Well that is a relief for everyone with a foot in both the VMWorld and IP EXPO camps. After a clash of dates last year! (We felt your pain!) VMWorld dates have moved to 9-11 October http://www.vmworld.com/index.jspa a week or so before www.ipexpo.co.uk on 17-18 October 2012.

This means we don’t need to invent a time machine or cloning technology before the Fall. Instead we can relax and top up our tans in Barcelona and enjoy some vBeers and a few siestas before hitting the showfloor at Earls Court 2 by day and the Atlas pub for #storagebeers by night.

The team is unclear as to why the dates have moved but like many others who’d love to be at both and those who exhibit at both it is a welcome respite.

Hooray!

Original text by by cjdreher. Edited for the blog by Rose Ross, @Rose_at_O

HP Discover 2012 Call For Papers Is Now Open- Saying Viva La Innovacion!

By Rose Ross, AKA @Rose_at_O

Q.  Tell us a bit about yourself:

I started to work in this industry in the beginning of the 90’s and spend time at many different vendors (Compaq, SGI, Veritas, Symantec and Brocade) for various technical and marketing positions. I initiated a file collaboration project named KerStor and also started a consulting and marketing services firm (Condor Consulting Group) and we launched the IT Press Tour in June 2010. I also initiated and drive SNIA France regional committee for almost 10 years since 2001 and was 2 times European board of director member. I also participated in many various aspects with SNIA US activities.

Q. Tell us a little bit about the titles you write for and their interest in data storage.

I started 2 blogs in French about Data Protection and File Storage respectively in September 2005 and June 2006. As today, it represents 1000+ blog posts representing the #1 independent storage blogs in France, as it is not affiliated with any vendor.

Q. What’s hot in storage this year?

SSD/Flash for sure, Convergence of many Virtualization aspects, Dispersed Storage, DeDup and File Storage with Collaboration and Federation in many flavors and of course Cloud Storage.

Q. How many storage events do you attend each year?

Between 3 to 5.

Q. Which one are you most looking forward to?

I used to go to SNW USA twice a year, it was fantastic and independent. I also participated many times in SNW Europe, it’s a very good European event. And today, it‘s difficult to avoid EMCWorld and VMWorld, 2 very big and hot conferences but initiated by a vendor.

Q. What types of stories or companies are likely to attract your attention this year?

Startups in hot segments with real innovations.

Q. How many interviews do you do per week?

Probably 1 or 2 but it’s really variable.

Q. What’s the best way to pitch a story to you? Email? Phone? Twitter? By mail?

Email, Phone and Twitter and face-to-face during tour or conferences of course.

Q. Who is worth listening to (about storage)?

I like to speak with CEOs and CTOs especially ones who created things (products), had and continue to have the vision and launched some famous companies.

Q. What’s your favourite blog?

It’s not a blog but more a daily news letter, StorageNewsLetter.com, the famous from JJ Maleval, a good friend of mine, I give him many startup names, info about people movement, products news… If yo’re lookgin for astorage news, no doubt JJ has it so only 1 site to remember (www.StorageNewsLetter.com).

And mine:

http://continuousdataprotection.blogspot.com/ and

http://filestorage.blogspot.com/

Q. What is your favourite piece of technology?

File Storage

Q. What do you think is the most important development in storage to date?

SSD/Flash, DeDupe, Collaboration/Federation File access and usage and Storage ubiquity access with Cloud Storage.

Q. What is the best piece of advice for companies pitching stories?

Be fun, realistic but invite us to dream.

Keep things simple and efficient, obvious remark but not easy to do.

Q. What was the best press trip you’ve ever been on? Worst? Why?

Of course the IT Press Tour I organize based on comments journalists gave me.

Q. What’s your favourite restaurant?

Some US steak houses such as Morton’s or Ruth’s. But I love Lebanese and Italian food.

Q. Are you a social media lover? Which ones are you on? FB? LinkedIn? Twitter?

I use B2B tools so I prefer Twitter (@CDP_FST), LinkedIn and continue to consider Blog as a very good way to stay independent.

Q. Tell us something no one knows about you. Do you have any unusual or unexpected hobbies/interests? Do you have a claim to fame?

I’m a competitor and used to do a lot of sport especially Tennis so invite me to a sport event and I’ll never forget the moment.

Have you worked on an environmentally friendly IT project or carbon-offsetting scheme in the last 12 months? Do you sell an energy-efficient storage technology? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then you may want to nominate your company or product for the third annual Green IT Awards.

The Green IT Awards give UK companies and public sector bodies the opportunity to highlight and be rewarded for their work in improving the IT industry’s environmental performance.

Nominations are free, and there are 22 categories to choose from. If you are a finalist, you may want to attend the awards ceremony, which will take place at The London Zoo in Regent’s Park.

For more information on the awards and to see how you can get involved please visit: www.greenitawards.com. Before you nominate, make sure you read the judging criteria.

Good luck to all this year’s entrants from the Countdown team!

TechWeekEurope UK, the business IT website, has launched an Events channel, giving a comprehensive run down of events for professionals in the IT sector.

The Events channel gathers in one place a wealth of information, giving the UK’s tech community a single source for a detailed view of IT happenings. It covers exhibitions, conferences, workshops, seminars and training events for IT, marketing and PR professionals in the UK. All the listings contain full details and contacts, and can be viewed as a list or on a calendar.

“Despite the current economic climate, the UK’s IT sector still has a huge demand for education and information, provided by a thriving events community,” said Peter Judge, Editor of TechWeekEurope UK. “Our new channel aims to give users access to the events and training they need.”

Each event has a dedicated page, with information including a location map, and the aims of the event. The channel is filling rapidly, and has space for readers’ discussion and feedback – allowing users to enter details of their own events and launches.

The TechWeekEurope Events Channel can be found on: http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/category/events

By Rose Ross, AKA @Rose_at_0

CloudCamp is an unconference where early adopters of Cloud Computing technologies exchange ideas. With the rapid change occurring in the industry, we need a place where we can meet to share our experiences, challenges and solutions. At CloudCamp, you are encouraged to share your thoughts and experience in several open discussions, as we strive for the advancement of Cloud Computing. End users, IT professionals and vendors are all encouraged to participate.

The Big Data Special

Departing from the norm, for this CloudCamp we have a theme – ‘Big Data’ – a perfect use case for the cloud and the cloud is a perfect place to store, manage and analyse big data. Or is it? come along, find out and discuss, let us know what you think.  Of course if you have non data related cloud questions and opinions you’ll have the opportunity to voice them.

As always the unconference will provide vendor neutral unbiased expert opinion, answering questions and discussing issues in a fun and educational way, along with the opportunity to network with cloud users, consultants and vendors.  It is a forum where you can get your cloud questions answered in a unbiased way and meet people with real cloud experieince.

We keep vendor sales pitches to a minimum by giving the audience ‘red cards’ – if you don’t like what the speakers are saying send them off!

The Venue

    The Crypt , St James Church, Clerkenwell Close, London, EC1R 0EA.

    http://www.jc-church.org/findus.htm

The Agenda

    With an introduction to CloudCamp from Simon Wardley @swardley of the Leading Edge Forum

   Followed by Lightning Talks – short 5 minute educational, non-sales, and entertaining talks. Lightning Talks speakers include: Peter Matthews, Research Staff Member at CA Technologies;

        Mark Wilson, Fujitsu; Chris Swan, UBS and Matt Wood, EMEA Evangelist AWS

And as always to round off the evening – beer and pizza. A perfect Cloudcamp evening for sure! See you there!

More at http://www.cloudcamp.org/london

Register Now for EMC World 2012 & Select Your Early Bird Gift

May 21-24 | Las Vegas

Talk is cheap, but talk at EMC World not so much. Early Bird Registration is $1,995 but you do get a choice of a free gift which you can pick up when you register onsite. The deadline for the free gift and reduced cost offer is the end of Feb (And as it’s a leap year this year that’s Feb 29th)

FYI – For your free gift you can choose from an Amazon Kindle Fire, an iPod touch, a Nintendo 3DS or a complimentary Evening Guest Pass.

So you should budget with airfare and accommodation this is unlikely to cost less than $3K out of your event budget.

So what do you get?

The conference registration package includes access to keynotes, super sessions, breakouts, birds-of-a-feather sessions, hands-on labs, and the Solutions Pavilion. It also includes your access to evening events as well as continental breakfast and lunch Monday through Thursday.

If you just want to network – trying your luck with the slot machines or grab some time by the pool during the day – you can opt for an Evening Guest Pass.

The evening guest pass provides your guest with access to the Sunday and Wednesday evening events. Passes cost $155 USD and can be purchased either online or onsite in Las Vegas, while supplies last. No refunds will be provided for cancelled evening guest passes purchased either online or onsite at the event. Please note: Only purchase if you require a pass for a guest traveling with you to Las Vegas; the Conference Registration package includes your access to these events.

The event is billed as a “Not to be missed” a chance to learn how cloud can transform your IT, and how Big Data can transform your business. This is a unique opportunity to transform yourself—from advanced technical training, to meet-ups with some of the industry’s most influential thought leaders, EMC World can help you transform and realize the benefits of delivering IT-As-A-Service.

•          Learn directly from EMC engineers, customers, and partners at 500+ sessions and hands-on labs geared for novices to experts.

•          Explore integrated solutions with 100+ exhibitors in the Solutions Pavilion.

•          Connect with thousands of your peers at exciting networking events.

You can find out more here.

There is an impressive array of sponsors and exhibitors from the EMC ecosystem:

21st Century Software, Inc. DoubleBridge Technologies, Inc. MicroStrategy, Inc. Selectica ADVA Optical Networking enChoice, Inc. NetWitness SmartOptics Agilysys fme-US, LLc newScale Snowbound Software AHEAD Forefront Technologies NORTHERN STEC Inc. Anobit FusionStorm NTP Software SunGard Availability Services APTARE Generis Oxygen Cloud SYNNEX Corporation Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions GridIron Systems, Inc. Panduit Corporation Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Aspera, Inc. iCONECT Development, LLC Paragon Solutions Themis Computer ATTO Technology, Inc. Impact Innovations Systems, Inc. Perficient Trinity Technologies AvePoint,Inc. Index Engines Precise TriTek Solutions Avnet Technology Solutions Info X Distribution Predixion Software Varonis Axxana Informative Graphics Corp. Presidio Networked Solutions Veeam Software Corporation BMC Software Ingram Micro QLogic Virtensys, Inc. Box Innovation Data Processing Quantum Watch4net BRT, Inc. International Computerware, Inc. (ICI) Reveille Software Wingspan Technology, Inc. Citrix Systems Intransa, Inc. Samsung Electronics America, Enterprise Business Division Wyse Technology, Inc. Computer Design & Integration LLC Kroll Ontrack Sanbolic, Inc. XTRAC Solutions CYA Technologies, an enChoice company LiveOffice SANpulse Technologies Xybion Corporation DTS Software, Inc. Metalogix SAS Institute, Inc. Zettapoint, Inc.

How we love Jean-Jacques Maleval and the Storage Newsletter. This time they have put together a great overview of the storage industry in 2011 – looking at the start-up community, funding etc.

To pull out a couple of interesting facts from our perspective:

• Firstly, but not too surprisingly, we see where the storage start-up action is:
• In pole position is the US with 265 of the start-ups; trailed by a good few laps by France (17), the UK (15), Canada (12) and Israel with (11)

• The storage start-up birth rate is not as strong as it was at its strongest (12 years ago before the dot com crash) with a whopping 95 start-ups – positive baby boomer time. Last year we saw around 12 new storage start-ups formed down from 19 in 2010.

Ka-ching!

But on the positive according to Storage Newsletter 2011 was a “Record Year in Financial Funding
2011 was a record since 2003 in the amount received by storage start-ups” totaling over $1 billions

In total, it was reported that 16 start-ups secured over $20 million in VC funding in 2011. The story here in full

Well we’ll all be keeping a keen eye on the space and of course hopefully we’ll see many of you next week in London to celebrate 2011 and ring in New Year storage style with some #storagebeers. (A rendition of Auld Lang Syne is not planned, Maybe Jessie J will pop by and blast out some tunes? “It’s not about the money. money. It’s not about the money, money, money. Just want to make the world dance. Forget the price tag….” Unlikely, but you never know what might happen at one of these things.:) )

PS – Details of the location here courtesy of @Storagebod, storagebeers keeper of the pint glass of (calling) time.

Two new kids on the publishing block hit the digital newsstands this month. A great start to 2012 for us tech media lovers.

Following the launch late last year of Datanami, this month sees the birth of the Datanami e-newsletter, providing a compilation of the latest news and developments taking place within the world of big data in an easy to read weekly format. And of course BIG data needs BIG storage so there are stories a plenty with a storage flavour. Datanami comes to us from Tabor Communications, publishers of HPCWire and HPC in the Cloud.

Nicole Hemsoth, contributing editor for HPCwire and former editor of HPC in the Cloud, is managing editor of Datanami, and brings insights from the world of high performance computing as well as cloud in frastructure to the new challenges created by big data. She blends news and perspectives from across the academic and enterprise spheres on the larger canvas of technologies and trends that are reshaping computing across all sectors.

 This month also sees Sift Media’s new title, Platform Cloud 9 go live. This is part of a wider portfolio of ITDM titles currently being planned by Stuart Lauchlan, Head of Publishing at Sift Media, and Paul Briggs, Publisher of Platform Cloud 9, Business Cloud 9 and PublicTechnology.net.

Platform Cloud 9 will be covering the `how’ of cloud computing, from cloud applications and services development and orchestration through to the systems, the software and management tools, and the underlying architectures which form the platforms that businesses can build services on. These are the services that fulfil their business needs.

So Platform Cloud 9 will be looking at the technologies of cloud computing through a filter marked `meeting the objectives of the business’.

Platform Cloud 9 will start publication in mid-January and the website will be www.platformcloud9.com. Martin Banks AKA Banksie is the Launch Editor.

Exciting stuff in big data and the cloud, both with a good dose of storage news and know-how in the mix. Bring on 2012. And yes, of course we are looking to secure some up close and personal time with Nicole and Martin to find out what makes them and their publications tick! We’ll keep you posted on progress.

A little treat for New Year’s Eve. We were luck enough to catch up with hot-footed storage analyst, Simon Robinson, Reseach Director at the451. Happy New Year to our readers and a big thank you to Simon, pictured here with his lovely son.

Q.  Tell us a bit about yourself: 

I’m an industry analyst working for 451 Research, where I run the storage research practice. I’ve been with the company since pretty much day one; I joined when the company formed at the height of the dot com madness in 2000. Before that I was a tech journalist; I joined VNU back in 1997 as part of a graduate trainee program, and from there worked on various online and print titles. I didn’t have a technology background — my degree was in Economics and I’d spent a couple of years working on the City Desk at the Press Association. So although I knew a bit about business and finance, learning how to be a reporter, craft a story, understand and then articulate often complex technologies and issues in a straight-forward way was an incredible challenge, but was an experience that has served me well.

Q. Tell us a little bit about your analyst firm and its interest in data storage. 

451 Research specialises in emerging technologies for enterprise IT; we follow the innovation lifecycle from the conception of an idea all the way to mainstream market adoption, and how this impacts a variety of stakeholders;  IT professionals, startups, large established vendors, investors, venture capitalists and the M&A industry. Of course, not all technologies make it, but that is what I love about this industry and my job. Storage is a big part of our focus – and has been for many years. It may not sound particularly exciting on the surface, but practically every major IT innovation of the last decade wouldn’t have been possible without storage, and lots of it! The level of innovation that this part of the industry churns out is a constant source of fascination for me, and each time you think the industry is done, along comes another wave of new and exciting stuff.

We are a fast growing company ourselves as well, and have a breadth and depth research services that sometimes surprises people; company reports, market reports, M&A reports, market sizing, and through a couple of recent acquisitions (The InfoPro and ChangeWave Research), end-user research. We currently have about 170 staff worldwide, with 20 or so in Europe and most of the rest spread across the US (though company HQ is in New York).

Q. What’s hot in storage this year? 

Without a doubt, solid state storage technology is the hottest issue right now. Solid state will become a mainstream technology at all levels of the enterprise over the next 5 years, and though it won’t replace traditional hard disk drives completely, it has the potential to significantly disruptive the storage market. We are tracking close to $1bn in funding in solid state startups, and we don’t think we have really got going yet.  Elsewhere, there are plenty of other hot topics and emerging technologies that we are following; the impact of virtualization on storage and data protection, the role of storage in the cloud, object storage, next-generation storage networking, and others.

Q. How many storage events do you attend each year? 

Probably 10-15 major events, but lots of smaller ones as well.

Q. Which one are you most looking forward to? 

Though they are becoming rarer, I always look forward to the bigger storage-centric events where you can immerse yourself in the latest storage goodness, such as EMC World and SNW Europe, while NetApp always puts on a very good analyst event. I visited IP Expo for the first time this year, and was impressed by the scale and energy, as well as the number of storage companies that were there.

Q. What types of companies are likely to attract your attention this year? 

Companies that have something interesting to say, and know how to say it. But of course we are always available to help those companies that need help with messaging and positioning!

Q. How many interviews do you do per week? 

That varies hugely, but it probably averages at about 3, though that number increases once you begin factoring in client calls.

Q. What’s the best way to pitch a company to you? Email? Phone? Twitter? By mail?

Good old email is still the best way for me — though I am always reachable by those other means as well. Just don’t leave me a voice mail on my office phone as I might not pick it up for a month or two!

Q. Who is worth listening to (about storage)? 

Apart from us? There are so many incredibly intelligent and articulate people in this industry that I wouldn’t want to single out any one individual. But i usually have at least one conversation a week that reminds me of why i enjoy coming to work.

Q. What’s your favourite blog?

I wouldn’t say I have a favourite blog, though there are many storage blogs that i at least attempt to keep up to date with. I think there are some real questions about the value and role of blogging in general, especially within the technology industry. There are some very well written blogs out there, and they do have a role, but many purport to be ‘independent’ when they are nothing of the sort. Some corporate blogs are useful up to a point, so long as you recognise they are a marketing tool. I generally lose interest in blogs that seem only to engage in FUD with competitors.
Q. What is your favourite piece of technology?

Well this isn’t IT, but i bought a nice road bike a couple of years ago. When I have a decent level of fitness and am humming along a quiet country lane at 30mph the bike does feel like an extension of my own body; it’s a fantastic machine, with incredible technology. I have also bought into the Apple hype recently, and as a result am getting more out of my computing — personal and professional – because it is just a better experience.
Q. What do you think is the most important development in storage to date? 

Well where would we be without the humble spinning disk drive? It has taken us through over 50 years of computing with the same basic idea, though of course the technology is now totally different; and it’s not going away, as real densities still continue to increase. I maintain that the future of storage is solid state (though whether Flash or something else is a different question), but we need to acknowledge the role of the HDD.

Q. What is the best piece of advice for companies pitching stories?

I think understanding the context and articulating the bigger picture is critical. I’m still a journalist at heart, so understanding the broader narrative of why this technology or issue is relevant is huge.

Q. What was the best business trip you’ve ever been on? Worst? Why?

I joined the tech industry as a journalist just as the dot com hype was going into overdrive, and the amount of money sloshing around to spend on journalists was, frankly, insane (especially since i was earning barely enough to cover my rent, bills and food). So I was lucky and managed to get on a few ‘jollies’; husky-dog sledding in Finnish Lapland and spending 4th July in New York (on my first ever business trip) stand out as highlights. My worst is a lot easier; it was a trip to Boston in January; it’s a long story, but as you can imagine a winter storm came in, my flight got diverted to Atlantic City, and I ended up hiring a car and driving through the night to get to the meeting just as it was due to start; only to find out it was canceled due to bad weather!

Q. What’s your favourite restaurant?

Another easy one; I lived in San Francisco for a couple of years, and my wife and I really got into eating sushi. There was this little, no frills place in our neighbourhood that came up with the most fantastic creations. I make a point of heading there every time I visit.
Q. Are you a social media lover? Which ones are you on? FB? LinkedIn? Twitter?

I am connected to most forms of social media, though I confess I’m not prolific on any of them; though I do think it’s increasingly necessary to have some sort of social media presence, even if the real value is sometimes hard to quantify. I do try to keep business and personal stuff separate though, so I tweet about work stuff and use Facebook for personal stuff.
Q. Tell us something no one knows about you. Do you have any unusual or unexpected hobbies/interests? Do you have a claim to fame?

No real claims to fame — I’m just an ordinary bloke from the North of England. I have participated in a few triathlons in recent years; though I hesitate to call myself a triathlete, it is a great sport if you are interested in setting yourself individual goals. I took a year off this year as we had our first baby, and finding time to sleep has been hard enough, never mind train. But I hope to be back in the saddle in 2012!