These facilitated discussion groups are set up to get the conversations rolling quickly and get the ideas flowing freely. Each session is moderated by a CW staff member or partner. We'll fire off a few questions to get started, then guide the conversation and generate best practices and great ideas.

By now, all of us have made our moves into architectures that accommodate mobile users. Either tactically or as part of a concerted enterprise strategy, embracing mobile computing is a must. But how many of us have taken the necessary next steps to truly extend the full power, security and utility of the data center to those mobile users and customers? No small set of challenges there.

The amount of data passing through the average organization is exploding. One estimate states that if you managed to grab and store every word and image created from the dawn of civilization until 2003, the total would be 5 exabytes – but that today we create that much data every 10 minutes.  Even if your organization is good at capturing data, extracting value from it remains elusive for many. They struggle to deliver the right data to the right people within the right timeframe for taking effective action.  Buried within this avalanche of information are incredibly valuable insights.

Computerworld welcomes you to the Wild, Wild West! Not only is Tucson home to the infamous stagecoach robber William Whitney Brazelton, it is also home to one of the most active Western-themed filming locations. Enjoy beer-battered chicken and spicy chili as you meet your colleagues to discuss your favorite Western movie. Perhaps it’s Tombstone, Billy the Kidd, the Quick and the Dead, or even the Three Amigos. Whether you’re a cowboy or a villain, be sure to join us as we kick-off the event!

Hear Linda Clement-Holmes discuss how Procter & Gamble’s Global Business Services (GBS) organization stays relevant in the “VUCA”—volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous—world. Clement-Holmes will delve into how GBS is continually evolving to meet the fast-changing needs of the business and detail the leadership attributes that are needed to succeed in this environment.

Because today’s IT leaders have a bird’s eye view of how their organizations operate, they also know how they could operate better. Hospira, Inc. CIO Daphne Jones describes how the CIO role at Hospira, Inc. has extended beyond business partner and change agent to that of continuous business model innovator.

Volume, velocity and variety are traditionally the three Vs associated with Big Data. In this session, Quintiles CIO Richard Thomas describes the successful addition of the fourth V – value – to the big data equation and explains how to achieve it.

Is identity the key to your success in 2013?  Your employees and customers want convenient access from any device to all the applications they need from IT and in the cloud - and they're not waiting.  At the same time CIOs are under pressure to keep a lid on IT CapEx as well as security.  Convenient, secure, on-demand identity management solutions that span the cloud and your data center are emerging to help you embrace BYOD, control shadow IT and improve the customer experience. In this session, Ping Identity President Bill Dedrick will discuss the mega trends confronting CIOs and how identity is the key to meeting them head on.

How do you affect positive retail organizational change? How does an organization create environments for leaders to flourish and fully exploit team competencies and expertise to support execution of technology and business process change? How does an organization lead change through empowerment of the team and executive stakeholder engagement? What are the critical elements of Change Leadership within the organization – especially as it relates to retail capability development, deployment and exploitation? This session will outline the key elements of engaging the team, identifying and exploiting skills, and developing talent to drive significant organizational change.

Never before has the role of IT leader been so transformative in shaping business strategy. With the convergence of social, mobile and cloud, and the shift of traditional analog processes to digital ones, IT has the ability to fundamentally change how enterprises manage employee efficiency and productivity. But what critical issues are confronting today’s IT decision-makers as they seek new strategies for leveraging technology and power business growth? This session will examine the challenges, solutions and tools that can help IT leaders drive innovation within their organizations and maintain a competitive edge in today’s rapidly evolving market. The session will also detail what new traits, some beyond technology strategy, are required to incite change in an enterprise organization that embraces a more interconnected and externally-focused world.

Choose between different topics and case studies in these fast-paced breakout sessions hosted by our Premier 100 sponsors and featuring an IT leader. The focus is on the top strategic challenges and opportunities associated with new technologies, processes and services. The goal is to offer peer advice for getting the most out of sponsors’ new technology offerings.

Every eight to ten years market pressures for IT innovation create an inflexion point that fundamentally changes the technology landscape. Enterprises are continuing their shift to virtualized and cloud-based environments as a way to get more out of their IT infrastructure. There are inherent risks in this transition that can leave organizations vulnerable to slowdowns and outages that negatively impact business. 

Mobile platforms, an increase in 3D and HD content and the fast-changing habits of consumers are changing the entertainment industry as never before. This combination of forces is having an unprecedented impact on content creation, transformation and delivery. In this session, VP of IT Judy Batenburg discusses how Starz Entertainment is transforming its broadcast and IT environments - and in the process, transforming the people, processes and technologies to support the rapidly changing business.

Helping global business units develop new, value-added products and services is a critical business opportunity for Sealed Air's IT organization. In this session, CIO Warren Kudman and Enterprise Architecture VP Kiran Vedak team up to discuss the progress of a dedicated team within IT that focuses exclusively on new revenue-generating IT-enabled offerings, such as its iMAP tool for hygiene control and vendor-managed inventory services.

CTCA has been and continues to be a high-growth organization. IT is ready for today and tomorrow, thanks to a transformative reorganization, incessant succession planning and the reinvention of its technology platforms. In this session, CIO Chad Eckes explains how to devise and continually evolve a five-year strategic plan that assures  IT role as a business growth engine.

• Incorporate iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other smartphones and tablets into their business environments
• Manage and secure both “consumer” and business applications;
• Measure the success of their mobile implementations.

NextEra Energy, Inc. is a leading clean energy company with revenues of more than $15.3 billion, more than 41,000 megawatts of generating capacity, and approximately 15,000 employees in 24 states and Canada as of year-end 2011. Its principal subsidiaries are Florida Power & Light Company, which serves approximately 4.6 million customer accounts and NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which together with its affiliated entities is the nation’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun. Join Lakshman as he shares how NextEra Energy’s dedicated and innovative employees are putting technology and information to work to enable a whole new era of energy generation and distribution. Learn how NextEra’s innovative use of IT is enabling a range of next-gen capabilities, from optimizing the location and layout of wind farms to giving consumers greater knowledge and control over their energy usage. The company’s approach is definitely being noticed. For the sixth consecutive year, NextEra Energy in 2012 ranked number one among electric and gas utilities on Fortune's list of "Most Admired Companies."

Join your fellow attendees and come enjoy the sights and tastes found south of the border. As the mariachi music plays, sample everything from fire-roasted salsa, creamy guacamole dip, shredded beef tacos and more at this colorful, spicy reception. Grab a refreshing cocktail to complement the authentic southwestern fare or, choose a glass of sangria and a portion of the proceeds will go to Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity.

IT executives are grappling with unimaginable volumes of information that are being created and shared. The complexity of the systems and the density of the data threaten to create more confusion than clarity. But the business world is finding ways to make these systems easy to use and relevant information simple to access, to streamline business processes and deliver innovations that bring real value. Zierhoffer will share examples of how Xerox is harnessing its global innovation laboratories, plus building strategic partnerships to solve complex customer challenges, simplifying life in many unexpected places.

Give your tech teams the resources to test new ideas and big business value will follow. Hear how these IT leaders are capitalizing on in-house innovation labs and various forms of  IT skunkworks to leverage rapidly evolving cloud, mobile and social networking technologies.

Just as the Internet transformed retail, media and other consumer-oriented industries, the so-called ‘Industrial Internet’ – a global network that connects machines, people and data – is poised to forever change other key industries, including transportation, power and healthcare. In this session, CIO and Lean Leader Vince Campisi of GE Intelligent Platforms will outline the key elements of the Industrial Internet and the productivity potential it can unleash for companies. This will be exhibited through examples of how these technologies are helping GE transition from being reactive to proactive; and helping them (along with their customers) drive growth.

CIO Nancy Wolk describes how Alcoa IT is driving profitability by enabling product and process improvements and cost savings in its core manufacturing operations.. Alcoa’s enterprise-wide smart manufacturing initiative focuses on increased use of data analytics and tighter integration between manufacturing and business data to deliver accurate, timely and actionable information across the entire operation, from the shop floor through business management. Nancy will provide examples and innovations from several recent state-of-the-art IT deployments.

How can IT can push past traditional boundaries and influence core parts of the business like Product Development and Business Operations? Chief Information Officer Robert Krestakos will share some examples from Steelcase Inc., the world’s leading office environment company. This presentation will show how Krestakos’ team established an Innovation Management Office that works in joint partnership with other business functions to push for greater use of technology for competitive advantage.

CIO Magazine Editor- in- Chief chats with IT leaders and their counterparts from marketing about why their relationship is becoming so critical in an increasingly mobile, socially networked world. Top of mind on the discussion agenda is how to successfully build a bridge over the historic divide between IT and marketing.

Knowledge workers are trading in legacy software and desktop PCs for tools that are more flexible and affordable plus allow them to tap into information from countless applications and mobile devices. This session will examine how some of today’s enterprise organizations have adopted a “cloud-first” strategy to better focus their resources on delivering innovations to customers and While At the same time, these enterprises are leveraging cloud-based solutions to address requirements for secure collaboration and centralized document management. Through the combination of business insight and powerful, cloud-based productivity applications, IT decision-makers are helping to  exceed user and stakeholder expectations as never before.

A select group of IT rising stars nominated by this year’s Premier 100 Honorees chat with IDG Chief Content Officer John Gallant about their strategic business vision, IT’s near- and long-term potential to create and deliver value, and how and why their IT careers differ from those of the predecessors mentoring them.

While no two CIO roles are exactly the same, all share a unique comprehensive view of their businesses where change is almost constant. Jeanette Horan will share personal career reflections and thoughts about the changing role of the modern CIO; including how a rapidly changing business environment, innovation and collaboration are driving transformation to fuel growth at IBM.

Choose between different topics and case studies in these fast-paced breakout sessions hosted by our Premier 100 sponsors and featuring an IT leader. The focus is on the top strategic challenges and opportunities associated with new technologies, processes and services. The goal is to offer peer advice for getting the most out of sponsors’ new technology offerings.

This lively, multi-topic workshop features a selection of Premier 100 Honorees holding small-group discussions on the practical details, ROI and lessons learned from their business transformation projects. To see the speakers' topics, please click here.

Transformational technology is the critical element to surviving and thriving in today’s changing world. Now more than ever companies need an IT infrastructure that can adapt as quickly as business needs change. It’s easy to do when you’re starting from scratch but increasingly challenging when you’re dealing with legacy systems and expanding networks. David Zanca will discuss the journey to transformation technology at Fedex which with 40 years of history and an expanding network of 220 countries, is constantly experiencing transformational change.

As a courtesy reminder, please note that the Awards Dinner is black tie optional.  If you are interested in renting a tuxedo, please fill out the tuxedo rental form and fax it to 508.677.8067.