What to Expect

The annual Cutter Consortium Summit is unlike any other conference you've ever attended. It provides a live venue for IT and business professionals to meet and debate with one another and noted experts in the IT field. The intellectual give-and-take is second to none. Discover why business and technology professionals return each year — and why you should join them! There is no better opportunity to interact with the experts in IT.

The Cutter Consortium Summit is packed with opportunities for one-to-one interaction with speakers and colleagues from around the world, as well as time to deliberate on the issues as a group. There is no better opportunity to interact with the experts in IT. These experts include the presenters and panelists -- internationally known consultants and corporate IT professionals -- and the delegates -- experienced, forward thinking business and IT professionals.

Conference sessions are designed to maximize participation and interaction in a variety of formats. Keynotes on Monday and Tuesday are followed by highly interactive (and always entertaining) panel discussions; on Tuesday you’ll work through, with a small group, and then with the entire cohort, a Harvard Business School case study. And Wednesday, you can choose two half-day hands-on sessions, designed to expand the way you look at creating value for your organization.

The Summit -- like everything Cutter does -- is vendor-independent. You won’t attend vendor-sponsored cocktail parties or listen to speakers placed by influential exhibitors (since there are none!) at the Summit. This contributes to the Summit's unique focus on personal interaction and debate in an atmosphere that facilitates knowledge sharing and learning. The informal setting of this intimate gathering provides both attendees and speakers alike an opportunity to candidly discuss the challenges they face -- from technical concerns and strategies they're considering, to trends they're seeing in their own organization, to techniques to overcome political roadblocks in their enterprise.

Plus, each day's 1 ¼ hour lunch buffet provides time to fill a plate and participate in a hands-on lunch session or table-hop and continue the morning’s discussion. Whether you choose to attend a morning roundtable or simply go directly to the conference room, continental breakfasts as well as morning and afternoon coffee breaks are great opportunities to debate your opinions about the upcoming topics. And the Monday evening cocktail party provides an opportunity to unwind and socialize with your colleagues. Business casual attire is appropriate throughout the conference and its social events.

Cutter Consortium's first annual Summit conference was held in the spring of 1997, when the topic on everyone's mind was "what is this Internet thing, and does it have legs?" Each Summit in the years since has continued to question the prevailing ideas of the day and push the thinking on how enterprises can make IT matter. From topics like Viewing IT as a Capital Asset and Not an Expense (1997) to Peoplewhere? New Teams, New Roles, New Issues, and New Fun (1998); IT Agility, Outsourcing and Metrics (1999); Strategic Planning for Key IT Trends (2000); Has the Battle Been Lost in Information Security? (2001); and Artful Making: Fostering Agility and Efficiency (2002) to How the Genomic Revolution Will Change Computing (2003); Board-Level IT Oversight: The Next Big Thing (2004); Embracing Continuous IT Change (2005); What's Next in IT? (2006), Web 2.0: A Social Revolution (2007); and Overcoming the Dysfunction that Inhibits Enterprise Agility (2008); The 5 Essential Habits of Appropriately Paranoid Business Technology Strategists (2009); the Cutter Consortium Summit consistently tackles the issues you need to -- but don't often get a chance to -- step back and think about.

Over the last 14 years, Summit keynoters included these Cutter Senior Consultants and IT gurus: Verna Allee, Steve Andriole, Rob Austin, Kent Beck, Bob Benson, Steve Bradley, Robina Chatham, Eric K. Clemons, Alistair Cockburn, Ward Cunningham, Bill Curtis, Christine Davis, Alan Davis, Irene Dec, Peter deJager, Tom DeMarco, Juan Enriquez, Erich Gamma, Dan Geer, Jerry Grochow, Michael Guttman, Paul Harmon, George Hathaway, Peter Herzum, Jim Highsmith, Wendell Jones, Bartosz Kiepuszewski, Stuart Kliman, Tim Lister, Alan MacCormack, Michael Mah, Lou Mazzucchelli, Warren McFarlan, Dick Nolan, Siobhán O'Mahony, Ken Orr, Meiler Page-Jones, Rich Pethia, Rob Phaal, Roger Pressman, Suzanne Robertson, Mike Rosen, Howard Rubin, Lou Russell, Imran Sayeed, Mark Seiden, Kent Seinfeld, Borys Stokalski, Paul Strassmann, Stephan Thomke, Rob Thomsett, Roberto Verganti, Tom Welsh, Ed Yourdon