Seamless in Seattle

10 Transformative Insights from IT Leaders in Seattle

Softchoice Innovation Executive Forum, Seattle 2015

About the IEF

An invite-only community, the Innovation Executive Forum gives

senior IT executives a platform to share experiences and engage

in discussions about trends affecting their business and their role

as a leader.

Introduction

On May 6, 2015, Seattle welcomed some of the top organizations and

leaders in the area at the Canlis in Seattle, Washington. Members

from the Innovation Executive Forum – an invite only community of IT

leaders – gathered for a one-night only event.

What follows are 10 key takeaways discussed, highlighting the trends

technologists are facing on regional and global levels.

IEF Finding 1: What’s core and what’s cloud

Office 365 is driving massive cultural and productivity changes.

Moving anything that is not core to the cloud, to free up IT’s

innovation focus, is becoming second nature.

 

IEF Finding 2: What are the real cost savings of cloud?

For global organizations, the cloud allows IT to get close to their customers while saving money.

But the cost savings are not always a reality for everyone. Understand what the potential benefits are before embarking.

IEF Finding 3: Early ambassadors drive adoption

Usage and adoption of any new technology is a perennial

challenge. Identifying ambassadors and evangelists from the

outset is a common tactic used to help boost adoption early on.

IEF Finding 4: Measure twice, cut once, measure again

Knowing how to measure success of initiatives is fundamental. Impact can only be ascertained with clear, objective quantities, before and after launch.

IEF Finding 5: Leverage managed services for global service excellence

With global IT organizations, what are the best models and how do you centralize in a way that still allows for local support? The answer often drives the discussion on what you should be managing vs. outsourcing from a managed services perspective.

IEF Finding 6: People matter. Show them why

Defining the impacts each individual has on the overall organizational goals is critical to creating an engaged workforce.

Ask: "What is the 1 thing, which if we don't do it, will cause harm to our business?" to stimulate new thinking.

IEF Finding 7: Telecommuting a response to talent wars

To get an edge on the talent wars, local leaders are opening the door to telecommuting, embracing tools such as Lync and Jabber.

With rising housing costs and traffic woes, alternative work arrangements are a powerful workplace differentiator.

IEF Finding 8: The people pipeline

Build the workforce of tomorrow with actions today. IT leaders are leveraging early stage hire programs to develop the leadership staff of tomorrow.

On the flip side, always focusing on what you need today has led some members to miss out on some truly great hires.

IEF Finding 9: Spot cultural issues early

To resolve people issues earlier, one IT leader suggested asking

simple questions like “Do you have a best friend at work?" or

"What is the #1 reason you enjoy working here?"

IEF Finding 10: The changing nature of talent

People early on in their careers work long hours and set aside work-life balance — demanding the compensation to match the effort.

But once they settle down, everything changes. The money, while still important, takes a back seat to enjoying a quality family life. How can you leverage this in your hiring strategy?

Want more from your peers?

Take part in the Softchoice Innovation Executive Forum and

discover free resources like our IEF whitepapers at

blogs.softchoice.com/ief

Softchoice Innovation Executive Forum – Seattle participants

The Softchoice Innovation Executive Forum Membership represented senior executives from a cross section of

industries from various sectors and sizes of organizations each bringing unique perspectives together as thought

leaders within their own business. The membership included:

• Vice President of Technology at a large Internet Services Company

• Chief Information Officer at an Insurance Company

• Vice President of IT Services at a global Digital Agency

• Director of IT Operations at an independent Medical Research Organization

• Chief Information Officer at a Financial Services Company

• Chief Information Officer at an Electrical Contracting Company

• Chief Information Officer at a leading international Marketer and Distributor of Agricultural Products

Softchoice participants

• David MacDonald, Chief Executive Officer

• Erika Van Noort, Senior Director, Strategic Customer Enablement

• Tim Livas, District Sales Manager

Guest IEF participant

• Michael Clark, Vice President, West Region Corporate Accounts at Microsoft

IEF Sponsorship

A Special Thank You to our Innovation Executive Forum Platinum Sponsors

“As key Softchoice partners, Cisco, Dell, VMware and Microsoft share the same belief of connecting a community of IT Leaders, I’m

honored and thankful that Cisco, Dell, VMware and Microsoft have accepted our invitation to act as the Softchoice Innovation

Executive Forum - Platinum Sponsors to support this peer-to-peer experience focused on driving innovation back into our businesses

collectively.”

– David MacDonald, President & CEO

About Vmware

VMware is a leader in cloud infrastructure

and business mobility. Built on VMware’s

industry-leading virtualization technology,

our solutions deliver a brave new model of

IT that is fluid, instant and more secure.

Customers can innovate faster by rapidly

developing, automatically delivering and

more safely consuming any application.

With 2014 revenues of $6 billion, VMware

has more than 500,000 customers and

75,000 partners. The company is

headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices

throughout the world and can be found

online at www.vmware.com

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide

leader in IT that helps companies seize the

opportunities of tomorrow by proving that

amazing things can happen when you

connect the previously unconnected. For

ongoing news, please go to

http://thenetwork.cisco.com

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ:

MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software,

services, devices and solutions that help

people and businesses realize their full

potential. For more information, news and

perspectives from Microsoft, please visit

the Microsoft News Center at

http://www.microsoft.com/news

About Dell

Dell Inc. listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more. Dell Services develops and delivers a comprehensive suite of services and solutions in applications, business process, consulting, infrastructure and cloud services to help customers succeed. Visit Dell Services on LinkedIn and follow us on Twitter