Jim Johnson - Chairman, The Standish Group International
Opening Remarks

In the opening talk on Day 1, Jim Johnson will set the stage for this Executive Retreat. First, Jim will define the goals of the retreat and the individual workshops. Second, he will provide the rules of engagement and how each workshop will be handled. Third, he will provide a set of common definitions to be used throughout the workshops. Fourth, Jim will discuss some of Standish's primary research and how it applies to the retreat and the workshops. In the Day 2 talk, Jim will discuss the major trends in IT to showcase our forecast of current and future direction and movement to new technologies, methodologies, standards, processes, and/or performance. He will further discuss the major elements that are driving these trends.

Jim Johnson is the founder and chairman of The Standish Group. He has been professionally involved in the computer industry for over 40 years and has a long list of published books, papers, articles and speeches. He has a combination of technical, marketing, and research achievements focused on mission-critical applications and technology. He is best known for his research on project performance and early recognizing technology trends. Jim is a pioneer of modern research techniques and continues to advance in the research industry through virtual focus groups and case-based analytical technology.

Tim Chou - Chairman, Openwater
Is Enterprise Software Dead, or Just Sleeping?

This talk will focus on discussing a new generation of enterprise applications based on search, not SQL. Just as there have been customer service and sales; enterprise application management and project management applications based on SQL there will be horizontal and vertical applications based on search. These applications will be based on standard languages, as opposed to standard processes as we’ve seen in our transactional SQL-based applications. And once there is a language for the community, the team, the group, then the ability to communicate, create and refine that information is dramatically magnified.  Today we think we communicate because we all speak English; but that’s far from the truth. Take any significant phrase or concept and you’ll quickly realize everyone in your team has a different meaning. With technology born in the Consumer Internet – it no longer has to be this way.

Timothy Chou has been recognized as a visionary in the software industry. His book, The End of Software, predicted a radical shift in software economics that is playing out from Webex to Google. The book is based on his experiences as the President of Oracle On Demand. He recently co-founded Openwater Networks. He is also on the board of directors at Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) and has taught at Stanford University for over fifteen years, where he recently launched the first class in Software as a Service.

Robbins-Gioia consultants note that today’s unstable economy is churning up combinations of challenges and risks rarely experienced in recent times, wreaking havoc across many industries.  These extraordinary circumstances often demand extraordinary measures by program managers, their sponsors, and stakeholders - the project ecosystem - to preserve value and keep projects viable, even if restructuring comes suddenly. So, how prepared are firms and their project ecosystems to manage rapid restructuring of program initiatives across the enterprise? Are PMs, their sponsors, and suppliers really prepared to take the actions required?  If not, what should they do differently - and right now?

Herb Strauss has more than 30 years of diverse public and private sector experience, joining Robbins-Gioia in 2008 from the technology research and advisory firm Gartner Inc., where he was vice president and principal national security analyst. Prior to Gartner, he held executive positions in market and industry analysis, strategy development, and management and technology consulting and led service delivery of key programs and services with the American Express Company, Electronic Data Systems Corporation, and American Management Systems (now a component of CGI). Herb began his professional career in government, where he served for 20 years as a commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps. Herb holds an MBA and an MS in information and telecommunications systems from the Johns Hopkins University and a BA in government from Norwich University.

Ever increasing scrutiny is being put on IT initiatives as a result of poor delivery track records, wasted effort and wasteful features, and a lack of alignment between stakeholders, project managers and their teams. This trend is not new, many root causes are known but organizations continue to struggle. How does an organization create a project ecosystem that addresses these chronic problems? In this talk, Sapient shares the concept of the “courageous project manager” and the role it plays addressing many of the root causes of poor IT performance. Pragmatic techniques are shared and supported by real world examples.

Brian Carter joined Sapient 7 years ago and owns a number of functions within Sapient’s consulting and interactive marketing businesses. Brian oversees Sapient’s technology leadership team, technology centers of excellence, project delivery methodology, along with risk management, pre-sales and delivery tools teams. Brian has lead Sapient’s efforts in pioneering innovations in globally distributed Agile development, collaboration tools, and project management techniques. Brian has also had roles supporting Sapient’s government services division where he focused on US Navy and US Marine Corps programs. Prior to joining Sapient, Brian’s 18-year career in IT includes delivering solutions for finance, retail, and government clients. Brian has also worked with ISVs developing mortgage, e-commerce and CRM products.

Cloud computing is one of the ever-progressing cycles of information technology invention and innovation.  In this talk, Bill Coleman will layout his vision of the of the distinct waves of information technology innovation, where cloud computing fits within these cycles, and how you can benefit from the opportunities it will generate. Bill will also take a broader look at the phases a technology must go through, highlighting where we were, where we are today, and were we are going.  Bill will show how to recognize each inflection point as you transition from one cycle and phase to the next – and what that can mean for your organization.

Bill Coleman has more than 30 years of corporate and entrepreneurial leadership experience. Prior to Cassatt, he founded and was the first chairman and CEO of BEA Systems (acquired by Oracle Corp. earlier this year), which became the world’s leading infrastructure software company. Under his leadership, BEA became the fastest software firm ever to exceed $1 billion in annual revenue. Before BEA, he served as vice president of system software at Sun Microsystems, where his team transformed SunOS into the commercially successful Solaris operating system. While at Sun he also founded Sun’s Professional Services Division and co-founded Sun’s Federal Division. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy and M.S. degrees in Computer Science and Computer Engineering from Stanford University. He also has an honorary doctorate from the University of Colorado.