comSpark Tech & Innovation Summit

We understand that you’re busy and your time is limited. In today’s modern world, there has to be an IT solution that can truly work to increase productivity! Rest assured, there is. Learn how you can control your IT Service Management and optimize management practices for ALL of your services, whether they are internal or external to your company.See how IT has transformed from disparate legacy tools to one platform that can solve company-wide solutions. Join Andrew Gallimore, ServiceNow Practice Manager at RoundTower Technologies, where he’ll cover:

• How the way we work can be continuously improved
• How IT holds the key to improving enterprise productivity
• A practical approach to delivering everything as a service across the enterprise
• Real examples of enterprises currently transforming how people work 
• How to reduce remediation time exponentially when presented with a security breach

Transformation and change are not new rodeos for IT leaders. However, the role of today’s IT leader is dramatically being reshaped by the need to lead adaptive, responsive and nimble organizations. The role is less about technical skills and more about ability to drive results and change through people. The focus of this session will be on how we mobilize people by creating safe places to have conversations and voice ideas, innovate fearlessly and create a culture of empowerment.

Have you ever been asked by an executive, “What is your IT strategic plan?”  Sweat beads begin to form as you think, when do I have time to create a strategy when all I do is fix problems to keep the business running?  This presentation will help solve this dilemma by demonstrating an efficient process to create your IT Strategic Plan.  Research firms have 90-page slide decks on the process but it is not practical for the small and mid-size business to complete.  You will leave this presentation with a real example and templates to create an IT strategic plan, define services, and prioritize business requests.

Celebrating the unique contributions and providing a forum that would encourage learning and sharing best in class ideas with other women executives is key. Our hope is that this event will serve as a catalyst to encourage more women to participate in the technology field. We’ll offer an opportunity to build deeper relationships and create a greater sense of community.

Applying the techniques of Breakthrough Thinking to achieve extraordinary outcomes in your organization and as a leader.

Now more than ever, challenging the status quo has become the norm. No longer can organizations and leaders continue to apply current thinking to achieve extraordinary outcomes. 

With the rapid pace of technology advances and new competitive threats, existing business and operating models are under attack creating the urgency for radically new ways of thinking to overcome constraints instead of making incremental changes in the older ways of working.  

In this interactive session, you will gain an introduction to a proven framework for Breakthrough Thinking and learn about several real world examples that have delivered extraordinary outcomes.

In this presentation, Michael Fulton, Associate Vice President of IT Strategy & Innovation at Nationwide Mutual Insurance, will talk about the transformation of the business of IT at one of the world's largest IT shops, including plans to continue the transformation process based on IT4IT.
Nationwide IT does largely custom development and heavily insourced, with 5000+ internal IT associates and 3000+ external contractors. Since 2015, they have been undergoing a massive transformation of the business of IT in order to keep up with digital transformation impacting the insurance industry. Mike will share with you the story of Nationwide's journey including past, present and future. You will hear how they have used industry standards and best practices as well as how they are implementing the latest technology trends. He will discuss the value of this approach and its success, but also the difficulty of hanging everything together. He will then discuss the planned future of IT at Nationwide, which is going to be all about using IT4IT as an umbrella above Agile, Lean, and DevOps to bring everything together.
Key takeaways: The audience will learn about the implementation of industry standards and best practices like Agile, Lean, DevOps, and TOGAF at one of the biggest and best IT shops in the world, and about its plans to base future transformation work on IT4IT.

Aligning IT goals with the business
o   What does it mean?
o   Business strategy, how does IT get a seat at the table?
o   How to define business needs and design solutions?
o   Execution and measurement?
o   Marketing the IT department - How to tell the story?

This engaging session will use technology from www.slido.com to involve the audience by sending questions to the expert panel about the most creative and best solutions to the IT Talent Skills Shortage.

A diverse panel will give their perspectives and address audience questions and interactive polls to suggest alternatives to this industry issue.

Is your business ready for the digital economy? Understand the critical steps every business must take when planning their digital transformation strategy. We’ll also discuss key questions every business leader must ask: How do you engage with digitally native generations? How do you perform and keep operations moving forward while you transform your business? Will your business model keep customers coming back? How long before we'll have to transform again?