Burton Group Catalyst Conference 2005

So I just got back from the Burton Group's annual Catalyst Conference in beautiful San Diego, CA

This was the best conference or trade event that I have attended in the past 5 years. The quality of attendee (seemed to be Director Level and above, mostly VP level), and the balance of attendee to vendor (80% attendee, 20% vendor) was exceptional.

The net-net of the conference for me was that anyone who is looking to do identity management initiatives should be aligning with the three dominant players – Sun, Novell, and IBM and that these will be the big players in the space over the next 24 months (per Burton and others quoted). It also validated that there are several new technologies (TNT as an example) that will be consolidated in the next 18 months as things shake out.

I will blog more as my time allows, but my 7 projects with GE, one with Coca Cola and partnerships with Sun, Novell, and IBM and these guys TNT are keeping me busy...