Interview with Howard Marks, Founder and Chief Scientist @DeepStorageNet

By @Rose_at_O & @Olivia_at_O

Howard Marks can be found online at DeepStorage.net, on Twitter @DeepStorageNet or follow his blog at NetworkComputing.com. Based on the US East Coast, Howard will be in London next month to keynote a virtualization seminar at the Hilton Metropole on June 28th. He recently delivered the seminar in Montreal and will also keynote the seminar in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 7th.

Q.  Tell us a bit about yourself: 

My first job out of college, where I studied chemistry, was at Lifeboat Associates which was then the world’s largest software distributor. Of course it was 1980 so we were still a small business best known as being able to put CP/M software on any of a hundred disk formats.  From there I started the first Novell reseller in New York and ended up as a consultant for 25 years working across servers, storage and networking.

To promote myself as a consultant I started writing at PC Magazine in 1987 and have written hundreds of articles and product reviews.

 Q. Tell us a little bit about DeepStorage.net and its interest in data storage. 

As the publishers all closed their test labs I realized that users and vendors both still needed the independent hands-on validation reviews provided. So I took the test lab I built for magazine reviews and turned it to validating products with the vendors, rather than publishers, paying the bill.  Since I spent the last 7 years or so as the resident storage guy at Network Computing we’re mostly concentrating on storage and related technologies.

Basically we take equipment into the lab and tell the world how it really performed. I also spend a lot of my time explaining storage technologies and how to use them in papers, seminars and webinars.

Q. What’s hot in storage this year? 

I’m excited about the continuing impact flash is having on storage design. I’m paying particularly close attention to the next generation storage arrays from vendors like

Journalist Q&A with Bertrand Gare, Editor in Chief of L’informaticien

By @Rose_at_O, @Olivia_at_O

Bertrand Gare is Editor in Chief of French ICT publication L’informaticien (or, in English, “Computer Scientist”), a monthly magazine with an accompanying website that is updated daily, along with a free newsletter.

 Q. Tell us about yourself.

I’m Editor in Chief of L’informaticien, a French-language publication for IT professionals. I’m also Associate Director of analyst firm Jemm Research, which specialises in IT infrastructure and consulting for large enterprises. My first job was at IPSOS, where I was in charge of all the sourcing of people for juries on insurance. In 1992, I was asked by a friend with a radio station to be responsible for an Asian radio program; after that, I became a journalist for a press agency focused on Asia and slowly began to specialise in technology.

Q. Tell me about your publication and its interest in IT.

 The print magazine now has over 20,000 readers, including IT professionals, administrators and project chiefs. It is very focused on technology in the field; in fact, there is actually computing code within the magazine from time to time. The website is more news-led than the magazine. Compared with other French IT publications, our magazine’s articles are lengthy, running from three to eight pages. That means we always take the time to provide analysis, not just bald facts. With today’s free news model, information has no value other than that added by the magazine.

Visit Countdown2CloudExpo.com for an interview with blogger David Terrar

Countdown2StorageExpo readers may be interested in a Q&A session just posted on our cloud computing-focused blog, Countdown2CloudExpo.com, with David Terrar (@DT on Twitter). David is a blogger and CEO of a cloud service provider in IBM’s social media speakeasy. He has some interesting views on how to use the cloud and social media to promote your business.

To read the interview, please visit http://countdown2cloudexpo.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/dt/.

Meet Peter Judge, Editor of TechWeekEurope UK

By Rose Ross, @Rose_at_O

Q. Hello Peter.  Would you start by telling us a little about your professional self and your publication?

I have been a journalist for 25 years, aaargh.  To my surprise, I now find myself editor of TechWeekEurope, a proper news site which, after three years, continues to go from strength to strength.  TWE is for technology decision makers.  Our aim is to examine the business implications of IT developments.  As you might imagine, that means we are particularly interested in mobile, security, the public sector, the cloud, and sustainable IT.

Analyst Q&A with Clive Longbottom, Founder of Quocirca

By Rose Ross, @Rose_at_O

Q.  Tell us a bit about yourself. 

I’m on a quest to debunk technology, putting it back where it belongs as a pure facilitator to business process.  I’m also on a quest to try and make briefings with industry analysts a bit more fun. Let’s have a bit of a laugh and enjoy things, rather than getting too serious and spoiling each other’s day.

Q. Tell us a little bit about your analyst firm and its interest in information technology (including storage, security, mobile, cloud and virtualization).

Quocirca was set up to be a firm with analysts who are big enough to have their own views.  Talking with a Quocirca analyst should not have any “company views”, but should be from the analyst’s own heart – their feelings, their experiences, their take on the markets based on research amongst large and small companies worldwide, face-to-face discussions with end users and vendors and a hard-headed dose of reality thrown in.  All our public output is available completely free of charge without any need to subscribe or register – just go to the web site and take whatever you want!  All the above technologies are inherent to the problems that organisations are dealing with – therefore, Quocirca covers them all, but in a contextually aware manner that fits each part in to an organisation’s needs, rather than looking at them as pure technology plays.

Q. What’s hot in IT this year? 

Mainly confusion.  Vendors are trying to stake their claims to various different parts of the market, as are different parts of the channel – as well as industry bodies, analysts and the media.  2012 will be the year of cloud and big data, followed in 2013 by the year of sorting out the mess caused by wrong implementations of technology to underpin these strategies, poor business models from providers and confusion from end-users.  I’d keep away from what’s hot, and concentrate on what’s right

Q&A with Jessica Twentyman, Freelance Technology Writer & Editor

By Rose Ross @Rose_at_O

Jessica Twentyman has worked as a writer and editor for some of the UK’s major business and trade titles, including the Financial Times, Sunday Telegraph, Director, Computer Weekly and Personnel Today.

Q.  Tell us a bit about yourself.

I live in a tiny, rural corner of central Portugal in a cottage that my clever husband is renovating for us. It’s a pretty unlikely venue for tech journalism. I’ve been writing about business technology since 1995 and went freelance in 2004. What interests me most is

Check out the Countdown2Infosecurity blog for a Q&A with Andrew Seldon, Editor, Hi-Tech Security Solutions

Storage and security are closely related, according Andrew Seldon, Editor of Hi-Tech Security Solutions, a leading IT security publication in South Africa. In an interview with the Countdown2Infosecurity blog team, Seldon said, “IT is playing a larger role in traditional security – so much so that some IT integrators are seeing security as another function of IT.” Because of this, the publication’s scope has expanded to include storage technologies, because, as Seldon said, “none of these solutions will work if not secured.”

For more information, please see the interview here: http://wp.me/purzn-dg

New UK channel publication launches. Will Channelbiz be the biz for the Storage Channel?

By Rose Ross, @Rose_at_O

Today sees the launch of Channelbiz.co.uk, a pure play daily online channel magazine that is set to break the mould, from NetMediaEurope – the leading online IT publishing house.

According to NetMediaEurope’s announcement. Channelbiz is a channel title with a difference, because in addition to covering breaking news, the site aims to demonstrate to distributors and resellers the benefits in using emerging and nascent technologies to cut costs and to add those extra points to the bottom line.

The magazine will provide pithy comment pieces, interviews with important senior managers in the industry, and leading edge technology profiles.

Industry news: Wired.co.uk launch Silicon Europe and Ideas Bank content hubs (v @FeaturesExec blog)

By Rose Ross, Rose_at_O

Some exciting news on developments at Wired.co.uk. Looks like any aspiring European start-ups should ensure that these guys are on firmly on the radar. Hints on contibuting to Wired.co.uk can be found here.

A repost from the www.featuresexec.com

Wired.co.uk launch content hubs

• By Chris Sedgwick

Wired.co.uk has launched two content hubs – Silicon Europe and Ideas Bank.

Silicon Europe will showcase hot new start-ups, dissect business failures and provide advice from experienced business leaders about how to get funding and avoid common pitfalls.

Ideas Bank is an extension of the existing magazine section. It will host regular guest posts from people with strong opinions about new trends, challenges facing their industry or a disruptive solution to an existing problem.

Call all Storage gurus: #SNWEurope Call For Papers now open

By Rose Ross, AKA Rose_at_O

Calling all storage experts as the ‘call for papers’ for the SNW Europe, Datacenter Technologies and Virtualization World conferences is now open. The event billed as part of the “Powering the Cloud” experience takes place this year on 30th and 31st October in Frankfurt, Germany. As the event stradles Halloween, I wonder if we’ll have any scary storage storytelling? Perhaps darkened rooms, upward pointing torchlight of the presenter’s faces? Well you’ll have to just wait and see if you’re brave enough – We will, of course, be doing trick or treating to the stands during the expo. So you’ve been warned exhibitors, have your candy ready or you know the consequences!!!

Deadline for submissions is 27th April 2012

Click here to submit papers online

We interviewed one of the organizers Paul Trowbridge about his top tips for success in securing a speaker slot here.

The official line from this year’s website is as follows:

They are looking for quality submissions from IT end-users, consultants, industry analysts and system integrators/VARs, describing case studies or technology update sessions that focus on real-world deployments and/or methods and best practices to evaluate new, existing or future solutions.

Submissions from IT vendors may also be considered but it is vital that these sessions be delivered in a vendor-neutral/product-agnostic manner. To encourage contemporary content, they request that all proposals discuss fresh deployments.  Submissions will be ranked and selected by the Conference Committee based on suitability and adherence to these submission guidelines.

Sponsoring vendors please note:  Speaking slot entitlements that are included in your sponsorship package should NOT be submitted via this process.

Hot Topics:

• Cloud Security
• BIG DATA
• Desktop/client Virtualisation
• Converged Infrastructures
• Next Generation Data Protection
• Solid State Storage
• Public/Private Cloud storage solutions
• Outsourcing, Hosting and co-location
• The delivery of managed services

Other Technology Topics of interest:

• Big data solutions
• Business Continuity: Protection, Archiving, Backup & Recovery
• Business Intelligence / Data Warehousing
• Cloud Service Providers / Managed Service Providers
• Converged Data Center Networks
• Data Archiving and Digital Preservation
• Data Center/ IT Infrastructure
• Data Governance / Regulatory / Compliance / E-Discovery
• Data Lifecycle Management
• Data Storage-as-a-Service (DaaS) and Cloud
• Data Security / Data Encryption
• Desktop virtualization’s impact on storage
• Emerging Technologies and Services
• Green Storage / Energy Efficient IT / Green Computing
• Enterprise Content Management / Document Management
• High Performance Computing
• Implementation of Cloud Storage Solutions
• Information and IT Security
• Information Management
• Infrastructure convergence
• SaaS and Data Migration
• Solid State Storage
• Storage Networking
• Storage Resource Management
• Systems Integration / Corporate IT Architecture / SOA
• Virtual Data Center / Outsourcing / Hybrid Cloud
• Virtualized Environments & Storage / Server Virtualization

We’ll see you in Frankfurt in October and have already spied a great venue for #storagebeers (See we do love you!) The Champions bar in the Marriott is OK, but this new venue is hopefully “wunderbar” (I know don’t give up the day job for a career in comic writing!)