What is it and what can it do for my business?

Cloud computing has become a subject of increasing interest over the last few years but what exactly is 'Cloud' and what does it mean for business both now and in the longer term?

This event gives you the opportunity to hear experts describe exactly what is meant by 'Cloud Computing', to hear from businesses already using cloud services and gaining benefits, to quiz an expert panel and to workshop with other business people. This will help you to find out what the advantages and drawbacks are of commitment to the use of Cloud Computing.

Agenda:

12:30-12:45 Registration

12:45-13:15 Lunch and Networking

13:15-13:25 Introduction, Opening remarks from Chair

13:25-14:00 Keynote Address ‘Towards the Cloud!’ An overview of a Cloud – delivery and deployment, market dynamics, opportunities and challenges (Ian Osborne, Director of the Digital Systems Knowledge Transfer Network)

14:00-14:30  Who’s Who in ‘Cloud’?  A review of existing and near-future Cloud service providers and the products that they offer (Phil Worms, Marketing Director, iomart Group).

14:30-14:55 Getting Ready for the Cloud. A quick look at the technical and non-technical stepping stones for cloud computing (Mahesha Pandit, Programme Manager-Scalable Computing, Digital Systems Knowledge Transfer Network

14:55-15:15 Refreshments

15:15-16:00 What can ‘Cloud’ do for me? Case studies of the use of ‘Cloud’ in real business scenarios

• Speaker - Dr James Huntington
  
  IT FARM
  
  IT Farm provide a fully managed IT system for finance, law, recruitment or life science businesses. Using the latest cloud technology, their system consists of servers, software and support which can be tailored to the needs of your business.

• Speaker - Andrew Smithson
  
  SMITHSONS
  
  Commercial lawyers with experience in technology transfer and exploitation. They have a number of lawyers working remotely and we use cloud technology to provide a unified service.

16:00-16:50Q&A panel session with the speakers (Moderator: Ian Osborne)

16:50-17:00 Closing remarks from the Chair.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Philip Hargrave, DC KTN

Philip is the CEO and Network Director of the Digital Comm- unications Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), established by the Technology Strategy Board to bring a competitive advantage to the UK by helping to drive innovation.

Philip previously worked as Chief Scientist, Europe Middle East and Africa for Nortel, and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Ian Osborne, DS KTN

Ian Osborne is Director of the Digital Systems KTN, a Technology Strategy Board funded programme operated by Intellect, QinetiQ and National Physical Laboratory.  He also chairs the BCS Distributed and Scalable Computing Specialist Group,  and is VP of Enterprise for the Open Grid Forum and a Principal in the European FP7 Project, OGF-Europe.

Ian has worked in ICT since 1972, latterly with HP’s Corporate Research Laboratories in Bristol and Telecom Systems Business in Edinburgh. 

Phil Worms, iomart Group

Phil Worms is the director of marketing for iomart Group plc, one of Europe’s largest providers of managed hosting, cloud computing and business continuity services. Having spent 25 years working in the IT industry he is recognised as one of its brightest thinkers. He regularly contributes internet and "new media" related features for trade publications and national newspapers and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is an advocate of social media using it for both business and charitable causes.

Phil has sat on several national advisory committees ranging from the provision of broadband access to online safety initiatives. He is now heavily involved in the debate surrounding the greening of IT with energy efficiency and carbon emission reduction a particular topic of interest.

Mahesha Pandit, DSKTN

As a programme manager, Mahesha Pandit is driving the scalable computing programme of Digital Systems KTN.  He has around 14 years of IT industry experience in automotive and aerospace domains.  His interests include software architectures and software engineering.

Flyer on this event

Please contact Carolyn Hayes c.hayes2@lancaster.ac.uk or 01524 510465 if you have any problems with registering.

InfoLab21's ISIS Project

This event is supported by InfoLab21 as part of the ISIS project’s regional events programme

About ISIS

ISIS aims to raise levels of ICT investment across the region by providing objective advice, guidance and appropriate ICT solutions to SMEs (Small & Medium Enterprises) throughout the Northwest, supporting business changes to minimise cost and maximise the benefits from ICT, both now and in the future.

ISIS is the first project of its kind in the UK and is delivered under the "Transformational ICT" product, part of the Government's Solutions for Business portfolio, a highly targeted, publically funded suit of products and services offering solutions to real business needs.

More about ISIS