Cloud Computing has emerged out of the hype and skepticism into a way of running virtualized services with rigor, precision and discipline. It is a way to deliver Demand Management by applying a set of engineering and business principles that need to be integrated in in-sourced or outsourced managed services, leveraging enabling technologies.

Questions you may still have include what to use the cloud for and how to start the journey; how do you understand and quantify the benefits for doing that; how do you choose the technology, the service model and possibly the service partners; do you start with public clouds or do you trust public infrastructure.

Our first seminar to be held in Boston, MA is designed to look at Cloud Computing as a solution with objectivity. It will be a meeting of the minds of those who understand and work on the space as well as those that are developing the vision.

Suggested Topics:

• Cloud Vision
• SaaS
• Private Clouds vs. Public Infrastructure
• Hosting on Demand
• Email and Utilities Services on the Cloud
• Risk Management, Compliance, Security
• Decision Criteria for Using the Cloud
• Myths vs. Reality
• Implement Without Increasing Complexity
• Understanding and Quantifying the Benefits
• Moving into the Cloud

Presentations by: Cognizant, Verizon, Metratech, Netapp, MGL

Agenda and times subject to change. Please check back periodically for agenda updates.

8:00-8:30AM Registration and Breakfast

8:30-8:35AM WSTA Introductions – Mike Maffattone, Chief Information Officer, Harvard Management Company & WSTA Vice President

8:35-9:25AM Keynote -- "Real World Cloud Computing"
David W.Cearley , VP & Gartner Fellow, Gartner
Cloud computing is a complex, rapidly evolving phenomenon with long-term implications not only for IT but for the business as a whole. CIOs will be expected to guide their enterprises, helping them seize the right opportunities and avoid costly mistakes. Meanwhile technology providers will battle for leadership as the market goes through a major shift to this new style of computing. This presentation will examine the following issues:

• What is cloud computing and what impact will it have on the IT market now and in the future?
• How should companies leverage cloud computing and what are the ideal targets and best practices for using it?
• What cloud computing markets will emerge and who will be the leading providers in those markets?

9:25-9:50AM “Next-Generation Solutions in A Reset Economy: Deriving Value In A Cloud-Enabled World”
Paul Roehrig, a Director in Cognizant’s Strategy and Marketing group
There’s no shortage of breathless sales reps and pundits claiming that anything with “cloud” in the name is a sure cure for every technology ill. This may be a seductive delusion, but enterprise decision-makers really do know better. Even though the hype is pervasive—and many provider claims sound strikingly similar—a new class of cloud-enabled solutions is for real. In fact, real value is already being generated by a growing number of early-adopter firms implementing next-generation solutions as they embrace the challenges—and opportunities—of new ways of doing enterprise work. So what should IT leaders at financial services firms do now to set up for long-term value without over-exposing the firm to big technology and business risks? This session will discuss:
· The new context of technology services. As with almost every industry, external and internal forces are changing the business models of technology services. We’ll briefly explore the pressures shaping demand for more efficient, effective, and innovative solutions.
· A next-generation of sourcing solutions emerges. New delivery and commercial models are starting to gain traction in the market. This unfolding disruptive shift has big implications for how value—savings, productivity improvement, and even new revenue opportunity – is starting to be delivered to customers.
· What does this mean for technology decision-makers? Sourcing decisions now should be less about cloud vs. not-cloud and more about the value that can be delivered by proper use of new delivery and commercial models. We’ll give our perspective on how decision makers at financial services firms can sort through the propaganda and help ensure sane deployment of next-generation sourcing solutions that enable new ways of doing enterprise work.

9:50-10:15AM “How Businesses are Leveraging the Cloud”
Jeffrey Deacon is managing director of cloud services at Verizon Business
Cloud Computing has inherently disrupted the global IT market as enterprises consider how they can leverage this new delivery model efficiently and securely while realizing the inherent cost, scalability and flexibility benefits. Come hear Verizon’s perspective on cloud adoption in financial services, why we think businesses are on the path to move non-differentiating applications to the cloud, and where we see the market going.

10:15-10:30AM Break

10:30-10:55AM

“Reading the Clouds: The Supply Management Dilemma for Financial Services Companies”
Douglas Zone, Chief Technology Officer, MetraTech Corp
The economics of the cloud appear obvious – economies of scale. Pooling and sharing resources that deliver business automation saves money. Dedicating physical infrastructure, platforms and software to particular business functions is wasteful. But the savings by treating “business automation” as a utility – you must manage it as a utility. With economies of scale comes “the tragedy of the commons” – unrestrained demand turns the win-win of the cloud into a lose-lose situation where IT is forced to over invest in the cloud and users complain that they used to get more when they had dedicated platforms and software.

Demand management is critical in the cloud. But it is not the asset based demand management of old – optimizing the purchase and allocation of assets. It is the service based demand management. It is the move from the “centralized planning” world of resource management to the “market based” world based on internal billing.

10:55-11:20AM
“Private Clouds: Building Your Dynamic IT Infrastructure”
Shaun Mahoney leads the Business Solutions Architect Team at NetApp
IT is fast becoming the key component to the financial success of the organization. Reducing and containing the cost of massive data growth while increasing productivity and embracing innovation are critical success factors to successfully compete in today’s global economy. IT is being asked to be more strategically aligned with the overall business objectives of reducing budgets while increasing service levels and introducing new applications to meet the business needs. Cloud computing has evolved, growing at a 26% rate, over 6 times the rate of traditional IT offerings according to Gartner. Questions facing IT include developing an internal or utilizing an external cloud offering while managing the additional challenges around security and compliance. Server and storage virtualization is being adopted on a massive scale to improve utilization and drive cost efficiencies.

11:20-11:45AM "Infrastructure Strategy & Planning for Cloud Computing"
Mike Seppi, Head of Cloud Sales, MGL
Just like the Internet was a game-changer for information delivery and commerce in the 90's, so will Cloud Computing be in the coming years. Cloud Computing is here now but with many definitions, interpretations and hype. Many cloud offerings today are simply re-packaging of current solutions, using the mantra of cloud to attract new customers. There are many types of cloud models and pricing schemes, and it is confusing to end-users as to the best fit for their environment and needs. This presentation will focus on how end-users can best determine which cloud delivery model fits best for their unique requirements and business models.

11:45AM Seminar Concludes

Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel
425 Summer Street
Boston, MA 02210

David W.Cearley , VP & Gartner Fellow, Gartner
David Cearley is a vice president and Gartner Fellow in Gartner Research and is a leading authority on information technology. As a member of Gartner Research, Mr. Cearley analyzes emerging business and technology trends and explores how these trends shape the way individuals and companies derive value from technology. His current research is focused on cloud computing and how Internet and Web technologies, standards and business models are impacting the IT landscape.

Mr. Cearley's expertise spans software architectures and standards, component software models, application design, the Internet, business-IT alignment, and the IT services market. He has worked with a wide range of end-user and vendor organizations assisting in strategy creation, technology selection, implementation planning and organizational development. Prior to joining Gartner, Mr. Cearley held various senior-level research positions at Meta Group. Before that, he was vice president of R&D for Revelation Technologies, served as program director at Gartner Group, and held various managerial/director-level positions at Innovative Software and Informix. Years of Experience - 18 years at Gartner; 30 years IT industry.

Paul Roehrig, a Director in Cognizant’s Strategy and Marketing group
Paul is responsible for developing next-generation technology and business service solutions. Prior to joining Cognizant, Paul was a Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, where he researched and advised senior IT leadership on a broad range of outsourcing topics. Paul also held key positions in planning, negotiation and successful global program implementation for customers from a variety of industries, including financial services, technology, and telecommunications. He holds an undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Florida and graduate degrees from Syracuse University.

Jeffrey Deacon is managing director of cloud services at Verizon Business
He has over 14 years experience in the managed hosting industry and helping enterprise customers run the most efficient data center infrastructures around the world. Having worked as an engineer, consultant, product marketing manager and director of product for companies like Verizon Business, Savvis and Opsware, he brings a breadth of knowledge on enterprise computing infrastructure and their unique demands for the cloud. Leveraging his professional experience at some of the world’s largest backs and hosting companies, Deacon brings a unique perspective on the evolution of the market and how the enterprise will consume IT resources via the cloud.

Doug Zone, Chief Technology Officer, Metratech
Doug has played a major role in developing, designing and implementing major enterprise pricing, fee management and billing solutions since 1992. Beginning with one of the first product-based billing solutions in Europe with British Telecom in 1993, Doug has contributed to BSS projects in Europe, Africa, Latin America, Australia and Asia. He has worked for Kenan Systems, Lucent, CSG Systems and Comverse Technologies. Doug is considered one of key expert in pricing, cost allocation and billing across multiple verticals including Financial Services, Telecommunications, Public Sector, Cloud and Utilities.

Doug is an MIT graduate with a Master of Science with a specialization in Optimization and Finance. He currently lives in UK, but has worked and has ties in Dublin, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Singapore and Boston.

Shaun Mahoney leads the Business Solutions Architect Team at NetApp
Shaun Mahoney leads the Business Solutions Architect Team at NetApp using real world experience at companies such as Citi, JPMC, BlackRock and AIG to help transform IT organizations to better align with business challenges using the latest technologies around virtualization, storage efficiency, unified architectures and application integration to build dynamic IT infrastructures.

Mike Seppi, Head of Cloud Sales, MGL
Mike Seppi leads the Cloud Computing and Services Practice for MGL in New York. MGL is a multi-national IT consulting, solutions and services firm that specializes in providing leading edge technology solutions for the Financial Services marketplace. The MGL Cloud Practice provides the following solutions and services: MGL "UltraCloud tm" solutions that process time and compute-intensive applications up to 200 times faster than currently run either in-house or on an ASP and MGL "Go-to-Cloud tm" services that enable end-users and IT to get their internal apps ready to run with maximum efficiency in a cloud environment. Mike is an expert in applying HPC solutions to the Financial Industry and helped implement those solutions at: JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Mass Mutual, Millennium Partners, LexisNexis and Garrett Asset Management.