Where do knowledge-seeking legal IT pros come to learn? To the legal IT think tank, Kraft Kennedy, which brought its exclusive educational conference, KKU, to Chicago in the beginning of May.
The day started with a powerful overview of the technology landscape on the horizon. Joe Hoegler, Chris Owens, and Charles Ottenweller analyzed the trends in their areas of practice and research— infrastructure, SaaS, and IT strategy—and gave a forecast of what’s coming.
IT Professionals from small and large firms alike gathered to learn about pressing topics like changes to the Windows 10 update cycle, today’s cyber-threat landscape, and the evolution of desktop design. Looking around the room during the keynote, we could see the excitement. The willingness to learn was palpable.
Microsoft’s plans to enforce the move to Windows 10 generated buzz throughout the day. Chris Owens’ session on the topic was key.
Unsurprisingly, security continues to be a hot topic among IT pros. In addition to the conversations at two security-focused sessions presented by Security Analyst John Kogan, attendees in all sessions asked penetrating questions about topics like malware prevention, multi-factor security protection, and securing remote access. Some KKU students were pleasantly surprised to learn that their firms already had licenses for Windows 10 security features that they were not yet taking advantage of, such as Advanced Threat Protection and Device Guard.
KKU Chicago attendees wrote down crucial tips on how they can “sit at the table” in the “Budgeting for the Win” session and learned about the intricacies of Exchange 2016 that legal IT pros should know from one of the world’s leading experts on the subject. They explored the future of virtualization in “Next Generation Desktop Delivery,” and, to conclude the day, brought their challenging issues to the “Ask the Experts” Q&A panel. Our experts were thoroughly grilled on application and document management, remote access, security, revealed their insider knowledge of Windows 10, Exchange, and Office 365.
Techies have to eat, too! After a full day or education, appetites had grown and we were looking forward to food and drinks at Sweetwater Tavern. It wasn’t all about work—several attendees mentioned that they enjoyed meeting other tech people.
-Todd Parkin, Steve Valles, and Sara Zezza
