Award-winning speaker Carol Woodbury to offer advice on security compliance through series of workshops and her keynote speech to delegates at Australasia’s largest IBM user groups event.

US security compliance expert, author and award-winning speaker, Carol Woodbury will deliver the keynote speech at Interaction’s September 2008 annual conference in Australia’s Surfer’s Paradise. This significant event is the largest gathering of IBM solutions providers across Australia and New Zealand and is organized by IBM user group, Interaction. This annual conference will showcase the latest server technologies and provide the opportunity for IT professionals to discuss the hottest market topics including: hardware streams, solutions, programming and development, systems management, operating systems and networking, and IT future trends.

Woodbury is president of Skyview Partners Inc, a company specializing in security remediation services and automated security compliance solutions. Halcyon Software, the multi-platform systems management provider, is an authorized distributor for the Skyview solutions. Based in UK with an Australian subsidiary located in Melbourne, Halcyon is a platinum sponsor of Interaction. Advocating the importance of basing any security policy on sound analysis, Woodbury says, "Security compliance is a topic having a profound effect on our market as a whole. It all starts with a thorough analysis of the system security configuration." She adds, "Armed with these results, we believe in developing a security policy that makes sense for each individual business. The cost of compliance can be substantial and with more laws, regulations and standards emerging, companies need to figure out how to automate and drive down the cost of compliance."

In addition to her keynote speech, Woodbury will be offering specific security compliance advice and conducting workshops throughout the duration of Interaction. A renowned industry authority and inspiration, Woodbury will focus her workshops on everyday issues faced by those IT professionals responsible for ensuring their organization protects data and complies with relevant security compliance legislation. These workshops will offer grass-roots, practical advice regarding Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, the Payment Card Industry (PCI), Data Security Standards and best practice for IT security. Each attending delegate will receive a complimentary copy of Woodbury’s new security compliance handbook, Compliance Without the Complexities – a guide for IT professionals.

Interaction is a non-profit membership-based organization serving the constantly evolving and changing business needs of users of IBM products and services. It was formed by amalgamating three separate user groups--Australasian SHARE/GUIDE, COMMON Australasia and Team RS/6000--into a single entity. Interaction now offers an even more effective, focused forum and continues to be a valuable resource for its members.

Interaction’s mission is to:

• Independently present its members comments, concerns and suggestions to IBM
• Assist its members to maximise the benefits obtained from the use of IBM products and services
• Provide insight into IBM trends and directions, via meetings, conferences and other communications technology as determined most suitable for Interaction members

About Halcyon Software

Halcyon Software Australia Pty Ltd. is the authorized distributor in Australasia for Skyview’s automated compliance solutions. Halcyon Software Ltd. is an international software company with over 19 years experience in systems management. Halcyon writes software for IBM midrange servers as well as Windows, Linux, UNIX, AIX and Netware platforms. Large multinational companies, corporate data centres, as well as small to medium-sized businesses use Halcyon Software products to proactively manage and automate their IT operations.

Halcyon’s Head Office is based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, and its software is used throughout the world with distributors in Europe, Middle East, Asia-PAC and the USA and a subsidiary company based in Melbourne, Australia. Customers include Cap Gemini, Avon Cosmetics, Raleigh, Quiksilver, Patties Foods, Tyco Electronics and Budget Insurance.