IT/Dev Connections 2016 Speaker Highlight: Garth Jones

Part of an ongoing series, we're highlighting the excellent speakers we have handpicked to present phenomenal and extremely valuable content at the IT/Dev Connections conference. Want more? Get the Insider’s Scoop About IT/Dev Connections 2016 on September 8!

This speaker highlight is Garth Jones.

Garth's IT/Dev Connection sessions:

Recently, we asked Garth to give us a little information about himself. Here's what he shared:

ITDC: Give us a brief introduction to you.

Garth: My name is Garth Jones and I’m Chief Architect at Enhansoft, an Ottawa-based company that develops products and services to extend the value of System Center Configuration Manager, System Center 2012 Configuration Manager (CM12), System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (CM07) and System Center Intune.  I started working with Systems Management Server (SMS) back in 1996 and I’m an MVP for System Center Enterprise Client Management (formerly System Center Configuration Manager).  I’m also the lead author for System Center Configuration Manager Reporting Unleashed. You can find me hanging out within the Microsoft forums as well as on windows-noob.com and myITforum.com forums.

Something fun about me? I’m a proud Canadian and I love to watch movies (particularly old 80s movies), hockey and drinking whiskey. ;-)

ITDC: Describe the sessions you are presenting and why you feel the topic is important.

Garth: ConfigMgr Administrators are getting tripped up when creating reports. I have two sessions on creating fantastic reports for ConfigMgr. The first one will show you how to create a report for ConfigMgr. This is a great session if you want to learn how to create a report/dashboard for ConfigMgr, how to link the two reports /dashboard together and lots of tips and tricks!

My second session will take a deep dive in to Role Based Administration (RBA), I will first start by creating a RBA security role to limit what computers a Service Desk operator can view. Then I will show you how to take an existing report and convert it to RBA report by showing you the three main areas that need to be updated. Performance of RBA reports can be an issue, we will close out this session by showing you some tips and trick to get the most out of your RBA reports.

ITDC: What should attendees expect to be able to take away from your sessions?

Garth: This is a great question. When attendees return to their offices, they should be able to create a report that they can user within their environment. For those that attend the Role Based Administration session they should be able to convert or create a RBA report. They will understand the performance issues and will be able to limit their effect on the execution of the report.

ITDC: What is your primary reason to be excited about IT/Dev Connections?

Garth: Back in the day when I was relatively new to SMS, I attended a small conference about SMS in 2000. After returning from the conference I was so full of ideas that it took a while to implement then all and my organization saw real value upon my return to the office. As a presenter, you love to see attendees get excited about your sessions and it always reminds me of how I felt back in 2000 at that small conference.

ITDC: What is the one key technology you believe is changing the technology industry right now?

Garth: Wow, this is a loaded question, I’m not sure that there is just one! Mobile Device Management (MDM) is really important as companies come to terms with how to deal with smartphones that are both owned by the company and personally owned. But big data is equally important and management wants to make informed decisions that will affect the company’s bottom line. From a ConfigMgr perspective, “What is the Software Update compliance rate” and “What risks do we have if we don’t increase that rate?” and “How many copies of Office 2016 do we have?” or “Do we need more or less licenses?” It doesn’t stop there: For technology like cloud service, is it cost effective to host our own servers or should some/all be hosted by a cloud provider? So you can see there is not just one tech that is affecting the industry there are lots!

ITDC: Assuming attendees want to know, what’s your favorite, non-technical hobby or pastime? What’s one thing that totally irks you.

Garth: I love watching old 80’s movies and playing cards. I really dislike being cramped on a plane!

IT/Dev Connections runs from October 10 – October 13, at the ARIA Resort in Las Vegas. IT/Dev Connections has been designed specifically for IT, DevOps, and Developers. You can read all about what IT/Dev Connections offers you HERE.

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