Johannesburg, 16 Oct 2012
Transform IT, the business and yourself: that was the overarching message of the EMC Forum 2012, a one-day event focusing on how cloud, virtualisation and big data solutions can drive transformation of IT infrastructures and revolutionise business operations.
The EMC Forum (South Africa) 2012 was hosted by EMC Southern Africa on 9 October 2012, at Gallagher Estate, in Midrand, Johannesburg. The event formed part of a series of EMC Forums taking place across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It was attended by close on 1 000 of EMC Southern Africa's customers and partners, as well as media representatives and analysts.
Servaas Venter, Acting Country Manager of EMC Southern Africa, said the day was all about how cloud is transforming IT, how big data is transforming business, and how people can transform themselves in the process.
"Our aim is to help our customers achieve this transformation successfully," he said. "By learning about the latest developments in cloud and big data - and understanding the huge implications they have for the future of business and IT - people can be ready to evolve their enterprise, their role within it and themselves, thereby making sure they remain competitive. The EMC Forum 2012 provided the insight to facilitate that."
The keynote address was delivered by Brian Gallagher, President of EMC's Enterprise Storage Division. Other presenters included Derek Barrett, Senior Consultant of EMC's Executive Briefing Centre, in Ireland; Sebastian Darrington, Director of Specialist Sales, EMC EMEA; Kelly Brown, EMEA Director of Product Marketing, Backup and Recovery Systems, EMC; Zion Gabai, Isilon Sales Director, EMC; and Brett Quinn, Technical Director, zSeries Software Development, EMC.
EMC also hosted hands-on vLabs, where delegates were able to spend time with EMC's portfolio of cloud and big data enabling products. It was the ideal opportunity to learn how EMC products integrate with VMware to provide the best visibility and management of the cloud. Delegates gained an understanding of how to secure, back up and protect their cloud, VMware and EMC environments with vLabs featuring Avamar, RSA and VPLEX. They also test drove some of EMC's latest storage products - VMAX, VNX and VNXe - all powered by the EMC vCloud.
"Historically, IT has driven business efficiency by taking tasks done by many people and doing it better with fewer resources. Organisations today can go beyond this by transforming their business and IT through cloud, big data and storage technologies to become more efficient, analytical and dynamic than ever before. The Forum discussed the accelerating pace of transformation and the extraordinary opportunities it offers businesses," Venter said.