SWC 2004 Preview: The Be-All And End-All For End Users

Now in its fourth year, Storage World Conference (SWC) is one of the newer shows on the storage block. Nevertheless, it's already a solid one, each year growing in attendance and in the breadth of activities for conference attendees. In covering the storage industry, I've attended the conference each of the last two years, and one thing stands out: an undeniable emphasis on end user participation. This year should be no different. Conversations I've had with the conference organizers, as well as a look at the schedule for this year's sessions and activities, confirm the intent to make the end user experience truly productive. By the way, registration for SWC is free for qualified end users.

Scheduled for June 28 through July 1 in Long Beach, CA, SWC 2004 kicks off Monday evening with the first summit of the Association of Storage Networking Professionals (ASNP). ASNP was launched in fall 2003, and already has 22 global chapters and more than 800 end user members. While its end user members have been meeting regionally, SWC 2004 gives them the first opportunity since ASNP's inception to unite for an organization-wide summit.

Echoing ASNP's commitment to providing professional development for storage networkers is the conference's day of tutorials on Tuesday. The various educational sessions have been designed around three tracks, two based on technologies for storage networking, the other on strategic business uses of networked storage. Topics in the technology tracks include SAN (storage area network) deployments, data protection, business continuity, storage management, and storage security. Business strategy tracks focus on such topics as working with VARs, creating disaster recovery plans, and determining the relative business value of stored data.

One tutorial session I find particularly intriguing is titled "Storage On The Lunatic Fringe." Led by Tom Ruwart from the University of Minnesota, this tutorial promises to teach participants how to handle large storage requirements "from petabyte-size data sets to trillions of files to hundreds of gigabytes per second." Leaders of other tutorial sessions include technology experts from vendors such as Computer Associates, EMC, HP, IBM, Microsoft, and QLogic. Also on tap to lead tutorial sessions are members of the consultant and analyst community, including W. Curtis Preston from The Storage Group, Bill Peldzus from GlassHouse Technologies, and Greg Schulz from the Evaluator Group.

Attendees who participate in all tutorial sessions related to a given topic, as well as a training session at the conference's featured Hands-On Storage Clinic, will receive official certification from SWC. Whether or not they visit the Hands-On Storage Clinic as part of a certification program, attendees can take advantage of the clinic's one-on-one consulting sessions. The storage experts staffing the clinic will help participants learn to alleviate such potential storage networking pain points as business continuance, storage management, and backup/restore.

In addition to the tutorial sessions, SWC 2004 offers two days packed with educational sessions (Wednesday and Thursday). Like the tutorial sessions, some will focus on storage technologies; others will focus on storage as a business strategy. For example, one of Wednesday's sessions has CTOs discussing the impact of IP-based technologies on storage networking, management, and security. Another has ASNP members discussing the business case for deploying networked storage. Reflecting SWC's commitment to giving end users a voice in storage networking issues, several sessions are designed as end user case studies. Speakers in those sessions comprise technologists and line-of-business managers from notable end user organizations such as Southwest Airlines and America Online.

Finally, while you're attending SWC 2004, take note of the storage products, end user organizations, and vendors that will be taking home awards on the evening of the 30th. Included in the awards handed out at the ceremony will be IT Storage Online's Industry ACE Awards For Storage. Our Industry ACE designation goes to vendors that demonstrate noteworthy achievement in three categories: Appeal (an innovative product line), Content (an information-rich Web site), and Education (outreach programs, including end user training and technical support). And, you'll be able to find many of the industry's key vendors represented on the SWC exhibit hall floor.

Happy traveling to Long Beach, and we'll see you at the show.

By Tom von Gunden, chief editor, Doc Management Online, Content Mgt Online, and IT Storage Online