Efm Events

Gerry Weaver
CIO
State of Indiana

What do you do when you inherit an organization with a reputation of providing poor service for a high cost? After you are there for a short time you find that your management staff is weak and clicky, the morale of the organization is low and there are no processes or measurements being used. Mr. Weaver will discuss some key actions to take that will turn the organization into a well run, efficient, customer oriented organization. He has done this turnaround multiple times in his career.

Sponsored by Citrix

Sponsored by NEC

Jeff Edwards
Vice President
Advanced Storage Products Group

AJ Macht
Director of Internet Services
Indianapolis Colts

This session will focus on how The Indianapolis Colts leveraged the Internet and built on-line communities to create additional revenue streams, and how this fit with the vision and business model.  This breakout will also have an open discussion to see how other organizations have been able to employ similar tactics to expand market, increase customer satisfaction, decrease customer attrition, and generate revenue.

Gail Farnsley
VP & CIO
Cummins, Inc.

Cummins Inc. is experiencing unprecedented growth and expanding markets for it products. To support this success and global growth Cummins IT leaders must build critical skills such as project management, leadership, and business collaboration and alignment. In this session Gail will provide an overview of how Cummins is creating new processes to pro-actively develop IT leaders. Discussion topics include: IT leadership portfolio of tomorrow, pro-active talent management programs, key leadership development opportunities to successfully prepare the high potential IT employee and how Six Sigma can be used to develop these processes.

Russ Bostick
EVP & CIO
Conseco, Inc.
Most companies have more systems than are necessary or desirable.   This often results from prior acquisitions, frequent changes in company organization, or inconsistent investment in IT.  It can also be simply because the company provides products or services that require an IT system to maintain a consistent implementation of the product or service over long periods of time, periods that span multiple generations of information technology. 

Conseco has all of these traits and as a result has one of the most varied portfolios of technology present in a mid-sized life, health and annuity insurer.  Consequently, The Conseco Information Technology Department has had to approach its IT strategy and spending with a portfolio management approach that emphasizes analysis and business alignment when simplifying its systems.  In short, Conseco IT has had to “Know when to fold them”.  This presentation will demonstrate some of the analytical techniques, experiences and challenges present in shrinking a complex, diverse portfolio of application software.

Gerry McCartney
VP of IT & CIO
Purdue

Excellence is not a natural act. How do we create and more importantly sustain excellence in a service organization. Purdue is an institution with a worldwide reputation for technology innovation, management and support but IT, while important, is not the core function of the University. And yet for the University to be successful it has to be seen as an essential and truly strategic resource. In this session Gerry will discuss his approach to developing a successful organization and one which is seen as an essential strategic partner to the rest of the institution.

Sponsored by Fusion Alliance

Sponsored by EMC

Cummins Fuel Systems plant entered into a Joint Venture with Scania for the XPI Fuel System business. The XPI Fuel System consists of the Fuel Injector, Fuel Pump and Accumulator. To take care of this new business and standardize the Fuel system business processes across geography, they decided to implement Oracle 11i ERP solution.

KPIT Cummins and Cummins FSB partnered together in implementing the ERP solution in the manufacturing plants in Columbus- Indiana, Juarez- Mexico and Wuhan – China.

The Joint Venture business with their machining plant in Columbus, Indiana and assembly plant in Juarez, Mexico has successfully implemented the ERP solution in the month of May and August, 2007.

Sponsored by Sun Microsystems

Dennis A. Trinkle, Ph.D.
CIO
Valparaiso University

Few challenges are as important to Indiana’s economy as preparing the twenty-first century workforce.  Learn what Valparaiso University is doing to prepare graduates who can help lead the state forward and attract more high-tech businesses to the state.  Valpo’s Information Technology Fellows Program provides students with the opportunity to link the traditional strengths of a Valpo education with the technology training and skills needed to succeed in an increasingly digital world.  Students master a wide-range of technology and professional skills while filling on- and off-campus internships.  Learn about this exciting program and what these students can do for you.

Robert A. Rouse
Director of the Regional SIM Leadership Forum & Professor of Computer Science
Washington University

Leadership remains the competitive advantage in conquering IT complexities of the 21 st Century. It is the key for IT professionals and leaders in government, non-profits, business and social enterprises. Leadership is the critical success factor for individual contributors, managers as well as those with formal leadership responsibilities. Organizations can develop leaders by intentionally providing experiences and educational opportunities to a wide variety of talented individuals

Most leaders discover their own unique and authentic leadership capacities. They acquire them through continuously learning from day to day experiences as well as reflecting on their own lives, defining core beliefs and personal aspirations. Becoming an effective leader is not learning the “10 Lessons of Great Leaders”, but discovering one’s own authentic strengths and style.

Leadership is a combination of what you know and who you are. Learning the “things” of leadership like strategic planning, financial analysis, and industry knowledge are necessary but not sufficient to know your personal capacities to influence through your core values and ability to get others to follow your vision and direction.

Over the past fifteen years the Leadership Forum has helped high potentials discover themselves as leaders. What works for them and their organizations will be the heart of this presentation. Current senior leaders with the responsibility of developing new leaders for the future and those who aspire to leading in their lives will discover proven paths to build their own capacities and the capacities of their organizations.