An open enterprise event hosted by ITWeb will highlight the issues around implementing open standards and open source at local public and private sector organisations.
The one-day Open Enterprise 2005 Conference, at The Forum in Bryanston on 15 March, is expected to attract senior IT and business decision-makers looking to streamline their ICT systems to improve their reaction times to market changes.
Among the speakers at the event will be Neil Blakey-Milner, who holds development and advisory roles with the Bandwidth Barn, an ICT community incubator, and Future Perfect Corporation, a professional services company.
Says Blakey-Milner: "Open source and open standards are not just talking-points - they offer real-world agility advantages by avoiding the potential of being stuck with vendor lock-in. Being unable to upgrade or migrate may prevent a company from taking part in an opportunity which requires quick response from their technology departments.
"They also offer intriguing opportunities for cost-saving, but finding case studies appropriate to your situation is problematic," he says.
Blakey-Milner, in keeping with many of the other speakers at this forum, will use real-world examples to illustrate his primary messages.
Willie Appel, international VP: executive directions at Meta Group, will deliver the keynote address at the event: "The open enterprise - A symptom of commoditisation, not the cause."
Other speakers include A Kayode, technologist (policy and strategy) at the Centre for e-Innovation for the Provincial Administration of the Western Cape; Alvin Paules, SAP Netweaver solutions manager at SAP Africa; and Dumisani Mtobo, senior systems engineer at Sun Microsystems.
Also on the programme are Gerrit van Gaalen - IT, Internet, IP and media law specialist at Buys Incorporated attorneys; and James Thomas, business solutions architect at Novell South Africa.
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