Burton Group's Catalyst Conference '99 to Focus on Distributed Infrastructure for New Business Models.

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 1999--

Theme of "Beyond Year 2000" Reflects Focus On the

Network Infrastructure Enterprise Customers Must Build

to Ensure Success in the Future Internet Economy 

The Burton Group Thursday announced the theme and topics for its annual Catalyst Conference, which the company will hold at Squaw Valley in Lake Tahoe, Calif., July 12 through 14.

With the theme "Beyond Year 2000: New Infrastructure for New Business Models," Catalyst 99 will focus on the new infrastructure enterprise customers must build to support the new business models that electronic commerce and extranet connectivity will create.

"The Y2K problem has many companies focused on bringing their existing infrastructure technologies up to date," said Jamie Lewis, president of The Burton Group.

"While such efforts are obviously important, they should not prevent enterprise customers from preparing for the future. Electronic commerce and extranet applications are becoming imperatives for enterprise customers, and such applications will not scale if they can't leverage general-purpose directory, security, and other infrastructure technologies.

"Simply put, the companies that focus only on the past and ignore the need to future-proof their infrastructure will find themselves unable to compete in this new economy."

To help enterprise customers create their plans for moving forward, Catalyst 99 will cover the infrastructure needs of both intra- and extranet applications, examining how organizations can build and leverage distributed infrastructure technologies. Each of the three days of Catalyst will focus on particular topics, as follows:

July 12, Day One: Leveraging the Directory

It's no longer a question of if enterprise customers need a directory. It's a question of when they will deploy one, and how they will leverage it. Day One of Catalyst 99 will focus on how enterprise customers can leverage directory infrastructure through the Directory Enabled Networking initiative (DEN), extranet and e-commerce solutions, and other applications.

Burton Group analysts and consultants will focus on applications, deployments, and case studies that clearly demonstrate a return on the directory investment. Day One will also cover the realities of Microsoft's Active Directory, detailing what it does and doesn't do, and provide an update on evolving directory standards.

July 13, Day Two: Scaling Security

E-commerce and extranet applications aren't possible without security, but scaling current enterprise security models to meet those needs is a challenge.

Day Two of Catalyst 99 will focus on scalable security, examining the progress in Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) standards and customer deployments, the reality of trading communities and interoperable PKI, how customers can integrate multiple PKIs internally, how enterprises can integrate PKI with other security services internally, and the practicality of single sign-on.

Day Three: Projecting the Infrastructure

With the advent of extranets and e-commerce, enterprises must "project" themselves into the Internet economy, which means interoperating with external systems run by partners, customers, and suppliers. That means enterprises must build computing infrastructures that can serve both internal and external needs.

Day Three of Catalyst 99 will focus on how companies can bring directory, security, and other technologies together to create solid extranet applications, defining the network model for Internet economy. Burton Group analysts and consultants will also examine the strategies of the leading platform vendors that are positioning themselves to battle it out in the market.

The Burton Group will be announcing further details on the agenda and speakers for the conference later in the year. Editors and customers can check for the latest information on The Burton Group's Web site at http://www.tbg.com/catalyst.

The Burton Group is an information technology (IT) advisory firm specializing in the in-depth analysis of emerging network computing technologies. Through The Burton Group Network Strategy Service, the company addresses the IT professional's need for comprehensive research and analysis of complex network computing technologies.

The company's Rapport Consulting and Education division provides custom consulting services to companies implementing distributed computing technologies. The company also provides a forum in which network users and vendors can come together to address network computing issues in the annual Burton Group Catalyst Conference. For more information on The Burton Group, visit http://www.tbg.com.