Research proves that  organizations run on analytics enjoy a significant competitive advantage. The challenge for many organizations, however, is making the leap to integrating analytics into the organization.  How can organizations adapt their existing work processes, information and staff to a new way of doing business?  At this morning-long IT Executive Forum, you and your peers will learn how to apply analytics in your organization with maximum effectiveness and efficiency.

Why You Should Attend
You'll learn from expertly delivered presentations and case studies. From the morning's program, you will rapidly gather answers to questions like:

• What companies have realized key successes by competing on analytics?
• What pitfalls can they help you avoid, and what lessons have they learned?
• How can IT drive the process to help your organization compete on analytics?

Presenters

John Blackwell, Associate Director, Business Information and Analytics group, The Nature Conservancy
John Blackwell is the Associate Director of the Business Information and Analytics group at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the world's largest environmental non-profit. John has extensive experience in data warehouse design, data mining and SAS business intelligence products.

John's efforts to increase the fundraising efficiency of direct marketing at TNC through predictive analytics have led to significant lifts over previous business practices.  He has used SAS data mining tools to create donor affinity models, lifetime value models, and to measure the effectiveness of programs throughout the organization.  In addition, he has developed automated systems to streamline the data-processing tasks associated with direct-mail programs and has dramatically increased the quality and availability of critical and actionable business information to decision-makers.

John has a BA from the University of Virginia and an MS in Information Systems Development from George Washington University.

Jeanne Harris, co-author of Competing on Analytics
Jeanne Harris is Executive Research Fellow and Director of Research at the Accenture Institute for High Performance Business where she leads research in the areas of information, technology and strategy.

She is the co-author of Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning (Harvard Business School Press, 2007), which explains how high-performance businesses are building competitive strategies around data-driven insights that are generating impressive business results.
During her thirty years at Accenture, Harris has consulted to a wide variety of organizations in many different industries worldwide. She has led Accenture’s business intelligence, analytics, performance management, knowledge management, and data warehousing consulting practices. She has worked extensively with clients seeking to improve their managerial information, decision-making, analytical and knowledge management capabilities.

Ms. Harris leads an ongoing major research study examining how enterprise systems enable analytical decision making, contribute to distinctive capabilities and drive high performance. Other recent research topics include talent management analytics, managing business processes analytically, predicting consumer preferences, the implications of alternative value models on corporate strategy, the link between IT and business value, automated decision-making, IT implications of managing intangible assets, information worker productivity, improving managerial performance, knowledge management, business intelligence, building analytic capabilities, customer relationship management, customer-centric strategies, mobile personalization and solutions. She speaks frequently on these topics to executive audiences.

Ms. Harris's work has been published in numerous business publications, including Harvard Business Review and Sloan Management Review. Her research has been quoted extensively by the international business press, including the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Forbes Magazine, CFO Magazine, CIO Magazine, Computerworld and Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

Bob Messier, Senior Director, Business Performance Analytics, SAS
Bob Messier, Senior Director – Business Performance Analytics joined SAS in 1997.  He has worked in various roles within SAS including Sales, Marketing, Business Development and Product Management.

In his current role leading SAS Business Performance Analytics and Platform Technologies Teams, Bob is responsible for defining, creating and delivering comprehensive Business Performance solutions.   In addition, he is has helped customers adopt Business Intelligence Competency Centers (BICC), promoting best practices for proper use of Business intelligence within an organization. 

Bob also has an Innovation team that researches upcoming business and technology trends.   This team is responsible for the incubation of new products and markets.  This team is responsible for the incubation and creation of  SAS Profitability Management, SAS for Sustainability Management and SAS for Performance Based Budgeting.

Bob holds both a MBA in International Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BS in Accounting from Providence College.

Joe Panettieri, Contributing Editor, InfoWorld
As a seasoned event host and award-winning journalist, Joe has moderated more than 200 executive summits and conferences across North America and Europe. He also blogs live from prominent conferences, and he has earned exclusive interviews with Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Cisco CEO John Chambers, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and other technology vanguards.

When not moderating events for InfoWorld, Joe oversees Web 2.0 content initiatives for Nine Lives Media Inc., and has held a variety of top editorial posts in technology media companies.