General Session / Friday / June 3, 2022 / 8:00 AM
Build It or Buy It? What You Should Consider First
When going down the path to implementing interactive technology, organizations must ask themselves: does it make more sense for us to buy it or build it ourselves? Off-the-shelf software, for example, is generally a one-size-fits-all proposition, with some customization possible. Building your own app, for example, means it can have all the customized features you want, but building it out may be a long and expensive proposition. Some find that the answer may be a hybrid of the two approaches.
PANELISTS
MODERATOR
J Ackley | Vice President, Spark Technologies Development | Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc.
J Ackley is the Vice President of Spark Technologies Development for Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc. and oversees all company technology development platforms. Ackley has over 25 years’ experience in the technology field and previously served in an executive role that served many Fortune 100 companies that included Walmart, Albertsons, and Dollar General. He has participated in several panels including the Gilbane conferences on Content, Technology and the Customer Experience. Ackley received a degree in Business Computer Information Systems from the University of North Texas.
Kevin Armstrong | Chief Innovation Officer | Base22
Kevin Armstrong is Base22's Chief Innovation Officer. He has a twenty-five-year career leveraging his experience as a CTO, CIO, owner, and consultant. He successfully designs and implements business outcome-focused solutions while applying innovation methodologies to lead and support transformational enterprise initiatives for commercial and public clients.
Richard Bell | Senior Director of Enterprise Applications & Retail Systems | Krispy Kreme
As part of Krispy Kreme’s global, iconic brand Richard Bell’s key responsibilities include IT Strategy, Business Partner (HR, Operations, Marketing/Digital, International), Retail Systems, Workforce Management, People Systems, Data Warehousing, Integrations, Analytics and Application Development, Continuous Improvement, RPA. Previously, Richard was Vice President of Consulting Services / Principal Consultant for J.S. Walker & Company. Spanning nearly 20 years, Richard performed a range of roles from Developer to VP.
Cherryh Cansler | Vice President of Events | Networld Media Group
Before joining Networld Media Group as Vice President of Events, Cherryh Cansler spent several years as VP of Editorial managing Networld’s nine B2B publications. Throughout her 20-year career as a journalist, she’s written about a variety of topics, ranging from the restaurant industry and technology to health and fitness news. Her byline has appeared in a plethora of newspapers, magazines and websites, including Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine. She also serves as the managing editor for FastCasual.com.
