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Converging Technology Trends - the Alliance Challenge
ASAP UK MEETING AT THE BT TOWER, LONDON, MONDAY 15th SEPTEMBER 2008: A capacity audience of ASAP UK members and their guests gathered in London’s BT Tower last Monday to hear IT Industry guru Richard Holway give his latest analysis and predictions about trends in the ICT industry.
Richard Holway
The news of Lehman Brothers’ demise was feeding through, and Richard’s commentary was set against a period of unprecedented turmoil in capital markets around the globe.
The meeting opened with our host Steve Cash of BT welcoming us all to this famous landmark venue, giving a brief and interesting history of the Tower which first opened in the late 1960s.
Richard Holway then took the platform, quickly drawing parallels to earlier phases of the ICT industry’s development, when, as now, the spend on ICT as a percentage of GDP was falling. His thesis was that this time round, the market is much more open and resilient, but that many of the giants of our industry are now vulnerable as shifting trends such as Social Networking and Cloud computing begin to gain traction in Enterprises – this will in Richard’s opinion bring permanent behaviour shifts in the way future business must be done. More details of Richard's talk, which he subsequently delivered to a CEO audience at a Princes' Trust fundraising event, are available on his website at Revolution Sept 08
To bring an Alliance perspective to the proceedings, a panel of commentators from Cisco, Accenture and Motorola joined Richard to take questions from the audience. Some controversial points were raised and debated, and the audience feedback demonstrated that the Panel had identified and made many valuable observations.
The ASAP Update delivered by UK co-Chairman Jim Whitehurst majored on the new CA-AM certification programme. With over 240 certified practitioners worldwide, the qualification is gaining ground and it is clearly time for UK companies and Alliance management to embrace it enthusiastically. Jim announced the availability in UK of structured Alliance training, some specifically geared to help Alliance managers pass the CA-AM examination. Both open and in‑company courses are now available, and details can be obtained from Tricia Mann of ASAP UK.
The evening concluded with a networking session over refreshments, held in the revolving restaurant at the top of the BT Tower, with its panoramic views over greater London – a privilege that few had enjoyed before, as the Tower had been closed to the public for some 30 years.
Our thanks go to Steve Cash and to BT for hosting this most successful event.
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