BE RELEVANT
TUG President Greg Chun on his 2009 U2U Keynote

In today's economic climate (crisis), most companies are tightening their belts with respect to capital budgets and expenses. This means that we all have to do more with what we have, and/or keep up with less because of cuts in resources, services, maintenance, etc.  Most people came to this year's conference with tighter budgets than previous years, or no budget at all! They came to find ways to do things better, less costly, more efficient, and hopefully contribute to their organizations in meaningful ways.

The main theme at this year's TUG 2009 U2U in Colorado Springs was "Be Relevant." Much of what IT and operations does is behind the scenes, infrastructure related.  Although this is critical to the business, today more than ever, is an opportunity for these departments to search out ways to truly contribute to their organization's goals (profitability, cost savings, revenue increases, customer relationships, etc.) In short, to make sure they are Being Relevant to their organizations in very real ways. Because if they are not considered relevant, IT is one of the few places that executive management may look for reductions. The disconnect, or lack of alignment, between IT and the business is well documented. This year is a prime opportunity, and maybe even a critical opportunity, to close that gap and make certain that IT is seen as a contributing factor to their company*s success. In short, you must Be Relevant.