Microsoft Ireland managing director Paul Rellis with John Purdy, managing director, Ergo
Business technology and IT management have reached a turning point with consumer tech, like smartphones and tablet computers, not to mention cloud computing impacting on business transformation, the heads at Microsoft and Ergo have pointed out.
John Purdy, the managing director at Ergo, explained that people, technology and the economic situation have unwittingly conspired to bring about a fundamental change in the way IT is delivered and consumed by businesses.
“People at work now expect to have the same easy access to applications and services that they get from their mobile phones, tablets and laptops. The consumer experience is becoming the work experience,” said Purdy.
“The technology is now available through new delivery models, like the cloud, that change the way IT is accessed and paid for.”
Next week, the combined forces of Microsoft and Ergo will show 200 Irish organisations why business technology and IT management has reached a turning point. ‘Year Zero – New Ways of Working’ is a half-day event that highlights how true business transformation is now within everybody’s grasp.
Business reality – doing more with less
“We are mindful that we are in recession which is why an overriding theme of the event is about doing more with less,” Microsoft Ireland managing director Paul Rellis pointed out.
“It’s not just about making IT easier; it’s about making it more affordable.”
The free event includes workshops that showcase how companies can use Microsoft solutions to make their businesses more productive with modest investment.
Workshops will show how employees in different locations can collaborate and share documents, breaking down the traditional office walls. A session on cloud computing explains how the latest wave in business technology relieves businesses of the burden of running IT systems, turning technology into a pay-as-you-go utility.
Prof Martin Curley, director of Intel Labs Europe, will speak at the event about innovation in IT management. Martin McCormack, director of ICT at Beaumount Hospital and Keith Riley, programme and systems director at Primark, will talk about their first-hand experiences of business transformation.
‘Year Zero – New Ways of Working’ takes place at the Irish Management Institute in Dublin on Thursday, 24 November.
John Kennedy 
