It’s All Coming Together

Converged IP, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and hosted communications are all “Coming Together”. There are a lot of factors providing impetus to this convergence but four areas seem to constitute focus of attention:

1) Business Continuity; 2. Workforce Mobility; 3. Compliance; and 4. Globalization.

“Coming Together” is a theme central to all DPCF projects including the Disaster Planning Communication Forum Workshop. The workshop entitled “Unified Convergence and Business Continuity” will be held on November 28, 2007, at 2:00 EDT (14:00 hours GMT-5). This workshop will host a selection of experienced panelists to address two key concerns for any enterprise - how to avoid a serious interruption of business operations and how to comply with government regulations.

Agenda:

• How SaaS fulfills business continuity and compliance regulations.

• IP Communications and converged solutions provide great productivity enhancing tools; however, there are some concerns regarding business continuity and compliance planning that must be addressed.

• How hosted centers meet the needs of business continuity and disaster preparedness.

• How all of the above fit into the globalization equation.

The panelists include:

Moderator: Max Schroeder

Max Schroeder is the SVP of FaxCore Inc. and a member of the Enterprise Communications Board of Directors. FaxCore is a manufacturer of fax server applications that fully meet the requirements of business continuity, hosted communications and SaaS. Mr. Schroeder has more than 20 years experience in the communications industry and has been an active member in many communication industry associations.

Speaker: Howard Lubert, Ph.D, Managing Partner and Senior Analyst SafeHatch, LLC

Dr. Lubert founded SafeHatch LLC, a technical and business consultancy that provides technical due diligence services to the VC and investment community and business acceleration services to emerging technology companies. Mr. Lubert is currently serving as the President & CEO of DirectorForce, a secure, hosted SaaS (Software as a Service) communication and collaboration suite for Boards of Directors.

Speaker: Don Gant, VP Channel Marketing and Business Development for Iwatsu Voice Networks

Mr. Gant is responsible for positioning Iwatsu’s communications products for sale to the channel and developing relationships with other technology companies for solutions that add value to Iwatsu’s core IP competencies. He has been with Iwatsu for 19 years and was recently named one of the “Top 100 Voices of IP Communications”.

Speaker: Wendell Black, Vice President, Oracle, Oracle Contact Center Anywhere.

Mr. Black was President of Worldwide Sales & Marketing at Telephony@Work, prior to Oracle’s acquisition in 2006. He has over 25 years of experience in the communications industry. Mr. Black has overseen the selection, roll out, and ongoing management of multinational financial, CRM, and customer services infrastructure with companies such as Aspect, Harris Corporation, Periphonics, and Nortel Networks prior to joining Telephony@Work in 2002.

A new and exciting “Coming Together” addition to ITEXPO East 2008, (January 23-25, 2008 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, FL) will be the DPCF Pavilion. The Pavilion’s goal is to provide a central location for attendees interested in DPCF-related activities. In addition the DPCF Pavilion will also provide vendors and resellers with a cost-effective exhibit location. The overall themes will be business continuity, hosted communications services and SaaS. If you are interested in exhibiting in the DPCF Pavilion please contact: Joe Fabiano, Global Events Account Director, Tel. 203-852-6800, ext. 132, e-mail: [email protected].

Even publishing companies covering the business and SaaS markets are looking to cooperate to help end-users and resellers to address the four critical keys of this market. Recently the column authors visited the Channel Partners Conference & Expo at the Meadowlands Exposition center in Secaucus, New Jersey and met with some of the Virgo Publishing, LLC staff to discuss just such cooperation. Look for some additional information on this subject in future columns and in the DPCF Channel on TMC’s site http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/disaster-planning/.

The DPCF has always operated as an open forum welcoming all contributors. If you would like to become an active member of the TMC/ECA Disaster Preparedness Communications Forum or participate in our pavilions, seminars or resource library (i.e., white papers, planning guides or case studies ), please contact Max Schroeder ([email protected] or [email protected] ) IT

Max Schroeder is a board member of the ECA, media relations committee chairman, and liaison to TMC. He is also the Senior Vice President of FaxCore, Inc.

Rich Tehrani is the President and Group Editor-in-Chief at TMC and is Conference Chairman of Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO.

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