WASHINGTON, D.C.: Kodak Global Directions Conference

BCA will attend Kodak's 2013 Global Directions Conference in Washington, D.C. September 24-25.  Click Here to schedule a meeting in advance.

FAST DATA FOR FAST BUSINESS

There is an inescapable buzz about "Big Data" and the ability to harvest valuable information from the enormous pile of data that a business collects during it normal operation. When used effectively, this information can positively influence new products, strategies, and an organization's ability to move into new markets. To be sure, there are numerous technical challenges involved in combining data from multiple stove-piped applications and platforms, social channels and types of media. Analyzing and redistributing the results of all that data presents additional technical challenges. Much has been written about these challenges and how to successfully manage this mountain of data.

While big is good, especially since we now have the technology capable of handling all this data, it's only half of the story. There's a flip side that really hasn't been examined: the business side of the equation. From a business perspective, it's much more important that data be "fast", rather than "big". Fast data for fast business: that's where the rubber meets the road and that's the focus of this thought leadership event.

Technologies, most of which are already in place, can be leveraged to transform "big" data into "fast" data, with immediate benefit to the business. For example, cloud (Azure), collaboration (SharePoint) and social business (Chatter) can be combined with analytics (Watson) to move important data to any endpoint in an organization. A tweet about poor service can instantly be delivered to the smart phone of any customer service employee. A paper document from a bank branch can be combined with a customer voicemail and website visit, and then delivered to that same smart phone. The possibilities and permutations are as endless as they are exciting.

Dr. Kurzweil, the keynote speaker at this unique event, has written extensively about the "exponential" growth of technology and the Law of Accelerating Returns – the fact that we are now packing 20,000 years of technology progress in a single century. What that means is that planning assumptions and investments in long-term strategic technologies may be obsolete long before any return can be realized. Small, nimble and agile are the operative words for today's solution planner. Those with the best access to fast data will be that much further ahead.

If you are a business technologist, solution planner, or any business executive determining which technology investments will protect and strengthen your competitive position, your focus has to be much further ahead of the curve than ever before. And you need to understand what's real and what's real hype. Just how real are the advances in AI? What's Dr. Kurzweil up to at Google and will he really reinvent how computers work? Is the cloud a "yesterday proposition"? Is it too late for social business? Should you spend another nickel on that integration project currently underway, or is it likely to be obsolete by the day after tomorrow?

Global Directions '13 is the event for thought leaders. Our speakers are among the best and the brightest; our agenda focuses on what you need to know to stay ahead of the curve. Before you invest another penny in technology, bring your executive team to this conference so that you'll hear firsthand what the best and brightest are doing to remain leaders in this dynamic environment. You'll want to sit up, take notice and make plans of your own. Global Directions '13 is the place to do just that.