Keynotes & Summits

Monday, March 18
11:15 AM – 12:00 PM	Summit Is UC Moving Toward a New Plateau -- or Towards a Cliff? - Location: Osceola C UC is no longer a new technology nor is it a new offering, it’s been commercially available for at least six years. But while UC was revving up, other technologies weren’t standing still. … More ▶ Panelist - Jan Linden, Senior Product Manager, Google Jan Linden is a Senior Product Manager in the Google Chrome team. His focus is on bringing exceptional HTML5 audio and video experiences to the web platform. Before its acquisition by Google, Jan was the Vice President of Engineering of Global IP Solutions. He has been conducting research and development in signal processing and communications for more than twenty years. Prior to joining Global IP Solutions he was with the University of California, Santa Barbara and SignalCom, Inc. Panelist - Rick Puskar, SVP Global Portfolio Management, Siemens Enterprise Communications As Sr. VP, Global Portfolio Management, Rick Puskar has worldwide responsibility for Siemens Enterprise Communications’ global portfolio including strategy, planning and strategic positioning. Rick has been with the company since 1987 when he began as a member of the sales force based in Pittsburgh. He has held a wide range of diverse management positions including V.P. of Solutions Engineering and Development and V.P. Unified Communications for North America. Rick holds a Bachelors degree in Business Administration and Finance from Waynesburg College, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and earned Academic All-American honors in basketball. He resides with his wife Lora and son Michael in Monongahela, PA Panelist - Rowan Trollope, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Collaboration Technology Group, Cisco Rowan Trollope, is Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cisco’s Collaboration Technology Group, which develops collaboration solutions. He leads a global team responsible for identifying key market transitions in collaboration and managing future growth, expansion, and continued innovation. The group’s portfolio includes collaboration software, devices, infrastructure and services that enable video collaboration, unified communications, customer contact centers, conferencing, mobility, and desktop virtualization. This includes such solutions as Cisco TelePresence, Cisco Unified Communications Manager, and Cisco WebEx. Prior to joining Cisco, Trollope was the group president of the SMB and the Symantec.cloud Business Unit where he lead Symantec's sales, marketing and product development teams in the small and midsized business (SMB) segment as well as Symantec.cloud, the company's Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business. He was responsible for driving Symantec’s SaaS strategy and expanding cloud-based delivery and customer support models across the Symantec technology portfolio with a focus on enabling the company to better serve the SMB customer segment. In his time at Symantec he was responsible for the Norton line of consumer products, including Norton Internet Security, Norton AntiVirus and Norton 360; and for key enterprise security solutions, including Symantec Security Information Manager and Symantec Enterprise Security Manager. He holds a variety of patents in computer security and operating systems maintenance. Panelist - Gary E. Barnett, SVP and GM, Avaya Panelist - Todd Landry, Sr. Vice President, NEC Corporation Currently, Mr. Landry is Senior Vice President for NEC where he oversees the company’s product strategies, go-to-market activities and strategic alliances surrounding its Unified Communications and Collaboration portfolio. Prior to NEC, Mr. Landry held senior positions in companies that incuded Sphere Communications, 3Com’s CommWorks Corporation, and U.S. Robotics.where he led product management, marketing and business development. His career is founded on engineering in the tele and data communications sectors with experience in hardware systems and software applications. Todd’s diverse background in engineering, marketing, and business, combined with his knowledge of software and system architectures and a strong customer emphasis create a unique foundation of knowledge, which he has utilized as a speaker in numerous forums, panels and keynotes. He has received numerous awards, including multiple new product achievement awards, product of the year awards, advertising achievement awards, and holds two patents in the area of communications and wireless systems. Panelist - Giovanni Mezgec, General Manager - Lync Marketing, Microsoft Moderator - Fred Knight, GM, Co-Chair, Enterprise Connect, Publisher, No Jitter Fred Knight is GM/Co-Chair of Enterprise Connect – formerly VoiceCon - and the publisher of NoJitter.com. Fred was part of the team that launched the VoiceCon Conference in 1990. He served as Program Chairman through 2003 when he also became General Manager. Since then, VoiceCon, which was renamed Enterprise Connect in March 2010, has grown into the leading event for enterprise communications and collaboration. Fred also led the evolution of VoiceCon from an annual conference into a 12-month per year operation, comprising multiple events per year, a Webinar series, Virtual Events and weekly e-newsletters. From 1984-2007 Fred was editor and then publisher of Business Communications Review. In December 2007, BCR magazine ceased publication and the editorial product shifted to the Web with the creation of a new website – NoJitter.com. Fred earned his BA in journalism at the University of Minnesota and has a Master's Degree in public administration from The Maxwell School, Syracuse University. Moderator - Jim Burton, CXO, CT Link/UCStrategies Jim Burton is Founder and CEO of CT Link, LLC. Burton founded the consulting firm in 1989 to help clients in the converging voice, data and networking industries with strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances and distribution issues. In the early 1990s, Burton recognized the challenges vendors and the channel faced as they developed and installed integrated voice/data products. He became the leading authority in the voice/data integration industry and is credited with "coining" the term computer-telephone integration (CTI). Burton helped companies including Microsoft and Intel enter the voice market and helped AT&T (now Avaya), Mitel, NEC, Nortel, Siemens and Toshiba with their CTI strategies. In the late 1990s, venture capitalists turned to Burton for help in evaluating potential investments in IP PBX start-ups. He went on to help these and other companies with strategic planning and partnering, including NBX (acquired by 3Com, Selsius (acquired by Cisco), ShoreTel and Sphere Communications. In the early 2000s, Burton began focusing on what he believed were emerging technologies that would have an even more profound impact than IP on the converging voice and data industry.
1:15 PM – 1:45 PM	Summit Mobile UC Summit - Location: Osceola C The mobile market is forging ahead, but the much-touted mobile UC offerings languish. At face value it would seem that mobile workers would benefit the most from presence, better integrated communicat… More ▶ Panelist - John Cash, Senior Manager, Enterprise Accounts, BlackBerry John Cash is a Senior Sales Manager for the BlackBerry Enterprise Platform and is based in Dallas, TX. In his role, Mr. Cash and his team promote the vision and value proposition behind BlackBerry’s award winning portfolio of Enterprise Mobility Solutions among RIM’s largest Enterprise customers. Mr. Cash has over 20 years of product management, sales, and enterprise IT leadership experience spanning multiple industry segments including manufacturing, financial services and government/military. Prior to joining RIM in 2009, Mr. Cash worked for Nokia, overseeing early market sales of Nokia’s enterprise voice and mobility solution for the U.S. Other previous career assignments were with Capital One and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and the U.S. Army. Mr. Cash has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Liberty University. Panelist - Christopher Kemmerer, Director of Global Unified Communications and Collaboration Solutions, Product Management, Verizon Enterprise Solutions Chris Kemmerer is responsible for leading a team which focuses on Verizon’s strategy and product management of Unified Communications and Collaboration Solutions for Verizon’s enterprise, small/medium business, and government customers. During his tenure with Verizon, Kemmerer has focused on business communication services and has held leadership positions in operations, sales, engineering, and marketing. Previously, Kemmerer led Verizon Wireless’s Unified Communications and Collaboration Product Marketing team, where his organization focused on business transformation by extending communication and collaboration services to the mobile workforce. Prior to joining Verizon, Kemmerer led an organization focused on designing and delivering Advanced Communication Services, such as next-generation optical, wireless, video, and other real-time communications solutions. Kemmerer represents Verizon as a subject matter expert at various industry conferences and in industry trade publications on topics ranging from mobility, security, and unified communications and collaboration. Verizon Enterprise Solutions creates global connections that generate growth, drive business innovation and move society forward. With a platform-based portfolio of industry-leading mobility, cloud and IT, strategic networking and advanced communications offerings, along with specialized solutions for key industries and a full range of global wholesale offerings, Verizon Enterprise Solutions combines unparalleled expertise, innovation and technology to bring together applications, people and environments. Visit verizonenterprise.com to learn more. Panelist - Joseph Martin, Director, Solution Engineering, Sales & Distribution, Sprint Joseph Martin is Director, Solution Engineering supporting Sprint Sales & Distribution. Joe’s team provides advanced solution engineering sales support for wireline and wireless products and services across all business sales channels and segments, including general business, mid-market, enterprise, public sector, federal, wholesale, and alternate channels for stand-alone and integrated solutions. Joe leads a group of Tier 2 solution engineers and pre-sales program managers that support business sales efforts around Mobility and Fixed Wireless including Sprint Network Vision; 4G LTE; Android, RIM, and iOS operating systems; Location-Based Services; 3rd party applications; Sprint DataLinkSM; Messaging; and all wireless devices. A dedicated contact center in Denver is also managed by Joe for managed customer trials and solution engineering help desk functions. The wireline Tier 2 sales support includes MPLS, Ethernet Access, High Speed Carrier Ethernet Private LineSM, SIP trunking, SIP Toll-Free, International SIP, Managed Network Services, Managed Security, Sprint Mobile IntegrationSM, Integrated OfficeSM, Managed IP Telephony, and Sprint Complete CollaborationSM. Joe manages Sprint’s relationship with Netformx, a design-collaboration, workflow tool heavily integrated into Sprint’s convergence portfolio, as well as Sprint’s partnership with CallTower, a Microsoft-based unified communications as a service (UCaaS) platform. Joe also manages sales overlays for Sprint Infrastructure as a Service (Iaas) leveraging CSC’s VCE platform. All Special Customer Arrangements and “Strategic Solutions (pre-general availability)” projects are handled by Joe’s team. Joe has served in a Director capacity selling or supporting the sale of business solutions within Sprint since 1993 in various pre-sales support functions including field sales management, sales overlays/specialist, and sales engineering. Joe has held all manner of director responsibilities for Sales Administration and Sales Enablement including tools, training, finance partners, event planning, and compensation design. Prior to his current role, Joe served as Director, Sales & Service for business customers at United Telephone of Florida, was heavily involved with the first Sprint CLEC (Orlando), with direct responsibility for LD field sales. Joe began his career with Sprint as part of Carolina Telephone & Telegraph in 1988 and held positions responsible for Sales & Service focused in the “edge-out” markets. Joe has extensive experience in the “inter-connect” business, customer premise equipment, cable television consulting for municipal & county government, plus market research, and started his career with the Department of Energy in Washington, DC, where most of his family calls home. Joe attended undergraduate school at Virginia Tech (1971-75). He then attended graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1979-81). Conveniently, Joe is a “Hokie” in the fall and a “Tarheel” come basketball season. Joe resides in Overland Park, Kansas, near the Sprint Nextel Headquarters, with his wife of 35 years, Randolph. Panelist - David Lowe, Vice President, Enterprise Sales, Samsung Telecommunications America David Lowe is the Vice President of Enterprise Sales for Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile). In his current role, David is responsible for growth and management of an enterprise sales strategy and a team focused on selling Samsung mobility solutions to Fortune 1000 accounts. Previously, David has held channel sales and business development positions at Research in Motion (RIM), Iperia and Nuance Communications. At RIM, David directed all North American channel sales and strategy for BlackBerry's Business Solutions team, which encompasses BlackBerry's suite of enterprise products for Fixed Mobile Convergence, Collaboration and Messaging. Overall, David has more than 25 years of global industry experience and success. Based in Rochester, New York, David holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Saint Bonaventure University in St. Bonaventure, NY. Panelist - Jeff Tongel, Enterprise AE Southeast, AirWatch Jeff Tongel joined AirWatch in 2011 as an Enterprise Account Executive. With more than 12 years of experience in the technology industry, Tongel’s responsibilities have ranged from software development, sales engineering, business development, to sales management. As an account executive, his role revolves around helping companies enable their businesses through the use of mobile technology while maintaining security and adhering to organizational and regulatory compliance policies. Prior to joining AirWatch, Tongel was based in Atlanta as the Southeast Regional Sales Manager at Courion Corporation, a Massachusetts-based Identity and Access Management software provider. While at Courion, Tongel participated in multiple lines of business, including product development and sales engineering prior to assuming the role of sales manager. As sales manager, Tongel played an integral role in tripling revenue in his region. Tongel attended the University of Virginia, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. Panelist - Scott Johnson, Principle Group Program Manager, Lync Customer Engineering, Microsoft Moderator - Eric Krapf, Program Co-Chairman / Editor, Enterprise Connect / No Jitter Eric Krapf is the Program Co-Chair of the Enterprise Connect events, helping to set program content and direction for the leading conference events in the enterprise IP-telephony/convergence/Unified Communications marketplace. In addition, Krapf serves as editor & lead blogger for the website No Jitter, TechWeb's online community for news and analysis of the enterprise convergence/Unified Communications industry. He is also responsible for electronic content including webcasts and e-newsletters. From 1996 to 2004, Krapf was managing editor of Business Communications Review magazine, and from 2004 to 2007, he was the magazine's editor. BCR was a highly respected journal of the business technology and communications industry. Before coming to BCR, he was managing editor and senior editor of America's Network magazine, covering the public telecommunications industry. Prior to working in high-tech journalism, he was a reporter and editor at newspapers in Connecticut and Texas. Moderator - Michael Finneran, Principal, dBrn Associates Inc Michael is an independent consultant, industry analyst, and writer who focuses on wireless technologies, mobile UC, and fixed-mobile convergence. He wrote the book Voice Over Wireless LANs- The Complete Guide (Elsevier, 2008), though his expertise spans the full range of wireless technologies including Wi-Fi, Cellular, WiMAX, and RFID. A lively and informative speaker, Michael has made frequent appearances at trade shows and conferences including VoiceCon and InterOp, and he now serves as the program chair for Wireless and Mobility at VoiceCon. In the consulting area, Mr. Finneran has provided assistance to carriers, equipment vendors, end users, investment firms, and a number of government agencies. A prolific writer, for twenty-three years he wrote the Networking Intelligence column for "Business Communications Review". He now contributes on wireless and mobility to NoJitter as well as UC Strategies.com. He has published numerous white papers and has contributed to Computerworld, Data Communications, The Ticker, and The ACUTA Journal. Well respected as an educator, he has conducted over 2000 seminars on networking topics in the US, Europe, Africa, and Asia. He taught in the Graduate Telecommunications program at Pace University, and conducted programs at the Center for the Study of Data Processing at Washington University in St. Louis. His courses are now offered through Telecom + UC Training. Mr. Finneran holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (Magna Cum Laude) from Manhattan College and a Masters Degree from the J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
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Tuesday, March 19
9:15 AM – 10:00 AM	Summit Is There a New Model for Enterprise Communications & Collaboration? - Location: Osceola C For decades, we’ve heard that “convergence” was coming. Well,it’s arrived, and it’s becoming pervasive. The old boundaries within communications and collaboration are bre… More ▶ Panelist - Fred Killeen, CTO, General Motors Fred Killeen currently serves as Chief Technology Officer, End User Experience, GM Information Technology. Fred joined General Motors in March 2001 as Director Systems Integration for Global Product Development, and was appointed to the role of Director, Systems Development Factory in December of 2003. Prior to his promotion in May 2010 to Chief Technology Officer, Fred was the Global Systems and Technology Director. Fred is responsible for the future roadmaps and deployment strategies of company-wide IT solutions that ensure our employees have a great user experience. Key projects in that space include GM’s migration to Microsoft Exchange 2013 and the continued development of GM’s collaboration platform. Before joining General Motors, Fred held a variety of engineering, technology, and leadership positions over his 16 years with Hewlett-Packard, eventually becoming the GM Account Executive for Hewlett-Packard Consulting. Prior to Hewlett-Packard, Fred was a software developer for manufacturing test systems at Motorola. Fred holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University. He is on the Advisory Board for the Oakland University School of Engineering and Computer Science, and the Michigan State University Computer Science Advisory Board. Panelist - Joe Arnett, Vice President – Information Technology, Fujifilm Holdings America Corporation Joe Arnett is responsible for leading the Information Technology team for Fujifilm Holdings America, Inc., the US-based subsidiary of Fujifilm Co. Ltd. in Japan, that brings continuous innovation and leading-edge products to a broad spectrum of industries, including electronic imaging, medical systems, life sciences, graphic arts, flat panel display materials, and office products. In his role, Arnett provides strategic direction and oversees a shared services IT organization, responsible for services and support for thirteen Fujifilm North America group companies. His strategic focus has been on the implementation of a corporate shared services program that centralizes IT support, reduces redundancies, and leverages best practices and application template strategies. Arnett has and is in the process of implementing several innovative cloud based solutions (email, CRM, quoting tools, EDI, phone systems) that drive cost efficiencies, leverages core competencies and strengths, while allowing him and his team to focus on strategic business applications and requirements. Arnett has spent more than 23 years in a variety of business and technical managerial roles at Fujifilm, most recently including Director of IT Infrastructure, and Vice President of the Information Technology department. A resident of Georgia, Arnett is an active member of his local community. Panelist - Nickina Roberts, Global Network Services Manager Company, Robert Half International Nickina Roberts is the Global Network Services Manager for Robert Half International, who are the world leaders in the specialized financial staffing industry founded in 1948. RHI has over 400 locations spanning across 23 countries. Nickina has been in her role since October 2010, in this role she has strategic and budgetary responsibility for all Network related decisions across the Enterprise. Prior to being in the Global Network arena was working for the same Organization in their EMEA region based in multiple countries during her tenure. With a background in Service Desk Management and ITIL Framework. Holds a BSc with honors in Management from the University of Central England. Moderator - Fred Knight, GM, Co-Chair, Enterprise Connect, Publisher, No Jitter Fred Knight is GM/Co-Chair of Enterprise Connect – formerly VoiceCon - and the publisher of NoJitter.com. Fred was part of the team that launched the VoiceCon Conference in 1990. He served as Program Chairman through 2003 when he also became General Manager. Since then, VoiceCon, which was renamed Enterprise Connect in March 2010, has grown into the leading event for enterprise communications and collaboration. Fred also led the evolution of VoiceCon from an annual conference into a 12-month per year operation, comprising multiple events per year, a Webinar series, Virtual Events and weekly e-newsletters. From 1984-2007 Fred was editor and then publisher of Business Communications Review. In December 2007, BCR magazine ceased publication and the editorial product shifted to the Web with the creation of a new website – NoJitter.com. Fred earned his BA in journalism at the University of Minnesota and has a Master's Degree in public administration from The Maxwell School, Syracuse University.
10:00 AM – 10:30 AM	Keynote Cisco: Robert Lloyd, President, Development and Sales - Location: Osceola C Speaker - Robert Lloyd, President, Development and Sales, Cisco As President, Development and Sales, Robert Lloyd is responsible for Cisco’s development and sales efforts, as the company creates tighter connections between customer requirements and innovation, along with ensuring greater speed-to-market. Lloyd’s organization manages the alignment and acceleration of Cisco’s technology innovation to enable a faster response to market transitions, increased customer relevance, and growth. Lloyd is also a member of the Cisco Executive Committee, which sets strategic direction for each of Cisco’s market segments. With more than 17 years of global leadership experience at Cisco, Lloyd has managed the majority of Cisco’s worldwide business. Prior to his current role, he held the positions of Executive Vice President, Worldwide Operations, and Senior Vice President, U.S., Canada and Japan, overseeing two of Cisco’s five major “theaters.” Lloyd also served as President of Cisco’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region for more than four years. Lloyd joined Cisco in 1994 as General Manager of Cisco’s Canadian subsidiary. He holds a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Manitoba.
11:00 AM – 11:30 AM	Keynote Avaya: Kevin Kennedy, President & Chief Executive Officer - Location: Osceola C Speaker - Kevin Kennedy, President & Chief Executive Officer, Avaya Kevin Kennedy is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Avaya Inc., a leading global provider of business communications applications, systems and services. Prior to joining the company in January 2009, Dr. Kennedy was President and CEO of JDSUniphase Corporation, a position he held since September 2003. Before joining JDSU, Dr. Kennedy served as Chief Operating Officer of Openwave Systems, Inc., a position he held from August 2001 to September 2003. Prior to joining Openwave Systems, he spent close to eight years at Cisco Systems, Inc., most recently as senior vice president of the Service Provider Line of Business and Software Technologies Division. Earlier in his career, he spent 17 years with AT&T Bell Laboratories. In 1987, Dr. Kennedy was a Congressional Fellow to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology. In January 2011, he was appointed to the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee by U.S. President Barack Obama. He currently serves on the board of directors KLA-Tencor Corporation. Until August 2012, he was a member of the board of directors of JDSUniphase (JDSU). Until January 2009, he was a member of the board of directors of Polycom, Inc. He holds a B.S. in engineering from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, as well as M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering from Rutgers University. He was an adjunct professor at Rutgers from 1982-1984 and has published more than 30 papers on computational methods, data networking and issues of technology management. In 2006, Dr. Kennedy was honored by the School of Engineering at Rutgers as their Alumnus of the Year and awarded an Alumni Medal of Excellence. He is the author of “Devil in the Details: The Practice of Situational Leadership,” published in 2012, and a co-author of "Going the Distance: Why Some Companies Dominate and Others Fail," published in 2003.
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Wednesday, March 20
10:00 AM – 10:30 AM	Keynote Microsoft: Derek Burney, Corporate Vice President - Location: Osceola C Speaker - Derek Burney, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Lync and Microsoft Office Data Derek Burney is corporate vice president for Microsoft Lync Engineering. His responsibilities include development of Microsoft Lync, Microsoft’s leading enterprise unified communications product. Previously Burney served as general manager of the SharePoint Platform and Tools group responsible for the development of the Windows SharePoint Services platform and its associated development tools. Burney joined Microsoft in 2004 as general manager of FrontPage, whereupon he led the transition of FrontPage to SharePoint Designer, delivered the first release of Expression Web Designer, and oversaw the most recent release of Windows SharePoint Services. Before joining Microsoft, Burney was president and chief executive officer of Corel Corporation. He began serving in those positions in October 2000, after serving as Corel's chief technology officer, responsible for overseeing the development of all of the company's software products. Prior to his career at Corel Corporation, Burney served as a vice president and regional manager at IMSI. Burney graduated with highest honors from Carleton University with a degree in computer science. He and his wife live in Sammamish, Wash., and have six children. When not at work or playing guitar, Burney is often out riding his Harley.
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