Day 3: Final Automation Nation 2014 #AN14 Recap - An Overview
Today's been the final day of Automation Nation for all attendees and exhibitors here in Orlando, FL. As we all pack up our rooms and get ready for the drive (or flight home), I just wanted to take one more moment and share the day's events.
Douglas Merrill’s Keynote
Day 2 started off with more Breakouts, so partners and exhibitors could compose themselves after last night, before we all headed to the Keynote Theatre for a presentation by Douglas Merrill, the former CIO at Google.
Douglas's story was fairly simple, but highly relevant. From 1990 to now, 2 out of every 3 companies on the S&P 100 have dropped off the list. Was this because they're bad companies? Not at all. Just look at Kodak as an example. Kodak had created and retained ownership of more patents than even Google. Yet, when one of their engineers invented a way for light to flip a bit on a silicon chip, his manager said "We make film here." They were so focused on doing what they've always done, that they missed a huge opportunity for the future. And that tendency isn't unique to Kodak, or to the other 2 in 3 companies no longer around from the S&P 100 in 1990.
Businesses, from the largest enterprises to the 3 man shop IT Service Providers, need the ability to identify not only what will keep the lights on today, but also what will help them grow tomorrow. To learn this ability, we can all start by learning how to ask the right questions. One of the ways to do this is by talking with your customers. Now, that doesn't mean you should start doing a slew of focus groups. As Henry Ford is often misquoted "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse."
You... I mean... We need to be pragmatic in our approach. Once we have the right question, we start to gather evidence, and analyze it as thoroughly as possible. This is where topics like "Big Data" and the new job openings for "Data Scientist" come in. According to Douglas's view, "Data Scientist" is a redundant word, as a scientist inherently deals in data. So he proposes a different name: "Data Artist"
Yes, the data itself is important, and being able to analyze it is also important. But what matters most and should likely take up the majority of your time, is properly communicating that analysis to others - which is more art than science. Douglas challenged the entire audience to go home and start finding the right questions, so we can all stay relevant in 10-15-20+ years.
Solutions Pavilion
After the keynote, Automation Nation attendees had a chance to grab some food and talk with all the different exhibitors who helped sponsor this event. This was a record year for LabTech Software due to the sheer number of sponsors helping to show their support for the IT Service Provider industry. Webroot, Automation Nation's first Diamond Sponsor, set up shop in the middle of the Solutions Pavilion and shot pink, stuffed animal, pigs into the air as attendees looked for new potential tools.
But to me, the most interesting thing about the exhibitors this year, is that almost 75% already have or are actively planning an integration with LabTech - so partners can keep adding solutions that will help move them ever closer to the reality of a "Single Pane of Glass."
Breakouts
For the rest of the day, Automation Nation attendees had a chance to view presentations, work in labs, and participate in panel discussions.
As some of the sessions were redo's from yesterday (so all attendees had a chance to participate), with just a few "net new" sessions, I won't bother going into all the details here. But if you'd like to know more, please feel free to read our Day 2 Recap (link) or the summary description for sessions from Round 7 to 11 (link)
Aloha
Well, that’s it for Automation Nation 2014. It’s been a whirlwind of a conference, to say the least, and we really can’t thank you enough for being a part of it. The partners, panelists, employees, and other vendors were a pleasure to speak with and learn from. As LabTech Software continues to evolve internal processes and find more of the "right questions," you can expect our tools to continue evolving to help better meet your needs 😃












