Wow! The end of another Symposium. Overall, I and other attendees I've talked with rate Symposium 2006 as excellent.
My last session's subject on Day 5 was the clash of the titans: Microsoft and IBM. Tom Austin and Jim Lundy presented well-balanced information-the good, the bad, and the ugly! Great forward-looking tips! One tip was to pick one titan plus cool vendors. It will be interesting to see if I/T executives will heed that advice or continue to have a combination of both. I find it hard to conceive that a company could choose only one of them. But I do agree with them regarding keeping your strategy confidential in order to leverage your negotiations!
I will be writing more about the conference, so please join me as we continue to think about and strategize on these important topics.
In my opinion, the best presentation of Day 4 was about the newest thinking regarding the I/T organization. The session reflected my own opinions about a more effective organizational methodology for I/T. This approach breaks down silos and allows for more collaboration in delivering business solutions. Gartner predicts that, though this will not be an easy transition, it is an essential one.
The Symposium continued through Day three with the same outstanding quality of information and presentation as before. The highlights of the day, for me, were the presentations on strategic technologies for 2007 and on working with boards of directors.
Day two of Symposium was at least as good as Day one. The highlight of the day was the interview of Steve Ballmer, President of Microsoft, by Gartner Analysts Michael Smith and Yvonne Genovese. Mr. Ballmer demonstrated his ability to be both dynamic and entertaining. A question regarding Microsoft's licensing practices brought the most reaction and laughter, though, of course, Mr. Ballmer chose not to answer. Conversations with attendees later in the day reflected mixed responses to the presentation. One was positive, applauding the speaker and Microsoft's "pounding perseverance," another great point of laughter. Yet another criticized Microsoft for wanting to "own" it all. However, several of us agreed that technology would not be what it is today without Microsoft.
It's hard to believe that it has been a year since the last Gartner Symposium. Here we are again, polishing our crystal balls to get a clearer view of future trends and directions for I/T. Although my consulting practice focuses on business strategy and innovation, my goal is to use my I/T expertise to also help clients enhance their returns on I/T investments. The Gartner conference is a good opportunity to hear about global trends and see some of the latest technology, like Microsoft's long-awaited Vista product - it does exist and is very impressive.
Announcing
