WebFOCUS Newsletter Summer 2004 - WebFOCUS Advisory Council Meets at Summit User Conference in New Orleans

Information Builders executives and managers met with the WebFOCUS Advisory Council Members during the Summit 2004 User Conference at the New Orleans Marriott. Discussion revolved around Information Builders’ current product offerings and services, as well as the overall field of business intelligence. The four-hour meeting kicked off with a welcome message by Dave Sandel, Senior Vice President of the Business Intelligence Products Group. Information Builders CEO Gerald Cohen took the floor next to give members a preview of the four-day Summit, during which product strategy and company direction were discussed.

Dave Sandel and Dan Ortolani, vice president of WebFOCUS Products, next talked about the current WebFOCUS release and the product’s future direction. Kristin Devlin, Director of Customer Education, followed them with an update on the current customer training curriculum and recent changes to accommodate new products. The meeting continued with a discussion on Best Practices updates by Jim Thorstad and Marc Luvshis, both of Information Builders, with input from Dan Schultz of US Bank. The discussion centered on the key issues of implementing a successful enterprise solution. Sam Giglio, of Hertz Corp., spoke about setting up an effective Business Intelligence competency center. Stu Madison and Gene Heskin discussed new developments in technical support services. Up next was a talk by Chris Banks, of Information Builders, on WebFOCUS innovations. Efrem Litwin, of Information Builders, and Eldon Roush, of Gentiva Health Services, followed and closed the day’s sessions with a discussion on the latest Web Services technologies.

Attendees later enjoyed a decadent dinner at the scenic RiverView Restaurant overlooking the Mississippi River. The classic Big Easy cuisine coupled with the magnificent panorama of downtown New Orleans was the perfect way to top off the day.

Customers congregated from across the United States as well as parts of Canada and Europe. Attendees included: Brian Werts (Accenture Consulting); Brad Doty (Allstate Insurance Company); Regina Alves (Banco Commerical Português- Servibanca); López de Argumedo (BBVA); José Félix López Tejido (BBVA); Marisa Sevilla (BBVA); Mercedes León (CECA); Kelly Snodgrass (Defense Information Systems Agency); Susannah Jones (Elie Tahari Ltd.); Steve Kincaid (Fidelity); Dennis Morreau (Florida Department of Transportation); Dirk Keysser (Fordham University); Roush Eldon (Gentiva Health Services); Lorne Colena (Harvard Management Company, Inc.); Sam Gaglio (Hertz Corporation); Leonard Ward (Invesco); Barry Walker (Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.); Gordon Evans (Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.); Ralph Bemos (Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control); John Zeller (Mayo Clinic Foundation); Carol Geargeoura (McClendon Corporation); David Foulks (MCI Telecommunications); Joan Nishi (MCI Telecommunications); Tony Biondo (Medline Industries Inc); Ron Zuccaro (Medline Industries Inc); Tom Walker (Mercy College); Jacques Sabrie Jr. (MITRE Corporation); Lorant Szabo (Moneris Solutions); Ron Phelps (NASA Kennedy Space Center); Partick Yip (Pershing); Roberto Noe (RBC Financial Group); Ken Fulmer (Sunoco Incorporated); Vince Porreca (Sunoco Incorporated); Allison Wood (De Montfort University); Kris Peterson (Target Corporation); Chris Burros (Target Corporation); Erick Rowe (Target Corporation); Vedabrat Etwaru (Time Warner, Inc.); Randall Gross (Time Warner, Inc.); Sanjiv Prakash (Time Warner, Inc.); Paul Geiger (Time, Inc.); Dan Schultz (US Bank); John Schanbacher (Union Pacific Railroad); Jean Kirkpatrick (Union Pacific Railroad); George Skoubis (United Stationers); Joseph Sabin (U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command); Bill Crambo (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers); and William Myers (William Myers, Consultant).