Simon Riggs is the CTO of 2ndQuadrant, having contributed to PostgreSQL as a major developer and committer for 14 years. He has written and designed features for replication, performance, BI, management, and security. Under his guidance, 2ndQuadrant is now a leading developer of open source PostgreSQL, serving hundreds of clients in USA, Europe, and worldwide. Simon is a frequent speaker at many conferences on PostgreSQL Futures. He has worked as a database architect for 30 years.

Gianni Ciolli is the head of professional services at 2ndQuadrant. PostgreSQL consultant, trainer, and speaker at many PostgreSQL conferences in Europe and abroad since the last 10 years. He has a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Florence. He has worked with free and open source software since the 1990s and is active in the community (Prato Linux User Group and Italian PostgreSQL Users Group). He lives in London with his son. His other interests include music, drama, poetry, and athletics.

Sheldon Strauch is a 23-year veteran of software consulting at IBM, Sears, Ernst & Young, and Kraft Foods. Having a bachelor's degree in business administration, he leverages his technical skills to improve business' self-awareness. He is interested in data gathering, management, and mining; maps and mapping; business intelligence; and application of data analysis. He is currently focusing on the development of data management and mining at Enova International at Chicago. At his leisure, he enjoys performing arts, music, and traveling with his wife, Marilyn.

If you're interested in becoming an author for Packt, please visit authors.packtpub.com and apply today. We have worked with thousands of developers and tech professionals, just like you, to help them share their insight with the global tech community. You can make a general application, apply for a specific hot topic that we are recruiting an author for, or submit your own idea.