Sunday, December 3rd

7:00AM - 1:30PM OPTIONAL EVENTS

2:30PM - 7:30PM BADGE PICKUP Imperial Ballroom Foyer

4:30PM - 6:00PM ITA OPENING GENERAL SESSION Imperial BallroomPresident's Welcome - Stan Mork, ITA President | Sunday Night - The "What If?" Keynote Experience - Mike Rayburn

6:00PM - 7:30PM SUNDAY NIGHT WELCOME RECEPTION Grand Salon

7:30PM Dinner On Your Own and Various Partner Events

Monday, December 4th

7:00AM - 5:00PM BADGE PICKUP Imperial Ballroom Foyer

7:00AM - 8:00AM BREAKFAST Grand Salon

TRACKS &SESSIONS

Consulting & Reselling (CR)Special InterestGroups (SIGs)

Internal Tech Leaders (ITL)

CR Track 1 CR Track 2 ITL Tactical ITL Strategic

Room Locations Imperial A Imperial B Savoy Room Imperial C Imperial D

8:00AM - 10:00AM State of the Association - Stan Mork, ITA PresidentMonday Morning Keynote: Useful Belief... Because It's Better Than Positive Thinking - Chris Helder

10:30AM - 12:00PMMaking Sense of AI, Machine Learning

and Cognitive Business InsightsImperial A

ITA Leadership AllianceAlumni SIG: What'sYour One Thing that

Matters Most?

Office 365: The Force Awakens

Managing IT Resourcesand Retaining Top Talent in

Today's "Gig" Economy

12:00PM - 1:15PM LUNCHEON Grand Salon

1:15PM - 2:30PMImplementing and Executing Account Based Marketing

Metrics to MeasureWomen In Leadership SIG -

Women in Technology –Leaders You Know

Securing the Human – How to Use Gamificationto Improve the Effectiveness of Your Security

Awareness Program

2:45PM - 4:15PMImproving Your Firm’s

Internal Operations Throughthe Use of Software

Building the Value of My Consulting Practice –Considerations for Future

Business Sale or Exit

OPEN ITL Tactical Roundtables ITL Strategic Roundtables

4:30PM - 5:30PM ITA IGNITE!! Imperial A

6:30PM - 9:00PM

Tuesday, December 5th

7:00AM - 8:00AM BREAKFAST Grand Salon

TRACKS &SESSIONS

Consulting & Reselling (CR)Special InterestGroups (SIGs)

Internal Tech Leaders (ITL)

CR Track 1 CR Track 2 ITL Tactical ITL Strategic

Room Locations Imperial A Imperial B Savoy Room Imperial C Imperial D

8:00AM - 9:15AM Building A Winning Culture The Evolution of the Mid-Market VAR

Project Management SIG:Merger & Acquisition Project Management

Tips and Tools

Educating Tomorrow’sTechnology Savvy CPA

SOC (Service OrganizationControls) – From “Needs”

to “Necessities”

9:30AM - 10:45AMEducating Consultants to

Identify and Deliver StrategicConsulting Services

Using the Business ModelCanvas to Paint a New

Picture of Your Company

Young Leaders SIG:Managing Millennials

The Future of SelfService/Departmental IT

Vendor Management: Fun with Cattle Prods

11:00AM - 12:15PMThe Greatest KnowledgeManagement Tool EverInvented by Humankind

Your Leadership is the Keyto Employee Engagement

and ProductivityImperial B

ITL Application DevelopmentSIG: Robotic Process

Automation (RPA) - How to Get Started

Your Leadership is the Keyto Employee Engagement

and ProductivityImperial B

On The Move: MobileTechnology Deployment

and BYOD

12:15PM - 1:30PM Luncheon Grand Salon

1:30PM - 3:00PM Your Improv Culture: Recruiting and Retaining A-PlayersImperial B OPEN

ITL Tactical Roundtables

ITL StrategicRoundtables

3:15PM - 3:30PM CR Wrap Up Session and Conference AdjournImperial A OPEN ITL Wrap Up Session and Conference Adjourn

Imperial C

Wednesday, December 6th

8:30AM - 3:00PM ITA LEADERSHIP ALLIANCE (ILA) BASE CAMP Murano

Complete Schedule – By Date and Time Consulting & Reselling – CR-1 and CR-2 Women in Leadership SIG – WL SIG ITA Leadership Alliance Alumni SIG - ILA SIG Young Leader SIG – YL SIG

Internal Technology Leader Tactical – ITL-T Internal Technology Leader Strategic – ITL-S Internal Technology Leader Application / Development SIG – ITL-AD Project Management SIG – PM SIG

Crossover Topics – Designed for attendance by all being held concurrently with other track sessions as an

additional option. Look for this “bridge” symbol. See below for full information.

Sunday, December 3 - 4:30 to 6:00 pm (70 CPE Minutes)

Sunday General Session and Keynote

4:30 – 4:40 pm Room: Imperial Ballroom President’s Welcome

Stan Mork — President ITA President Stan Mork will introduce our Fall Collaborative Committees and welcome our new members and guests. He will also provide an overview of the Fall Collaborative agenda prior to introducing our Sunday night keynote sponsor, Intuit.

4:40 – 6:00 pm Room: Imperial Ballroom The "What If?" Keynote Experience

Mike Rayburn — Mike Rayburn Keynote / Artist, Las Vegas, NV Every major invention, accomplishment and victory in human history began with the simple, almost childlike curiosity of a “What If…?” question - “What if we could? I know we can’t, but what if we could?” International keynote artist, Mike Rayburn, will share three simple, powerful tools which took him from playing empty bars, to headlining Carnegie Hall (eight times!). They work for anyone. And everyone. Always.

Monday, December 4 - 8:00 to 10:00 am (90 CPE Minutes)

Monday Morning General Session and Keynote 8:00 – 8:30 am Room: Imperial Ballroom President’s State Of The Association

Stan Mork — ITA President ITA President Stan Mork will update the membership on the “what’s happening” in ITA. He’ll provide an overview of some of the ITA Board of Director’s strategic initiatives for 2018 year and provide an update of what to expect at our upcoming Collaborative and Summer meeting events. 8:30 – 10:00 am Room: Imperial Ballroom Useful Belief... Because It's Better Than Positive Thinking

Chris Helder — Professional Keynote Speaker & Trainer, Dynamic Speakers, Austin, TX Useful Belief is a game changer in the field of motivation and performance. For years, people have been told to try to be "positive". The reality is that when most people try this they are unable to sustain it and end up feeling worse than when they started out. This is a presentation about "action". It is not about being "positive", but rather asking questions about yourself such as, "What is the most useful thing to believe about this situation?" and "What is the useful thing that I can do today to get me closer to where I want to be?". Positive thinking is about a feeing while Useful Belief is all about "action". Chris' presentation will help participants to:

Alter the approach and be more effective when tackling tasks

Give a new framework to help improve the focus of your time and energy

Improve your approach to make practical decisions in the workplace

Increase your results by taking the right action

Feel empowered and motivate by changes you can make right away

Monday, December 4 - 10:30 to 12:00 pm (90 CPE Minutes)

CR Room: Imperial A Making Sense of AI, Machine Learning and Cognitive Business Insights

Ken Lorenz, Facilitator — Riva CRM Integration, Edmonton, Alberta CA Neil Wainwright, Facilitator — UpHabit, Toronto, Ontario, CA Aaron Harris — Sage Intacct, Irving, CA Andre König — Opentopic Inc., NY, NY

As Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning continues to evolve, we must prepare to change the way we will deliver business application implementation and consulting services. In this session you will learn how these technologies are being leveraged to provide cognitive business insight within ERP and CRM solutions today. You will also hear from a panel of industry experts about their journey to add this technology to their solutions, and how they envision customers and partners will benefit.

ILA SIG Room: Savoy Room ITA Leadership Alliance Alumni SIG: What's Your One Thing that Matters Most?

Bret Romney — Ascend Strategies, Montana City, MT April Blankenship — Altec, Laguna Hills, CA

What’s the ONE THING that will make you a better leader? What’s the ONE THING that will make you more successful at work? What’s the ONE THING that will make you more successful at home? What’s the ONE THING that … fill in the blank? Great questions – and finding the right answers and staying focused on them is REALLY important. This session will focus on the content found in the book The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. For greatest value, please read this book ahead of time – it is an easy read requiring only a few hours. You will leave this session: • With greater insights into how to identify and accomplish the most important things • With greater insights on how to let go of the things that are holding you and/or your team back • Motived and committed to continue – and restart if necessary – your journey to higher levels of performance • Glad you were able to reconnect with your ILA classmates and peers ITL-T Room: Imperial C Office 365: The Force Awakens

Rob Lewis, Facilitator — RubinBrown LLP, St. Louis, MO Roy Persaud, Facilitator — Marks Paneth LLP, NY, NY Colleen Beyer — Wipfi LLP, Eau Claire, WI Cory Behrendt — CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP, Minneapolis, MN Brad Powers — DHG, Hendersonville, NC

This panel of firms who have successfully implemented O365 Hosted Exchange within the last 12 months will provide the session participants with some of the “tips and tricks” that they have learned from their experience. Topics covered will include selling it to the firm leadership team, planning the migration, implementation and migration of users, production use of O365, service and support from Microsoft, service and support for internal users, and what’s next. As part of this session, we’ll discuss easily overlooked items such as licensing models, security, (MFA) increased cost vs benefits. O365 Integration with mobile devices vs MDM from other vendors such as Airwatch or Blackberry. We’ll also cover useful features and security of Skype and OneDrive. As part of our discussion of migration, we will review the o-existence of Office 365 with on premise AD and maintaining a hybrid environment during migration, bandwidth assessment, retention policies. After completing the session, participants will be able to understand what went well in these migrations, what didn’t go well, how the firm leadership team has reacted, what the users think about the system, how peripheral technologies are working such as webmail, MDM, increased security and what would they change if they had to do it over again. We’ll also include plenty of time for questions and discussions from the audience.

ITL-S Room: Imperial D Managing IT Resources and Retaining Top Talent in Today's "Gig" Economy

Greg Shoemaker — BKD, LLP, Dallas, TX Heidi K. Simmons — Baker Tilly, Minneapolis, MN

Retaining top talent is always a challenge, and organizations continue to look for new ways to recruit and retain employees. With a more competitive job market, there is an increasing focus on engaging individuals who want to work as 1099 contractors rather than full time employees in all types of businesses and organizations, including IT. This discussion will explore how companies are approaching non-traditional full-time employees, the advantages and disadvantages for both the employer and employee, the impact on employment structures and workforce deployment, and what all of this means for IT. It will also dig into what creative approaches firms are taking to attract and retain talent.

Monday, December 4 - 1:15 to 2:30 pm (75 CPE Minutes)

CR-1 Room: Imperial A Implementing and Executing Account Based Marketing

Brian Gallagher — Inscio, Addison, TX Jim Rosenberg — NEO3, LLC, Canfield, OH Christi Whipple — Avalara, Irvine, CA

Account based marketing is a strategic marketing approach that boils down to a few essential steps. In this session, we’ll provide strategies, action items and suggestions regarding how ABM fits into an overall marketing strategy, complementing sales and fueling growth. Some of the topics that will be covered in this session include: • Learn Why Account Based Marketing should be part of your growth strategy • Get steps to implementing ABM • Understand how to measure results

CR-2 Room: Imperial B Metrics to Measure

Todd Perlman — Business Technology Partners, LLP, Deerfield, IL Mike Yeager — Cargas Systems, Inc., Lancaster, PA

This session is preparatory for our Spring Collaborative session when our ITA Consulting members share some of their key metrics and KPIs in our annual metrics survey. Join us as we discuss which metrics to measure and issues with the current metrics worksheet that may be preventing higher participation levels. While the Spring session is open only to those members who participated and shared information, this session will be open to all members and we strongly encourage all members to participate. Be sure to think about any KPI’s that matter to you and review the current worksheet noting any areas of difficulty so that you can provide input and feedback to the group.

WL SIG Room: Savoy Room Women in Leadership SIG: Women in Technology – Leaders You Know

Stacy Schuettler, Facilitator — LBMC Technology Solutions, Brentwood, TN Kelly A. Hummel — Net@Work, NY, NY Kate Shields – Vertex, King of Prussia, PA Nancy Sutton — Oasis Solutions Group, Louisville, KY Jacqueline M. Tiso — JMT Consulting Group, Inc., Patterson, NJ Lisa White — Sage Intacct, San Jose, CA

It is a well-known and controversial topic that nationally, we are lacking women in technology leadership positions both in the public and in private sectors. The campaign to ban the word “Bossy” has received plenty of media attention as has the one encouraging women to “lean in”. It is important that there are continued efforts, activities, and programs that will inspire women of all ages not to be afraid to become leaders, and learn not to fear what being a leader may entail. However, how do we get there and what can ITA do to help the cause? This interactive panel discussion is for men and women alike. Join us as our panelists discuss their own personal experiences and examine a number of challenges women face in terms of pursuing leadership roles. Learning objectives: Leave with a few key takeaways that you can apply to your career if you are seeking a first-time leadership role or desire to expand your current leadership role.

Nurture your entrepreneurial spirit

Have a role model

Hone your leadership skills

Believe in yourself

Sharpen your business skills

Be a mentor

ITL-All Room: Imperial C Securing the Human – How to Use Gamification to Improve the Effectiveness of Your Security Awareness Program

Ira Winkler — Secure Mentem., Severna Park, MD End users are on the front lines facing ever increasingly sophisticated security threats. It is critical that they have the knowledge and tools to make the right choices – whether to open an attachment, click a link or connect to that free wi-fi hotspot. Learn how to apply gamification principles to increase interaction and improve engagement in security awareness training through the use of competition, rewards and recognition.

Monday, December 4 - 2:45 to 4:15 pm (90 CPE Minutes)

CR-1 Room: Imperial A Improving Your Firm’s Internal Operations Through the Use of Software

John Hoyt, Facilitator — Hutchinson and Bloodgood, LLP, Glendale, CA Jim Rosenberg, Facilitator — NEO3, LLC, Canfield, OH Charles C. Coe, Jr. — Coe & Company, LLC, New Orleans, LA Joe Noll — RKL eSolutions LLC, Lancaster, PA Nancy Sutton — Oasis Solutions Group, Louisville, KY

In this session, you will learn how your peers have used software technology to improve their business operations. Panelists will share how their organizations evaluated, selected and implemented business applications, share their successes and challenges and helpful hints on what to watch for. Following the panelists discussion, we will open up the floor for informal polling and Q & A on what business software their firms are using, as well as sharing the successes and challenges of each.

CR-2 Room: Imperial B Building the Value of My Consulting Practice – Considerations for Future Business Sale or Exit

Reed Warren — Revenue Rocket Consulting Group, Bloomington, MN All of our member firms will face some type of business exit in the future – whether it be a sale, merger or employee buyout. What are the key considerations that a business owner needs to take into consideration if they want to create the greatest value for their firm? What are the key financial metrics that are important to a potential buyer when they are looking an acquisition? What are the key factors that may your client base and existing business attractive to another firm? Join us as Reed Warren/Mike Harvath of Revenue Rocket, a leading value creation/M&A advisory firm for IT consulting practices, conducts this informative session to help owners understand the key factors involved in a business sale transaction. Attending this session will help you develop your action plan for maximizing the value of your practice.

ITL-T Room: Imperial C ITL Tactical Roundtables

Roy Persaud — Marks Paneth LLP, NY, NY The ever-popular ITL Tactical Roundtables for this Fall Collaborative will be those listed below along with the Table Leaders. Discussion topics will be provided for each table…or feel free to branch out on your own! Application Development (SIG)

Elena Trulove — MNP LLP, Calgary, AB, Canada Kevin Guyer — Cherry Bekaert LLP, Richmond, VA

Infrastructure/Engineering and Security/Compliance

Richard Cannici — CohnReznick, Roseland, NJ Project Management / PMO

Kathy Fluke — Crowe Horwath LLP, Indianapolis, IN Shawn Gospodarek — Elliott Davis Decosimo, Greenville SC Robert Consiglio — CBIZ, Inc., Independence, OH

Security

Jack Redfield – Cherry Bekaert, Richmond, VA JP Reynolds — Cherry Bekaert, Richmond, VA

Service Desk / Help Desk

Karl Kroboth — Crowe Horwath LLP, Louisville, KY Elias Drivas — Baker Tilly, NY, NY Nathan Guade — Elliott David Decosimo, Greenville, SC

ITL-S Room: Imperial D ITL Strategic Roundtables

Michael Pynch — Wipfli LLP, Eau Claire, WI Greg Shoemaker — BKD, LLP, Dallas, TX

Our ITL Strategic Roundtables provide an opportunity for the ITL CIOs to discuss current topics and issues with their peers. The roundtable makeup, format and topics is determined by the Fall ITL Planning leaders and will be distributed to the participants prior to the session.

Monday, December 4 – 4:30 to 5:30 pm End of Day – Ignite!

All 4:30 - 5:30 pm Room: Imperial A ITA Ignite!

Moderator: Mark Severance — Arxis Technology, Inc., Simi Valley, CA Presenters: Revealed in the Session!

“Ignite” is back on the agenda! Ignite talks are creative, enlightening, and a perfect opportunity to live the ITA motto – Knowledge Increases in Value When It Is Shared. The concept of Ignite is where you’ll see a few of our ITA members come up on stage and give 5 minute presentations about something personal or professional that they are passionate about. The concept of Ignite is to “Enlighten us, but make it quick!” In the last ITA Ignite session we learned binder clip hacks, the joys and perils of taking risks, cycling’s rules of the road, supporting and hiring US vets, men with brooms and a variety of other useful (and useless) topics. The whole idea behind Ignite is to learn something new about your ITA members in a fun and informal way. And, by the way, beer and wine will be served!

Tuesday, December 5 - 8:00 to 9:15 am (75 CPE Minutes)

CR-1 Room: Imperial A Building A Winning Culture

Mike Yeager, Facilitator — Cargas Systems, Inc., Lancaster, PA Ray Bigley — Avalara, Seattle, WA Brenda Nobleza, Facilitator — Single Source Systems, Inc., Fishers, IN Cory Rhodes — Single Source Systems, Inc., Fishers, IN

Learn from some of the top places to work at ITA on how building a winning culture can lead to an energized workforce, happy customers and increased profits. Culture is not something that is set once, but is evolving all the time. Learn how organizations are intentional on creating a winning culture.

CR-2 Room: Imperial B The Evolution of the Mid-Market VAR

Brian Gallagher — Inscio, Addison, TX John Hoyt — Hutchinson and Bloodgood, LLP, Glendale, CA

With shifting customer expectations and the increased demand for cloud-based technologies, how do firms adapt their sales models, implementation approaches and pricing strategies to address these changes? The learning objectives of this session include: • Increase focus as services driven organizations • Create deeper and wider customer relationships • Deliver continuous customer engagement • Shift from reactive support to proactive value creation • Position technology platforms beyond specific applications

PM SIG Room: Savoy Room Project Management SIG: Merger & Acquisition Project Management Tips and Tools

Kathleen Fluke, Facilitator — Crowe Horwath LLP, Indianapolis, IN Michael Connell — CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP – Middleton, WI Kevin Fraase — Eide Bailly LLP, Fargo, NC Jason Pierson — BDO USA, LLP, Grand Rapids, MI Rob Lewis — RubinBrown LLP, St. Louis, MO Gordon Opland — RSM US, LLP, Des Moines, IA Peter J. Scavuzzo— Marcum LLP, NY, NY

Acquisitions have been the name of the game for growth in our industry over many years. We’ve even seen it happen among our ITA member firms. When you hear the words…”We have a new acquisition project starting”...do your shoulders suddenly tense up with anxiety? Join us for a panel discussion where some of our ITA member firms will share their merger and acquisition tips, tools and best practices. Perhaps you will learn something new to help alleviate some of the acquisition anxiety in your firm. We will welcome audience interaction, so bring your questions and your tips as well.

ITL-T Room: Imperial C Educating Tomorrow’s Technology Savvy CPA

Greg Cole — BKD, LLP, Springfield MO Evolving technology is reshaping the competencies required to be a tech-savvy CPA. With automation replacing much of the manual work previously performed by entry-level CPAs, the emerging CPA must be prepared sooner to be effective. The competencies developed by Managers of the past will be necessities to the Staff Accountant of tomorrow. The attendees will understand the changing dynamics and what expectations are no longer relevant and what competencies will be necessary to be effective. Additionally, we will explore the learning methods and platforms that can support this evolution. After completing this session, you will be able to: • Identify the new competencies required for CPAs • Explain the types of learning platform • Differentiate the types of learning methods • Apply learning to your Firm.

ITL-S Room: Imperial D SOC (Service Organization Controls) – From “Needs” to “Necessities”

Samuel Soper, Facilitator — Wipfli LLP, Eau Claire, WI Jeff Wolf, Facilitator — BKD, LLP, Springfield, MO John A. Fleischer — CBIZ, Inc., Independence, OH Robert Jamison — Elliott Davis Decosimo, Greenville, SC Rex Voorhies — Crowe Horwath LLP, South Bend, IN

“There is nothing permanent except change.” ~ Heraclitus What was true between 535 BC – 475 BC is evermore true today throughout the Service Industry. Can you truly substantiate how you manage transformation and communications, or are you slipping down a slope of denial? Join us in discussion to explore the potential necessity, advantages, and means throughout the SOC audit process.

Tuesday, December 5 - 9:30 to 10:45 am (75 CPE Minutes)

CR-1 Room: Imperial A Educating Consultants to Identify and Deliver Strategic Consulting Services

John Hoyt, Facilitator — Hutchinson and Bloodgood, LLP, Glendale, CA Josh Szakal, Facilitator — Black River Technologies Inc., Baldwin, ON, Canada Jeff Bozovich — Single Source Systems, Inc., Fishers, IN Brian Gallagher — Inscio, Addison, TX Gordon Opland — RSM US, LLP, Des Moines, IA Derek Taylor — Sage Intacct, San Jose, CA

Consulting staff have traditionally focused on delivering software implementation, upgrade and support services. Our business models may now require us to offer more strategic consulting and business process improvement services to our customers. How do we educate our consultants to identify these opportunities and deliver them to our customers? Participant Learning Objectives

Identify and communicate potential software additions and consulting areas.

How to observe and identify the potential opportunities.

How to ask the right questions.

Identify potential benefits and ROI.

Identify approaches to recommend these software additions and services.

How management can provide appropriate support for this process.

CR-2 Room: Imperial B Using the Business Model Canvas to Paint a New Picture of Your Company

Gary Feldman, Moderato — I-Business Network, LLC, Marietta, GA Ed Kless — Sage, Allen, TX

The Business Model Canvas is a tool for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. This method from the bestselling management book Business Model Generation is applied in leading organizations and start-ups worldwide. If you are starting a new division, picking up a product or just want to generate a business plan with a holistic view for your company this session will provide the basic understanding of this tool to get you on your way. The session also includes a deeper dive into the Value Proposition Canvas which provides a simple way to understand your customer’s needs, and design products and services they want. This tool helps you answer the question: “Why should my target customer buy from me and not my competition?” Ed Kless will provoke new thoughts on how you can view your business and attendees will leave with practical tools for application and real-life examples of how to use them!

YL-SIG Room: Savoy Room Young Leaders SIG: Managing Millennials

Kimberly Austin — Intuit, Irvine, CA Kelleigh Tegels Nelson — Avalara, Tempe, AZ Christi Whipple — Avalara, Irvine, CA

There’s so much negative talk in today’s workforce about the ‘M’ word: Millennials. Lack of work ethic, sense of entitlement, and little grasp on delayed gratification. Join ITA’s Young Leaders for an interactive roundtable group discussion style session focusing on three specific topics that will help you motivate, maintain, and manage your millennial staff – and mold them into management material:

How to attract and recruit high-performing millennials

Leadership best practices to keep the top performers happy (and performing)

How to prepare your younger high-performers for leadership

ITL-T Room: Imperial C The Future of Self Service/Departmental IT

Neftali Diaz, Facilitator — Crowe Horwath LLP, Milton, DE Heidi K. Simmons, Facilitator — Baker Tilly, Minneapolis, MN Tim Fraser — BDO USA, LLP, Boston, MA Carl Kroboth — Crowe Horwath LLP, Louisville, KY Aaron Gray — CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP, Roseville, CA

Customers are becoming more self-reliant than ever, preferring to solve issues/request items on their own. While many users still prefer to speak with a real person for support, many others now prefer preforming these actives on their own. This session will discuss, how is IT defining Self-Service, what are the processes over procurement of systems, etc? Impacts of technical training for new employees and overall impact to business going forward. Topics for this session include:

Tools/Process used to implement/utilize within Self-Service platform.

Procurement

Knowledge Management

Mobilization

Personalization

Technical Training (onboarding)

What are pro/cons on adoption / management?

ITL-S Room: Imperial D Vendor Management: Fun with Cattle Prods

Rob Lewis, Facilitator – RubinBrown LLP, St. Louis, MO Allen Smith, Facilitator – Baker Tilly, Madison, WI Kathleen Fluke — Crowe Horwath LLP, Indianapolis, IN Roy Schleiden — RSM US, LLP, Davenport, IA

All firms, big and small, work with vendors for researching new products, negotiating the price on products and services, getting support after the sale, and occasionally participating in off-site planning meetings (e.g. golf scrambles). This session explores each stage in the lifecycle of interacting with our vendors and how successful it’s been, where we’ve struggled, and when we’ve begun to regard some vendors as “partners” in our success. Ideally, this session would have 1 or 2 speakers that would go through a day-in-the-life of a procurements specialist, discuss how they obtain the best pricing, service, and support since sometimes the size of the firm doesn’t matter. Sometimes it’s just in what you negotiate in the agreement. They would also discuss how they team up with leaders in the organization (CIO, CFO, LOB leaders, etc.) to ensure they are getting the best price while still meeting the needs of the organization. After completing the session, participants will have a better idea of what has been successful in working with vendors, some negotiation tips and techniques, and when/how to regard certain vendors as partners.

Tuesday, December 5 - 11:00 am to 12:15 pm (75 CPE Minutes)

CR-1 Room: Imperial A The Greatest Knowledge Management Tool Ever Invented by Humankind

Robert Gaby — Arxis Technology, Inc., Simi Valley, CA Ed Kless — Sage, Allen, TX Shawn Slavin — CS3 Technology, Tulsa, OK

This session will be dedicated to the possibility that a professional firm can be run more effectively when it becomes a knowledge firm rather than a service firm. Creating such an organization is hard work and not for everyone. It requires us to think differently than we have in the past about what it is that we do. We will review the four forms of capital and focus on how to best share intellectual capital throughout the firm by exploring the US military usage of the after-action review. Time permitting, we will workshop some of the element of the AAR. If you think you are ready to begin making the transition from service firm to knowledge firm, this IS for you!

CR-2 AND ITL-T Room: Imperial C Your Leadership is the Key to Employee Engagement and Productivity

Alan Clark, Facilitator — Eide Bailly LLP, Salt Lake City, UT Debbie Davidman, Facilitator — Marks Paneth LLP, NY, NY Bret Romney — Ascend Strategies, Montana City, MT

Having fully engaged and productive employees is every leader’s dream. Yet studies consistently show that close to 2/3 of employees consider themselves less than fully engaged. Two recent studies do a deep dive into what employees say they want from their employers, and how it would affect their engagement. These studies reveal a disconnect between what employees value and what their employers think they value. As a leader, how do you stack up against this research? In this session you will learn:

Why the leader is the key to employee engagement and productivity

What employees say are the keys to keeping them engaged and productive

Real-world case studies and ideas for application of what is taught

ITL-AD SIG Room: Savoy Room ITL Application Development SIG: Robotic Process Automation (RPA) - How to Get Started

Chad Osgood — Premier Logic, Atlanta, GA Loren Eckart — Premier Logic, Atlanta, GA

Leveraging Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and various forms of bots is an important strategic initiative across the Accounting industry, offering the potential for enormous gains in efficiency, accuracy and consistency in qualifying tasks. Join Chad Osgood of Premier Logic as we move beyond 'why' you should be implementing RPA, and move the focus onto 'what' and 'how', exploring tools, industry case studies and practical examples. Our intent is not to have you leave with questions, but action items. ITL-S Room: Imperial D On The Move: Mobile Technology Deployment and BYOD

Samuel Soper, Facilitator — Wipfli LLP, Eau Claire, WI Cory Behrendt — CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP, Minneapolis, MN Richard Cannici — CohnReznick, Roseland, NJ

Today’s mobile workforce is changing rapidly in the tools and processes that are needed to successfully impact an organization. The travel 10-key of the past has morphed into multiple peripheral devices that are becoming essential tools for todays connected users. The policies and processes that mange these as well as BYOD initiatives are an integral part of their adoption rate and success in the organization. After completing this course, you will be able to: • Identify new mobile technology that is having a positive impact on user experience • Have an understanding of the policies and procedures necessary to create a secure environment • Gather information among member firms as to their BYOD strategy • Create a mobile plan that will move your organization forward

Tuesday, December 5 - 1:30 to 3:00 pm (90 CPE Minutes)

CR-ALL Room: Imperial B Your Improv Culture: Recruiting and Retaining A-Players

Julian Schrenzel — DyNexus Recruiting & Staffing, Seattle, WA Whether you’re a recruiter, HR manager or the hiring manager, great hires are lost because candidates are left hanging – or worse, left with the impression that your company is not a great place to work. Engaging employee cultures are vibrant and visionary. People want to work for companies that care about something beyond bottom line profit. A company with an improvisational mindset can think, act and re-act in the moment. And this can make all the difference. In this workshop, business leaders who are involved in the hiring process will explore and develop empathy and responsiveness. An Improvisational mindset makes it easier to stay connected even when you are busy and don’t have any “new news” for candidates. Learn how improvisational thinking and action can help your managers and HR team hire new employees with confidence, and work to create a workplace culture that fosters employee satisfaction, engagement, and loyalty. Workshop Focus: Building and maintaining a ‘YES-AND’ CULTURE. Defining and implementing an A-List talent-attracting HIRING PROCESS.

ITL-T Room: Imperial C ITL Tactical Roundtables

Roy Persaud — Marks Paneth LLP, NY, NY The ever-popular ITL Tactical Roundtables for this Fall Collaborative will be those listed below along with the Table Leaders. Discussion topics will be provided for each table…or feel free to branch out on your own! Application Development (SIG)

Elena Trulove — MNP LLP, Calgary, AB, Canada Kevin Guyer — Cherry Bekaert LLP, Richmond, VA

Infrastructure/Engineering and Security/Compliance

Richard Cannici — CohnReznick, Roseland, NJ Project Management / PMO

Kathy Fluke — Crowe Horwath LLP, Indianapolis, IN Shawn Gospodarek — Elliott Davis Decosimo, Greenville SC Robert Consiglio — CBIZ, Inc., Independence, OH

Security

Jack Redfield – Cherry Bekaert, Richmond, VA JP Reynolds — Cherry Bekaert, Richmond, VA

Service Desk / Help Desk

Karl Kroboth — Crowe Horwath LLP, Louisville, KY Elias Drivas — Baker Tilly, NY, NY Nathan Guade — Elliott David Decosimo, Greenville, SC

ITL-S Room: Imperial D ITL Strategic Roundtables

Greg Shoemaker — BKD, LLP, Dallas, TX Michael Pynch — Wipfli LLP, Eau Claire, WI

Our ITL Strategic Roundtables provide an opportunity for the ITL CIOs to discuss current topics and issues with their peers. The roundtable makeup, format and topics is determined by the Fall ITL Planning leaders and will be distributed to the participants prior to the session.

Tuesday, December 5 – 4:15 to 4:30 pm

Wrap Up Sessions & Adjournment of the ITA Fall 2017 ITA Collaborative

NASBA Registry Information

Credit Hours: Up to 14.5 hours of CPE available. CPE credits are granted on a 50‐minute hour. After the first hour,

sponsors can report half‐credits. However, half‐credits are not allowed / approved in all states. If half‐credits are not

allowed, participants need to round back to the last full credit.

Learning Objective: Depending upon the sessions you choose to attend, you will learn best practices and hear what other

industry leaders are doing with respect to: current and emerging technologies, practice and project management, staffing,

marketing, and customer/client service.

Program Content: The program will feature three tracks of educational content: IT Software Consulting (Sales, Support

and Implementation), Internal IT for large CPA Firms, and IT Client Infrastructure & Managed Services Consulting. In each

track, sessions will be offered about the latest technologies or practice methodologies that will enable member clients or

their businesses to be more successful.

Field of Study:

Business Management and Organization

Level – Update

Prerequisites – Minimum 3 Years as an IT Consultant or Technician

Advance Preparation – None

Instructional Delivery Method – Lecture & Discussion

NASBA Registry of CPE Sponsors

Information Technology Alliance (#107740) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy

(NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of

accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered

sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.

Administration

Records are maintained in accordance with CPE requirements. Questions, concerns or for more information regarding

administrative policies such as complaint or refund should be made in writing to ITA Headquarters, 23940 N. 73rd Place,

Scottsdale, AZ 85255‐3425, Telephone (480) 515‐2003.