Upcoming Targeted IT Conferences

Productivity is one of the top reasons why organizations implement remote access solutions.  But have you taken into consideration all the variables involved to make your remote access implementation run smoothly?

Conference Program

8:00 am - 9:00 am - Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 am - 10:00 am
How to Design Your Remote Access Network to Meet the Needs of Your Organization
Ken Salchow, Manager, F5 Networks

Remote access to the network is essential to achieve tremendous productivity gains.  How do you build the appropriate infrastructure to make sure that it supports the various access methods and applications of your user base? How do you make sure it is easy for IT staff to manage and troubleshoot? How do you design an infrastructure so that exceeds the ROI mandated by management? 

In this session you will learn the following:

• How to determine user needs

• How to design a flexible infrastructure to accommodate current and future planned growth of the enterprise

• What metrics you should use to achieve a solid ROI

10:00 am - 10:30 am - Refreshment Break

10:30 am - 11:30 am
Managing the Distributed Enterprise: How to Support Branch Office Connectivity
Jim Greene, Director, Avocent

As enterprises have become more distributed the complexity of their IT infrastructure has increased and has created extra burdens for IT staff to support the varying needs of remote users.  These needs include file services, print services, web caching networking services and management services.  Effectively delivering these services require tasks which drive up support costs considerably.  These tasks include: local data management and protection, site security, network consistency, hardware/software expenses and staff resources.  Are the needs and technical requirements of branch offices different than those of the home office?  If so, how do you provide the same expected level of service at the branch office?

In this session, IT departments will learn how to cost-effectively manage distributed sites by looking at different methods, including infrastructure consolidation.  Metrics that will be discussed include: Scalability, Performance, Reliability & Resiliency and Security.

11:30 am - 12:30 pm
How to Implement & Manage Your Remote Access Infrastructure:  Insource or Outsource?
Michael Felbein, Manager, Enterprise Architecture, UOP (a Honeywell Company)

Our speaker has over 15 years of experience managing both insourced and outsourced remote access solutions.  Now that you understand how to design your remote access infrastructure at corporate and branch office locations, how do you go about implementing and managing a  robust solution?  Many vendors would have you believe that outsourcing is the best way, while others would say there are other tools and techniques to manage it in house. This session will provide you with strategies and tactics that are a best fit for your enterprise and will discuss pros and cons of various solutions with a focus on the following:

• Different needs based on user base / industry vertical

• Number of users

• Types of applications that need to be accessed

• QoS & CoS

• SLAs either internally or externally

• Size of support staff

• Staff requirements

• Expected growth of user base

• Cost savings

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm - Luncheon

1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
How to Determine and Implement the Appropriate Levels of Security Based on Different Access Methods & Applications Needed
Ken Salchow, Manager, F5 Networks

Implementing a remote access solution presents many security challenges to the IT department.  A well implemented security strategy is a necessity due to variety of access methods mobile workers use and the security holes that may be present in each.  Whether a user is working from home, Wi-Fi hot-spot, or hotel broadband, central control of secure connection will be lost unless a comprehensive policy is provided for each user or connection to network.  In this session, attendees will learn how to develop a comprehensive policy to protect the corporate network from various security threats including Sniffing, Malware, Direct Attacks, due to risks inherent in different user access points.

Topics that will be covered and evaluated include:

• Endpoint security enforcement

• Personal firewalls

• Patch management

• Anti-virus and anti-spyware

• Policy enforcement

• Encryption – IPSec vs. SSL

• HIPAA requirements

2:30 pm - 3:00 pm - Refreshment Break

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Managing Uptime: How to Effectively Manage and Troubleshoot Remote Access Challenges
Graham Holt, Director, Research & Innovation, Cyclades Corporation

Organizations implement remote access with the goal of increased productivity for their users.  However, with any implementation, technical challenges can occur that lower productivity or preclude access altogether. How do you manage expectations of your users when dealing with these challenges?  How do you make sure that these technical glitches do not affect the rest of the network?  What type of workaround will you have for your users if one or more of the access methods fails?

In this session you will learn how to resolve technical remote access challenges through the following:

• an overview of infrastructure tools and suggested techniques
• optimizing network bandwidth for desired applications
• providing optimum access and response times and
• maximizing availability of management resources
• setting service level agreements

4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
How IT Departments Have Designed, Managed and Refined their Remote Access Infrastructure 

In this session, you will hear from several IT departments as to how they have built a well thought out remote access infrastructure that has successfully met the requirements of the users.

Topics to be addressed will include:

• ROI determination

• Adapting the network to the changing needs of the users

• Levels of security

• Managing expectations of management

• Dealing with wireless hotspots & access / security challenges

Each attendee will receive a certificate awarding 7 CPE credits for CISSP continuing education,
 in addition to 0.7 CEUs and 7 PDUs.
CISSP is a registered certification mark of (ISC)², Inc.



Conference price: $179 per person per conference.

What You Will Learn

In this one day conference, attendees will learn the following:

• How to determine the remote access needs of your users
• How to assess the needs of your network in terms of growth of users, security needs
• How to determine which applications need to be most accessible for your users
• How to determine the priority of technology access, i.e. broadband (cable vs. DSL vs. wireless), dial-up access
• How to determine the type of security that is needed for your individual remote users and the type of security that is needed on the host end
• How QoS and CoS apply to your remote access solution?
• Remote access considerations as it relates to external business partners & customers
   

Exhibits