Overview

October 14

The prospect of greatly reduced post-pandemic budgets means state and local governments need to get the most out of every dollar. Ongoing maintenance and support costs for major software applications like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and databases represent some of the largest line items for most IT organizations. Do you know there are other options?

Join us October 14 at 11:00am PT/2:00pm ET for a 30-minute “lunch and learn” webinar in which our experts discuss how to re-think your support and maintenance options, help lower ongoing costs, and get higher quality support services at the same time.

We’ll explore:
• How some public sector organizations have lowered total ongoing software support and maintenance costs by 50 percent or more.
• How to help reallocate IT budget dollars to innovation and growth initiatives that better meet citizen needs.
• How you can avoid expensive software upgrades until ROI-ready.

Speakers

Craig Mackereth

GVP Global Support, Rimini Street, Inc.

Craig Mackereth is responsible for developing and managing the delivery of Rimini Street support services for SAP’s Business Suite and BusinessObjects software and Oracle Corporation’s Siebel, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, E-Business Suite, Oracle Database, Oracle Fusion Middleware, Hyperion and Oracle Retail software. Mr. Mackereth is a veteran executive and recognized thought leader in the Enterprise Systems space, with 20 years of experience working in various industries including financial services, technology, software, aerospace and defense. Specializing in Oracle applications and technologies, Mr. Mackereth has led projects and global teams for companies of all sizes and managed 24×7 support teams in challenging corporate environments using a variety of applications and technologies. Prior to joining Rimini Street, Mr. Mackereth provided management consulting services to global organizations headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. He introduced Program, Risk and Change Management techniques during a global deployment of Oracle E-Business Suite before leading a successful EBS r12.1.3 upgrade to deliver on schedule and under budget. Previously, Mr. Mackereth was vice president at Visa, responsible for the development and production support of global ERP solutions. In addition to managing the 24×7 support of core systems used by employees operating in more than 150 countries, this role included delivery of a significant portfolio of projects to improve technology and process in the crucial post-IPO phase. Earlier in his career, Mr. Mackereth was a Senior Manager at BAE SYSTEMS with responsibility for development and production support of corporate systems including financial, maintenance, engineering and manufacturing. During this time, he introduced complex maintenance repair and overhaul (cMRO), service-oriented architecture (SOA) and identity management solutions using Oracle solutions and received a Fusion Middleware Innovation Award as an early adopter of SOA. Mr. Mackereth is an active contributor to the Oracle community, having participated on customer advisory boards for SOA, identity and access management, and cMRO. He is an OAUG Ambassador and has presented at Oracle Open World on multiple occasions and to industry leaders across Asia during the inaugural SOA Leaders Summit in Macau.

Bill Rials, Ph.D. — Moderator

Senior Fellow, Center for Digital Government

William (Bill) Rials, Ph.D., is a professor and associate director (department chair) of the Tulane University School of Professional Advancement IT and Cybersecurity Program. Where he focuses on continually delivering and updating the program curriculum based on innovative and emerging technologies, before transitioning academia and higher education, he had a diverse government technology career delivering value to state agencies, local governments, and law enforcement agencies throughout the State of Mississippi. He has served in CIO, CTO, and CISO roles for local governments and also in various leadership positions within the State of Mississippi’s IT organization as a deputy to the State CIO. Dr. Rials holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Belhaven University, a master's degree in Computer Information Systems and Cybersecurity from Missouri State University, as well as a Ph.D. in higher education administration and public administration from Jackson State University. His dissertation research involved the critical factors that affect the adoption of cloud services within the public sector. He is a noted expert in the IT and Cybersecurity space and frequently quoted by national media outlets. He is also a frequent contributor to national IT government organizations such as NASTD and NASCIO.

Webinar

Working with Reduced IT Budgets: How to Extract More Value from Enterprise Software Investments