The Open Group Conference in Seattle will address some of the key issues in IT today.

Architecture: - The event represents an ideal opportunity to better understand the future role of enterprise architecture (EA) as it is more closely aligned with business decision making at a ‘board room’ level. It will better prepare all EA professionals for the evolving nature of the role of architecture design and management.

Security: - The security practitioner needs to move information security management from an art to a science. The event will provide guidelines on how: integrate security within the enterprise; communicate risk effectively across their organization; and architect security into IT systems.

Cloud Computing: - The Cloud is no longer just in the ‘Blue Sky’ but is being accepted as a key element for enterprise-wide IT systems evolution. This event will include sessions that shed light on requirements, challenges, use cases and opportunities for the deployment of cloud computing.

Key learning opportunities include:

• Practical initiatives based on real-life experiences from leading industry professionals
• Understanding tomorrow’s best practices and policies
• The successful communication of EA and the role of TOGAF™ 9 to deliver operational efficiencies and real business benefits
• The effective alignment of IT security threats and controls with business risk that directly impacts upon the ‘bottom line’ by more effectively integrating security within enterprise architecture frameworks.
• The outsourcing of infrastructure to the Cloud to enable timely innovation in business.
• Utilizing Cloud Computing to make it easier to optimize resources on-the-fly to meet operational demands.

Changing the Conversation
Plenary theme (Monday)

We have heard many say that we need to change the perception of architecture – move it from IT and techie speak to a more business-orientated language that directly relates to an organization’s multiple business functions. One way that we will see this in the future is that the conversations will change; from IT centric to business/mission centric, from IT push to IT pull, from hopes of IT ROI to providing proven business improvements, from IT changes to changing business/mission processes, people roles, and policy.

In this conference we will propose a future where the conversations in which architects are engaged have changed to conversations where architects are in the “Board Room” and at the decision making tables. We will propose a path to getting there through lessons learned and practices being employed by thought leaders and through recommendations from those already in the “Board Room.” Plan to attend this conference to get a head start on making this future a reality.

The Language of the Business Architect
Plenary theme (Tuesday)

Those working in the Business Architecture area are establishing tomorrow’s best practices. In this session we will have thoughts leaders in Business Architecture present the language of the Business Architect – what to emphasize and what to de-emphasize when communicating with Business and Mission partners. Speakers will provide critical success factors in communicating for success.

TOGAF 9 represents an industry consensus framework and method for enterprise architecture and is used by organizations around the world. During this conference we will investigate ways to speak about and present TOGAF in a meaningful way to the business.

Attend and Learn
(Tracks on Mon, Tue & Wed )

Choose sessions, tutorials, and case studies from concurrent tracks where you'll find thought leadership across a range of topics and issues that impact your business. Key topics to be covered include:

• Presenting to the C level and Board room
• Obtaining Line of Business Trust
• Analytics that the CFO can use
• Partnering with Operations, Finance, Marketing, Legal, and HR
• Translating business speak into IT speak – a role of the architect
• Convincing executives to demand TOGAF certified professionals
  

Moving Information Security Management from Art to Science
Plenary theme (Tuesday)

Management of the information security function in large organizations is challenging. Senior IT security managers must have a broad understanding of IT security threats and controls, while communicating effectively about risk within the organization. As a relatively new discipline, IT security management is starting to become less an art, and more a science.

Plenary sessions will include case studies of IT security management in several large organizations, as well as presentations on IT security management using metrics and maturity models.

Security Architecture
Plenary theme (Wednesday)

Ensuring that an organization’s information assets are protected requires architecting security into IT systems. Yet many organizations struggle with integrating security into their enterprise and IT architectures. A common complaint is that every security architecture is unique. Plenary sessions will explore issues in security architecture, including challenges and real world experiences integrating security with architectural frameworks such as TOGAF.

Attend and Learn
(Tracks on Tuesday and Wednesday)

Tuesday Afternoon

• ISM3, a metrics- and maturity model-based approach to information security management
• The impact of compliance on information security management

Wednesday Afternoon

Information security in the Cloud

The Solution to Enterprise Concerns?
Wednesday – all day track and evening CloudCamp

The objective of the Cloud Computing track, is to further explore the themes identified by members of The Open Group. The agenda is expected to include presentations that shed light on requirements, challenges, use cases or opportunities for the following topics:

• Timeliness/Agility: How can Cloud Computing address enterprise concerns about global deployment, interoperability with business or mission partners or lack of flexibility in supporting on-demand composition of business or mission capabilities?
• Resource Optimization: Can Cloud Computing help ensure that all enterprise resources (people, process, information, and technology) are aligned to deliver business or mission capabilities effectively and efficiently? Can Cloud Computing make it easier optimize resources on-the-fly to meet operational demands?
• Removing Obstacles to Innovation: Inability to innovate to remain competitive is a pain point for many organizations, often due to the cost or time needed to deploy new infrastructure. Can outsourcing infrastructure to the Cloud enable timely innovation in business?
• Security, Risk Management and Business Continuity: Can use of Cloud Computing allow enterprise to transfer some of the security burden to the cloud supplier? Can lower operational risks be achieved by outsourcing the management of IT resources and staff? Can economies of scale allow Cloud systems to deliver disaster recovery capabilities affordably and safely to enterprises of all sizes?
• Compliance: The cost and complexity of adhering to compliance requirements is a drain on resources, particularly where they relate specifically to IT (e.g., in keeping email records). What are the risks, opportunities and tradeoffs in having a Cloud supplier provide support for meeting some compliance requirements for their customers?