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TeamQuest Technology Summit Highlights Habits for World Class IT
The sixth annual TeamQuest Technology Summit (TTS) focused on the habits of world class IT. More than 100 attendees at the Tucson event spent two days immersed in the performance and capacity management discipline, covering IT capacity modeling, how-to information, IT Service Optimization best practices and product training
TeamQuest CEO Jerred Ruble provided insight on product plans, with a continued focus on the performance and capacity management discipline. Customers will see an increased depth and breadth of capabilities that will aid their day-to-day operations and strategic initiatives.
As always, networking opportunities were a vital component of the Summit, allowing attendees to share challenges, solutions and ideas with each other and with TeamQuest staff. From peer conversations to information-packed sessions, attendees walked away with an expanded knowledge of TeamQuest software capabilities and new ways to use the software to their advantage.
General Sessions
Keynote presenters discussed big picture topics such as the alignment of IT with business goals and capacity management in virtualized environments.
Robert Erhardt, CTO of the Zoological Society of San Diego, explained how IT works with the business to enhance the visitor’s experience.
"You could call this MapQuest inside a zoo," he says. The innovative program, called iZoofari, allows visitors to plan their routes through the zoo and take advantage of kiosks inside the park.
Other keynote speakers discussed capacity planning challenges and solutions and included IDC, Sun Microsystems and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Sun's David Blankenhorn discussed the organizational, architectural and technical influences of virtualization. He noted that predictive analysis and capacity planning are the only safe routes to achieve 60-80 percent utilization. His presentation clarified how to get real answers in a virtual world.
Breakout Sessions
Afternoon sessions covered three tracks and delved into three types of solutions:
- Modeling
- IT Service Optimization
- How to
Speakers provided detailed insight into their environments, issues and solutions. Guests from a variety of companies such as IBM, Bell Mobility, Hewlett Packard and others covered topics like virtualization, sizing and provisioning, and meeting service level agreements. These interactive sessions were standing-room-only.
TeamQuest engineers were on hand to answer questions during and after each presentation.
Training Sessions
Almost 40 TeamQuest customers, service providers and resellers attended a series of four-hour training sessions focused on specific topics within TeamQuest Model, IT Service Analyzer, IT Service Reporter and Manager.
The shortened time frame enabled instructors to cover a subset of the standard training materials. Attendees enjoyed the direct product experience thanks in part to TeamQuest instructors Jim Smith and Kevin Jessen. The classroom allowed attendees to delve into the product and experience how it solves real, business issues.
"Labs are always helpful because you get time to play with the real thing," said Kelvin Menzel of American Express.
Scott Reed of PricewaterhouseCoopers mirrored Menzel’s sentiment. "Definitely, the hands-on aspect is essential for any training, but having the manual allows you to focus on the PowerPoint most of the time. You can always go back and review the information later." Reed called the training manual indispensable.
Sun Microsystems' Brian DiMambro was impressed with the flexibility and ease of use offered by the IT Service Analyzer/Reporter web application. "This is a killer tool for capacity management applications," he noted.
Like many of the trainees, Barb Hamff of Siemens Health Services considered the training a vital part of her TTS experience. "This is good, good stuff," she insisted. "There’s just so much to be covered."
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