Stop by Registration and pick up your badge.  Then connect with friends, old and new.

80% of Fortune 2000 Organizations more than doubled their investments in the digitalization of their customer & workforce interaction and collaboration capabilities over the past two years. This Investment in Digitalization of the Enterprise has No End in Sight – However the way digitalization will happen is rapidly changing. Instead of seeing digital transformation as a one-time epiphany – a large and complex digital transformation program, digitalization is now being viewed as the constant process of leveraging new capabilities and data to create new business models and processes — multiple steps vs. the one mythical “lightbulb moment”. Nimble businesses are adapting to this emerging new normal and leap frogging their competition. In this key note presentation we will explore what it takes to succeed in an era of continuous digital transformation, i.e. Living Digital.

With the constant changes in every industry and segment, business leaders need to keep asking if their company is ready for the future. To help answer this, Cognizant partnered with the Economist Group to survey thousands of global executives and create the Future Ready Benchmark. In this session, Michael Valocchi, SVP- Head of Cognizant Consulting and Americas Strategy, will share key findings and discuss how you can take advantage of this benchmark to keep your business future ready.

The Cloud market continues to grow at a rapid pace primarily driven by the adoption of advanced technologies and the need for clients to leverage a platform that enables speed, agility, innovation, and financial models that improve margins and top-line revenue growth. This session will outline ISG’s predictions on the future of the Cloud and offer recommendations for client’s cloud investments.

IT and other business units depend on each other to produce the best possible company outcomes. However, even if IT is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do, poor perception by other business areas can cause challenges, including justifying staffing levels, budgets and chargebacks for IT work. If the business doesn’t respect IT, that makes it tough to supply them with services and partner for innovation, resulting in shadow IT and resistant attitudes. Stephanie Marcon, director of ISG’s Experience Assessment Center, will talk about how to uncover details about your IT relationships with other internal units, helping to develop trust, strengthen those partnerships, and identify improvement opportunities.

• Even if IT is doing everything it’s supposed to do, other business units can harbor a poor perception of the work or relationship for various reasons, including expectations that aren’t aligned.
• Formally assessing the relationships between IT and other business units can go a long way toward determining strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement.
• ISG offers an independent center that specializes in relationship health, which can help with evaluation, diagnostic data and concrete recommendations for stronger partnerships.

Digital transformations and wide-scale adoption of multi-cloud environments, along with extensive integrations with third parties, have rendered traditional resiliency and recovery approaches obsolete. This session will focus on what organizations need to consider and plan for as they advance resiliency capabilities. Additional topics will include advanced testing and integration of Cyber Range capability into normal operations. Resiliency concepts for Metaverse will also be highlighted. 

• How cyber attacks circumvent traditional recovery capabilities and the need for new approaches to Resiliency  
• Steps to take to ensure recovery from in a multi-cloud world 
• Resiliency considerations for the Metaverse

Nearly every industry is facing the labor market realities caused by the pandemic and the Great Resignation. A generational shift where employee expectations challenge the effectiveness of traditional, rigid job architectures and stale employer culture is further exposing the shortcomings of legacy operational constructs and attitudes. Further, some employees are provided with dated technology while being asked to build the solutions of the future. How can business owners, technology leaders, and HR partners work together to improve the corporate culture, foster employee growth and treat talent as a critical asset?

• Culture -- The tangible, quantitative value of employee connection, shared values and a corporate commitment to individual growth and upskilling?
• Technology – How are companies digitizing the employee experience and the full employee life cycle, improving collaboration, automation, engagement, and communication?
• Policies and Processes – What are the best trends in job architectures, HR policies, and empowering employees who work with strategic partners while also leveraging the gig economy?

As the WAN becomes software-centric (just like the cloud and to enable cloud), enterprises are increasing evaluating and embracing SD-WAN, Virtual Network Services, and SASE solutions. As the internal IT staff struggles to keep up with new technology trends, upskilling and re-skilling IT staff is a humongous effort. Working with a managed service provider can ensure the networks are right-sized and managed appropriately, while the internal team focuses on strategic activities.

• Business needs driving the need for a software-centric WAN
• How to integrate SD-WAN, Virtual Network Services and SASE in WAN environments 
• Why your organization may need a managed service provider to succeed in your DX efforts.

The impact of quantum computing has been under debate for years. However, recent advancements in superconducting technology and the introduction of neutral atom based processing are accelerating the likelihood of quantum becoming a commercially viable platform within the next 5 years. The disruptive nature of this technology has the potential to drastically alter the way cybersecurity protections are handled on a global basis. Large organizations have begun quietly funding research and development in this space to ensure they aren't breached. Come learn what you should start preparing for to deal with this technology evolution.

• Quantum computing capabilities as they exist today
• Potential impacts of Quantum computing on cybersecurity
• What your organization should start doing today to prepare for the Quantum Evolution

There is a lot of talk about the metaverse as an integrated network of 3D virtual worlds – and its impact on personal life and business. The industrial metaverse doesn’t generate as much attention, and it is still surrounded by misunderstanding among many companies. In this session we will discuss a possible definition, the challenges companies are facing to explore it, and current and future use cases 

Want to maximize the value of your cloud investment? Application strategy can help. Plus, it’s your ticket to a bright multi-cloud future. Hear stories about organizations that expanded their cloud technology investment and achieved their business outcomes by transforming applications and user experiences.

Years after big data and analytics entered the vocabulary of most boardrooms, organizations are still struggling to get their analytics teams to meet ROI targets. ISG predicts will discuss how organizations are going to shift their focus from cloud investment to getting analytics right and how in turn service providers should pivot from competing on technology to service, moving the analytics services industry closer to maturity.
 

Demand for tech talent is surging - but so is attrition. If you want to retain and grow that talent, you need to consider your Culture Debt & the Human Side of Digital. Join us to hear the latest tech talent data, and how leading enterprises are rethinking their relationship and employment contracts with their most important asset - people.

What does Showtime’s hit show Billions, the Technology Workforce of the Future, and the Gig Economy have in common? Do you have an understanding of your organization’s level of Culture Debt? Are you addressing the Human Side of Digital in your technology organization’s adaptive evolution? Join our interactive panel discussion to find out what leading companies are doing to retain and attract their greatest assets: humans!

Managing service providers is more important than ever in today’s complex world – but organizations often use outdated Service Level agreements with substandard results.  This panel will discuss three ways to modernize Service Levels: (1) Leveraging a mix of SLAs, OLAs, and XLAs to effectively measure cross-supplier relationships; (2) Updating SLAs to be relevant for the modern enterprise; and (3) Ensuring that Service Levels capture the “empathy” experience of customers.

This presentation will present a road map and timing projections of Zero Trust maturity objectives from a SASE implementation of Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Firewall as a Service (FWaaS), Remote User Access and ZTNA, User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) and SDWAN to launch a Zero Trust transformation initiative. The presentation discusses how SASE is a foundation and enabler to launch an entities’ Zero Trust program through enabling SASE Remote Access with applications role-based access control (RBAC) enablement is the Zero Trust first step that also initiates the mechanism for device and user authentication/authorization.

• SASE is a foundation and enabler to achieving Zero Trust over a transformational road map.
• The Zero Trust road map is defined by Zero Trust maturity targets over time.
• Enabling SASE Remote Access with applications role-based access control (RBAC) enablement is the Zero Trust first step that also initiates the mechanism for device and user authentication/authorization.

Network is foundational to every other enterprise technology investment businesses make. As virtualization makes deeper inroads into networking with SDN, NFV, SD-WAN and SASE technologies gain mainstream adoption, network, cloud and security trends are intertwined with each other. How are organizations adapting to a software-centric WAN? Join ISG advisors as they share insights on key technology adoption trends, business drivers influencing network sourcing decisions, and how network fits into your overall digital transformation strategy

• How are enterprises architecting their WAN to keep up with cloud adoption trends?
• Three biggest technology trends we are seeing in then networking space
• Three mistakes we see enterprises making while sourcing network services

The pandemic has opened a world of opportunity for leveraging 3D virtual and mixed reality technologies as a primary tool for bridging capability without employees needing to leave home. Extended Reality (XR) tools, which include Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) create a more immersive learning experience for equipping the modern, diverse workforce. Key benefits include significant performance improvement, less time away from productive work, accelerated retention, and training cost optimization. No matter where they are physically located, employees can engage in an immersive learning experience and collaborate with coworkers better than when using 2D tools alone. 

This session examines use of Extended Reality (XR - AR/VR) as part of a holistic learning and collaboration strategy to empower remote workers to connect more effectively, enable strategic skills, and optimize organizational capabilities more effectively than traditional 2D virtual training and eLearning alone. Key topics include:

• Best practices for incorporating XR into a broader learning and engagement strategy
• Overcoming pitfalls and  potential barriers to success
• Getting started on your first XR program

This session will articulate the journey to enterprise metaverse with process mining and digital twins as the bedrock of transformation and will cover both (digital process twins as well as digital twins in context to IOT4.0).

Keeping up in today’s Enterprise Systems environments is almost impossible. The speed of change is causing everyone to be in a constant state of learning and content development. Join me for a session on key learning tools and enablement strategies that you can start to use today. Build a better understanding of what SAP and ISG are doing to try to keep you up to speed on all of the new technology in the market today with learning journeys, in-application help, VR, AR, DAP and more. Digital learning can be a challenge, but with the right tools and change management anything is possible.

Learn how Carlyle has leveraged the power of BPM platform to streamline day-to-day business operations that were previously managed using disparate systems, Excel spreadsheets, emails, etc.  Along with their system implementer, Persistent, Carlyle’s implementation of BPM has resulted in significant process optimization and automation positioning Carlyle’s back-office functions to keep pace with aggressive firm’s growth.

COVID 19 forced global organizations to fast-track their digital strategy initiatives. While there is a huge focus on cloud and security transformation as part of digital strategy, network strategy continues to be still addressed in a siloed fashion. ISG’s experience in sourcing shows that without the right network foundation it is almost a given that cloud and security initiatives yield less than optimal results. The growing deployment of software-based networking solutions, be it SD-WAN or virtual network services or SASE offers agility and flexibility to enterprise WANs like never before. Furthermore, the arrival of 5G brings more choices in terms of faster and secure deployment of networks critical for the success of edge and cloud computing trends. Please join ISG advisors on this panel to learn about the crucial role of networks in enterprise digital transformation.

Learn about the emerging trends in Digital Engineering and dive into the topic of "Digital Thread". We will discuss what is a Digital Thread and how best-in-class organizations are using this capability to extract business value.

The accelerated adoption of new technologies, led most recently in response to the global pandemic, is pushing the pace of change and innovation to all-time highs. Enterprises are faced with a stream of new technologies and must prepare now or risk becoming irrelevant in the future. In this ISG PREDICTS session we will discuss the technologies that are just starting to impact businesses today and how we see the market preparing as these innovations become increasingly important.

Cybersecurity is more than just what happens within the four walls of your company or organization. There are multiple external influencing factors such as attacker motivations, regulatory changes, technology advancements, 3^rd party risks and resource skills and availability. This session will outline ISG’s predictions on these trends and many more that you need to consider as you define your latest cybersecurity strategy and action plans.Cybersecurity is more than just what happens within the four walls of your company or organization. There are multiple external influencing factors such as attacker motivations, regulatory changes, technology advancements, 3^rd party risks and resource skills and availability. This session will outline ISG’s predictions on these trends and many more that you need to consider as you define your latest cybersecurity strategy and action plans.

According to Verizon’s Data Breach Reports of 2021 and 2022, over 80% of all cybersecurity breaches involve the human element. It is clear traditional cybersecurity awareness and training is not working and we need to make a change. We talk about cybersecurity in terms of risk management, but we don’t educate our people in the same way. Join ISG and cyberconIQ in an interactive discussion about personal risk styles and how we can make material change in effectiveness of cybersecurity training education so that we enforce a cyber-intuitive culture where we are mindful of our actions and can reduce cybersecurity risks both at work and at home. P.S.…If your phishing click rate is above 2%, you definitely need to attend this session!