Earlybirds – get your SNW speaker & sponsorship opps

Considering sponsoring or exhibiting at SNW Europe?

Better act fast: sponsorship, stands and speaking opportunities are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. According to SNW, “over 1,100 quality delegates attended in 2009 – an increase of 11% on 2008.” More information available at http://www.virtualizationworld.net/index.php

Contact Carly Stephens (cs@angelbcl.co.uk, +44 (0)1923 690200) to reserve your place.

Will you be attending SNW in 2010? Let the team know at countdown@launchpad-europe.com.

Research: Security concerns influence organisational enthusiasm for adopting cloud technologies

Security concerns influence organisational enthusiasm for adopting cloud technologies, says Launchpad Europe

 Launchpad Europe IT Security Index 2009 reveals that security plays an important role in whether organisations will choose to adopt cloud technologies

 Key findings:

● Half of respondents (49.5%) said their organisations were not using or planning to use any cloud technologies within the next 12 months

● “Security concerns” was the primary reason why organisations were not using the cloud (50%), followed by budgetary restraints (21.4%)

● Respondents’ top priority when considering vendor of cloud services was “security of the cloud infrastructure,” with the top vote of 37.9%.

 More info at our sister blog: http://countdown2infosecurity.com/2009/11/25/research-security-concerns-influence-organisational-enthusiasm-for-adopting-cloud-technologies/

Presentation submissions for SNW Spring conference: choosing the right deployment

The deadline for case study presentation submissions to next April’s SNW Spring conference in Orlando, Florida is approaching swiftly. You have until December 4th—just under a month—to choose your deployment and submit it for consideration as a presentation at SNW.

Rhetorical and persuasive abilities alone will not be enough to convince the judging panel your case study is a must-see. You need to choose the deployment most suitable for SNW’s criteria this year, and you need to communicate that suitability with absolute clarity. Guidelines: your entry must be a “fresh deployment not yet presented at other events,” and according to SNW, “case studies are scored, ranked and selected by the SNW Agenda Committee based on suitability and adherence to submission guidelines.”

In other words, there are two major criteria with which to comply: adherence to submission guidelines, which seems simple enough (the entry form is available at http://presenters.computerworld.com/2010/SNW/), and “suitability,” which is a little more complicated. Unfortunately, the SNW website does not explain what constitutes a “suitable” versus an “unsuitable” entry. I asked someone from SNW to clarify this, and she said, “The two most important criteria are that we are seeking case study presentations and that they must be VENDOR NEUTRAL and non-commercial.” The following is a list of storage topic areas that SNW is hoping to cover in the upcoming event:

•          Business Continuity
•          Cloud / Storage-as-a-Service
•          Compliance & E-Discovery
•          Data Protection, Backup and Disaster Recovery
•          Data Archiving
•          Data Center / Infrastructure
•          Deduplication
•          Document Management
•          Energy Efficient/Green Storage
•          Enterprise Content Management
•          File Systems and File Management
•          Green Storage
•          High Performance Computing
•          Managed Service Providers
•          Managing Complexity
•          Networking
•          Prosumer / SoHo and the Enterprise
•          Security
•          Solid State Storage
•          Storage Management
•          Systems Integration Expertise
•          Virtualization and Applications
•          Virtualized Environments and Storage / Server Virtualization

As you attempt to determine your case study’s suitability for SNW, it may help you to take a moment to familiarise yourself with SNW’s Twitter feed, @snwusa, and their website, www.snwusa.com. SNW’s list of presenters to-date is available here: http://www.snwusa.com/agenda.aspx.

Once you’re certain your case study is a fit for SNW, strive to make that suitability as clear as possible at every step of the submission—from your speaker’s biography to the learning objectives. Writing the submission should come naturally after you’ve chosen the right deployment; if not, email us. Our staff writers may be able to help.

Also from SNW: “Many case studies are presented by IT end-user executives and managers, and many vendor-neutral technology update sessions are delivered by vendor executives. (In either case, SNW will accept quality submissions from IT end-users, vendors, integrators, VARs, consultants and industry analysts.) To encourage contemporary content, we request that all proposals discuss fresh deployments not yet presented at other events.”

SNW is expecting more than 150 individual sessions to take place at this Spring’s conference.

Click here to submit: http://presenters.computerworld.com/2010/SNW/

Storage Expo is dead – Long live Countdown2StorageExpo

We’ve evolved: just a year after we purchased the countdown2storageexpo.com domain name, Storage Expo is no more. It has been re-jigged into a new event called 360 IT, which will take place for the first time on 22-23 September 2010.

We have decided not to take this news as an affront to our blog-naming skills, but rather as a sign from the storage gods that the Countdown2StorageExpo blog was meant to have a broader scope than just the one event.

So, in a spirit similar to 360 IT—which will be “dedicated to providing a holistic view of next-generation IT infrastructure”—the Countdown2StorageExpo blog will become your source for the past, present and future of storage news and events.

We will start bringing you news on a broader range of storage events than ever before, and we will start incorporating a more comprehensive point-of-view, with a keener awareness of past and present trends—after all, we’re evolved now.

Check back here for the latest news, analysis, commentary, interviews and updates to help you stay informed on data storage and prepared for upcoming storage industry events. Plus we’ll be sharing thoughts from storage land on what Storage Expo meant for the storage industry, and what its conclusion means for the industry’s future. Got an event with a storage flavour? Tell us about it! Email countdown@launchpad-europe.com and tell us the news. 

She tweets–she scores! Rose Ross named top storage Tweeter

Countdown’s own Rose Ross of Launchpad Europe (and Director of Omarketing) was recently named by Wikibon one of the leading storage professionals to follow on Twitter.

@Rose_at_O was remarkably humble on the occasion, tweeting: “Hello new storage savvy followers – I’ll endeavour not to disappoint and share some useful storage insights – Thanks.”

Wikibon’s list of storage gurus includes not only the most influential storage Tweeters, but also the most active data storage professionals on Twitter.

To view the full list, click here.

Know IT security? Want a free iPod Touch? Or how about a nio?

Well, now’s your chance!

Six respondents to The Launchpad Europe IT Security Index 2009 will win either an iPod Touch or a nio by TenBu.

To take the survey and enter the random drawing, simply click here or copy and paste the following secure link in your web browser: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=LC9EdhNR1N9X1A6LUA20DA_3d_3d

Just tell us how you and your company approach IT security challenges, and you’ll be given the opportunity to enter our random drawing to win a free iPod Touch or a nio by TenBu. The survey should take no more than 10 minutes.

Good luck and stay safe!

Time to pitch your tent! Data Centre World Conference – call for papers

Hello campers!

Yep, Data Centre World Conference has announced its call for papers — a fantastic  opportunity for datacentre’s finest to pull together some nuggets of wisdom to share in Feb 2010 at the DCW conference in London.

And we at Countdown are delighted to announce that John Hatcher, editor of Data Centre Management, will soon be answering some of our questions!

If you have any questions for John, please email the team@countdown@launchpad-europe.com or twitter us @launchpadeurope.

One little tip John has already shared is that presentations by and including end users (listen up, vendors!) will be of particular interest.

More info at: http://www.datacentremanagement.com or you can find them on twitter at: twitter.com/datacentremag

The official info from the organizers:

It’s that time of year again when we begin to look for presentations for next February’s Data Centre World Conference.

Like all conferences we are looking for the most relevant topics and up to the minute conference papers, and this year we have done some research with our potential audience to see what topics they would like to hear about.

As usual, the conference will have delegates from many of the FTSE-500 companies, with many being at CEO or CTO level.

Hot topics for next year include:

•              Cloud computing

•              Power & cooling

•              Energy Efficiency

•              Data Centre Design and Management.

However, this list is not prohibitive and we will also be looking for presentations on subjects such as:

•              Storage

•              Security

•              Management

•              Cabling

•              Outsourcing

•              Consolidation

•              KVM

•              Connectivity

Delegates would like to hear conference papers from other data centre managers, IT technical experts, analysts and most interestingly key figures from energy companies.

Initially for the conference could you please send in the following information, no later that 21 September, and we will then let you know who has made the initial selection in the following weeks. Any papers not initially selected will be put on a reserve list.

1.            Presentation title

2.            Brief synopsis

3.            Presentation length (max 40 minutes)

4.            Who should attend this session?

5.            What will delegates learn from this session?

6.            Why is this issue of interest to delegates?

7.            Proposed speaker biography

8.            Has this presentation been given before in the UK? If so, at which events?

Too busy tweeting to blog but will be heading here tomorrow night

BCS North London Branch event:

Working IT Out – Collaborative Conflict Resolution Wednesday 22nd July 2009 18:15 BCS, 1st floor, 5 Southampton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2

All Welcome

In times of job insecurity and growing pressure, is workplace conflict increasing?
What can employers do to provide a positive environment and prevent conflict?
How can employers and employees recognise and avoid potential conflicts?
When conflict cannot be avoided, how do you reach a resolution?
At this event we will explore a collaborative approach to controlling conflict.
We will demonstrate the tools and strategies that can be used to manage and resolve conflicts.

Come to this informative event to see and learn more

Our expert presenter is:

* CHARLES CHANG FBCS, CITP, Management Consultant

Hope to see you there

Meeting Peter Whitehead of the FT this evening

Please Direct Message or @ me on Twitter if there is anything you’d like to ask Peter this evening. You can reach me at: www.twitter.com/Rose_at_O

I shall share thoughts from Peter soon. So watch this space!

And the winner is…..

 

 Well, it could be you! Computing and BCS awards open for entries!

Let them know if this prestigious award should have your name on it

=========================

Entries are now open for the newly formed UK IT Industry Awards, to be held at the Battersea Park Events Arena on 12 November 2009. This new venture merges the BCS IT Industry Awards and Computing Awards for Excellence and creates a platform for the entire IT profession to showcase and celebrate best practice, innovation and excellence.

The UK IT Industry Awards recognise excellence and exceptional performance. The awards focus on the contribution of the individuals, organisations, teams and technologies that have excelled in the development and deployment of IT.

Submit your entry now at www.ukitindustryawards.co.uk

Entries must be received by 5pm on 17 July 2009

There are 25 new categories so I am sure you’ll find at least or maybe more that fit. Good luck! And get entering

Awards for Excellence and creates a platform for the entire IT profession to showcase and celebrate best practice, innovation and excellence. The UK IT Industry Awards recognise excellence and exceptional performance. The awards focus on the contribution of the individuals, organisations, teams and technologies that have excelled in the development and deployment of IT. Submit your entry now at www.ukitindustryawards.co.uk Entries must be received by 5pm on 17 July 2009 There are 25 new categories so I am sure you’ll find at least or maybe more that fit. Good luck! And get entering!