IPMA Home | IPMA News IPMA News : June 2004 Edited By Mary Ellen Bradley and Dennis Jones

Report from the 2004 IPMA Executive Luncheon

-- by Mary Ellen Bradley, IPMA Communications Committee Co-Chair

The IPMA Executive Lunch was held on May 18, 2004 at the Worthington Center at St. Martin’s College. The guest speaker was Mr. Carl Claunch, vice president for research at Gartner. Mr. Claunch has 33 years of experience in technology. Prior to joining Gartner, he spent 18 years with a major vendor in a variety of marketing, product management and planning roles. He has worked for information technology users in fields such as banking and manufacturing. He is the co-developer of the Hype Model.

Mr. Claunch spoke on "The Future of Information Technology" (0.8 MB Microsoft PowerPoint). He told the attendees that the long term future for information technology is good, but we must overcome six fundamental issues. These issues are: 1) IT costs too much, 2) infrastructure is too fragile, complex and expensive, 3) cost and time need for applications is prohibitive, 4) cost and time needed to reliable connect to third parties is prohibitive, 5) financial returns are elusive, and 6) there are too many vendors selling the same things. Gartner believes we will move through these issues and we will experience a peak in IT advances in the 2006-2007 time frame. This will result in great innovation and great productivity gains. This advance in technology will also cause disruption in the IT community and social unrest.

Left: Audience Below left: Jim Albert Below right: Carl Claunch

Return to Top

Forum 2004 "Getting Past the Hype – Delivering Business Value"

-- by Mary Ellen Bradley, IPMA Communications Committee Co-Chair, and Dennis Laine, IPMA Forum Co-Chair

IPMA's 27th annual Forum was held May 25-26, 2004 at Saint Martin’s College. Along with the product exposition, the Forum included national speakers and technology seminars. More than 900 attendees took advantage of multiple educational opportunities including 2 keynotes, 20 IPMA-sponsored seminars, and 20 vendor-sponsored sessions. The 24 Corporate Sponsors and 47 other vendors offered a wide range of products, services, solutions and helpful tips to those who visited their booths. The wireless hot spot established by Reach One was particularly well received.

For those of you who were unable to attend, here is a review of the keynote addresses.

IT Value – Making "IT" Real
The first day keynote speaker was Mr. Shafeen Charania, the director for Platforms Communications at Microsoft Corporation. His topic was "IT Value – Making ‘IT’ Real". He told the crowd that most of us measure IT returns using TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) and if cost is all we measure the best an IT manager can do is be "least bad". He stated that all organizations have a problem quantifying the benefits of technology investments. The greatest challenge of IT is demonstrating that investments actually return business value.

Mr. Charania told us that the Business matters more than IT. Business must hold IT accountable for IT to matter. He said that there are two kinds of people in this world – Geeks and Wallets. The Geeks speak Geek and the Wallets speak Wallet. The Wallets have money. Geeks need to learn Wallet Speak. Business needs to understand IT investment and track the impact of its investments. Peter Drucker, writer and lecturer on the contemporary organization, said that what matters to a business leader is Resilience, Flexibility and Opportunism (or Agility). To become agile the organization must have the drivers - People, Processes, Information and Relationships – to make it happen.

To learn more about aligning IT with business and quantifying the impact of IT, see Mr. Charania’s presentation (4.6 MB Microsoft PowerPoint). He closed his presentation with a quote from Peter Drucker, "There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all."

Current Mobility Solutions
The Wednesday keynote speaker was Mr. Steve Gilbert, Director of Client Brand Marketing for Dell’s State and Local Government Markets. Mr. Gilbert discussed how the ever-changing mobile solutions are affecting the government IT environment and he also touched on mobile security.

Mr. Gilbert said that "IT = business enablement" and that IT does matter. It is how we take innovation and put it to use. He told us that the trends for the next three years show that LCDs will completely replace CRTs and that notebook sales will double. Notebooks will equal desktops as more people are going mobile.

The costs of supporting a mobile worker are higher than that of a desktop worker but those costs are offset by the increased productivity of the mobile worker. Mr. Gilbert said that a mobile worker adds as much as 9.1 hours / week or an extra day or work. He showed us that state and local governments are using the following mobile technology:

• Handhelds
  • Shipping / Receiving
  • Police / Fire Departments
• Tablets
  • Housing / Urban Development
• Ruggedized Notebooks / Tablets
  • Police Departments / Port Authority / Fish & Game
• Wireless
  • Everywhere – Office level to City-wide
  • Convergence Devices - Not Yet – no standards and too hard to implement

(Note: Mr. Gilbert’s presentation is not available on-line at this time.)

Looking Ahead to Forum 2005
While Forum 2004 was a success and the sessions were well attended, the IPMA is always looking to improve Forum. The Forum planning committee will be exploring additional IT audiences to whom Forum can be marketed, considering changes in floor layout in the Pavilion to facilitate improved traffic flow, seeking timely and interesting session topics, and looking for dynamic keynote speakers. The planning committee is always open to your suggestions and ideas. Jim Andersen, Jim Albert and Dennis Laine can be contacted via the IPMA Forum web site.

Mark your calendar for the 2005 Forum, May 24-25, to be held at Saint Martin's College Worthington Center and Pavilion.

Return to Top

News from the Past

5 Years Ago -- June 1999 IPMA Newsletter

10 Years Ago -- June 1994 IPMA Newsletter

15 Years Ago -- June 1989 IPMA Newsletter

20 Years Ago -- June 1984 Association of Data Processing Managers Newsletter

25 Years Ago -- June 1979 Association of Data Processing Managers Newsletter

Return to Top

News from Other Sources

State’s Chief Information Officer to Join Microsoft

(May 14, 2004 news release from the Governor's Office)

Gov. Gary Locke today announced that Department of Information Services (DIS) Director Stuart McKee is leaving his post to join Microsoft as the company’s U.S. National Technology Officer. His last day at DIS is June 4.

"I am grateful for Stuart’s expertise and commitment to finding new ways for state government to better serve the people of Washington through technology," Locke said. "Stuart has been integral to our success as a leader in digital government."

McKee, 37, has served on the governor’s cabinet since April 2002.

"During my tenure at DIS, I’ve gained a respect for public service and feel fortunate that I had the opportunity to serve the governor and citizens of the state," said McKee. "Washington state government embraces a culture of teamwork, innovation and success. The result is the state’s outstanding reputation as a national and international technology leader."

Before joining DIS, McKee worked for the Walt Disney Company’s Internet organization. He directed the company’s global Internet and its combined Internet business units including ESPN.com, Disney.com and ABCNews.com.

Prior to working at Disney, McKee served as a senior database administrator at Microsoft and a manager of information systems at Sabey Corporation.

Gov. Gary Locke appoints interim director of Department of Information Services

(June 4, 2004 news release from the Governor's Office)

Gov. Gary Locke today named Michael McVicker as the state's interim chief information officer and interim director of the Department of Information Services (DIS). He was previously the deputy director of operations at the department.

"Mike's 29 years of experience in a variety of technology leadership positions in both the private sector and at DIS will make him an excellent director," Locke said. "He is well-equipped to continue our statewide technology and information services programs to better serve the people of Washington."

In his role as deputy director of operations at DIS, McVicker, 52, was responsible for strategic planning, tactical coordination and production implementation of a statewide telecommunication network, video and communications technology services and a computing services data center.

Before becoming deputy director in 2003, McVicker was the assistant director of the telecommunication services division at DIS, responsible for telecommunications and security services and infrastructure; technology brokering; master contracts; and broadband data, voice and video communications.

"This is an exciting opportunity and I am honored to serve the governor and the citizens of the state," McVicker said. "Governor Locke has high expectations for technology services in Washington. The state is nationally and internationally recognized for its technology leadership, and DIS is well positioned to build upon the state's outstanding reputation as a leader."

McVicker received bachelors' degrees in computing science and mathematics from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and a master of business administration from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He will earn an annual salary of $112,000.

McVicker will replace Stuart McKee who is leaving to join Microsoft as the company's U.S. National Technology Officer. McKee, 37, has served on the governor's cabinet since April 2002.

Return to Top

Summary of May 13, 2004 IPMA Board Meeting

Members Present: Jim Albert, Mary Ellen Bradley, Thomas Bynum, Phil Grigg, Sheryl Hall, Dennis Jones, Dennis Laine, Mike McVicker, Christy Ridout, Darrel Riffe, and Shelagh Taylor. Phil Coates, CFO, and Jim Andersen, the Forum Events Manager, were also present.

Christy Ridout, IPMA Chair, opened the May 2004, meeting of the IPMA Board of Directors at 7:30 a.m.

Announcements

Mike McVicker submitted his resignation from the IPMA board, citing a personal need to remove as many commitments from his responsibility as possible. His resignation, effective May 30, 2004, was reluctantly accepted. Mike was given the heartfelt thanks of his fellow directors for all his time, energy and creativity during his tenure on the board.

Mike also announced that Stuart McKee has submitted his resignation as DIS Director and is taking a position with Microsoft.

Reports

Secretary/Treasurer: The minutes from the April 2004 Board meeting were approved.

The Board approved the April 2004 financial status and activities reports.

Business Planning: Phil Coates distributed the April Merrill Lynch portfolio summary.

Forum 2004: Jim Andersen presented the status report for Forum 2004.

1. Keynote Speakers: The first day keynote speaker is Shafeen Charania. Shafeen manages the Platforms Communications group at Microsoft. The second day keynote speaker is Steve Gilbert from Dell.
   
   
2. St. Martin’s College: College management has decided that all facility fees are to pass through their administrative books. This means that the IPMA will pay them directly this year rather than purchase a piece of equipment, in lieu of payment, as has been done in the past.
   
   
3. Vendors: We have 47 booths. We have sold 48 booths as one vendor notified us that they were not going to use theirs. To date, 43 booth fees have been paid. GA, DOP, DRS and DIS each received a discount on their booths from $825 to $425.
   
   
4. Corporate Sponsors: We have received commitments from 26 vendors who want to be sponsors for the 2004-2005 event year. Twenty-one sponsors have paid their fee.
   
   
5. Forum brochure: The Forum brochure has been completed and sent to the printers.
   
   
6. Forum Vendor Supplement: The Vendor Supplement has also been completed and sent to the printer. The Vendor Supplement handout is a document that lists participating vendors by nine product or service categories.
   
   
7. Executive Lunch - May 18: The scheduled speaker is Carl Claunch, Research VP for Gartner, Inc. So far, we are expecting about 160+ attendees. We will use the full Worthington Center. Tables of seven have been requested rather than tables of eight, so as to fill up the space.
   
   
8. New Corporate Sponsor Appreciation Lunch - June 3: The Appreciation lunch is still scheduled for June 3. Work continues to get Corporate Sponsors signed up to attend the lunch. To date, ten sponsors have signed up with seven guests. The Mercato Restaurant has been reserved unless the attendance exceeds 40, than the Worthington Center will be used.
   
   
9. Forum 2004 Attendee gift: Dennis Laine has ordered the Executive Portfolio. Six sponsors have contributed $500 each to help defray the cost of the portfolios.
   
   
10. IPMA Booth: Booth #107 has been reserved for the IPMA.

Executive Seminar 2004: Phil Grigg reported that planning for this year’s event was proceeding on schedule. The theme will be "Redefining the enterprise during transition." Phil displayed a sample of the attendee gifts for this year. They are black jackets with a gray liner and a subtle IPMA logo. Phil asked the board if a dinner cruise on the lake would be something the committee should consider. The speaker agenda subcommittee will be meeting again soon to put the finishing touches on the agenda.

Professional Development: Sheryl Hall reported that the April event was successful. Ninety-one people attended and the attendee comments were very positive, particularly those regarding the panel.

Sheryl reported an eye opener regarding the cost of printing in preparation for the April seminar. Normally, either the speaker makes the copies of their presentation materials for distribution or the committee members use agency resources. For the April session, Sheryl had the copies made at Kinko’s and the cost was significant. The board directed all committees to have future copies made at commercial establishments and regard it as a cost of doing business.

The 2005 contract with Saint Martin’s is in the process of being approved by all parties. Since Mike McVicker and Sheryl Hall are the only two members of the Professional Development committee, with Mike’s leaving, Sheryl will need help. Thomas Bynum, Vice-Chair, volunteered to help if the person who will be appointed to complete Mike’s term isn’t interested.

Dennis Jones gave a status report on the Mid-manager development program. The step of establishing focus groups membership is making progress. The first focus group (CIO’s) is scheduled to meet May 27 at Pointe Plaza. The outcome will be a first cut at content, style and cost parameters. Kathy Rosmond will be the meeting facilitator. The second focus group of IT mid-managers is not yet scheduled. The final executive review may not be a focus group as originally envisioned. Rather, it may be an opportunity for business executives to review and comment on the group’s conclusions and recommendations.

Communications: Mary Ellen reported that the May issue of the IPMA News is available on the web and contains several very good articles. The Forum will be the topic of Mary Ellen’s June article. Jim Albert will be responsible for the July article. Mary Ellen asked board approval for Bob Monn to upgrade the copy of FrontPage software that he uses to maintain the IPMA web site. The board approved.

Other Business: Phil Coates asked the board to approve the establishment of a PayPal account for the IPMA. The current method of processing credit card payments from Forum vendors and Corporate Sponsors is very time consuming. It is felt that conducting a PayPal transaction would be much easier for all parties. The board approved. Phil will work with Bob Monn so that the process is in place for the 2005 Forum registration cycle.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 a.m.

Return to Top

IPMA, P.O. Box 1943, Olympia, WA 98507-1943