Topic: Strategic Management

Seminar Topics

[1 CPE] Taking Ownership of Security and Optimization in the Digital Age

  Presented by Jim Bates • Founder, President & CEO of Business Improvement Group

We as IT practitioners, service providers, manufacturers, managers, executives, and business owners are tasked with leading change––change due to intentional and unintentional events including the internet of things (IoT), digital transformation, intelligent automation, machine learning, robotics, and yes, pesky pandemics that have changed the way we work. These changes introduce new vulnerabilities that expose our data to motivated threat agents. Information security or cybersecurity is everyone’s job. Jim Bates will send out a call to action with some tips on how to get buy-in and lead in this age of digital chaos. We need more than just transformation. We need secure, scalable, and sustainable optimization.

Jim Bates is the Founder, President & CEO of Business Improvement Group, Inc. (BIG) and an Adjunct Professor in several schools at the University of Alaska Anchorage, including the MSPM program. Jim was elected as President-elect to the Project Management Institute Alaska Chapter (PMIAK) for 2018 and as an Executive Adviser for the nationwide Center for Technology. In addition to his many professional certifications, Jim holds master certificates in Business Analysis, Lean Six Sigma, and Project Management from Villanova University.

Jim is an experienced executive and consultant who is passionate about leading business transformation and offering innovative, high-value solutions to everyday business challenges. He has a proven ability to successfully analyze an organization’s critical business requirements, identify deficiencies and potential opportunities, and align and integrate technology.

He strives to help companies develop innovative and cost-effective solutions for enhancing competitiveness, increasing revenues, and improving customer service offerings. Jim is also an engaging, experienced public speaker and instructor. He frequently offers courses in Six Sigma, ITSM/ITIL, HIPAA compliance, leadership training, project management, and more.

[1 CPE] How to Advance Strategic Business Goals with IoT

  Presented by Aruba, a HPE Company

Whether it’s the allure of the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT), a fear of being viewed as a laggard, or internal pressure to do something new, many companies rush head-first into IoT projects without clearly defined objectives or value propositions. The result is a high rate of failure and subsequent disillusionment about the real value of IoT. If your company’s strategic goals require human productivity monitoring, human productivity organizational redesign, augmented reality, energy monitoring, and/or building security, Aruba’s ESP can expedite time-to-insight and time-to-value. The solutions can securely handle all manner of IoT devices and integrate them with enterprise business applications and processes. Join us to learn how you can reduce IoT deployment time to a fraction of what a custom-developed solution would require.

[1 CPE] Endpoint Systems Management: Time to Rethink

  Presented by Quest Software

See the recent changes to the endpoint environment and how these affect your infrastructure. Learn how these changes affect your network design and what this means for your daily business. Learn more about the new technologies available for managing your endpoints and see some tips and guidelines to be prepared for what’s next.

[1 CPE] 5 CISOs and a Whole Lot of Thought Leadership

  Presented by EVOTEK

Today’s environment demands attention on several fronts. This is especially the case as it relates to information security. Companies, no matter their size, are dealing with the same issue – how to survive and thrive in a digitally dangerous climate. EVOTEK’s executive advisory team addresses this question daily via their unprecedented roster of thought-provoking CISOs. Grab a front-row seat and join them in this session as they share years of experience and colorful insights in and around information security.

[1 CPE] How to Advance Strategic Business Goals with IoT

  Presented by Aruba, a HPE Company

Whether it’s the allure of the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT), a fear of being viewed as a laggard, or internal pressure to do something new, many companies rush head-first into IoT projects without clearly defined objectives or value propositions. The result is a high rate of failure and subsequent disillusionment about the real value of IoT. If your company’s strategic goals require human productivity monitoring, human productivity organizational redesign, augmented reality, energy monitoring, and/or building security, Aruba’s ESP can expedite time-to-insight and time-to-value. The solutions can securely handle all manner of IoT devices and integrate them with enterprise business applications and processes. Join us to learn how you can reduce IoT deployment time to a fraction of what a custom-developed solution would require.

[1 CPE] SASE: The Power of Convergence

  Presented by Palo Alto Networks

Fueled by digital transformation and a massive shift to work-from-home, traditional enterprise networking and security infrastructures have been stretched to the breaking point. Legacy on-premises point-product approaches of yesteryear simply don’t make sense anymore. It’s time for a new model with the Secure Access Service Edge, or SASE (pronounced “sassy”).

SASE is quickly becoming the predominant network and security architecture that underpins our post-COVID world. SASE is the convergence of network services like SD-WAN, and security services like FWaaS, SWG, CASB, and ZTNA, into a single, cloud-delivered service model.

Join this presentation to learn:

  • Why networking and security must converge in the cloud
  • The key use cases driving SASE adoption
  • Real-world case studies of customers who have adopted SASE

[1 CPE] Health and Safety Innovations Lay a Smart Digital Foundation

  Presented by Hitachi Vantara & IT1 Source

The pandemic has accelerated innovation to protect health and safety, while laying a foundation for broader digital transformation across industries. Learn how automated detection of PPE, social distancing, collision avoidance, thermal scanning, and compliance analytics are helping companies reduce risk while protecting their workers and customers, and how this shift is preparing them to thrive in our digital future.

[1 CPE] Endpoint Systems Management: Time to Rethink

  Presented by Quest Software

See the recent changes to the endpoint environment and how these affect your infrastructure. Learn how these changes affect your network design and what this means for your daily business. Learn more about the new technologies available for managing your endpoints and see some tips and guidelines to be prepared for what’s next.

[1 CPE] Cybersecurity Market Trends and MDR

  Presented by Bitdefender

Mobile workforces were already an increasing trend in business even before we all had to deal with sending our teams home during the pandemic. As many of us work through our return to office plans with hope in our hearts, it is clear that the remote work trend has intensified and will likely continue to do so in the future.

Remote work has challenged traditional security approaches and forced us to think harder about how we can best support the changing nature of work. Thankfully, many of the technology, process, and people changes needed to support remote workers have significant benefits in our overall security posture.

For this session, we’ll talk about trends our security operations center saw in remote work environments and their impact on security operations, discuss theories around how to plan and support these workers, and talk about technology approaches that may help your organization support these workers better while improving your overall security posture.

[1 CPE] Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification: Considerations for Compliance

  Presented by MTA Solutions

Everything You Need to Know About CMMC:

In 2007, Chinese hackers successfully targeted a Department of Defense (DoD) subcontractor leading to the creation of a powerful fighter jet. During this cyberattack, the Chinese stole enough data to make their J-20 stealth fighter jet a real threat to the USA. The reality of this attack is that it wasn’t just a one-off event—over $600 billion is lost globally due to cyber theft every year. With that in mind, the DoD knew something needed to change.

Changes to cybersecurity compliance are coming. Before the introduction of the cybersecurity maturity model certification (CMMC), any self-attesting defense contractors could say that they were compliant with specific cybersecurity guidelines—without having to prove it. This not only left room for contractors to become complacent but diminished all compliant defense contractors’ credibility. In short, contractors who were reckless with sensitive information weren’t held accountable—until now.

With the rollout of the CMMC, contracting with the DoD is more specialized than ever—especially if you’re dealing with controlled unclassified information (CUI). But these new guidelines also mean the space will become more lucrative. It’s estimated that 129,810 businesses will likely pursue CMMC certification in the first 5 years.

CMMC boils down to 3 major points:

  1. It’s mandatory. All CMMC requirements will explicitly address what level your company needs to be at to send or receive any future federal agency RFIs and RFPs.
  2. It’s verifiable. Proof of certification will be accessible electronically.
  3. It’s a long-term investment. Many organizations see between 12-18 months of continual effort to complete their compliance projects fully.

Presented by Rob Thurston, Chief Technology Officer at Ampersand, Alaska’s leading technology services provider, attendees will learn about compliance requirements, sustainability, and risks for DoD contractors.