Kathy Mast Consulting

2007 Daylight Savings Time Changes

In case you haven't heard, our time changes to daylight-saving time (DST) earlier than usual this year. The changes result from an energy bill passed by Congress in 2005 to extend daylight-saving time by about a month. So this year, DST will start the second Sunday of March and end on the first Sunday of November.

Symposium Day 5

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.

Gartner Symposium - Day 2

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.

Gartner Symposium '06

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.

Technology Enhancements: Google Finance

This month my focus will be on a few of the many new or recent technology finds that are likely to be most useful for a variety of your business opportunities. The first is Google Finance.

Aligning Business & I/T Strategy

I/T is again on the Top 10 list to drive major organizational change and market disruption according to several global CEO surveys and articles. Boards, shareholders and consumers have high expectations for global expansion, innovation, quick integration or decoupling of businesses, and improving ROI through the use of new products and services. CEOs see I/T as a key component of meeting the expectations, but they are also concerned about I/T's ability and readiness to respond. What is the I/T opportunity? It's to be a strategic leader in improving the overall performance of the business.

Gartner Symposium

Approximately 9,000 IT pros converged at DisneyWorld for the 2005 Gartner Symposium. I went back again in anticipation of learning from those who are considered to be the brightest and best, globally, on how I can continue to offer the most current and proven solutions to my present and future clients.

“Rapid Results, Faster ROI” is the theme of this year’s event. To anyone but IT pro’s and their clients…a definite yawner. For me… a great opportunity to learn more about how to achieve the end result every client desires.