CIO Boston Executive Dinner

Three major forces are converging on every CIO’s priority list – Cloud, Security and Cost Optimization. All three have significant risks, considerations and decisions that need to be made sooner rather than later to realize business benefit and agility. Over 3,000 large organizations have accelerated their move to the cloud, reinvented and improved their ERP security posture and freed up significant IT funds – over $3 billion to date - to reinvest in priority projects by leveraging the enablement capabilities of a Third Party Support model for ERP. Our Boston select CIO dinner will discuss the finer points of considering an innovative and liberating model of support and how this can act as a powerful enabler to business.

• Cloud – CIOs are under extreme pressure to innovate how work gets done and to take advantage of cloud technologies. A variety of routes are being taken as enterprises move to the cloud. We will discuss topics such as prioritizing initiatives, options for shifting your best and brightest resources to innovative projects and yet still support existing solutions, and ways to reduce IT/ERP operations costs without compromising IT’s ability to support the business.

• Security - IT security complexity and costs are increasing as new technologies are introduced and IT environments become a hybrid mix of internally deployed and cloud solutions. The numerous layers of security required and the integration are fertile ground for hackers, and the hacking technologies themselves are making it easier to penetrate supposedly secure environments. We will discuss security risks that must be addressed when planning and executing innovative projects.

• Cost Optimization – IT leaders with flat IT budgets must choose between spending scarce funds on ERP operations versus shifting funds to investments in innovation. Since ERP operations costs typically represent the largest share of the IT budget, ERP cost optimization can be a means to freeing up funds. We will discuss cost optimization strategies, including how to free up internal staff to work on new initiatives and gain new skills.