From the Director
A Word from Our Executive Director
Tracking UniForum '97
No matter where you stand in the IT industry, if you stand still you'll
get run over. The UniForum Association recognizes that this applies to the
annual UniForum Conference, and our UniForum '97 conference planning committee
is working hard to make sure we stay ahead of the traffic. Knowing that
we have to provide more value every year, we have devised several strategies
to deliver on this promise.
First, we have sharpened our focus by grouping the conference sessions into
four critical areas, each with two parallel tracks, for a total of eight
tracks, as you see below.
The Internet
Internet Technologies
Electronic Commerce
The Intranet
Intranets and Middleware
Deploying Applications on Intranets
Networking
Network Technologies
Network and Distributed Systems Management
Enterprise Computing
Mission-Critical Systems
Integrating Unix and Microsoft Technologies
We believe that these tracks, each including eight to 10 individual sessions,
will serve the most common, rapidly emerging needs of our audience as they
strive to make their organizations more successful. The challenges in evaluating,
deploying, maintaining and managing the IT of today and tomorrow never stop,
and the UniForum '97 Conference will provide practical information for how
to keep on top of them.
Two supplemental ideas will add even more value to conference attendance.
As one, we will offer for each of the four main areas a certificate
program. It will certify that the bearer has completed an intensive course
in Internet, Intranet, Networking or Enterprise Computing. A mechanism will
be put in place to verify that the bearer truly has earned the certificate.
It is sure to be a valuable addition to any IS professional's qualifications.
To give further continuity to our tracks, we will designate a series of
threads that extend horizontally across tracks. They will allow attendees
to follow particular interests no matter where they are addressed. There
will be three of these threads, each composed of eight sessions.
Security will include sessions on everything from cryptography to
firewalls to securing the data center.
Advanced Technologies will guide you to the latest and coolest stuff
that is likely to affect your job in the near future.
Heroes of IT will offer a new wrinkle: case studies of how open systems
professionals have made a difference in their company's information systems--and
their business viability as a result.
In short, the threads will provide a cross-referenced guide through the
vertical matrix of tracks and sessions, which any attendee may choose to
follow for a customized view of these rich sources of information.
UniForum '97 is dedicated not only to presenting the full range of the many
options that clamor for your attention. With our conference certificates
and threads, it also will provide several clear paths through the maze.
I look forward to seeing you in San Francisco next Mar. 12-16.
Richard H. Jaross is the executive director of the UniForum
Association. He can be reached at rich@uniforum.org.