Opening Remarks

• Doug Dineley , Executive Editor, Test Center, InfoWorld

Industry Keynote
Virtualization for Business Advantage: IT at the Speed of Business
Virtualization presents an opportunity to save costs through consolidation, to improve the flexibility of IT systems, and ultimately to enable the IT organization to be more responsive to the needs of the business. In this keynote presentation, Priceline CIO Ron Rose will discuss how Priceline reaped all of these benefits by implementing server virtualization, and how Priceline’s return on its virtualization investment was increased by deploying provisioning software and storage virtualization as well. Mr. Rose will also discuss environmental benefits of virtualization, and how to quantify some of the benefits that virtualization projects provide.

• Ron Rose, Chief Information Officer, Priceline

Analyst Keynote
Looking Beyond Virtualization Germination
As we move toward 2009, several mature virtualization platforms offer choices that previously didn't exist. At the same time, organizations are looking to redefine many management and auditing practices while also leveraging virtualization to simplify desktop and application delivery. In this session, Burton Group senior analyst Chris Wolf breaks down virtualization's competitive landscape while highlighting the server, desktop, application, hardware, and automation technologies that will directly impact your organization's technology choices in coming years.

• Chris Wolf , Senior Analyst, Burton Group

End-User Perspective
Securing the Virtual Environment
Virtual servers introduce a new order of security risks and challenges. This session will explore the impact of server and desktop virtualization on network and host security, the risks introduced or exacerbated by virtualization, and best practices — both traditional and emerging — for addressing these risks.

• Wallace Dalrymple, CISSP, Chief Network,Telecom & Security Strategist, Emerging Technologies - CS&TO, General Motors

• Bob Gill, Managing Director of Server Research, TheInfoPro

One Stop Shop to Automate Your Virtual Data
Virtualization makes an already complex IT server even more so. Without comprehensive solutions to automate all the service infrastructures, data center managers cannot deliver on IT Service - including availability, performance and agility SLA. HP Business Service Automation provides a comprehensive solution that automates all IT service physical and virtual infrastructures – applications, servers, network, storage and client. By offering integrated workflow coordination, visualization and reporting, HP BSA offers a complete solution to automate the full life of the virtualized IT service.

• Kalyan Ramanathan, Director of Marketing, HP Software

Presented by: HP

Case Study Presentation
Server Virtualization: Replacing Fear with Fact
Since late 2005, SAIC has consolidated nearly 700 servers into 70 hosts, reaping dramatic savings in hardware and energy costs, eliminating downtime for hardware maintenance, and slashing server provisioning times from weeks to hours. Along the way, the datacenter virtualization team had to rethink processes, overcome organizational resistance, and resolve virtual server performance issues. In this presentation, SAIC's Robert Logan will share the key decisions behind the company's physical to virtual migration, the lessons learned, and the opportunities the virtual infrastructure presents both IT and the business going forward.

• Robert Logan, Vice President, Enterprise Infrastructure Service, SAIC

• Jack Wilson, Enterprise Architect, Amerisure Mutual Insurance Company
  

VMware, Microsoft, and the Third Option
How should companies with mature virtualization environments deal with Microsoft entering the marketplace? Should VMware shops take a wait and see approach, set up a Microsoft Hyper-V test lab, or boldly go and jump right in, deploying Hyper-V alongside VMware? In this session, Drew Hiltz of Natixis Capital Markets will examine what Microsoft's virtualization platform has to offer, the role it might play alongside VMware in his company's virtual infrastructure, and the issues a heterogeneous virtualization environment might present.

• Drew Hiltz, Chief Technology Officer, Natixis Capital Markets, Inc.

Case Study Presentation
Application Virtualization for IT Advantage
Windows application virtualization has helped Clarian Health Partners reduce the cost of application packaging, speed up application provisioning, eliminate application conflicts, streamline helpdesk support, and even improve end user mobility. It's also given the IT organization greater control over application usage. In this presentation, Ed Simcox, Director of Technology Planning at the company, will discuss the move to a virtualized application environment, the benefits it brought to Clarian, and the challenges presented by the new paradigm.

• Ed Simcox, Director of Technology Planning, Clarian Health Partners
  

Case Study Presentations and Discussion
Transforming the Business Desktop
For Amerisure Insurance, implementing desktop virtualization - in the form of Citrix servers and thin clients - was part of a strategic approach to increasing productivity and business flexibility. For SAIC, desktop virtualization -including server-based virtual desktops, virtual machines co-located on desktop systems, and application virtualization - was part of a transition to a managed desktop environment, in response to increased security threats to unmanaged systems. In this presentation and panel discussion, we'll examine the different paths to desktop virtualization these companies took, the technology and cultural challenges they overcame, the costs and the benefits, and the lessons learned.

• Robert Logan, Vice President, Enterprise Infrastructure Service, SAIC
  
• Jack Wilson, Enterprise Architect, Amerisure Mutual Insurance Company
  
• Moderated by: Doug Dineley, Executive Editor, Test Center, InfoWorld