* Time well spent at this year’s Storage Networking World bash
Last week’s Storage Networking World in Orlando was notable for two things, solid attendance and lack of controversy. My completely unofficial tally indicates there were at least as many attendees as last year and that the showroom floor was as well-populated as I have ever seen it.
Booth prices are extremely expensive at SNW, but the fact that the exposition area has so many booths and almost elbow-to-elbow attendance is a pretty good indicator that the vendors think this is a worthwhile investment despite the price. The show continues to be mostly a vendor “love fest” however, with end-users being far out-weighed on the attendee list by folks who work for vendors. It is something of a curiosity then that many storage companies come to the show looking for sales leads. In fact, what happens is that many vendor reps spend much of their time talking with reps from other firms and only occasionally get to engage with real IT people.
Conference agendas are often a mix of bland, rehashed industry data, self-serving vendor presentations and keynote speeches, and some often-interesting end-user presentations (these are almost always sponsored by vendors that see this as a great opportunity to put a live success story before the public).
Fortunately, two other things are also a standard part of the SNW offering each year. First, the Storage Networking Industry Association puts together a daily set of labs and certification tests for IT-ers – this year’s “hand’s on lab” was, by all reports, a particular hit. Additionally, a growing number of consistently good tutorials also sponsored by SNIA are available each day – the tutorials alone are a good enough justification for more end-users to show up these meetings.
The really important stuff at SNW happens below the surface and off the showroom floor. SNW is the industry’s great aggregation point for vendors, analysts and the press. The vendors meet with one another to lay the groundwork for potential alliances, and with key customers to score a few extra points with them (which is of course the reason why such meetings are typically held in places like Orlando and Las Vegas, and rarely in cities like Fargo, El Paso or Detroit).
No great advances in the storage arts were announced this time around, nor were there any earth-shaking announcements. The RFID tag controversy of last year was rendered a non-issue because there were no RFID tags in use.
The lack of exciting announcements not withstanding, most attendees left with a sense that going to SNW was, once again, time well-spent. I certainly did.
P.S. Thanks to all who stopped by to say hello and share your comments on this newsletter and other events of great international importance – meeting up with you is always a pleasure.
