2008 Elective Sessions

2008 Elective Sessions Elective Session Schedule Be sure to check back often, as we will be continually adding more exciting sessions! Architecture/Infrastructure Business Process-Driven Application Integration How does business process modeling and analysis helps IT organizations understand how best to support their business? How can you use BPA to make the best use of SOA to integrate your organization to provide competitive advantage? A business process approach to SOA and integration can provide your organization with a manageable roadmap to provide continuous value to your business partners.    Jerry Rightmer, VP, Retail Application Strategy, Oracle Retail Evaluating Web-Based Solutions for In-Store Use Learn how one leading retailer evaluates web-based solutions for in-store use. In this presentation a retail information architect will talk about identifying characteristics and general pros and cons of web-based solution deployment, and a “scorecard” method for evaluating the various architectural approaches to web-based solution delivery will be introduced. A discussion of “how” and “why” web-based solutions fit in the retailer’s application and architectural strategies, with examples of specific applications currently deployed and under consideration will also be presented.   Dean Sleeper, CEO, AccessVia, Inc. Extending POS Functionality In The Retail Store In this session Microsoft will describe a service oriented approach to extending the current functionality of point-of-service solutions installed in the store. We will cover our approach to the implementation of a service oriented based solution that will allow the reuse of current application functionality as well as the incorporation of exciting new capabilities. We will describe a proof of concept that we have built that utilizes a new look and feel in a checkout lane but connects to existing IBM ACE application functionality to provide the business functions that are required to check out the customer. We will also identify customer and checker business scenarios that utilize this same services oriented approach to build new solutions using both wireless and kiosk styles of hardware.   Frank May, Technical Strategist – Grocery and Foodservice, Microsoft Intercepting the Future – A How to Guide Intercepting the Future presents a framework and methodology for understanding and linking business strategy and information systems for current and future advantage. There is a future and change is a fact of life. Nowhere is change happening faster than with individuals as consumers and the technologies that touch them – from Google to iPod to point-of-sale/point-of-service. It is a virtuous cycle, but a tumultuous one and no one is closer to the eye of this storm than retailers and their IT shops. This session describes a system for linking retail business and technical communities over strategic timeframes. It aims at staying positioned to quickly and effectively deal with rapid and largely uncontrollable change at the intersection of consumers and technology – where retailers live.  Hollis Posey, Chairman and COO , Next Retail Group The Platform Wars: Avoiding Collateral Damage in Retail For many years retailers have been told that Windows, Linux, ARTS, OPOS, JavaPOS, JAVA., . NET Activestore, or some other technology or standard is a magic bullet, and the only way to solve their problems and make the world safe for store systems. From the 27 year prospective of the speaker, the more things change, the more they remain the same. The session will discuss various technologies and standards, their definite benefits to vendors, and their possible benefits to retailers, emphasizing that no one approach is best for all problems. Gene Cornell, President, Cornell-Mayo Associates Customer Service Changing Customer Expectations: How Top Retailers Are Meeting The Challenge The current generation of shoppers is smart, knowledgeable, demanding, and very selective. Retailers constantly walk a tightrope between meeting these customers’ expectations and maintaining their profits, because they know that shoppers can be easily lost due to poor customer service, unknowledgeable sales associates, or long checkout lines. So what steps are the Top 100 Retailers taking to keep up with their customers? Join LakeWest Group in a discussion of the results of their 9 th Annual POS Benchmarking Survey to learn how the Top Retailers are reinventing themselves to meet their customers’ changing expectations. Sunita Gupta, Executive Vice President, LakeWest Group Kathleen Fischer, Marketing Manager, LakeWest Group Next Generation Promotions and Loyalty for 4690 via Central Management Retailers are constantly seeking to solidify consumer attraction by way of offering highly attractive promotional and Loyalty programs. However, such programs need to be constantly refreshed – exciting campaigns today are “old news” tomorrow. They are seeking solutions with a broad variety of easily interchangeable marketing strategies – whereby, all configurations are centrally setup and then automatically downloaded to the stores. While such marketing solutions are typically linked to contemporary POS systems, is coupling with IBM SA at all possible? This session focuses on a project in which a next generation central promotion and Loyalty solution is neatly coupled with SA. Saul Simon, EVP Customer Marketing Solutions, Retalix Inc. Checkout (POS Technology) Best Practices to Ensure POS Roll-Outs are Streamlined Across Multiple Sites In a mere three-month window, Pier 1 Imports took on the challenge of replacing its legacy POS systems in 1100 stores nationwide. Every fifteen years, the company executes this same feat. With technology changing a considerable amount since the last roll-out execution, Pier 1 partnered with retail system integrator, Direct Source, to be the expert on deploying each system in the field. This session will cover the Pier 1 case study and discuss best practices to ensure your company fields the same success. Brad Fick, President, Direct Source         Take Control of New Store Openings and Remodels New store openings and remodels can be challenging to say the least, especially for IT departments. With over 100 new stores/remodels per year, The Children’s Place was finding it more and more difficult to manage all the vendors involved and get the work completed in the allotted time frames with the efficiency and the consistent quality required. By consolidating vendors, The Children’s Place was able to take back control, reducing open issues and help-desk tickets, save money as well as help the IT department redeem itself with store operations. David Levitt, Sr. Director Store Systems, The Children's Place Dana Harder , Marketing Director, Tekserve POS TotalFreedom™: POS Expandability Without Adding Software to Your Host TotalFreedom, an open system architecture, offers unlimited possibilities for developing value-added custom application modules embedded directly into the imager instead of the host system. Retail applications: Age Verification: Establishments selling: liquor, tobacco, and/or spray paint Form population: Credit card applications, loyalty card enrollment, job applications Mobile coupons: Revolutionary new way to utilize couponing, enhance impulse purchases Combat Meth Act: Pharmacy – regulate the sale of certain drugs Expiration date verification: Grocery – check the expiration dates of produce Geoff Gelay, Product Specialist, Metrologic Instruments, Inc. Trends in Global Retail Cash Automation Systems Retailers around the world are experimenting with and/or deploying various systems for automating cash processing. MEI will survey the different approaches in automation strategies and focus on the core cash processing technologies (especially cash recycling) that underpin many of these systems. From that discussion, we will focus on the technologies that we believe are most relevant to the US retailer, and present the factors for retailers to consider in selecting future direction to automate cash payments. Neil M. Young, Senior Director, Strategic Marketing, MEI Electronic Payments EFT Canada & USA Update If you have store operations in Canada, Mexico and the USA this session is a must! EFT Plus for 4690 will be required for Retailers with a Canadian marketplace presence to address the PCI and EMV compliance imposed by VISA, MasterCard and AMEX. With Customer input, we will be addressing the Mexico and USA marketplace. Understanding the benefits of EMV and the Retailers options. Understanding the liability shift to the Retailer and its impact. What are the banks and transaction processors doing? Who and what kind of PinPads are used and certified? What type of communications is used? Understanding the project scope, timelines, implementation, certification and training for store operations. What is the impact on your customers? This is an update session. Stephen Braceland, Presdient, ST&J Retail Connecting with Customers through Mobile Commerce This session provides an update on emerging opportunities in Mobile Commerce to connect with consumers at home, on the go, and in the store. Technologies such as IPTV, smart phones, and other mobile devices are enabling both targeted communications and new types of commercial transactions. It is now possible to reach the consumer through the point of decision to increase sales and improve the customer experience. Electronic wallets can securely store credit cards, loyalty cards, coupons, tickets, and other personalized tokens directly on consumers’ devices and payment technologies like NFC will allow your customers to leave their wallets at home. Scott Moreland, Principal, Retail Industry Solutions, Motorola, Inc.   Wireless Network Considerations for PCI Compliance These days, anyone who owns a credit card is familiar with the problem of identity theft, in which technology-savvy thieves extract customer credit and debit card information from unsecured databases. It’s a problem that affects everyone in the retail supply chain — the payment card companies, the banks, the retailers, and the individual customers whose identities are compromised. Electronic thieves have been proactive in finding and attacking vulnerable networks. The problem has worsened over the years, especially with more and more retailers implementing wireless technology, which opens a new set of challenges. This session reviews  the current PCI requirements that relate to wireless devices, infrastructure and reporting; discuss what the retailer needs to know to become Compliant with their wireless systems. Ed Weiser, Principal, Retail Solutions, Motorola Inc. David Van Horn, VP Operations, SofTechnics, Inc.   Store Operations Back Office Conversion: Real World Implementation Back Office Conversion has been a hot topic for the past few years, finally becoming official in March 2007. Electronic processing of payments is one of the most important trends in the retail industry and presents a significant opportunity to reduce costs and automate check processing. Learn about how other retailers are implementing BOC, what needs to be considered when selecting a solution and how it will affect the back office, the front end, and the customer. Shelley Bosler, VP Product Management, Balance Innovations Increasing Efficiency at the Front End with Integrated Peripheral Management The influx of new retail technologies have improved front end operations in many ways, but managing them has created headaches in other areas, such as the cash office. How do retailers manage all these technologies efficiently? Integration of the cash office and its various technologies simplifies tasks, reduces errors and allows labor to be redistributed to customer-facing activities. Learn how to use technology to more efficiently manage self-checkouts, how to integrate electronic safes to minimize loss, and how to increase productivity with POS integration. Greg Drees, Executive VP, Retail Innovations, Balance Innovations Real Time Video Analytics for Retail According to the 2006 Retail Shrink Study by the National Retail Research Group, shrink at the front-end accounts for 61% of total store shrink. More and more retailers are using video surveillance in their stores to combat this front-end shrink problem. For the first time, retailers can now use real time video analytics to catch potential shrink before it walks out the door. Find out how new technology can combat front-end shrink before it becomes a loss. Mark Belfiglio, Vice President, Sales, Evolution Robotics Retail, Inc. IBM Sessions An Overview of Total Store and the Retail Integration Framework IBM TotalStore addresses all functional components of the in-store experience to transform the consumer's shopping experience; empower Store Associates so they have access to the tools they need to do their jobs effectively, and leverage assets to operationalize store resources. At this session, learn more about TotalStore as well as find out about the topic “ IBM Retail Integration Framework: Rethinking Retail with SOA”. See how this innovative solution offers new levels of speed, choice and flexibility. Tom Heckel, IBM Anyplace, Anyplace, Anyplace – IBM Expands the Anyplace Kiosk to Point of Sale and Beyond Come to this session to see how the new IBM AnyPlace family can be used for a variety of applications in the store as well as hear about successful implementations in all retail segments and other industries. IBM has completely refreshed and expanded the AnyPlace family with new models, new features including wireless and new point of sale capabilities with the AnyPlace POS Bob Harlow, IBM Bringing Enterprise Level Systems Management to the Store – IBM ’s Remote Management Agent Learn how IBM Systems Management tools help customers take control of the retail store environment and improve TCO . Get an overview of what is possible, and valuable for managing IBM POS systems. Gregg Margosian, IBM Clean Up Your Store Backroom: Simplify, Consolidate, Virtualize As retailers have added more and more applications in the store, sometimes the backroom of the store begins to look more like a server room than a manager's office – the need to simplify the technology in the back office has never been greater. This session will introduce IBM 's newest server technology designed specifically with the store backroom in mind and review how virtualization and server consolidation can simplify your IT infrastructure and lower costs, while "going green" in the store. Uday Watwe, IBM Global Financing Opportunities – An “Economic Stimulus Package” At this session you will learn all about IBM Global Finance's Economic Stimulus Advantage, which offers enhanced low rates or a no-charge 3- month deferral on leases for new IBM and non- IBM equipment installed by December 31st. This new U.S. economic stimulus package includes a bonus depreciation provision available for all taxable businesses on new equipment and software placed in service in 2008. Jennifer Merrick, IBM How can we help you? Specialty Retail: Maximizing the quality of the customer experience Building loyalty by maximizing the quality of the customer experience is a key to success in specialty retail. How can you deepen your commitment to customer advocacy, while controlling costs? In this session, you will hear about the solutions that IBM , working with some of the best partners in the business, can provide to serve your customer from the point of entry, to the point of decision to the point of sale. We will cover innovative solutions in customer product assistance, fitting room selling and management, point of sale and customer self service. Leon Milnes, IBM IBM ’s Retail Green Initiative Companies in every industry are focused on being stewards of the environment and good corporate citizens, but retailers in particular have "gone green" to drive new business. Increasingly shoppers look at the companies they do business with in the context of their environmental leadership. Shoppers are increasing looking to buy "green" products and solutions. Learn about IBM 's "Retail Green Initiative", which can help retailers go green. Bill Watson, IBM IBM SurePOS ACE Migration and Integration Projects The process of migrating from an existing modified POS solution to a new, more flexible POS solution can be a daunting task for even the most capable retail enterprise. This session will describe a proven process for assisting retail customers in bridging the gap to the highly functional IBM SurePOS ACE application platform. In addition, this session will include discussion of recent system integration projects conducted by ACE customers using elements of the IBM Store Integration Framework. Mike Puma, Mark Weiss, IBM IBM SurePOS Hardware Update IBM is focused on providing leading POS solutions to fit many customer environments. This session will enable the attendee to understand IBM ’s current SurePOS 700, 500, and 300 product lines, positioning, and road maps. Topics will include SurePOS product overviews, new projects in plan, and IBM differentiation. Whether a novice or expert on the IBM offerings, you'll find this session valuable in understanding IBM 's complete solution offerings. Peggy Weavil, IBM IBM WebSphere Commerce IBM WebSphere Commerce provides a complete cross-channel retail solution, integrating all the consumer touchpoints - on-line, in-store and call center - through a singe transaction engine and information repository. WebSphere Commerce in the store offers a "Commerce Kiosk" which includes Gift Registry, Endless Aisle and Product Information, as well as Commerce POS through our business partners, SRS and CrossView. Drew Wofford, IBM Immersive Retail Strategies and the In-Store Experience The store is a perfect storm of opportunity to bring together engaging, involving, emotional experiences that sell through a brand voice, as opposed to a product experience. Immersive technology places the customer inside the brand experience through the use of experientially heightening technologies, including video, sound, scent, "touch", gesture, perspective, augmented reality; and customer movement and product motion. Tom Heckel, IBM Loss Prevention – New Video Surveillance Trends that Extend the Value Proposition The costs of shrink are steadily climbing for retailers. An alarming fact is that both employee fraud and organized theft represent a growing percentage of the losses. At this session, hear about loss prevention trends and learn about how retailers can leverage existing loss prevention assets to effect differences in loss prevention as they implement future trends in video surveillance technologies. Deidre Lenderking, IBM New SureMark Printer Models offer Amazing Performance and Innovations - NDA Be among the first to see some new IBM printing technologies in action and expect to walk away amazed at how current and future IBM SureMark printers outperform competitive printers in print speed, ease of use, ease of maintenance, groundbreaking green initiatives, and innovative design. Dave Stanhope, IBM Optimizing the Customer Experience at Checkout The ability to integrate information about the shopper, product, loyalty, inventory and multi-channel visibility along with offering a variety of new transactions and services at the point of sale has added complexity at checkout time. Add self checkout, kiosks, new payment technologies....it’s a challenge to optimize the checkout experience across the front end and throughout the store. Learn about new ideas on how to design and optimize your technology to deliver an enhanced customer experience at checkout. Alan Outlaw, IBM Leon Milnes, IBM Reducing the Total Costs of POS – a New IDC Total Cost of Ownership ( TCO ) Model IBM and Global Retail Insights, an IDC company, have worked to develop a new model to understand the total cost of ownership of POS systems. Learn more about IDC’s model, including the elements of cost associated with POS systems and identify opportunities to reduce cost through systems management, serviceability and green initiatives. Hear about IBM ’s capabilities that are designed to assist retailers in reducing costs and optimizing their POS investments. Bill Watson, IBM SurePOS ACE Roadmap - NDA Advancements in industry standards, best practices, along with security issues and fraud have resulted in considerable focus on POS solutions in many retail environments. This presentation will provide the attendee with insight into the latest functionality of ACE V6.2 and IBM 's plans for the ACE product, as well as how IBM can assist customers with these challenges. Dave Irons, IBM The IBM Checkout Environment for Consumer Service (CHEC) There is more focus on self checkout than ever before. Self Service World reports that consumers actually prefer self checkout (45%) to full service checkout (41%). IBM is helping retailers evaluate and deploy self checkout in their environment, regardless of segment and store size. Come learn about IBM's new Checkout Environment for Consumer-Service (CHEC) software and how it helps enable more reliable POS integration, greater control and manageability. Also find out about IBM's expanded portfolio of offerings. Fredrik Carlegren, IBM The IBM 4690 Retail Platform – future Directions for IBM ’s Environment Optimized for Retail - NDA The best POS solution just got better... take a look under the hood of the new IBM 4690 POS platform. Learn how IBM is enhancing 4690 OS for the future. Come hear how the best most dependable platform for processing retail transactions is evolving to meet the future opportunities and challenges in retail. Bill Noonan, IBM The Next Wave of Consumer Self Service – Transform The Way Your Consumers Connect, Interact And Transact Today, powerful consumer service technologies and solutions can provide retailers the ability to create new relationships, communications vehicles and build loyalty for this “do it yourself”, tech-savvy generation of shoppers. Come to this session to learn about IBM 's vision for using consumer service solutions across the entire value chain of retailing and how to apply learnings from other industries use of advanced consumer service technology to retail. Chris Foster, IBM "Share the Experience" Discussions "Share the Experience" discussions are a unique opportunity to share ideas, issues and opinions with your peers. Facilitated by subject matter experts, these sessions will provide an open forum to learn more about popular topics. Whether you participate or just listen in, you will gain from the experience. At our May 2008 conference we are planning three different "Share the Experience" discussions. Alternate Payment Compliance Version 2 of the PCI Data Security Standards is coming as retailers look to lobbyists and Congress for some legislated balance and clarification within the requirements.  Canadian retailers are gearing up for Chip & Pin.  Retailers have implemented technologies and compensating controls to address the PCI security standards.  Join your colleagues to discuss on-going compliancy issues, the impact of security related policies and procedures to your organization and how we are preparing for future payment compliancy standards.  Social Network Social applications such as Facebook and My-Space serve as a networking and communications platform for the retail consumer.  How can retail technologies themselves "network" with the mobile device-addicted consumer?  Discuss how these technologies are both defining and changing the shopping experience expectations and visibility of the retailer. If any of these topics are of interest to you, this is a perfect opportunity to get better acquainted with the real issues. And what better way to learn about these up and coming new challenges than to have an open discussion with retailers who have already been involved with them?