Why Attend?
SoftSummit provides a unique real-world perspective by letting leading software and hardware producers share the stage with independent experts and, most importantly, customers. It is dedicated to building stronger partnerships between software and hardware executives and their customers through open, fact-based discussions on the issues.
SoftSummit 2008 provides a unique opportunity for leaders from both software and hardware producers and their enterprise customers to come together in the Executive Partnership Track to discuss the business of software, including:
- Simplifying entitlement management -the impact to producers and enterprise customers
- Implementing a compliance strategy that positively impacts the customer's experience
- License and revenue models in a virtual world
Also, software and hardware producers will learn how to answer strategic questions with practical answers in order to grow revenues and improve relationships with their enterprise customers. Topics discussed include:
- Compliance and licensing - 2 strategies, one goal!
- IP protection - is yours at risk?
- One product, many channels - conquering different markets effectively
- Software compliance - taking the guessing game out of it!
- Entitlement management - taking the complexity out of the equation
- Calling all small and medium ISVs - What you need to know before you start!
- Virtualization - Part of your reality?
Plus, enterprises will see how industry thought leaders are addressing their licensing and compliance management challenges. Topics include:
- Negotiating software license disputes - going from impasse to resolution in 7 steps
- Centralization: key to compliance & asset optimization
- Managing software in a virtual world
- Getting a fair value from software
- Save your SAM program from budget cuts
- Chargeback policies: what works and what's overkill?
"SoftSummit is the first conference that really focuses on licensing technologies and business challenges and fundamental changes that might happen in the software industry. There is so much change going on in the market that we have to be on top of the best practices as they are evolving and challenge ourselves in that way."
VP Market Strategy
Veritas
"There are intelligent and engaging people at this conference and it's allowed us to build relationships with vendors as well as customers to give us a lot of feedback. You get to know the people that are there, the break-out-sessions are appropriately scaled so that you learn a lot about the technologies that are discussed and you can have interactions with the panelists."
CTO Sun Software
Sun Microsystems
"What I like the most about SoftSummit is the fact that my peers, other ISVs and the customers coming together to have this dialogue about what they need and how to provide it."
Director of Technology Services
Borland
"What I like most is the interaction with other people who are in the same situation we are - there's been good information on other companies, on what they've done and some of the best practices which has been really useful."
Program Manager
Delphi Technologies
"The most interesting thing is that the technology providers, ISVs and customers can talk between themselves about the things they are trying to do. Pricing and licensing is becoming a competitive advantage for companies and they really need to understand it."
SVP Business Strategy
Macromedia
"I think SoftSummit has a great mix of practitioners, looking at licensing from an end-user and a vendor perspective and has a great deal of depth looking at these issues."
VP Global Software Strategies
IDC
"You can network and meet people who have similar backgrounds and issues and it turns out to be a good touchstone, a benchmark to see how well you are doing in the business and in the industry."
Product Manager
Cisco Systems
"The most important thing that I learned is the changes in the way licensing is going to be supported and implemented by the vendor community in the next 2-3 years… and how that affects me as an end user."
Licensing Manager
Agilent Technologies