Mid-Atlantic CIO Forum Meeting Announcement

 CIO Roundtable: The Future of Desktop Services  

Thursday, January 22, 2008

 Location: Towson University

Please plan to join CIO members and invited guests at the January 22 meeting of the Mid-Atlantic CIO Forum.  The topic for this meeting is “The Future of Desktop Services”. The use of the desktop now is on the brink of acting as a portal to an expanding universe of data, applications and technological resources. Managing user expectations to deliver desktop eservices while providing improved efficiencies and integrating technologies unseen by the users is now at hand. In this meeting, through presentations and dialogue, the future of desktops as a service will be explored.

In the first part of the program, Tom Austin, Gartner Fellow and Chief of Research-Software High Performance Workplace Community Chair will present “Gartner’s Vision of the Future of End User IT-based Services”. ”We used to talk about the Future of End User Computing but the ways people (on and off the job) use IT is far broader than “computing”. We used to think about the “Desktop of the Future” and the “Office of the Future” but in our vision, desktops are but one of many different devices each individual uses and the “office” is becoming a metaphor for the global 7x24 workplace. We used to talk about automating and integrating routine processes; now we ponder how to impact and augment non-routine processes. In our Vision, there are three distinct areas of attention:

• Devices (highly heterogeneous, mobile, usually connected, virtualized, “transparent” and disposable, with content, context and functions transcoded, streamed and cached as appropriate)
• Provisioning (Information services, contextual services, social services, analytical services, business process services and cross-role services)
• Usage (where IT often gets subsumed by social processes and consumerization fulfills a broad range of needs)” 

In the second part of the program, two leading vendors will present differing strategies and experiences for desktop services. Michael Lock, Director, North American Sales & Operations, Google Enterprise will overview Google's view of the current technology environment and direction of corporate computing.  He will discuss Google's initiatives in corporate computing and provide an update on what Google sees as the consumerization of Enterprise Information technology. Michael will focus on progress that the industry has made over the last year and discuss specific customer examples and implementations of using cloud based computing solutions to deliver end user solutions.  D.P. Brightful, Senior Director, Microsoft Enterprise Sales & Partner Groups, Mid-Atlantic District will review Microsoft’s approach. “IT budgets are facing enormous scrutiny in today's pressured economy.  Now, more than ever, organizations are looking to invest in products and services which offer a tangible competitive advantage or market differentiation.   This session will discuss Microsoft’s vision and philosophy for collaborative computing from desktop to mobile device to any cloud-connected interface.  It will provide a better understanding of how customers can benefit from the next generation of Windows, Office and the Microsoft communications & collaboration platform.” 

The meeting starts at 8:00 AM and is held on campus at Towson University. Brunch and lunch are provided. The meeting runs until 1:00 PM. Pre-registration is required. Meeting logistics will be emailed to you after you register.  Please join us for this meeting. To register, please contact Bonnie Lawson blawson@towson.edu or 410-704-4252.