Andy Mulholland, Global Chief Technology Officer, joined Capgemini in 1996 with thirteen years of experience in senior IT roles. An early pioneer in CapgeminiPC/Network technology, Andy’s focus on Information Technology, as opposed to traditional Computing, brought him international recognition for Internet based technology. He has published five white papers, in the last six years, proposed Technology Architectural models, three of which have become the norm throughout the Technology industry, including the concept of ‘Adaptive IT’.

Mulholland's role of Global Chief Technology Officer includes advising the Capgemini Group management board on all aspects of technology-driven market changes. Mulholland serves on the technology advisory boards of several organizations and enterprises, including Cal IT, (the Californian State Technology Board), and has been, or is, a director of various Industry boards including the Open Mobile Alliance, and the MIT Supply Chain Group, both working on approaches and standards for aspects of the Mobility and Sensors market. He is also a Fellow of the British Computer Society.

He is particularly knowledgeable on the alignment of IT technology to serve business objectives with emphasis on improving the communication and use of information in business processes. Currently this expertise is of great value in defining Web Services and IT Governance models, two areas requiring hybrid business and technology understanding. He has worked in all major industry sectors on strategic initiatives to deliver business advantage from Technology. Andy coined the name ‘Techno Business’ to describe the new forms of technology generated Business formats, such as e-Bay.

An experienced senior executive with strong skills in the strategic, tactical, and management aspects of technology, and services provision, he has been the founder, or co-founder, of four technology companies that have either been acquired by leading multinational technology companies, or gone public on the small capital NASDAQ market.

Presentation
Adaptive and Collaborative SOA: Some case studies
Speakers: James Odell (Consultant), Mihaï Moldovan (Product Manager, OSLO Software), Andy Mulholland (Global CTO, Capgemini)

Achieving business value at the enterprise level requires that every organization architect its own Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)—to some extent. Since no standard off-the-shelf SOA exists covering all business needs, organizations rely on value-added technologies to leverage the benefits of their particular SOA.

Among these is agent technology. Agents can be thought of as active objects—i.e., objects having their own thread of control. They are distributed-processing entities that can be reactive, proactive, autonomous, collaborative, and adaptive. As such, agents work well with other approaches (such as objects, relations, components, and so on), as well as support and extend SOA and the Web.

Agent technology enables IT departments to deliver business value effectively, because each agent acts on behalf of its organization. Agents—like humans—can play designated roles and embody specific business goals in a dynamic and collaborative manner. In a fairly static and stable SOA, agents do not have much use; objects and components are adequate. However, when an SOA involves many service consumers and providers that can change quickly, conventional SOA approaches no longer scale or respond in a timely manner. Here, agents can interact, adapt, and organize in a way that reflects the business needs of the enterprise.

Through case studies we will illustrate how agent technologies provided real value to major accounts in several industrial sectors.

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