Brian Kilcourse (Principal Analyst, Retail Systems Research) hosted the April 2008 Executive Collaboration Roundtable Series, which focused on improving retail customer loyalty. Dick Cantwell (Vice President, Industry Business Solutions Group, Retail and Consumer Products Group) and Ed Jimenez (Director, Market Management) from Cisco were also on hand to offer a unique perspective for increasing customer loyalty and profits through the implementation of a lean retail architecture.

The discussion also addressed the issues of minimizing IT complexity, reducing technology bottlenecks at stores and data centers, realizing 20 to 30 percent cost savings in store by moving applications to the data center, and using technology to create differentiating experiences and scale to provide consistency and brand loyalty.

Brian Kilcourse, recognized as one of the top retail technology leaders in the United States, is a managing partner at Retail Systems Research LLC ("RSR Research"), a company focused on delivering research, strategies, and knowledge for the extended retail industry.

Formerly President & Chief Executive of Retail Systems Alert Group (RSAG), Brian is a recognized leader in retail technology practices. Brian is a frequent public speaker on subjects ranging from emerging technologies to IT governance and best practices. He also has led training seminars on the subject of "selling IT to retail." Brian has authored recent research reports on Multi-Channel Retailing, Customer Data Security, RFID, Business Intelligence, Services Oriented Architectures (SOA), and Software as a Service (SaaS).

Previously, Brian was the SVP & CIO at Longs Drug Stores for ten years from 1993 through 2002. One of the top retail CIO's in the United States during his tenure, Kilcourse was named one of the Premier 100 IT Leaders by Computerworld magazine and by Information Week as leader of the #1 retail IT shop in 2001. Kilcourse is a member of several technology company advisory boards, including Borland and GoldenGate.

A long time San Francisco Bay Area resident, Brian holds a BA degree in Management from St. Mary's College of Moraga, CA.