A successful CFO Network seminar held in the clouds

By Michael Derin

Last night Azure Group held its first CFO Network seminar for 2011, again held in conjunction with the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Nearly 40 guests attended the Institute’s headquarters on Erskine Street in Sydney for some networking with fellow CFOs and two presentations on cloud computing.

We were lucky to have the benefit of two highly esteemed speakers from leading technology company, EMC.

Clive Gold, Marketing CTO for EMC Corporation in Australia and New Zealand, discussed with the group on the evolution of cloud computing, the benefits it brings to business IT operations and he shared some great examples of how cloud computing is being used in the market now.

Ian Farquhar an Advisory Technology Consultant for RSA (security division for EMC) briefed the group on the security aspects of cloud computing. He identified and explained the risks involved for both private and public clouds and outlined some important considerations to take into account when considering these applications.

The CFO Network is an initiative of Azure Group to bring together CFOs working primarily with SMEs in order to share ideas, experiences and to connect with like minded professionals.

We also shared with the group that Azure Group is launching a Linked In networking group, CFO Network Australia, to allow members to interact, connect and share ideas online. I personally look forward to connecting with everyone and continuing the discussion online.

The next CFO Network event is scheduled for Wednesday, 18 May and we will be announcing the next topic on the Linked In group in the coming weeks.