Efm Events

Ben Cranmore
Chief Information Officer
Furniture Outlets USA

My life-long career in Information Technology has given me many opportunities to create, build, align and re-align the IT functions within several organizations. I have acquired many years experience applying IT solutions to business problems, not only solving the problem but re-aligning the IT function to best service the business and its opportunities. Drawing on my personal career experiences in the Information Technology world, we will investigate how even with fast paced technological changes, people and their needs, wants and desires remain somewhat constant. 

Faced with the eternal question, how do I fit a round peg in a square hole, we will focus on some of the key points that have relevance in every IT organization from the smaller IT shop to the larger organizations.   

The key to IT success is to make your people successful as well as meeting the business model requirements. 

Troy Larson
Vice President Information Systems
MetaBank 

In this breakout session Troy Larson will share a brief over view of the PC Compliance standard, the new changes coming down, and who influences the process.  Troy will then look at Meta Payment Systems’ validation as a case study, discussing the process put in place, the difficulties experienced, and the lessons learned.  The second half of this breakout will be an open discussion where attendees can share their lessons learned.  Attendees should leave this breakout with broad understanding of PCI Validation and the lessons learned in becoming compliant.  

Troy will also share examples of what their IT department experienced in server sprawl compared to system efficiencies gained via virtualization and the lessons learned in doing so. 

IT Procurement: Reduce Costs by 30%- 40%, and Get What you Want Every Time

Ken Shaffer
Director of IT
FBL Financial Group

Who is negotiating for your organization's IT software, hardware, services, and telecom?  Vendor salespeople routinely receive several weeks of training each year to ensure that they get their company the best possible deal, which translates into you paying more and receiving less.  Unless you have a similarly trained and experienced negotiator working for you, it is almost impossible for you to control your costs and get the terms that you need (like service levels, and the right to terminate if you aren't getting the level of service you require).  That's where Corporate Contracts comes in...

Scott Erkonen
VP of IS
Home Federal

Scott Erkonen is a well known IT professional in the Sioux Falls area, and is the Vice President of Information Systems for Home Federal Bank.  Join Scott as he discusses coping with the challenges that surround us every day as we deal with the “only constant”, change.  Scott will be discussing his background and experiences with rapid project and infrastructure implementation, including multiple 6 to 12 month projects accomplished in 1 to 3 months each.  Also, Scott will be covering lessons learned from the business, technology, and human aspects. 

This session will include an open dialogue section, for the exchange of questions or experiences from the attendees.

Jason Newman
Director IS Operations
1st Financial Bank USA

Does your company have digital assets that require or deserve safeguarding? In this Breakout Session learn what an IT Security Audit entails and how performing an IT Security Audit can assist you with safeguarding your digital assets. Jason will also cover some of the common tools used by security professionals to assist your company in identifying vulnerabilities, what to do when vulnerabilities are identified, and how to sell an IT Security Audit to Management.

Sponsored by EMC

Chuck Cinco
Managing Officer of Information Security
PREMIER Bankcard, LLC

Most IT departments struggle developing a strategy around managing logs. Security breeches typically happen internally so it is critical to have a system in place to keep track of logs.  This breakout discussion will discuss the common business drivers for an enterprise log management system and the strategies Premier Bankcard has put in place.  Chuck will also discuss some of the benefits gained ranging from compliance to incident response. This session will end with an open discussion allowing others to share their experiences.