TRACK 2 SESSIONS
Thursday, May 24, 2007

The Key to Successful Global Marketing
Uri Ben-Ari, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Ness Technologies

The presentation will describe the creation, development and implementation of Ness Technologies' global marketing infrastructure, strategy and tactics for products/services in specific vertical and geographic markets, over five continents including the US, India, Western and Central Europe, Israel and Asia Pacific. The presentation will also describe the integration of marketing activities of acquired companies spanning geographies and cultures into the Ness infrastructure and the creation of a unified brand and corporate identity. Ness Technologies is a global provider of IT services and solutions, with 7,200 employees, operating in 14 countries. The company is ranked at No. 100 on the 2006 Software 500 from Software Magazine. The presentation will cover Ness' global 13 marketing building blocks, as well as the vision and the activities which are organized around five core values: teamwork, partnership, excellence, innovation and win-win spirit.

Mr. Ben-Ari has over 25 years of experience in general management, marketing, sales and business development. Over the last four years he led the creation, development and implementation of Ness Technologies' global marketing infrastructure, strategy and tactics. Uri Ben-Ari formerly served as CEO of Internet Gold International and VP of Marketing and Sales at Internet Gold (NASDAQ: IGLD). Previously, he served as CEO and President of Jeunesse Cosmetics Inc. Mr. Ben-Ari holds an MBA. in Marketing and BA in Economics from the Tel Aviv University.

If You Can't Measure It, Does It Exist?
Steve Andrew, Director of Marketing, IFS North America

Learn how IFS North America is spending fewer marketing dollars while achieving more bottom-line results. Extensive online advertising including participation in software comparison tools, leveraging lead generation off of print advertising and drum-tight lead management have helped IFS' western hemisphere operations transform itself from a black hole to a cash cow for the global enterprise applications company. Take in a brief case study on how this was achieved and walk away with practical tips on how you can increase the effectiveness of your own marketing program and how you can document the results for corporate management.

Steve Andrew brings unique insight to the IFS marketing program -- insights gained during more than 20 years of enterprise applications sales. Andrew came to IFS in the acquisition of Effective Management Systems, and has transitioned the company's marketing strategy from one of demand generation to need fulfillment.

Bringing Game-Changing Technology to Market
Leah MacMillan, Vice President of Product Marketing,
Business Intelligence Unit, Cognos, Inc.

Innovation. Market-changing technology. Leadership. How does a marketing team in charge of a $650 million-a-year flagship business convey these messages when launching a new game-changing product? Leah MacMillan, VP of product marketing for Cognos will share how she led the go-to-market strategy for a new product that unlocks access to business intelligence data – expanding it beyond its traditional IT audience to business and non-technical users through familiar Blackberry devices and Google-like searches. MacMillan can elaborate on the tactics Cognos used to reach this new target audience in a fiercely competitive marketplace, further demonstrating Cognos’ innovation, leadership and market-changing technology capabilities.

Leah MacMillan is VP of Product Marketing in the Business Intelligence unit of Cognos, Ranked No. 63 on the 2006 Software 500 from Software Magazine. A key member of the Cognos global management team, MacMillan serves as a driving force behind the global, go-to-market strategy for Cognos’ flagship business intelligence suite. Responsibilities include building visibility and awareness for Cognos BI products, developing strategy and creating messaging/positioning for Cognos.

TRACK 2 SESSIONS
Friday, May 25, 2007

Building Your First Value Map
Bob Schmonsees, founder, Value Mapping Consortium

One of the toughest challenges facing any Product Manager / Marketer is creating compelling and differentiated positioning and messaging for their product; especially if the Sales Force is supposed to be selling it as a solution. This hands-on workshop will show Product Managers & Marketers how to use a simple new best practice called Value Mapping to create more customer relevant, differentiated, and sales ready messaging for any software or service in a few hours. Value Mapping is the process of using a computer model to systematically and explicitly define the value and differentiation of a company’s products and services from the Customer’s perspective, and in the context of specific Customer Needs and the Underlying Issues that drive those needs. All attendees will be given free access to a web site that will enable them to create their Value Map for their product.

Bob Schmonsees is the Inventor of the Value Mapping Process and founder of the Value Mapping Consortium (www.valuemapping.net). He is a leading authority on marketing and sales alignment and effectiveness with over 30 years experience as a successful high-tech marketing and sales executive and CEO. He has twice been named as one the 100 people that matter in Knowledge Management, and is one of the only people ever to have been granted a patent on a marketing and sales process.

Bob’s provocative book Escaping the Black Hole: Minimizing the Damage from the Marketing / Sales Disconnect was released in 2005 by the American Marketing Association and Thomson Publishing. It has been getting rave reviews and has become the definitive work on B-to-B marketing and sales alignment and effectiveness.

Bob was also ranked as the number-one wheelchair tennis player in the world over 40 in the late 1980s. In recent years he helped develop a single rider golf cart with a mechanical swivel seat that enables disabled golfers to play from a seated position. He currently shoots in the high 80s, and has even had a hole-in-one!

Profit-Driven Innovation
Hugh Richards, Managing Director, Product Point Group

While innovation is key to competitiveness, many organizations underestimate the impact to existing and established operations, and how change may come at the cost of profitability. To ensure that the strategic plan does not confuse activity with progress, successful companies examine the full impact of any form of innovation, across each area of the company. Consolidated analysis from each touch point with the market is both key to identifying innovation opportunity and equally testing the potential value of it. Incorporating the strategic intent into a roadmap that can articulate both the value and impact to employees, clients, partners or investors -- is a key to profitability.

This presentation will discuss how successful companies incorporate product operations into profit-driven innovation and explore:

• The aspects that drive early versus sustainable revenue
• The disconnected roles of innovation, operational planning and value articulation
• How companies avoid innovation traps while effectively serving the existing business

Hugh is the Marketing Director for Product Point Group (www.productpointgroup.com) – and a regular speaker in the product marketing/management community. Hugh has held roles in marketing, operations and product management at QuIC Financial Technologies, Selkirk (now Thomson Financial), and SunGard Data Systems; Hugh has been responsible for strategic and tactical product management, and customer/partner development for risk technology products. Hugh brings over 15 years of experience in the software operations business, championing product operations for technology solutions and managing complex multi-level product lines. Prior to vendor software management, Hugh has also led in the risk management departments of investment banks including BZW and NatWest.

Panel:
Market Research: How to Better Target Your Campaign
Moderator: Alan Howard, Applied Computer Research
Panelists: Mary Miller, Sr. Marketing Manager, DM2-DecisionMaker
Jeff Ramminger, Executive VP, KnowledgeStorm
Mark Smith, CEO & Executive Vice President of Research, Ventana Research

The most profitable sales and marketing programs are focused and directed at the right audience. The most common marketing flaw is using organization size data to target campaigns. A more effective approach, in most cases, is using IT specific market research demographics to better target markets, and cover those markets more completely. Reaching the right audience, and covering that market as completely as possible, is the primary key to marketing success. The IT industry is just not as simple as Marketing 101.

Alan Howard is President of Applied Computer Research, Inc., and has been in the information technology field for 25 years, including both an IT technical and marketing background. He has published a variety of articles, research studies, has served as managing editor for many Applied Computer Research, Inc.  periodicals and technical reference books. His current area of focus is IT market demographics and market segmentation.

Mary Miller is the Senior Marketing Manager for DM2-DecisionMaker, a B2B direct marketing and research service provider. In this position, Miller is responsible for positioning and branding the company as a direct marketing services partner – helping companies enhance their direct marketing programs by targeting qualified business professionals through effective channel integration. She also manages all aspects of marketing communications for new product launch.

Ms. Miller came to DM2-DecisionMaker from Sears where she was the marketing manager for Sears brand integration with Kmart stores. She managed multi-store campaigns, digital marketing programs, and vendor promotions. Prior to Sears, Miller spent nearly eight years at Naperville-based Infogix (formerly Unitech Systems), an automated information controls software provider. During her tenure there, she served in technical support, product marketing and marketing program management. She developed company branding initiatives, defined market segmentation and created industry-specific messaging. She also launched new product sales campaigns and managed industry and customer-focused events.

Ms. Miller has a B.A. in business management, marketing and finance from Aurora University and is nearing completion of her Keller MBA.

Jeff Ramminger is Executive Vice President with KnowledgeStorm. His responsibilities include marketing, product strategy and management, Web site architecture, development and operations. Previously, Ramminger served as director in IBM's Communications Sector e-business Services Practice. He was a key founder of IBM's Interactive Media Practice. Ramminger is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology and holds a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering.

Mark Smith is responsible for the overall direction of Ventana Research and drives the global Performance Management research agenda covering both business and technology areas. He defined the blueprint for Performance Management as the linking together of people, processes, information and technology across organizations to drive effective results. Mark is an expert in Business Intelligence and Information Management and directly manages the Workforce Performance Management research practice. As an industry veteran with more than 18 years of experience, Mark worked at companies including SAP, META Group, Oracle and IRI Software before founding Ventana Research. He has experience in banking, consumer products, food and beverage, insurance, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and retail and consumer services.

Technology in Action:
A Case Study in Product and Requirements management
Richard L. Clements, Senior Director, Strategy, Office of the CTO, Initiate Systems

Successful execution of planned and strategic high growth and delivering products that the market really wants demands attentive management of complex requirements and competing priorities. To be successful, you need both granular and macro visibility into every requirement and every bit of input from the product, marketing and executive teams. Product planning and requirements management will achieve high growth when product teams can track and document the evolution of new offerings and how successful each new strategy is in the marketplace. Initiate Systems provides software and services for organizations that want to deliver a comprehensive and accurate view of their customers in real time to all points of service. This case study will review how a unified mapping of requirements juxtaposed against different product strategies and a laser-sharp understanding of the needs of the marketplace can ensure product teams have a competitive edge. Learn how product managers and marketers can capture and input strategic requirements and demonstrate to senior management that their investments successfully satisfy market needs.

In his current role at Initiate Systems, Mr. Clements is responsible for defining product strategy, vision and roadmap and communicating this to customers and the industry at large. Prior to joining Initiate Systems in 2006, Mr. Clements was Director of Strategic Marketing at webMethods and Director of Product Marketing for SeeBeyond where he was responsible for their go-to-market strategy. Before working in the enterprise software industry, Mr. Clements served as a systems engineer and defense contractor on several Department of Defense Advanced Concept and Technology Demonstration projects. Mr. Clements holds an MBA from Virginia Tech University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University.