Note from the Publisher: there's important news from UniForum. A significant industry announcement, described below, will be made at UniForum's IT Horizon '97 Conference, June 9-11, in San Jose, CA.
As UniNews Online readers know the "buzz" about network computing has intensified, yet there is so much so many people don't know about this technology. The mission of IT Horizon '97 will be to increase the light from the horizon and make network computing a lot clearer.
One of the most difficult problems with network computing is the lack of accepted practices and standards for implementation. To address this need an international group of very large users, centered primarily in the financial industry, took the initiative to create their own set of requirements. The result is the Client Network Computing Consortium - the CNCC. Their mission is simple - fast track the writing of best practices and standards, help drive manufacturing of products and services that meet specific needs, organize and promote management processes, find vendor partners willing to follow the customers' lead, and do it all in a hurry.
We're pleased that the CNCC has chosen IT Horizon '97 to make public their work to date and to share their strategy for moving ahead. CNCC representatives will be at both the CIO Program on June 9th and at the IT Horizon Symposium on June 10 and 11. This will be a unique opportunity for IT managers and vendors to come hear firsthand the remarkable progress this group has made in just a few months, and to learn what the ramifications of their groundbreaking work could mean to them. Read on for all the details about CNCC, then click on IT Horizon '97 for complete conference and registration information.
Dick Shippee
New Vendor/Finance Industry Coalition For Network Computing Practices Announced
Client Network Computing Coalition, Inc. (CNCC)
Debuts at IT Horizons '97 in San Jose, CA, June 9-11, 1997Santa Clara, CA, May 1, 1997 -- A coalition of major international institutions, led by some of the world's largest banks, today announced the formation of the Client Network Computing Coalition, Inc., (CNCC). These world-wide financial powers issued a call to the leading vendors in the network computing industry to join them to create a comprehensive set of policies, practices, specifications, solutions and management strategies that will encompass the model of client network computing.
The result of CNCC's work will be presented publicly for the first time at IT Horizons '97 Symposium, June 9-11th at the DoubleTree (formerly the Red Lion Inn), in San Jose, CA. Founders of the CNCC include Bank of America, NatWest Bank, Royal Bank of Canada and ABN AMRO. Joining them as Vendor Founders are Sun Microsystems and IBM. Additionally, the founding members have received letters of intent from another five vendors and 14 financial institutions.
The concept behind CNCC has been under development for about six months according Asa Lanum, managing principal of the CTO Group, Menlo Park, CA., an industry consultancy. "The CNCC's goal is to drive practical and immediate implementation of network computing specifications that will allow financial institutions to take full advantage of this technology in the near term. If we are successful CNCC user members will realize a substantial, measurable reduction of the total cost of ownership (TCO) over the system's life-cycle by enabling a notable improvement in usefulness, usability, productivity, management and support", he said.
Lanum went on to describe the CNCC participants' initial activity: "This first-phase study includes a series of pilot projects and deployments, to identify pitfalls, track and codify success factors. The lessons learned will lead to extensive information exchange among the participants."
Lanum, the Executive Director of CNCC, worked together with Tsvi Gal, (presently Executive Vice President and CIO of ABN AMRO Bank), Chicago, IL., on the initial phases of CNCC development while Gal was Senior Vice President at Bank of America. Their shared vision of the need for customer driven standards for network computing led to the establishment of a formal working group of banking and investment companies which, in turn, met with the leading vendors of network computers to encourage them to support the goals of CNCC. The outcome was the "fast track" writing and adoption of de facto standards for network computing practices that can also have far reaching impact on other vertical industries.
The operative word that defines CNCC is 'speed'. As Gal puts it, "The demand for network computing is undeniable because the payback is indisputable. Given this, we cannot sit back while the industry goes forward with tentative steps towards a series of standards which many take years to become reality; and which may not be specific to our requirements at all. Our mission is to get out in front, identify and specify our needs as customers, then challenge the vendors to produce to our requirements. We think they will."
About IT Horizons '97
IT Horizons '97, sponsored by The UniForum Association of Santa Clara, CA. and the Fisher Center for Management and IT, Walter A. Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, is a combination CIO Executive Forum along with an NC/NetPC Symposium and Workshop entitled "From the NC to the Networked Enterprise" which is designed to reach senior managers who are, or will be, procuring and installing network computing systems. Keynote speaker for the CIO Horizon is Raymond Lane, President and COO, Oracle Corporation."IT Horizon '97 is an ideal venue for CNCC to make public our mission and strategy for moving forward", said Lanum. "Its vendor-neutral content, as designed by UniForum, will give CNCC the proper environment in which to announce and describe our work which is intended to be inclusive of all software and hardware vendors."
Complete descriptions of the sessions and registration information can be found on-line at http://www.uniforum.org and then a click on "IT Horizons".
For more information about the CNCC and IT Horizon '97 contact:
Deb Murray
Vice President, Professional Training & Development
UniForum Association
2901 Tasman Drive, Suite 205
Santa Clara, CA
408-986-8840, ext. 12 - tel
408-986-1645 - fax
dmurray@uniforum.org