Allen is founder and CEO of Peak Portfolio, management consultant, and author with over 18 years of experience working with Fortune 500 companies, including Microsoft, Starbucks, and Gateway.

Hockey Career

Starting at age 5, Allen enjoyed a 17-year hockey career. In 1984 (at age 13), his team in Seattle went on a goodwill hockey tour to the Soviet Union playing the top two teams in their country. In 1988, Allen was one of 69 players selected to attend the Select 17 Junior Olympic hockey camp. From 1988-1989, he played for the Merritt Centennials (Jr A tier II) in Merritt, BC, Canada. From 1989-1991, Allen played his final 2 years as team captain of the Sioux City Musketeers (Jr A tier II) in Sioux City, Iowa.

Business Career

Gateway

From 1992-1998, Allen was a member of the Call Center IT group at Gateway. During this time, the company grew from a $800M PC manufacturer into an $8.8B global brand. Allen’s notable contributions included leading the effort to acquire a $1M predictive dialer that saved $12M in annual write-offs, participated in a $50M enterprise order management system program, helped select 6 new outsourced call centers, and integrated call centers from an acquired business.

Starbucks

From 1998-2005, Allen was a member of the Retail Systems leadership team at Starbucks. During this time, the company grew revenues from $1.3 to $5.3 billion and stores from 1900 to 8800 worldwide. Allen’s notable contributions included leading the effort to launch the Starbucks Card (resulting in $2.6B in revenue in 4 years), leading the effort to deploy broadband networking to 3000 stores in 10 months (the largest private DSL network at the time), and saving over $10M annually by negotiating several strategic IT vendor relationships.

Consultant

In 2005, Allen transitioned his business career into management consulting. As founder and CEO of Peak Portfolio, Allen helps executives with their most important responsibility: selection of businesses, people, vendors, technology, products, and projects. Microsoft has been a client since 2005.

Author

Allen is the author of Technology Acquisition (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2001) and several articles on the topic of technology vendor selection and negotiation.

Boards

From 2003-2006, Allen served as vice-chairman of the Board of Directors for Page Ahead, a children’s literacy non-profit that has placed 1.7 million new books into the hands of 550,000 at-risk children in Washington State. He also chaired the Board Development Committee. Allen is currently serving Page Ahead as a Board Advisor.

Certifications

• Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management Institute, 2006-Current

Testimonials

Here is what others have said about Allen’s work:

Allen has been a great friend as well as a valuable business resource. Allen’s expertise in business development as well as his insights in variety of industries have helped me validate some of my business & strategic objectives. Allen has also supported me as a great friend, being there when I needed the support and always providing a helping hand. Allen’s integrity is second to none and I would highly recommend Allen as both a business partner and a great friend.”

Curt Kwak, CIO, Washington Region, Providence Health & Services

I haven’t worked with Allen in many years but in my career I’ve often benefited from what I observed of the skills he brought to bear in defining and driving a GIS and geodeomgraphics solutions RFP process. Allen was smart, organized, and really knew how to clarify all the business requirements and obtain transparency from the vendors.”

Jayson Tipp, Senior VP, Development, Potbelly Sandwich Works

Allen is one of the most skilled and capable project managers with whom I have ever worked. He is an adept planner and and communicator, and places constant focus on stakeholder alignment and team building. Allen is also adept at managing 3rd party suppliers, from selection of provider through to contract administration. Whenever a highly visible, top priority, high risk/reward project was approved, our leadership worked to make Allen available for the project management assignment.”

Michael Hall PMP, vp, Information Technology Planning, Starbucks Coffee Company

Allen is a consumate professional who explores the goals and aspirations of his clients in order to customize solutions enabling their success. His approach begins with strategic mapping and follows through to proof of concept and implementation. He is a strong and communicative player who may be relied upon with little supervision.”

Francis D’Addario CPP CFE, vp, Partner and Asset Protection, Starbucks Coffee Company

Allen is a thoughtful and passionate person who was a true asset to Page Ahead’s Board of Directors. During his tenure, he spearheaded the effort to create a Board Development Committee to oversee the recruitment, placement and training of Board members. Allen was well-regarded by Board members and staff alike.”

Sam Whiting, Executive Director, Page Ahead, Children’s Literacy Program