Sunday, October 28, 2007

1:30 - 2:00 PM

Pre-Conference Workshop Registration

2:00 - 5:30 PM

Optional Pre-Conference Workshop: ROI Boot Camp for CFOs — Driving Best Practices in Technology Assessment
Ian Campbell, CEO, Nucleus Research
This session will show you how to establish guidelines for finance and IT to properly and consistently assess the financial and business benefits of a technology investment. Building a credible business case based on common metrics is important for both project prioritization and budget approval. As speaking the CFO's language becomes critical to the success of IT professionals, you can help them by driving a consistent process within your company for assessing technology. Using this process, they can identify opportunities to cut costs and provide value while providing a complete and consistent picture of the returns and risks of your technology investments. Upon completion, each participant will be able to:
• Apply financial metrics to the assessment process;
• Measure direct and indirect benefits;
• Assess worst-case scenarios;
• Negotiate with vendors to maximize benefits;
• Establish a framework for developing accurate, trustworthy business cases;
• Establish a companywide technology ROI framework;
• Set financial milestones for project deployment;
• Assess the real value of a solution upgrade; and
• Minimize financial risk.

Earn four additional CPE credits by attending this pre-conference workshop. An additional fee applies, and pre-registration is required.

Monday, October 29, 2007

7:15 - 8:15 AM

Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:15 - 8:30 AM

Opening Remarks and Chairperson’s Welcome
Sam Knox, VP and Director of Research, CFO Research Services, Conference Moderator

8:30 - 9:15 AM

Aligning Innovative Technology with Corporate Strategy
H. James Dallas, SVP and CIO, Medtronic
As a leading producer of innovative, groundbreaking medical devices and therapies for the chronically ill, Medtronic has an outstanding ability to align IT strategy with its business strategy. This requires finance’s ongoing, intense participation in planning and funding the company’s pursuit of healthy profits in a highly competitive and ever-changing global economy. James Dallas will shed new light on how finance can build its case for technological advancement and thus increase its contribution to an organization’s steady growth.

9:15 - 10:00 AM

Using Predictive Analytics to Tackle Growth-Related Operational Challenges
Mike Nuzzo, VP of Finance, Abercrombie & Fitch
Hear how one of America’s most prestigious retailers is undergoing substantial system changes in an attempt to better manage its supply chain and position for ongoing growth. A&F has four brands, a fifth on the way, and is undergoing major expansion in Europe and Asia. Mr. Nuzzo will discuss the strategy behind systems development, key project insights, and future opportunities created by effective system implementation.

10:00 - 10:30 AM

Refreshment Break

10:30 - 11:15 AM

How Whirlpool Uses BI to Reduce Costs and Maximize Operational Capability
John Kerr, General Manager, Global Quality and Operational Excellence, Whirlpool
With a worldwide reputation for outstanding durability and innovation, this major home-appliances maker relies on the effective management of its warranty costs as a unique window into the overall strength of its operations. John Kerr will outline a step-by-step approach based on a well-crafted set of Business Intelligence systems to give him the right “early warning” alerts and insights for Whirlpool’s global R&D, design, sourcing, production, distribution, and marketing activities.

11:15 - 12:15 PM

Strategically Optimizing Resource Allocation
Anand Sanwal, VP, Investment Optimization/Strategic Business Analysis, American Express
In this interactive session, Sanwal Anand will discuss how finance executives can enlarge their role in managing resource allocation and the ultimate strategic direction of their organizations through corporate portfolio management. You’ll hear how applying corporate portfolio management has benefited several companies Mr. Sanwal has analyzed, as well as American Express, where he has led the corporate portfolio management effort for several years. Finally, he’ll tell you how and why you should build this capability within your own organization.

12:15 - 1:15 PM

Networking Luncheon

1:15 - 2:05 PM

Track One: Concurrent Executive Education Workshops

2:30 - 3:20 PM

Track Two: Concurrent Executive Education Workshops

3:20 - 3:40 PM

Refreshment Break

3:40 - 4:25 PM

The CFO/CIO Collaboration: Architecting GRC Ecosystems
Michael Rasmussen, VP, Risk and Compliance Research, Forrester Research
Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) is bearing down on companies from many angles — and finance and technology form two of the key pressure points. Beyond IT’s own risks and compliance obligations, now companies must use IT to drive sustainability, consistency, and efficiency into enterprise-wide initiatives. The result is a complex landscape of applications that need to start working together. This session looks at the scope of technologies used for GRC, how organizations bring them together into an architecture, and looks at the overall business value/TEI of these applications.

4:25 - 5:15 PM

Panel Presentation: The Office of the CFO — Analytical Engine for Growth
Johan Eriksson, Group Controller, QlikTech, Inc.
Mark Zorko, CFO, Del Global Technologies Corp.
Jonathan Hornby, Director, World Wide Marketing, Performance Management, SAS
Senior finance executives say finance is “under the gun” to speed delivery of trustworthy business analysis and facts to business decision-makers who are continually assessing their revenue growth opportunities and risks. Indeed, leading companies are building their growth strategies around data-driven insights. The “gut feeling” just won’t do in the face of tough external pressures; including, globalization, industry turmoil, leapfrogging science, and impatient institutional shareholders. In this lively panel discussion, we’ll examine how the CFO can equip the finance function — with new tools, processes, and analytical talent — to serve as the analytical engine of growth

5:15 - 6:45 PM

Networking Reception

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

7:00 - 7:50 AM

Breakfast Seminar presented by Manhattan Associates / CSC — Why Wall Street Cares About Your Supply Chain
Charles Poirier, Partner, Consulting Group, Computer Sciences Corporation
Joe Hornberger, Director, Supply Chain Risk Group , Manhattan Associates
In this session, you will learn how your company can deliver more predictable earnings and higher valuations to Wall Street through application of best practices and global supply chain risk mitigation. These proven best practices will enable your company to create a new valuation well beyond those of your competitors through: a) improvements to costs and revenues by virtue of enhanced supply chain processing, and b) understanding, reacting and eliminating risks which adversely effect productivity, profitability, service, quality assurance, brand value and earnings quality. Earn 1 additional CPE credit by attending this breakfast seminar. There is no additional fee for attending but pre-registration is required.

7:00 - 8:00 AM

Continental Breakfast

8:00 - 8:30 AM

Opening Remarks and Research Overview: The Super Star CFO
Kevin Silk, VP Finance, SAP OutlookSoft

8:30 - 9:30 AM

Keynote Address — The Digital Organization: What Every CFO Needs to Know About Creating Value from Technology
Erik Brynjolfsson, Director, MIT Center for Digital Business and Schussel Professor, MIT Sloan School of Management
Does IT matter for financial performance? While anecdotes of spectacular failures and remarkable successes abound, Brynjolfsson’s research at MIT has systematically studied over 1,000 major users of technology and uncovered a clear pattern. He has found that highly productive IT users have a distinct, measurable set of organizational practices in common. He will outline the opportunities and the risks for companies seeking to emulate these market-leading firms' use of technology, information flows, allocation of decision rights, incentive and promotions systems, hiring policies, and training systems.

9:30 - 10:15 AM

The Integrated CFO
Anita Tilley, Financial Management Practice Leader, Distribution Sector, IBM Global Business Services
Multiple business locations, whether domestic, multi-national or truly global brings new opportunities with new risks. The world is changing, making business more complex and more risky. Traditional barriers for global sources and uses of financial, physical, human and social capital are disappearing, placing additional burden on an already full Finance agenda. Leading companies "integrate the plumbing," leveraging a stable infrastructure that enables higher levels of revenue growth and profit. What is the role of Finance in driving to this new integrated environment? What foundational principles drive more effective finance organizations? What is the CFO’s role in the orchestration of risk management and how are exceptional enterprises addressing performance and risk? IBM asked over 1,200 CFOs and Senior Finance professionals worldwide what they thought. Some of the answers might surprise you.

10:15 - 10:45 AM

Refreshment Break

10:45 - 11:30 AM

Leveraging Business Intelligence to Drive Bottom Line Growth
Jane Griffin, Principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, National Leader Information Management
Today, business performance is directly tied to a company's ability to execute key decisions based on critical information. Businesses optimize decision making when they have easy and immediate access to their data at the right time and in the right format. Now more than ever, Business Intelligence is helping CFOs work more efficiently and effectively, providing access to financial information by consolidating data across a variety of sources. In this session, learn how BI is being leveraged as a strategic tool to increase business predictability and shareholder value.

11:30 - 12:20 PM

Track Three: Concurrent Executive Education Workshops

12:20 - 1:20 PM

Networking Luncheon

1:20 - 2:10 PM

Balancing Data Security, Financial Risk, and Compliance
Ray Biondo, VP, Chief Information Security Officer, Health Care Service Corporation
The Information Technology Protection Service of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) has successfully met the challenges of business risk, governmental compliance, and member trust. HCSC operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield divisions in multiple states with over 11 million members. Its complex of member and provider systems strives to balance information availability, protection of Personal Health Information, and member trust. HCSC melds the practical realities of member service and the risk realizations of distributed information in a practical, business-driven model.

2:10 - 3:10 PM

Supply Chain Finance Techniques
Dr. Stephen Timme, President of FinListics Solutions and Adjunct Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology, Panel Moderator
Jose Li, Principal, Retail & eCommerce, FedEx Corporate Services
Stuart Roberts, Managing Director, Trade Sales, Global Transaction Services, Citigroup
Supply chain analytics has finally evolved enough to offer all players — buyers, sellers, bankers — fast, reliable visibility on credit risks, capital costs, and the movement of goods. This session examines a proven, disciplined top-down approach to SCM solutions that estimates monetary benefits, pinpoints critical success factors, and assesses risks. This approach can also uncover the need for changes in scorecards to facilitate an enterprise-wide view of working capital management.

3:10 - 3:15 PM

Closing Remarks