By David Gewirtz
A few months ago, I was invited to give the Saturday afternoon keynote address at the 31st Annual Independent Computer Consultants Association National Conference in Washington, D.C. With all the work I'd done on White House email, it seemed appropriate to address some of the nation's leading computer consultants in the cradle of our democracy.
At the time, I was asked if there was a way I could relate the convoluted story of White House email to the concerns of independent computer consultants. The White House story is not just a political story. Instead, at its heart, it's a technology management story -- perfect for IT consultants.
"ICCA is an ideal fit for many of our readers."
In fact, if you look at the White House's problems from an email management perspective, you see issues with messaging security, email archiving, compliance and disclosure, robustness, physical systems security and IT management discipline. But if you look at some of the issues tech consultants are working on with their clients, you see issues with messaging security, email archiving, compliance and disclosure, robustness, physical systems security and IT management discipline. Notice anything?
Armed with the topic "Lessons your clients can learn from the White House electronic mail controversy," Denise Amrich and I headed north to Washington Friday night. Prior to their invitation, I didn't know too much about our hosts. However, as we planned out the event, I got to know more about ICCA -- and it's an organization many of you may find quite interesting as well. According to the association's Web site:
The ICCA is a not-for-profit trade association of independent and small business technology professionals. ICCA's was established in 1976 to elevate the quality of the computer consulting industry by providing business support programs and professional development opportunities for our members.
The ICCA represents a wide variety of information technology consultants who provide support, consulting, implementation, training, strategic planning, and business analysis services. Our member firms are independent, i.e., they will only propose to do work that is within their core competence, and will not be unduly influenced by any vendor or product.
See what I mean? This is a perfect fit for many of our readers. Go ahead and visit http://www.icca.org. And consider joining. They have a lot of member benefits and they're also really nice people.
