The tenth annual Global Technology Invitational will be held on Saturday, September 15th 2007 at South Hills Country Club on Interstate 94 in Racine County, Wisconsin.  As in years past, the day is full of networking, great food, drink, friends and of course, golf.  

A Foursome is $500 in advance and $540 the day of the event - Saturday, September 15, 2007.

CALL 773-370-1888 for more details and reservations.  Sponsors call 847-836-1888.  There is so much more --------------->

While there was a time when the merger between the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) sounded like a bad idea, things change. Now the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and CBOT are the wrong combination.

Though technology plays a key role in mergers and acquisitions, many organizations overlook technology infrastructure when conducting due diligence and making strategic investments. You better know the technology and network infrastructure and how it either helps or hurts the long-range strategic goals of the organization.

You don't get Superman by paying Jimmy Olson wages.

You cannot commoditize talent when the key skills for today's success are flexibility, adaptability, creativity, and technology. You have to pay for talent in order to compete in the global marketplace. This transcends all industries and organizations.

There is a need to solve energy issues. The Midwest could play a major role in renewable fuels. Practical solutions should be implemented by individuals.  Energy is one of the biggest challenges in the world today.

 Selecting a third-party data center is a detailed task.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about being disappointed by not being able to visit a PEAK 10 data center in Tampa to get a firsthand view of their services after an executive scheduled a meeting with me. The column brought in more feedback than I expected.

 Beware of data-center companies that don’t want to show off their goods. What are they hiding? What are they missing?

Last week in Orlando, I spoke at the well-attended BICSI conference. While I was there, I also wanted to visit one of PEAK 10’s data centers to get a first-hand view of their services. In 2006, I wrote about PEAK 10 after doing some online research. I wanted to see their facilities in person and write another column because data centers have become such an issue.

When the Executive Club of Chicago presented its annual outlook for the year in a renovated Grand Ballroom of the Conrad Hilton, the guest speakers were Robert J. “Dr. Bob” Froehlich of Deutsche Asset Management, Allan Murray of the Wall Street Journal, and Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial.

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Terry Savage moderated the panel and some of their insights are worth putting a spotlight on.

The divestiture in 1984 was not such a good idea.

We are almost back to square one as another regional Bell operating company merges back into AT&T. The executives and lobbyists from AT&T and BellSouth must "be on a mission from God because they are putting the band back together".  It seems no one can stop them.

Most school districts still are not teaching skills needed for the Information Age. Their administrations, as well as their staffs, are behind in understanding that we are way beyond the Industrial Age.

<a href="http://www.technorati.com/claim/ny6ssf2xze" rel="me">Technorati Profile</a>

Is Chicago competing effectively with the east and west coasts by developing a tier-three data center at DuPage National Technology Park?

Last week, CenterPoint Properties announced that it is breaking ground on a 62,000-square-foot colocation data center at the DuPage National Technology Park in west Chicago. In a press release issued last week, CenterPoint described the project as such:

The Ninth Annual GTI Golf Outing was held on Monday, September 18, 2006 at the South Hills Country Club in Wisconsin.  Attendees came from as far away as Paris, France.

Major sponsors included FirstLoan Mortgage, LTD., Texas Roadhouse Restaurants, SEIKO, Continental Autosports (Maserati), Bandito Barrney's, Rosie O'Hares, VP Automotive, Wells Bros. Restaurant and Tenuta's of Kenosha.

In the “great race” for global competitiveness, economic development equals broadband connectivity and broadband connectivity equals jobs. The fuel for broadband connectivity is the need for speed. That’s all the consumer needs to know. In fact, that’s all politicians need to know.

Project Lightspeed offers data speeds that are nothing out of the ordinary and are not being well received by those in the know. Staying with copper to the door (CTTD) instead of upgrading to fiber to the premise (FTTP, which is also referred to as fiber to the home or FTTH) is like saying you’re going to put in a stagecoach to run a 500-mile NASCAR race.

Is your building technologically obsolete? Are you paying too much for too little? Understanding what technology is available in a building is very important in the selection process of tenant space.

It is also important to current tenants who are contemplating a move to another building space. With all the properties available today, some should be avoided as they offer nothing in the way of broadband connectivity for global competitiveness.