
                            Managing Complexity



Succeeding in a multivendor, multiplatform world - its not an easy task. 
Today's successful IT professional must deal with an increasingly complex 
mix of platforms and protocols - pull them all together - and make them work 
in a seamless fashion.

DECUS has paved the path to success in this environment by continually 
providing the most comprehensive forums for the exchange of information on 
utilizing the products, services, and technologies of Digital and 
Digital-related vendors. It is this commitment to providing quality training 
programs that has led to the DECUS U.S. Chapter being named the recipient of 
Digital News and Review's Target Award in the category of Best Training 
Products and Services for the past two years. 

This is your opportunity to be a part of the solution. Share your technical 
knowledge by submitting a session to DECUS '94/New Orleans. You can 
contribute your expertise in either the core or traditional session streams 
as outlined in the attached Call For Participation. Sessions can be mailed 
or faxed to the DECUS office. The session submittal deadline is February 1, 
1993. 

DECUS '94/New Orleans addresses concerns facing today's IT professionals. 
The program is built on the strength of past national events, and presented 
in a well defined, easy to manage format. You've asked for changes and 
enhancements to our program structure and we're giving them to you: more 
free time to interact with with your peers, Digital engineers, and 
participating vendors; a wider variety of session formats; hot technology 
tracks; featured industry speakers; and many more.

There are topic tracks covering the issues that are most important to you 
today. The core program of sessions include the topics of: virtual networks; 
client/server and transaction processing; application development; and 
avant-garde technologies - all supporting the overall theme of managing 
multivendor, multiplatform environments. In addition, traditional sessions 
addressing the vast array of IT issues you face in your day-to-day work 
environment, will also be presented.

Only DECUS '94/New Orleans brings you the added benefit of gaining this 
knowledge through the unsurpassed expertise and actual shared experiences of 
a Digital focused audience.

So be a part of this unique and unimpeded information exchange by submitting 
sessions to both the core and traditional session streams. The enclosed Call 
For Participation provides complete details on session submittal. You can 
also use the enclosed Hotel Reservation Form to secure your housing 
accommodations.  

For more information on the DECUS U.S. Chapter contact Customer Service at 
1-800-DECUS55. Or send requests for information via the Internet to 
Information@DECUS.Org


Managing Complexity: Succeeding in a Multivendor, Multiplatform World

Starring
- Virtual Networks
- Client/Server & Transaction Processing
- Application Development
- Avant-Garde

Brought to you in a New Event Format!

New Call For Participation Included

DECUS '94  New Orleans  May 7 - 12, 1994


All organizations are already in a multiplatform world and for most this 
means multivendor.  In many cases the current technology environment has 
happened by accident and is not engineered to provide quality service 
across the enterprise.  As expectations of IT rise and pressures on costs 
increase there is a continual search for efficiency as enterprises tune 
their technology, bring in new platforms and packages, and shuffle what 
they have.  

This uneasiness is compounded by the fact that there is no one source of 
technical information.  Each vendor is following its own path, releasing 
upgrades and new offerings as their marketing departments and engineers 
dictate. The user is most often in the position of integrator, trying to 
find synergy in the menu of alternatives presented.

Digital's customers are as much part of this as the rest of the industry, 
except they have identified Digital as one of their strategic vendors.  In 
some cases Digital is a dominant vendor and the customers are largely 
seeking Digital solutions. In other cases, Digital is only one of a number 
of significant vendors to whom the customer has made a commitment.  

DECUS serves the needs of both of these groups by making information 
available on how to best use Digital's technology with other Digital 
products and in harness with other vendors' technologies.  This journey, 
upon which all of us, vendors and customers, are set is the focus of DECUS 
'94/New Orleans:  Managing Complexity: Succeeding in a Multivendor, 
Multiplatform World.


Core Program

The core program is designed to reflect the current concerns of attendees 
and the actual technology available. There are four selected tracks to 
support the overall theme.  These tracks deal with building and managing 
multiplatform, multivendor environments.  We are looking for presentations, 
panel discussions and case study/tutorials to go into this program.  In 
addition, sessions that explore the same issues but discuss specialized 
platforms or unusual combinations of technology are sought for the general 
symposium and will be scheduled by the appropriate Special Interest Group 
(SIG).

The four identified tracks which support the DECUS '94/New Orleans theme 
include:
         
         Virtual Networks
         
         Creating a cost effective, manageable, network infrastructure for 
         an enterprise.  Building in services to the network to provide 
         superior interoperability and platform independence.
         
         Client/Server and Transaction Processing
         
         Making the best use of the investment in desktop and server 
         processing power to deliver innovative applications and to support 
         core business processes.  Understanding the choices available in 
         distributing functionality and accessing data.  Distributed 
         database and parallel processing.
         
         Application Development
         
         Developing, testing and maintaining systems for multiple platforms 
         while reducing the time to deliver.  Development of robust 
         production systems in a multiplatform world.  CASE, 4GL, and 
         object-oriented development environments. Dictionaries, 
         repositories, and other tools.
         
         Avant Garde
         
         Delivering and supporting new technologies such as imaging, 
         groupware, mail, workflow systems, multimedia, and compound 
         document architecture that have moved from the research lab into 
         specialized product niches.
         
For each of the tracks we are looking for sessions that fit one or more of 
these profiles:

         General Surveys - Current status of technology; technical choices 
         that organizations face; when to expect key new developments; 
         panel sessions of competing views.
         
         Standards - The current status of open and proprietary standards.  
         Market acceptance and products that support them.  Holes in 
         standards; sources of incompatibility.  Cost of changing to 
         standards.
         
         Conversion/Legacy - Discussion of new technology in the context of 
         its impact on the existing systems base.  Techniques that allow 
         significant upgrading of IT services without complete trashing of 
         existing systems and platforms.  Specific technical issues in 
         changing platforms or key software components of the 
         infrastructure.
         
         Performance Management - Getting more from what you have.  How to 
         approach capacity planning and performance management in complex 
         multivendor-multiplatform environments.  Tools for modeling and 
         analyzing real configurations.
         
         Resource Management - Asset and systems management in networked 
         organizations.  Configuration and version control.  Scheduling and 
         load balancing.  Authorization, security and resource allocation. 
         Accounting for resource usage.
         
         Desktop - Implications for selecting and managing the desktop 
         (laptop) environment.  Developments in desktop architecture; 
         integration of personal systems, pcs and workstations into 
         enterprise architectures.
         
         Managing the Data Explosion - Indexing, pattern recognition, 
         agents, browsers, human interface design, document and image 
         mark-up and other techniques to help individuals and organizations 
         to catalogue data and retrieve information.  Database technology
         
         Skills, Organizations, Careers - IT management and organization; 
         New jobs or skills; The future of the IT professional; Change 
         Management.							   

Saturday & Sunday, May 7 & 8, 1994

Full Day Seminars

Monday, May 9, 1994

Morning

Opening Session - Welcome by Marg Knox, President, DECUS U.S. Chapter
                  Keynote Address by Robert B. Palmer, President and CEO, 
                      Digital Equipment Corporation
                  Featured Speaker: Sam Fuller, Vice President of Research,
                      Digital Equipment Corporation

Afternoon
                  Technology Center & Campgrounds Open
                   Multiple Session Tracks

Tuesday & Wednesday, May 10 & 11, 1994

Morning & Afternoon
                 
                   Trade Show Opens
                    Multiple Session Tracks

Thursday, May 12, 1994

Morning & Afternoon

                    Multiple Session Tracks
                Closing Session - Introduction of Themes & Plans for 
                      DECUS '94/ANAHEIM


YOU ASKED FOR
- More Time to Interact with Fellow Attendees and Presenters
- More Information of Technology Issues Facing You Today
- More Time to Visit Technology Center, Trade Show and Campgrounds
- Wider Variety of Session Formats

THE NEW FORMAT GIVES IT ALL TO YOU!
- Open Evenings for Interacting with Peers, Digital Engineers and Other Vendors
- Featured Industry Speakers and Hot Technology Tracks
- Relaxed Session Schedule to Give You More Time to Spend in Informal Discussion
  and Visiting Exhibits
- Roundtables, Panels, Tutorials, Exhibitor Product Sessions and More!

By participating, you'll have the opportunity to share your expertise with a
focused, experienced and highly motivated Digital audience.


              DECUS '94/New Orleans - Call for Participation

                     Symposium Dates: May 9 - 12, 1994
              Submission Deadline:  Tuesday, February 1, 1994


   Managing Complexity: Succeeding in a Multivendor, Multiplatform World


The DECUS, U.S. Chapter is committed to addressing the information needs of 
its members by providing a high-quality symposium in New Orleans, LA from 
May 7 - 12, 1994.  Seminars will be held May 7 & 8; the symposium will run 
May 9 - 12, 1994.  We invite you to share your expertise with your fellow 
members by participating in DECUS '94/New Orleans.  Please follow the 
guidelines listed below to submit your session.

Contribute your expertise in:
    - Virtual Networks
    - Client/Server and Transaction Processing
    - Application Development
    - Avant Garde
    - Other IT Issues

General Guidelines

~ Provide a Session Title as well as a Short Title (not more than 30 
  characters) for use in the Sessions-At-A-Glance.

~ Provide an abstract of no more than 200 words, detailing your 
  presentation.  Abstracts should be submitted in a form ready to be 
  included in the Meeting Program:  Write sentences in the present tense; 
  Define all acronyms; Do not use abbreviations or buzzwords if possible; 
  Identify any trademarks. 
  
~ Specify which of the four tracks session is related to

~ Specify intended audience

~ Identify relevant platforms/operating systems

~ Indicate Session format - presentation, panel, case study/tutorial

DECUS U.S. Chapter reserves the right to review all submissions to 
determine appropriateness and to edit abstracts and titles for consistency 
and completeness.  DECUS does not guarantee scheduling of all submissions.

Submitter Name:	 ____________________________
Company:	 _____________________________
Address:	 _____________________________
		 _____________________________
Phone:		 _____________________________

Please list additional speakers on an attached sheet


Title: ______________________________________________
Short Title(30 Characters or Less): ______________________________________

Track: __ Virtual Networks	  __ Client/Server and Transaction Processing
       __ Application Development __ Avant Garde			        
       __ Other (please identify) _______________________

Relevant Platform/Operating System ___________________________________

Format:		   __ Presentation __ Panel	       __ Case Study/Tutorial 

INTENDED AUDIENCE: __ Novice	   __ Intermediate    __ Advanced

Abstract of 200 words or less should be attached to this form.

Do you have any special instructions for scheduling this session?  If so, 
please explain.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Session Keywords: ________________________________

Audio/Video (A/V) Equipment:  1 slide projector, 1 overhead projector & 
screen will AUTOMATICALLY be provided in each session room.  Please list 
any additional equipment required:
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Audiotaping: Submitter is responsible for obtaining permission to audiotape 
session from the speaker.

Should this session be audiotaped?  __Yes  __No


All Submitters:
All Speakers must pay appropriate registration fees.

I have read the DECUS Commercialism Policy Statement and agree to abide by 
these guidelines.

The session must NOT include:

~ sales material
~ vendor's comparison of competitors' prices, products, or services
~ product or service endorsements
~ open invitations to vendor suites

Speakers must NOT hand out:

~ published newsletters, magazines, or promotional advertising
~ unsolicited business cards
~ price lists

Session material MAY contain appropriate references to:

~ price and delivery information to assist the attendee in formulating a technical 
opinion
~ non-DECUS activities providing further information
~ decision support information



________________________
Signature


The Call for Participation deadline is Tuesday, February 1, 1994. 
Send to DECUS Office via:

MAIL: DECUS - CFP Processing
SHR3-1/T25  334 South Street
Shrewsbury, MA 01545-4195   

FAX: 508-841-3357.
Internet: information@decus.org
