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10 Information-Packed Sessions
Cutting-edge expertise from technology specialists. See-around-corners vision from national analysts. Fresh-from-the-enterprise case histories direct from end users. When you choose your tracks you board an express train headed straight to fully-focused solutions that anticipate problems, work for your enterprise, and speed results to your bottom line.

 

Jim MetzlerApplication Delivery

 

Analyst
Jim Metzler, President, Ashton Metzler & Associates
It’s the constant compliant: “Why are the apps so slow?” Immediately followed by the eternal demand: “We need faster, more efficient-and now!” Finally there’s a solution…even for networks plagued with energy-draining, security-leaking, everything’s-virtualized-but-nothing’s-integrated legacy tech.
The secret is not any single piece of IT, but a four-part framework built for speed with efficiency-a framework this session will help you build from 1-Planning to 2-Optimization to 3-Management to 4-Control. You’ll learn how to identify and eliminate conflicts at every stage, paving the way to integrate and accelerate apps across your network for maximum power and productivity.
Technologies
• Application acceleration
• Network optimization
• Application performance management
• Virtualized desktops
• Virtualized WAN Optimization Controllers
• Virtualized Application Delivery Controllers
• Managed application optimization services
• Baselining
• Application profiling
New for ’09
• New benchmarks: Metrics to meet, expectations to manage
• New truths How optimized apps perform on virtual networks
• New issues: Using managed service providers wisely
Takeaways
• Factors that matter in application delivery
• Architecture that anticipates complexities
• Techniques that can be used to improve application performance
• Criteria to choose the appropriate network and application optimization solutions
• The challenges and opportunities presented by virtualization
• The role of managed service providers
• A process for profiling application performance
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Johna Till JohnsonBuilding a Resilient, Dynamic Data Center

 

Analyst
Johna Till Johnson, President & Senior Founding Partner, Nemertes Research
The data center is now the exciting epicenter of IT innovation- where cutting-edge technologies like virtualization, service-oriented architectures (SOA) blade computing, dynamic infrastructure, and service delivery management first emerge and initially deployed.
Building, managing and operating a scalable, high-performance, and cost-effective data center is now mission-critical for IT departments across all industries.
Planning for growth, Managing power and cooling. Ramping to handle ever-increasing demands of servers, storage and bandwidth. Improving business services. Provisioning faster. Lowering the cost of necessary resources. These are just some of the strategic issues this session addresses.
Technologies
• Data Center trends and metrics for success
• Facilities: build, managed, co-located, hosted, and cloud
• Dynamic infrastructure
• Intelligent, modular powers systems
• Consolidation
• Disaster recovery
• Tier I to Tier IV Availability (build or retrofit)
• Storage and storage management
• Energy consumption, measurement and management
• Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and Data Center Efficiency (DCE)
• Power and Cooling Scalability and Capacity
New for ’09
• Strategies for outsourcing
• Disaster recovery
• Dynamic infrastructure
• Power and cooling technologies - comparison and analysis
• Latest success metrics
• Uses of contractors and professional service firms
Takeaways
• Decision tree for building our outsourcing a new data center
• How to design a high-availability facilities
• How to ensure disaster-recovery and business continuity across all systems and networks
• Elements of dynamic data center infrastructure
• How to keep up with storage demands
• Factors and benefits of raising the floor
• Chooisng credible contractors and professional services firms for data center design and engineering
• How to design power and cooling to scale for future demand
• How to measure power use and conserve resources
• When to consider liquid cooling
• Survey of power system choices
• Plans for growth in the data center
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Johna Till JohnsonGreen IT: Best Practices for Making Your Initiative a Success

 

Analyst
Johna Till Johnson, President & Senior Founding Partner, Nemertes Research
Green IT is more than a buzzword. It’s about rolling out critical technologies and policies that enable organizations to reduce costs while reducing their carbon footprints-all while increasing agility. After all, a truly green organization is a lean and efficient one.
This track tackles the hardest tasks first: Gaining executive buy-in. Selecting appropriate technologies. Then deploying and implementing smart policies and best practices including capturing the hard nosed metrics that prove efforts are successful.
Attendees will see which areas are “low-hanging fruit.” Which policies can yield measurable results. Which technologies cut energy costs, increase reliability, and provide agility. You’ll come away with a tested, proven, real-world blueprint for building tomorrow’s green IT organization-today.
Technologies
• Power management in the data center and office environments
• Utility computing
• Thin clients
• Virtualization as a green enabler
• Alternative energy options (wind, solar, thermal)
• Virtual solutions including collaboration and unified communications
• Modular power and HVAC
• Greening of facilities design
New for ’09
• Business smart, ready-now Green IT strategies
• Security issues and answers in the open world of Green IT
• Green IT and user touch points
• Comprehensive build-as-you-grow Green IT blueprint
• Current Green IT solutions from buy-in to build out
Takeaways
• Understanding of the ‘maturity levels’ of various green strategies
• Priority checklist of issues to start with
• Practical, hands-on blueprint for your green initiative
• How to build a business case for a green initiative - from saving money to saving natural resources
• How to secure executive buy-in for your green initiative
• No-cost and low-cost tips-and-tricks for green IT benefits through diminished and managed demand for resources
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Jim MetzlerNetwork Management, Automation & Control

 

Analyst
Jim Metzler, President, Ashton, Metzler & Associates
This session is a drill down on two keys to success: Infrastructure management and application performance management.
Good infrastructure management now includes automation of routine tasks such as configuration management. Fault identification and resolution. This session will give you the latest best practices in ways you can implement immediately.
In contrast, application performance management is a relatively new activity. In many enterprises it’s integrated with overall management processes. While in a growing number of enterprises its importance has created separate discipline. What’s the best way? Using case histories, we’ll explore emerging best practices. And help you decide the right network management, automation and control for your enterprise as you meet the unique challenges of application performance.
Technologies
• Application performance management
• Visibility, policy and control
• Network and systems management
• Network analytics
• IT infrastructure library
• Network availability and performance management
• Automated configuration management
• Managing virtualized servers
• SOA based applications
New for ’09
• Expanding role of application performance management
• Problem-detection for problem avoidance: Automating and resolving issues before they impact end users
• A new framework for management of virtualized servers
Takeaways
• Virtualization transparency-including visibility into the inter-virtual machine (VM) traffic as well as into VM sprawl.
• Metrics for SOA-based applications-including crucial WAN impacts on application performance as well as standard n-tier applications.
• Automated fault identification and resolution implementations-including solutions that trace, configure and monitor performance of network entities and services
• Decision criteria for application performance management-including strategies that add needed functionality quickly, support open API, increase ease of use, decrease costs, support a MIB’s variables and decentralized architecture
• A framework for managing virtualized servers-including deployment of virtual probes and use of data from sources such as NetFlow
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Jeff KaplanSaaS, Cloud Computing & Managed Services

 

Analyst
Jeff Kaplan, Founder and Managing Director of THINKstrategies
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) … Managed Services … Cloud Computing: Today’s uncertain economy, increased pressure on profits, and rapidly-evolving enabling technologies have made these the hottest topics in IT.
If it’s your responsibility to implement the idea, this is a must-attend session. You’ll get the latest on what’s really enterprise ready now. You’ll see how to identify and adopt the best solutions as they emerge. You’ll learn secrets that optimize onsite IT assets through outside on-demand services. And you’ll discover how private clouds can overcome the risks of public clouds to create the kind of security, speed and optimization management expects in world-class network that deliver results as well as efficiencies.
Technologies
• SaaS
• Cloud/Utility Computing
• On-Demand Enterprise Applications
• Managed Services
• Managed Security Services
• Managed Storage Services
• Managed Desktop/Server/Network Services
New for ’09
• How to identify and capitalize on services-and achieve measurable IT/business objectives-that last year were only promised but now can be delivered
• Latest vendor-driven solutions and opportunities-which last year were only trends, tests and betas.
• Emerging ‘on-demand’ best practices based on case histories and mainstream experiences-as last’s year initial installations become tomorrow’s successful implementations.
Takeaways
• Key advantages/disadvantages of SaaS, managed services and cloud computing
• Risk/rewards of public versus private cloud
• Business benefits and potential risks of ‘on-demand’ services
• How services compare to legacy Application Service Providers (ASP)
• How managed services differ from IT outsourcing
• Key criteria for selecting the right services and vendors
• How to leverage off-site services to augment in-house resources
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Joel SnyderSecuring the Core

 

Analyst
Joel Snyder, Senior Partner, Opus One
The perimeter of the network with its traditional firewall at the edge is well understood and well secured. Now it’s time for network security teams to look forward to more comprehensive security solutions that increase security and reliability of business-critical networks.
Four security technologies have emerged as the best candidates to help organizations reduce risk and increase internal network security: NAC (Network Access Control), IDS/IPS (Intrusion Detection/Intrusion Prevention Systems), SEIM (Security Event Information Management), and UTM (Unified Threat Management). This session will provide a drill down on these four technologies, putting them into perspective and showing where they fit-and don’t-into today’s enterprise networks.
Technologies
• Network Access Control (NAC)
• End-point Security and Security Posture Assessment
• Deep-in-the-Network Authentication, Firewalling, and Access Controls
• Policy Management for Security
• Intrusion Detection Systems and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS)
• Security Event Information Management (SEIM)
• Log Management
• Unified Threat Management
• Next Generation Firewalls
New for ’09
• Coverage of all network security markets
• Security’s four key technologies IDS/IPS, SIM, NAC, UTM
• Emphasis on internal network security
Takeaways
• NAC in context came from, and where it’s going
• Key components of an effective NAC solution
• How to design and personalize a specific NAC solution
• Proper understanding and use of IDS and
• Elements of successful IPS deployments
• Purposing network-generated security data
• How to add value by correlating and aggregating security information
• How UTM benefits even individual enterprises
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Andreas AntonopoulosSecurity & Compliance

 

Analyst
Andreas Antonopoulos, Senior Vice President & Founding Partner, Nemertes Research
Today, IT security is caught in the cross-current of powerful internal and external pressures. Internally, business units are pushing IT to be more agile, flexible, and cost effective. Driving IT to Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), virtualization, cloud computing and outsourcing. Externally, the threat landscape is continually morphing. Threats are moving up the protocol stack. And compliance demands are becoming more numerous and onerous simultaneously.
The key issue for the security officer? How to manage risk in a perimeter-less organization. How to secure a network and that is agile, dynamic, flexible and ROI-focused. This session focuses on strategies to successfully manage the internal/external dynamic - to achieve both security and agility - in a world of SOA, Virtualization, Cloud Computing, Outsourcing and Unified Communications & Collaboration.
Technologies
• SOA Security
• Virtualization Security
• Cloud Computing and Security
• Unified Communications and Collaboration Security
• IDS/IPS, Firewalls and VPN (Physical and Virtual)
• Identity Management
• Compliance Management
• E-Discovery, Archive and Data Leak Prevention (DLP)
New for ’09
• Focus on SOA, virtualization and UCC security threats and risk management
• Latest and specific recommendations on achieving agile compliance
• Marriage of information stewardship and security including DLP, e-discovery and archiving
Takeaways
• Changes in security in last 12 months.
• Rethink of security and risk management for 21st century threats
• Risk-driven approaches to agile security and compliance
• Security solutions tailored for SOA, virtualization, cloud computing and UCC
• Strategies for core centric and perimeter-less security
• Security architecture that embraces new agility paradigms
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Robin GareissUC, VoIP and Collaboration

 

Analyst
Robin Gareiss, Chief Research Officer, Nemertes Research
The convergence of traditional enterprise applications with real-time collaboration, Web 2.0 and IP telephony is one of the most important IT trends among enterprises. Successful implementation of collaborative apps such as Web conferencing, video conferencing, IP telephony, shared workspaces, instant messaging, presence, and social computing are crucial to productivity and profits..
Since these apps are most easily implemented on top of converged voice/data/video networks and infrastructure, networks must be intelligent enough to route traffic in a predictable, reliable fashion. Attend this track and gain the right architecture, adopt the right monitoring/management tools, and implement the right services (either hosted, managed, or in-house), that will truly result in savings across capital, and operations.
Technologies
• IP telephony
• Video/Web/Audio conferencing
• Instant Messaging
• Unified Messaging
• Presence
• Social computing
• All-in-one branch devices
• IP telephony/UC monitoring
• Unified communications dashboards
New for ’09
• Trends in adoption of collaborative applications and converged services
• Per-user costs of the IP telephony, collaboration, and WAN services supporting converged networks
• Focus on the business case for collaboration and convergence
• Role that managed services plays in augmenting and replacing internal IT staff
• Case histories and best practice of negotiation strategies for service provider
Takeaways
• Cost parameters for IP telephony and UC
• Adoption and growth trends among collaborative applications
• How to build an accurate business case for collaboration and convergence
• How best in class users manage collaborative applications and converged networks
• When, and how far, to mobile-enable collaborative apps
• Role of third-party services - the ideal versus the reality
• Key organizational strategies to adopt now
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Andreas AntonopoulosVirtualization

 

Analyst
Andreas Antonopolous, Senior Vice President & Founding Partner, Nemertes Research
With server virtualization already present in nearly all data centers, the question is no longer when to virtualize, but how to virtualize.
Drawing on first-hand results gained from some of IT’s most effective practitioners, this session will show how front-line users achieved immediate and long term benefits of server virtualization: Immediate cost reductions due to hardware consolidation and lowered operating expenses.
To fully support virtualized servers and desktops, institutions will then inevitably be pulled into virtualizing other resource pools in their data centers including storage, networks, and applications. The session will show you how these all fit together to form the new virtualized data center.
Technologies
• Server virtualization
• Desktop virtualization
• Application virtualization
• Storage virtualization
• Network virtualization and flattening
• Security virtualization
• Management and provisioning tools for virtualized resource pools
New for ’09
• Latest and most complete data on server virtualization
• Latest and most complete data on desktop virtualization
• Combining technologies for maximum agility
• Current data on failover and DR
• Alternative strategies to hypervisor/VM server virtualization
• Best practices in management and monitoring
Takeaways
• How to virtualizing workloads- when a virtual server is not the right answer
• Building the business case for server virtualization- when hardware consolidation is not enough
• How and when to virtualize without consolidation
• How to improve disaster recovery using virtualization
• How to introduce and expand virtual desktops in your organization
• Management and monitoring issues in virtualized infrastructures
• Security and compliance considerations for virtualized infrastructures
• Security architecture that embraces new agility paradigms
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Robin GareissWAN, Wireless & Mobility Strategies

 

Analyst
Robin Gareiss, Chief Research Officer, Nemertes Research
Enterprises are faced with a dizzying array of choices for site-to-site and Internet connectivity. Services such as MPLS, Ethernet, and fixed-wireless technologies offer opportunities to reduce costs and improve service delivery - if the enterprise is able to optimize contracts and services from a widely divergent mix of available providers.
At the same time, successful enterprises must developing consistent approaches for the architecture, equipment, and services at the branch office so each location isn’t an isolated island in a distributed enterprise.
This session examines trends in WAN services and branch-product evolution and provides attendees with the keys to evaluating, selecting, and contracting for the optimal mix of products and services within their organization.
Technologies
• MPLS
• Ethernet/VPLS
• Quality of Service (QoS)
• WAN optimization
• All-in-one branch-office devices
• Hosted, managed services for the branch
• WiMAX and 3G/4G Wireless Services
• Wireless LAN systems (802.11a/b/g/n)
• Wide Area File Systems (WAFS)
• IP Multicast • IPv6
New for ’09
• Managed application performance offerings
• IPv6
• Latest WLAN technology
• Cost/benefit of all-on-one devices, remote management, optimization
• Discussion of increase in hosted and managed services
• Survey of emerging MPLS services for branch offices such as MPLS over DSL/Cable
• Role of fixed wireless services [WiMAX] in developing a WAN architecture
Takeaways
• How to optimize MPLS services for maximum application performance
• How to evaluate Ethernet services for metro and WAN environments
• How to craft effective branch-office standards for equipment and services
• Must-have collaborative applications for branch locations
• How to leverage WLANs for reduce savings and improved productivity
• Strategies for maximizing resiliency and supporting web services
• How to integrate wireless services into WAN plans
• Solutions for international and geographical WAN service deployments
• Gameplan for emerging technologies such as WAFS and IPv6
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Voices from IT Roadmap

Voices from IT Roadmap

IT pros deliver frank presentations ...

Voices from IT Roadmap, a series of stories based on presentations from IT Roadmap events.