From Pete's Desk:.

IBM’s 2006 CEO Study

Annual study examines CEOs’ concerns and priorities regarding IT

To our clients and friends,

At IBM’s Tour de Force conference for leading business partners, chaired by Anthony Williams, IBM Southwestern Channels Executive, I as well as others from Key had the privilege to see artist and management philosopher Erik Wahl’s program The Art of Vision.

Photos of Erik Wahl's paintings produced during his May 21st performance, along with the Key team in attendance and Anthony Williams are shown in the new Key Special Events Photo Gallery on Key's web site. The group shot in the IBM Tour de Force album consists of Key members, left to right: Gary Thomsen, Paul Johansen, Allen Shahdadi, Anthony Williams (IBM), Pete Elliot and Terry Boulais. View the gallery here.

Alisa Maclin of IBM reported on IBM’s 2006 survey of what CEOs are thinking about IT. This year, IBM’s 2006 CEO Study took a comprehensive, global look at a topic that is increasingly important to CEOs and government leaders worldwide: innovation. Here are three major findings:

• Business model innovation matters – Competitive pressures have pushed business model innovation much higher on CEOs' priority lists than expected. But its importance does not negate the need to focus on products, services and markets, as well as operational innovation.
  
  
• External collaboration is indispensable – CEOs stressed the overwhelming importance of collaborative innovation, particularly beyond company walls. Business partners and customers were cited as top sources of innovative ideas, while research and development fell much lower on the list. However, CEOs also admitted that their organizations are not collaborating nearly enough.
  
  
• Innovation requires orchestration from the top – CEOs acknowledged that they have a primary responsibility for fostering innovation. But to effectively orchestrate it, CEOs need to create a more team-based environment, reward individual innovators and better integrate business and technology.

Staying on top of CEO needs is part of how IBM and business partners such as Key Information Systems plan to remain a part of the IT industry’s strategic planning process. You can download the entire survey from IBM’s Web site.

Success to all,

Pete Elliot
Director of Marketing
pelliot@keyinfo.com
818.737.2804
Bio

May Webinar Report - Dynamic Document Generation:.

Learn how Scriptura XBOS Document Generation Solution saves time and money

Presenter: Ron Deardorff, North American Technical Support Manager for Scriptura XBOS

Our May Key Webinar demonstrated how to dynamically manage various types of business output, including print, forms, PDFs and HTML, using Scriptura XBOS. Experts from Key and Inventive Designers (the producer of Scriptura XBOS) demonstrated how non-technical end users can easily create complex documents using a WYSIWYG designer. IT professionals saw how this cross-platform Java-based solution based on W3C Open Standards easily integrates with the iSeries and with applications that support XML, JDBC and other data sources.

Scriptura XBOS recently received their “Best Practices” Award from the AIM organization at their annual conference in Philadelphia in May. Scriptura was also recognized by the EXPLOR association at their annual conference in February with an Honorable Mention for “Innovative Technology of the Year.” To see why Scriptura has been receiving this industry recognition, view this archived Webinar.

June 22 Webinar on BI:.

The focus is on robust, user friendly business intelligence analysis and reporting

Key will host a highly informative Webinar entitled “Eliminate Your IT Reporting Backlog in Only Two Weeks.” This one-hour Web-based seminar runs Thursday, June 22, at 11 am, Pacific Time (2 pm, Eastern Time). It’s presented by Dan Hicks, Vice President of Sales for Q4bis, a business intelligence (BI) solution provider, and by Terry Boulais, Director of Business Development at Key.
Attendees will learn how the unique Q4bis BI Suite enables managers to generate sophisticated analyses and reports in minutes. The Q4bis product suite consists of extraction, analysis and presentation tools with a unique user interface designed so that IT professionals can train users to produce their own sales and financial intelligence to improve their competitive advantage at half the cost of traditional solutions. Fast ROI is provided through rapid implementation, predictable pricing, proof of concept using live user data, and quick and easy transfer of knowledge to users.

Topics to be addressed will include:

• How streamlined user interfaces permit using Q4bis after just two minutes of training
  
• How to process terabytes of information in minutes, not hours
  
• How to quickly deploy Q4bis throughout the organization
  
• How end-to-end BI tools built around MS SQL Server and leading ERP packages can deploy rapidly
  
• How ease-of-use design can free users from dependency on technical specialists
  
• How allegiance to standard MS conventions simplifies implementation and daily use
  
• How a Proof of Concept with live data accelerates the implementation process
  
• How Rapid Implementation Methodology ensures a successful BI implementation
  
• Using sales tracking/pattern recognition to quickly respond to market trends
  
• Facilitating 4-axis data analysis with the Q4bis Cube
  
• Rapid start using Q4bis

The Webinar is intended for the following audience:

• Chief Financial Officers
  
• Chief Information Officers
  
• IT/MIS Directors
  
• Database Administrators
  
• Operations Managers
  
• User Department Managers/Analysts

To register, go here.

July 20 Webinar on Stopping Server Proliferation:.

Learn how VMware cuts server costs

IT organizations are facing server proliferation at an alarming rate. This Key Webcast will show how VMware can slow this growth by enabling server consolidation. Learn how VMware enables multiple virtual machines to run independently and simultaneously on the same hardware. Hear about the resulting benefits of higher server utilization, increased operational efficiency, greater flexibility and dramatically lower total costs. The Webcast hosted by Key takes place on Thursday, July 20, at 11 am, Pacific Time (2 pm, Eastern Time).

To register, go here.

IBM and Brocade:.

IBM’s new FCIP/Fibre Channel SAN Router, SAN Director Fibre Channel Routing Blade, plus a 64-port SAN Switch

Has your organization’s SAN infrastructure evolved into multiple SAN islands that are used to support specific applications, projects, and geographies? Do you continue to be challenged to provide higher levels of asset utilization for business continuity, disaster recovery and data migration solutions? Two new IBM products, based on Brocade technology, provide an answer. The IBM M48 Fibre Channel Routing Blade (FC3450) and the IBM System Storage SAN18B-R Router provide connectivity without the risk and complexity of merging SAN islands into a single large fabric. These products utilize both FCIP and native Fibre Channel. Fibre Channel routing enables hierarchical routed connectivity and separate manageable environments using existing Brocade tools for simplified administration. The resulting SAN design is a scalable, highly available infrastructure that is not limited by distance, maximizing the business value of your SAN infrastructure.

The IBM System Storage SAN64B-2 (2005-B64) delivers excellent performance and value in the industry’s only 4 Gbit/sec 32- to 64-port SAN switch. This switch is suitable for organizations wanting to consolidate or scale to larger port counts in fewer switches - with the option to scale on a "pay-as-you-grow" basis at a nominal cost. The reduced domain count and cabling complexity help improve administrator productivity, and the 4 Gbit/sec Fibre Channel technology provides extremely high performance. It’s an ideal solution as a core switch for organizations that do not require the full capabilities of a director-class switch, and as an edge switch in large data centers.

Key is an Alliance Partner of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. To learn more, request a .PDF of Brocade’s IBM System Storage Quick Reference Guide by sending an email to info@keyinfo.com.

New Partner:.

Key’s new alliance with Q4bis

Pete Elliot, Director of Marketing for Key Information Systems, reports, “We’ve been looking for an organization to be our business intelligence partner for some time. Q4bis, with their Q4bis Business Intelligence Suite fills the bill for several important reasons. First, after careful research, we are convinced the Q4bis BI Suite offers a revolutionary approach to making data accessible to management and analysts across the enterprise. Moreover, Q4bis enables us to provide a full data strategy for our clients that integrates together with SOA and a full lifecycle data management process. Just as importantly, it supports our clients’ continuing need to uncover hidden profits and add to their competitive strength. Our clients want BI that is quickly and easily integrated across their management structure and easy on the budget. In fact, the affordable pricing will make the Q4bis BI Suite one of the products that keeps us working closely with our clients on how to leverage their IT resources to find hidden profits,” said Elliot. For a complete version of Key’s announcement, go here. For the announcement from Q4bis, go here.

Key at OCEAN Catch the Wave in Irvine, CA:.

Key to exhibit at largest iSeries expo in Los Angeles area

13th Annual Catch the Wave OCEAN Tech Conference and Vendor Expo
Hyatt Regency Hotel
Irvine, CA
July 11, 2006

Catch the Wave offers a full day of training presented by renowned educators Jon Paris and Susan Gantner of Partner400; George Farr, Alison Butterill, Doug Mack, Bob Cancilla, and Malcolm Haines of IBM; Al Barsa of Barsa Consulting, LLC; Paul Holm of Planet Java; Craig Pelkie of Bits & Bytes; Dave Brown of Vision Solutions; John Earl of PowerTech; and industry analyst Timothy Prickett Morgan of IT Jungle.

The Vendor Solutions Expo has over 32 vendors offering IT solutions, as well as an on-site Technical Bookstore hosted by MCPressOnline.com. Education tracks are fee-based while the Vendor Expo and the Panel Discussions and the luncheon presentation by Malcolm Hines are free.

Key professional staff members Paul Johansen, Dru Murphy, Gary Thomsen and Terry Boulais will be available in Key’s booth along with Key’s Director of Marketing, Pete Elliot, to discuss the technologies and solutions that Key is currently providing to its clients, including the Q4bis Business Intelligence Suite for mining databases and Scriptura Suite of document generation tools.

To attend, go to the OCEAN user group’s Web site and register.

New OC Office:.

Open house celebrates Key’s new Orange County office

"A Night of Innovation with Key Information Systems and IBM” was the theme for a special grand opening celebration on May 14 for the new Key Information Systems office in Newport Beach, CA. The office complements Key’s headquarters in Woodland Hills and other facilities in Sausalito and Phoenix. It has been established to strengthen the company’s local presence for supporting current clients in the area as well as new business opportunities.
 
The evening brought together Key executives and customers, senior representatives from IBM and other Key partners, elected officials, members of the media, and leaders from a wide range of Southern California businesses to welcome Key to Orange County. Featured speakers included Neal Callahan, Vice President, IBM e-Server Products, Western Region; Steven Rosansky, Mayor Pro Tem, Newport Beach; and representatives of U.S. Congressmen John Campbell and Ed Royce.
 
The grand opening was created, coordinated and promoted by a team from KCOMM, Key’s marketing communications agency headed by CEO Sinan Kanatsiz. It was held at the upscale Tentations nightclub in a festive atmosphere of music, food and conversation.
 
“Orange County is a thriving business environment and represents one of our most important areas of opportunity,” stated Key President Lief Morin. “We are very optimistic about the potential for expanding our presence here and bringing a superior level of information technology to our customers.”
 
A gallery of photos from this event can be seen here.

Reader Feedback:.

We value your ideas and comments. Please send your thoughts to Pete Elliot at pelliot@keyinfo.com or call him at 1.818.737.2804.

Publisher:.

Key Information Systems is an IT systems integrator and solutions provider with specialization in corporate infrastructure, business continuity and storage. An IBM Premier Business Partner and Microsoft Certified Partner, the company also partners with other industry leaders, including Brocade, Novell, VMware and Q4bis. Key’s high-availability, fault-tolerant solutions are backed by a complete range of professional services including education, critical assessment, installation, maintenance and financing. The company has been listed as one of Inc. magazine’s Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies in Los Angeles and has received Leadership, Beacon and FastStart Awards from IBM. Corporate headquarters are in Woodland Hills, CA, with additional offices in San Francisco, Newport Beach and Phoenix, AZ, as well as a Business Partner Innovation Center at the Woodland Hills location. For more information, contact Key Information Systems, 27100 Oxnard St., Suite 250, Woodland Hills, CA 91367, 877.442.3249, info@keyinfo.com.