Mark Your Calendars - IBM Pulse2012 and IBM Edge2012

az990tony — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:34:00 GMT

Mark your calendars! If you work in IT and have an interest in storage, then there are two upcoming conferences you might be interested in attending!

Join a network of your peers at [IBM Pulse2012] who are fundamentally and cost-effectively changing the economics of IT and speeding the delivery of innovative products and services. With four days of top-notch education, Pulse 2012 will help you react with agility in changing competitive landscapes, reduce vulnerability throughout the service lifecycle, and continuously improve the business impact of the technology.

I presented at the very first IBM Pulse back in May 2008, which was a combination event to cover Tivoli Storage, Maximo and Netcool. For a bit of nostalgia, read my 2008 blog posts:

In 2009, IBM decided to launch its "Dynamic Infrastructure" initiative at Pulse. Here were my blog posts:

In 2010, IBM announced [Tivoli Storage Manager v6.2].

In 2011, I was unable to attend, so I sent my colleague Tom Rauchut as my on-the-scene correspondent. At this event, IBM launched its Smarter Computing initiative.

The IBM Pulse conference has certainly evolved over the past few years! The agenda is not yet finalized, so I don't know if I will be there again this year.

The second event has a new name. [IBM Edge2012] is the premier storage event that brings together innovative IBM technologies, world class training, leading industry experts, and compelling client success stories and best practices. Edge2012 is dedicated to helping you design, build and implement efficient storage infrastructure solutions.

We started doing these back in the mid-90s, entitled the "IBM Storage Symposium", then later the "IBM System Storage and Storage Networking Symposium". In 2007, I was there in Las Vegas presenting on a variety of topics. See my blog post [Storage Symposium 2007 recap].

In 2008, we had a version of the Storage Symposium down in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Not only did I present, but it was also a "book signing" event for my first book [Inside System Storage: Volume I]. Here were my blog posts: [Introduction], and [Conclusion]. We also had an event in the United States, as well as Montpelier, France, but since I already went to the one in Mexico, I let my colleagues go to these other ones instead.

In 2009, IBM experimented with combining two conferences under one roof in Chicago, IL. The IBM System Storage and Storage Networking Conference was combined with the IBM System x and BladeCenter Technical Conference. The idea was that server people would probably also be interested in storage, and storage admins might also be interested in x86-based servers. See my blog post [Storage Symposium 2009 recap].

In 2010, System Storage and System x were once again combined, held in Washington DC, but the conferences were renamed to IBM System Storage Technical University and the IBM System x Technical University to give them a common look and feel. See my blog post [Storage University 2010 review].

In 2011, not satisfied that two data points was inconclusive, IBM continued the experiment, hosting both System Storage and System x conferences in Orlando, Florida. Here were my blog posts:

The results are now in. While I think it is admirable to run multiple conferences at the same time in the same place can help reduce costs and consolidate adminstration, it can have its drawbacks also. In the case of System Storage and System x, we learned a few things:

Having System x and Storage in the same conference gave the appearance that the conference was not focused on either. At smaller companies, there might be people who manage both x86 servers and storage, but at larger companies, servers and storage are managed by separate people, often in separate departments with different travel budgets.
Nearly all of IBM's storage attaches to IBM System x servers. However there are some clients that run AIX, IBM i or System z mainframes that might not have considered attending this conference, thinking that it was focused on storage for System x servers.
Both conferences were considered technical education, and might not have appealed to upper IT executives and directors as something to help make purchase decision from a business perspective, or to nework with peers of other decision makers.

The solution - IBM Edge. This conference is focused 100 percent on storage. There will be "Executive Edge" for decision makers to network with their peers, and "Technical Edge" for the storage admins to get the technical education they are looking for on IBM System Storage and Networking products and solutions. Please note that this conference was held in July or August in previous years, but will be held in June this year.

I am very excited about this new direction, and plan to be there in June 4-8 for this event!

technorati tags: IBM, Pulse2012, Edge2012

IT Storage 411: Inside Systems Storage by Tony Pearson : Tony Pearson, IBM Pulse 2011, storage event

Mark Your Calendars - IBM Pulse2012 and IBM Edge2012