systems and is a student working toward his master’s degree in applied informatics from the University of Fortaleza. Herleson currently resides in Fortaleza, Ceará, with his wife, Priscila, and family.