Over a week ago since the event and the team are starting to catch their breath!

All delegates will have now received an email containing login details to access all the event presentations.

Courtesy of our exhibitor John Cassidy Photography, we have a selection of event photos ready to view here

http://www.johncassidyphoto.co.uk/clientgallery.php?z=smwf18854z

If you would like copies of any of the photos, please contact John directly at johncassidyphoto (@ ) mac.com

Star Announces launch of ‘Dev2Live’ Services for SIs and ISVs

Star provides on-demand business services to support software development projects from build and test to ‘go live’

LONDON, 15 March 2010 – Star, a provider of on-demand computing and communication services to UK businesses, has announced the launch of a specialist Dev2Live service. This is a complete range of services aimed at developers and giving them access to the managed infrastructure and collaboration tools needed to support software development projects, from build and testing to the ‘live’ environment.

Star’s Dev2Live service is a solution to the resource and cost challenges of managing multiple providers and in-house hardware for every development project. Project leaders can now focus on a project’s success with the support of an extensive range of on-demand, pay-as-you-go services managed within a private cloud environment, all from one trusted partner.

Dev2Live services are built up from components that make up the Star cloud computing platform, and include a dedicated virtualisation cluster, that gives developers a single scalable platform on which to build, test and deploy software with the ability to deploy additional machines in minutes.  To ease collaboration, Star Business Email provides the resources to co-ordinate team activities and improves productivity without the need for in-house servers. Dev2Live services can be deployed within a Star managed network infrastructure, simplifying the secure delivery of applications and data to people wherever they are located.

As part of the launch of the service, Star is offering the ‘QuickStartDV’ Pack which includes a 7-day free trial of the virtualisation platform with a 30 day ‘money back’ guarantee, 5 free users of Star Business Email and Microsoft Team Foundation Server.

James Griffin, Head of Hosting Strategy at Star comments: “Whether they’re working for large corporates or smaller agencies, developers face a host of challenges in taking projects from test phase to live environments. Pressures on time scales, resources and project management combine to create a number of issues which can create barriers to successful project completion.” (more…)

Enterprise Social Media is growing up. Those working in the areas of corporate knowledge sharing, knowledge management and workplace collaboration have long known that the systems they help devise and implement can drive business transformation. Yet the industry has long been dogged by questions about measurable Return On Investment (ROI).

Instinctively, we’ve always known that enterprise social tools help businesses by increasing the opportunities for workers to collaborate more effectively on projects, share knowledge and experience more efficiently, and often help those seeking to get things done to cut through unnecessary bureaucracy by flattening corporate structures. Those of us in the industry know it’s true – we’ve seen it work time and time again – yet a good five or more years since the term “Enterprise 2.0” came into regular use, only now are tough questions about ROI being asked, and answered, in ernest. The second wave of adopters are demanding to see real numbers before taking the leap.

During Social Media in the Enterprise on the 15th of March, we’ll be asking all our contributors tough questions about ROI. What is measurable? What are they measuring? How do the costs and benefits of implementing enterprise social tools compare, directly, with the costs and benefits of parallel activities? (more…)

Speaker line-up announced at the London Social Media Events.  200 confirmed speakers across the conferences.  See our full line-up below.

Speakers @ Enterprise Social Media & Cloud Computing http://www.cloudcomputingcongress.com – 15/16th March

* David Akka, MD, Magic Software Enterprises UK, Eire & Nordics
* Chris Rae, EMEA Director, Automation Solutions, CA
* Dion Hinchliffe, Editor in Chief, Social Computing Magazine & Web 2.0 Journal
* Geoff Timblick, Group Internal Communications Manager, New Media, Vodafone Group
* Helen Farrar, Head of Internal Communications, Virgin Media
* Martin Bellamy, CIO, Cabinet Office
* Adrian Steel, Head of Infrastructure Management, Royal Mail
* Thanos Kokkiniotis, Business IT Analyst, Shell International Ltd
* Eachan Fletcher, CIO, Sporting Index
* Simon Revell, Associate Director, Collaboration and Web Technologies, Pfizer
* David Wilde, CIO, Westminster City Council
* Per Rombouts, Project Manager Intranet & Social Media, ING Group
* Kenneth Verlage, CIO, DHL Express
* Paul James, CIO, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, MOD
* Dominic Burch, Head of Corporate Comms and New Media, ASDA
* Sonia Carter, Senior Manager Online Communications, AXA
* Anthony Frost, Head of Corporate Communications, Santander
* Euan Semple, Independent Advisor/former Director of Knowledge Management BBC
* Alison Coward, Owner, Bracket
* Evangelos Kotsovinos, Vice President, Technology, Morgan Stanley
* Eachan Fletcher, CIO, Sporting Index
* Richard Ellis, Manager, UK & Ireland, Iron Mountain Digital
* Andrew Charlesworth, Director, Centre for IT and Law, University of Bristol
* Dr Bill Ashraf, Director of Technology Enhanced Learning, University of Sussex
* Adrian Davey, Head of IT, Tube Lines (more…)

The success of Web 2.0 consumer web sites teaches us many lessons about how we can improve internal IT and business to consumer online applications. Social technologies have made it progressively easier and easier for people to find each other, share information and collaborate, and we have seen how a singular focus on supporting individual needs can crete powerful network effects when aggregated at scale.

However, these and other lessons have not yet penetrated the world of corporate IT in most companies today, which means expensive, centralised and highly bureaucratic models of co-ordination and collaboration are the norm.

The recession is a perfect time to change this, and to seek leaner, flatter business processes and structures that act as enablers rather than dampeners of innovation and initiative. We simply cannot afford the high-cost models of internal co-ordination that have persisted for so long. (more…)

We’re pleased to announce a new incentive – a quota of 50 complimentary conference passes for CIOs and IT Directors.

The pass includes:
• Access to Enterprise Social Media on 15th March 2010
• Access to the Cloud Computing Congress on 16th March 2010
• Access to the conference exhibition
• Access to the conference workshops
• Post event online presentation
• Lunch & refreshments
• WiFi access
• Invite to the evening networking party

The number of passes is limited, so if you are a CIO or IT Director, register today for a free pass.

To register, please send your full details to Andy (@) sixdegspeople.com. Once approved you’ll receive your free CIO pass.

For full event details for Day 1 visit www.enterprisesocialmedia.net, for Day 2 visit www.cloudcomputingcongress.com

Time to let your staff use social media at work?

It’s a license for staff to waste time.   There’s no control about what they say.   What happens if a customer makes contact with them direct?

Today’s arguments against allowing your staff to use social media at work?  Actually they were pretty much the arguments used by companies to restrict email use in the mid 1990s.

That’s worth bearing in mind as the social media in the office debate rages.

Today it’s received wisdom that email is an essential business tool, and so it will be with social media before too long.

Especially with metrics firm Nielsen showing that communication via social networks overtook communication via email.   And from personal experience, I can now think of several instances of clients messaging me direct on Twitter as opposed to pinging me an email. (more…)

We’re pleased to announce that BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, will be supporting Enterprise Social Media and the Cloud Computing Congress.

BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, promotes wider social and economic progress through the advancement of information technology science and practice.

(more…)

Six Degrees is launching a new group of events – the Cloud Computing Series. The first Cloud Computing Congress Europe is taking place on 16th March 2010 at Olympia Conference Centre, London.

The series of events will look at how Cloud Computing is revolutionising information technology in the European, North American, and Asian market. Topics discussed include the latest state of Cloud Computing in the respective markets, its benefits and technical challenges, the impact on the IT function, and how the applications can be build, controlled and managed in a cloud-based environment. (more…)