09:30-10:00

Registration and Coffee

10:00-10:50

Setting the Scene: Aligning IT to the business

Aligning IT with Business Goals,What is value, and how does the IT Organisation help the business realise value?

Stuart Foster, IBM

IT Teams have been on a mission for years to develop solutions that more closely align IT with the goals of the business. Previous approaches have promised improvements such as greater reuse, shorter development time and lower cost. None of these has been able to successfully address the fundamental issues concerning reuse - issues such as policy and governance, open standards, and architectural and programming models that recognise the fact that reuse is much more about business function than software code. This session will focus on how SOA can dramatically increase the value that IT brings to the business. The session will show how SOA can be adopted gradually, while providing competitive advantage from early in the adoption path. Finally, the session will discuss how different organisations can adopt SOA in different ways, all with the common goal of increasing business flexibility and organisational effectiveness.

Stuart is a Certified Software IT Specialist.   He has worked for IBM for 20 years, focusing on Java and WebSphere since 1997 and he currently works in the WebSphere Technical Sales team in the  UK. He is a member of the IBM Software European Technical Leadership council and a member of the British Computer Society. 

11:00-11:50

Workplace: Transforming the way we work

Andy Porter, IBM

On demand business both requires and drives fundamental, systemic changes in the way businesses operate. suppliers and business partners who interact with them. We will explain the IBM Workplace strategy to empower people to collaborate within their everyday work as well as the IBM Workplace product family including IBM Workplace software, IBM Lotus Notes / Domino and IBM WebSphere Portal

Andy has spent over 17 years in the computer industry with the past 9 years being at IBM. Currently a Senior Technology Advocate for IBM Lotus Software, he is a leading expert in messaging & collaboration and the competitive landscape. He has worked with many companies both in the  UK and Worldwide helping them to choose the most appropriate messaging & collaboration solutions for their business. He has presented and demonstrated IBM solutions at industry trade shows such as The IBM Software Symposium and Lotusphere. He also regularly presents at IBM Technology Briefings and Roadshows. He is a Subject matter expert on IBM Workplace, and is a Principal CLP for Notes/Domino.

12:00-13:00

Lunch

13:00-13:50

SOA

What's it all about?

How do you get going with adopting a Service Oriented Architecture?

14:00-14:50

Marketplace Overview

Kevin Malone, IBM

A discussion of factors impacting the software market; acquisitions, new product developments, open source, compliance

Kevin is the IBM UK Software Technical Strategist, a senior IBM technical professional, and member of a number of IBM technical leadership teams. Kevin focuses on "influencing the influencers"  in the areas of software strategy and directions, with the aim of assisting businesses to get real value from software. He has worked with many customers to architect and implement software infrastructures, to give them flexibility, robustness and scalability, for future changing business needs. He regularly consults with customers, business partners, system integrators,and consultants.   

15:00-15:15

Coffee Break

15:15-16:05

Lotus Notes V7.0

Andy Porter, IBM

This session will focus on the IBM Lotus Notes/Domino 7.0 release -- a messaging and collaboration solution that empowers users to be more productive by improving access to relevant information. Companies are looking to achieve top-line growth by increasing the productivity and performance of their workforce. Connecting people with the right information is a "must-do" - - making real time collaboration the key. Businesses are looking for better ways to enable employees to efficiently and securely communicate, collaborate with colleagues, customers, partners and suppliers – regardless of where they are located or the devices they use. A reliable collaboration platform that provides around-the-clock functionality is top of mind.

16:15-16:30

Wrap up – Q & As and Close