September 18-19, 2006
Chicago, IL

6:00 p.m.

Chunka Mui author, Unleashing The Killer App and chairman, Diamond Fellows

The effectiveness of a business platform drives its competitiveness—its structure influences the company’s transaction costs, and its modularity affects how well operations scale, and respond rapidly to industry changes. Chunka will define what we mean by “business platform,” and will share his views on what makes a Killer Platform.

7:30 a.m.

Registration

7:30 a.m.

Breakfast

8:30 a.m.

Introductions and Welcome John Sviokla vice chairman, Diamond

9:00 a.m.

Business Platform Fundamentals John Henderson Richard C. Shipley professor and faculty director of the information systems department at Boston University

John encourages business leaders to think in terms of value networks instead of the traditional value chain to help them stimulate innovation and create business options. He believes that successful companies of the future will be those that can capture more than their fair share of the economic value in their industry. Dominating in this environment requires competing as a business platform—a business model off of which a company can continue to innovate while offering speed and variety to customers. John has examined what optimal platforms look like, both in the manufacturing and services sectors. He will discuss his research of business platforms, focusing on the processes, people, technology, governance, and the nature of work necessary to compete effectively in today’s networked economy.

10:00 a.m.

Break

10:30 a.m.

How the Technology Platform Supports the Business (Panel Discussion) Moderator: John Sviokla vice chairman, Diamond David Baker partner, Diamond David Buckholtz executive director, enterprise architecture, Sony Pictures Entertainment Jeanne Ross principal research scientist, CISR, MIT

A business platform creates flexibility and agility, in addition to providing the information necessary to manage the business. Yet creating a strong business platform often requires a change in mindset. This panel will tie together research, theory, and practice to demonstrate the important role technology plays in the business platform. Jeanne Ross will showcase research findings by the Center for Information Systems Research, MIT on the importance of enterprise architecture. Dave Baker will discuss a framework for thinking about how you get to where you need to be. And David Buckholtz will discuss how he integrates theory with practice in his role managing Sony Pictures Entertainment’s enterprise architecture as the entertainment industry transitions from analog to digital and continues to evolve. Each speaker will present their perspective for ten minutes, followed by moderated discussion with the audience.

12:00 p.m.

Lunch

1:15 p.m.

Case: TSYS – Killer Platform in Action
Connie Dudley executive vice president, product and client development, TSYS

Business leaders must make constant tradeoffs between efficiency goals and achieving flexibility and speed. Often, companies in mature industries focus on the former—trying to reduce costs while keeping reinvestment to a minimum. However this approach fails to take advantage of new opportunities made possible by technology—and more importantly, it usually does not keep pace with the evolution of customer needs and expectations. Through vision, drive, and “replatforming,” Total System Services, Inc. (TSYS) has come to dominate its sector. Connie has led some of TSYS’ key initiatives, including the end user design and implementation of TS2—TSYS’ “killer platform”—and the creation and launch of AT&T’s Universal product. She describes the TSYS culture as one of “ordinary people doing extraordinary things.” She will share how TSYS was able to see and invest in the future, and how it plans to keep doing extraordinary things ahead of the curve.

2:30 p.m.

Break

3:00 p.m.

Strengthening Your Platform John Sviokla vice chairman, DiamondCluster International

John will highlight the themes from the day’s discussion and lay out a roadmap for how to think about strengthening your business platform to make your company more competitive and agile.

4:00 p.m.

Q & A and Closing Reception