Current and Future Software Directions

From Back-Office, to Front-Office to Virtual-Enterprise, software technology has been pivotal in a quantum leap in the way our very civilization works. Who better to discuss; how we got here – and where the Software and Technology trends likely lead us than, one of Upside Magazine’s "Top 100 luminaries shaping the digital age."

Transparency In the Digital Age

Jeff discusses leadership and corporate culture in era post the 2002 credibility meltdown. In an era of total 7 x 24 information fidelity, corporate governance and leadership imperatives must encompass new challenges. The transparency genie has left the bottle, wreaking havoc on some and bestowing sustainability and long-term success on others whose corporate cultures are re-engineered to embrace it. The genie demands that corporations and leaders change, from paternalist ic, inward-looking, to engaged, stakeholder focused, responsive and responsible. As we enter the new age of digital bred, market facing realities the future won't just happen it will be created. It calls for a new kind of business leader who has the courage to build a corporate character for this volatile new century.

Managing Through Adversity

Over the course of a twenty-five year career managing a number of large, complex and publicly traded software enterprises; Jeff has encountered adversity on both a personal and professional level. There are any number of times in situations where the organization or key members are faced with what can seem insurmountable or demoralizing circumstances. By relating personal and professional examples, a road map for turning adversity to advantage can be vividly understood.

Leadership

The development of wining cultures in high tech companies. How are they built, maintained and employed to create competitive advantage and segment dominance?

Partnership

Jeff is widely credited as the driving force that made one of the industry’s few hostile mergers, (IBM/Lotus), an undeniable success on an enormous scale. Jeff discusses how two contrasting corporate cultures and numerous "power players" checked their individual egos at the door, and made this merger work in the vortex of strategic competition with Microsoft while developing multi-billion dollar market advantage.