WebFOCUS Newsletter - Annual WebFOCUS Advisory Council a Success

Information Builders executives and managers mingled with customers recently during our annual WebFOCUS Advisory Council meeting. In the process, we got a chance to learn firsthand how some customers have put WebFOCUS to use.

The WebFOCUS Advisory Council consists of some of Information Builders’ premier customers, most of whom come from large accounts that use WebFOCUS as their enterprise reporting standard or have made a considerable investment in the WebFOCUS product line. Advisory Council members are invaluable to us because they give Information Builders feedback on our product, tell us how it’s being used and make suggestions for improvements. The two-day event started off with a presentation from Dave Sandel, senior vice president of the Business Intelligence Products Group, on the strategic direction of WebFOCUS. Dan Schultz from US Bank followed with a presentation on how he and his team have implemented WebFOCUS within US Bank. Dan Ortolani, vice president of WebFOCUS Products, then gave a presentation on the WebFOCUS release roadmap.

Kathy Docken from Target Stores began the afternoon’s sessions with a presentation on the integration of WebFOCUS within Target’s infrastructure. The day ended with some short product presentations from Information Builders staff, including a presentation by David Cook, director of New Business Development, on “The Performance Management Framework” and onother by Joe Scilufo, director of Middleware Technology, on "Mainframe Direction." The day wrapped up with a roundtable discussion on enterprise implementation services moderated by Dan Ortolani, software engineer Jim Thorstad and Linda Abdoo, director of Technical Support Services.

A champagne toast hour with the Information Builders’ product team was next. This event was followed by a dinner at New York City’s oldest steakhouse, The Old Homestead Restaurant, in the city’s meatpacking district. The second day of sessions began with a presentation on iWay’s integration strategy by iWay President John Senor. This was followed by a presentation done by Gordon Evans from Lockheed Martin on Lockheed Martin’s implementation tactics. Chris Banks, technical director of WebFOCUS Product Marketing, then discussed WebFOCUS Visual Discovery, the product’s new data visualization capabilities. Two more customer presentations followed – John Veltkamp of Bank of Montreal and Don Hooper of Verizon.

Information Builders CEO Gerry Cohen hosted lunch and gave a talk on WebFOCUS, which was followed by a question-and-answer session. The day concluded with a roundtable discussion on WebFOCUS Release 5 and product support.

Customers hailed from all over the United States as well as Canada and the United Kingdom. Attendees included Rick Oglesby (ABN AMRO); Nels Larsson (ABN AMRO); Barry Solomon (AIG); Jim Young (Allstate); Brad Durham (Allstate); John Veltkamp (Bank of Montreal); Darlene Ross (Bank of Montreal); Joe Miliziano (Digital Motorworks, Inc.); Randy Standridge (Digital Motorworks, Inc.); Phillip Harrison (Eurodis Information Systems Ltd.); Louis Marcoccio (Fidelity); Marylon McGinnis (GEAC); Katy Demers (GEAC); Lenny Ward (INVESCO); Pam Hunt (Lockheed Martin); Gordon Evans (Lockheed Martin); John Zeller (Mayo Clinic); Tony Biondo (Medline Industries); Bill Abington (Medline Industries); Lorant Szabo (Moneris Solutions); Brian Werts (Northrop Grumman); Jaques Sabrie (Northrop Grumman); Patrick Yip (Pershing); Walter Malofy (RBC Financial Group); Roberto Noe (RBC Financial Group); Gary Fischer (Sony); Kathy Docken (Target Corporation); Erick Rowe (Target Corporation); Kelly D. Snodgrass (U.S. Air Force Mobility Command); Dan Schultz (U.S. Bank); Mike Bush (Verizon); James Creegan (Verizon); Don Hooper (Verizon); and Neil Friedman (Verizon).