Traveling to MacWorld and MacIT conference

I'm flying out to San Francisco on Wednesday morning to attend  Macworld and MacIT at the Moscone Center.  I will be presenting for the first time at the MacIT conference on "Deploying Apple in the enterprise: An IBM case study."   I'll post a copy of the presentation as well as a summary of the event here on my blog.

In a related item, Apple announced first quarter earnings results today that "demolished" expectations.

IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices beta

Last year, IBM launched a managed beta for IBM Tivoli Endpoint Manager for Mobile Device Management.  The latest beta drop 3 was released last week.  This exciting new product is scheduled to ship 1Q2012 and extends endpoint management capabilities beyond Windows, Linux and Mac PC's and Windows Mobile to include support for Apple iPhone/iPad, Google Android and Windows Phone.

IBM recently opened the beta and changed the name to IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices.   I spoke to this product at my Lotusphere presentation last week and I will present at IBM's Pulse conference in Las Vegas in March.

Lotusphere 2012 wrap-up

Lotusphere 2012, IBM's annual collaboration conference wrapped up on Thursday, January 19 with a special visit from Andrew Zimmern, TV food personality.  eWeek published their top ten list for the conference and I humbly submit my top 8 list:

1. Mobile.  At Lotusphere last year, IBM made a number of mobile product announcements.  At Lotusphere this year, IBM successfully delivered on those promises.  Almost everyone I saw at the conference had a smartphone, tablet or both and several remarked that it was their primary device (replacing a laptop).   IBM announced new mobile capabilities including Lotus Traveler support for the up-and-coming Windows Phone platform a new "Flipboard-like" mobile interface for IBM Connections.
2. Social.  At Lotusphere 2011, lots of companies were talking about becoming social and this year companies where actually doing it.  IBM Connections is the premier enterprise platform for social and goes far beyond a simple online file repository.  IBM announced new capabilities including email support in IBM Connections (e.g. the future of email is social).  
3. Cloud.  We're probably a year or two away from cloud disappearing from the vocabulary (remember Web 2.0?) as it becomes the de-facto standard for delivering IT.   Again this year, cloud was a big area of focus at Lotusphere with the re branding of LotusLive to IBM SmartCloud for Social Business.
4. Analytics.  The amount of new data that is generated each day on the Internet is staggering.  Making better decisions based on that data is where analytics comes in.   IBM is adding analytic capabilities across the software portfolio.   
5. Lotus/Domino Social Edition.  The next version of the Notes client includes embedded experiences as well as a web browser plug-in to access Notes content - without having to have the full Notes client installed.
6. IBM Docs.  Formerly know as LotusLive Symphony, this is IBM's version of Google Docs.  The beta is available on Lotus Greenhouse.  
7. Guest speakers.  Michael J Fox, Andrew Zimmern and  Dr. Jeffery Burns, Chief of the Division of Cricital Care Medicine at Children’s Hospital in Boston.   I particularly liked Dr. Burns presentation which spoke about collaboration between doctors to heal a patient similar to collaboration between gamers on an xBox console. 
8. My presentation, "The New Workplace: Unleashing the Power of Enterprise Mobility" was attended by 143 people and over 850 (and counting) viewed the slides online via Slideshare.  Customers are still struggling with becoming a mobile business and my presentation provides a practical, step-by-step approach.  

Lotusphere 2012 kickoff

IBM's Lotusphere 2012 conference officially kicked off yesterday in Orlando, FL. A few of the highlights so far:

• OK Go provided the musical entertainment synchronized to their YouTube video
• Michael J Fox delivered an inspiring keynote speech
• IBM announced Lotus Traveler for Windows Phone.  I had an opportunity to try Nokia's new Lumia 900 LTE smartphone that's coming soon to AT&T.
• LotusLive will be renamed Smart Cloud for Business
• IBM announces IBM Docs beat (similar to Google Docs) on Lotus Greenhouse
• I delivered my presentation "The New Workplace: Unleashing The Power of Enterprise Mobility."  I've included a copy below.  Thanks to all that attended and for the tweets.
• I'll be blogging a summary after the conference wraps-up on Thursday

The New Workplace: Unleashing The Power Of Enterprise Mobility

View more presentations from Chris Pepin

CES 2012 impressions

While I didn't attend the Consumer Electronics Show in person, I followed the press coverage.  My interest was twofold: personal and work.  From a personal perspective, I'm interested in consumer electronics and I have a full compliment of devices at my home - many of which are listed on GDGT.  From a work perspective, I'm a mobile enterprise technology evangelist for IBM with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets.  With more and more employees bringing personally owned mobile devices to the workplace, it's important for me to keep up to date on the latest technology.   In fact, IBM recently published a new thought leadership whitepaper on this topic: The New Workplace: Supporting "Bring your own"

In short, I was disappointed with CES as there was nothing that truly "knocked my socks off."  The following are a few items of interest:

• Intel.  Ultrabooks (e.g. HP Envy Sceptre), Atom-powered smartphones (e.g. Lenovo K800) and tablets
• OLED televisions from Samsung and LG
• Nokia's return the US smartphone market with the new Lumia 900 LTE Windows Phone.  The new HTC Titan 2 "supersized" Windows Phone with 16MP camera, 4.7 inch screen and LTE also looks interesting.  Windows Phone 7 is well positioned to gain market share in 2012

From a personal perspective here's what I'm most interest,  I'm most interested in 2012:

• A new car with telematics (e.g. My Ford Touch).  My aging Toyota Avalon 2001 is in need of a replacement
• New smartphones.  I'm interested in upgrading my iPhone 4 to the new "5" this summer or a new Android phone.  I'm also interested in upgrading my wife's Samsung Focus Windows Phone to the new Nokia Lumia 900.
• New TV.  While the new OLED TVs are probably out of my price range, I would like to upgrade an old Sony 34" XBR HD tube in my den to a flat panel
• New computer monitor for my home office.   My existing 20" monitor needs to be replaced.  I'm interested in the new 27" Samsung connected monitors coming out later this year.
• Windows 8.  I'll be installing the beta in February.  While the Ultrabooks are interesting, I think I'll hold off for the second generation at lower prices.
• Tablets.  Rumors are that the new Apple iPad is due out in March and will have a higher resolution display.  I'm happy with the iPad 2 and probably won't upgrade.