IBM Tech Conferences Feature Power, Hot Technologies

February 25, 2013 Dan Burger

IBM has three big technical conferences coming up in the next three months: one specifically for Power Systems, while the other two will take on strategies and best practices for all the hot technologies including mobile, social, big data, and cloud.

The conferences begin with Pulse2013, which begins next week, March 3 to 6, in Las Vegas. IBM anticipates attendance to hit 8,000 and has put together an agenda of more than 450 technical training sessions, hands-on labs, skill certifications, and product demonstrations. The four educational tracks, sort of mini-conferences within Pulse, are Cloud and IT Optimization, Smarter Assets and Facilities, Mobile Enterprise, and Security Intelligence.

IBM uses this conference to highlight its expertise in analytics, systems management, mobile technology, infrastructure, and security and blend it into the Smarter Planet theme.

The lineup of speakers includes NFL MVP Peyton Manning, along with a lineup of IBM middleware, software, and services executives. For entertainment, Grammy Award winner Carrie Underwood will perform. The host hotel is the MGM Grand.

From April 28 through May 2, IBM rolls out Impact 2013, which splits its educational sessions into technology and business tracks. On the technology side there is particular emphasis on topics such as cloud, big data and analytics, social, mobile, security, and integration. On the business side, special tracks are devoted to breakthrough technologies, innovation, leadership, and creativity. The lineup of speakers includes several IBM middleware and software executives. There’s also a conference within a conference for WebSphere developers. There will be live stream video available for those unable to attend. This event will also be in Las Vegas, with the Venetian as the host hotel.

The Power Systems Technical Symposium, May 8 through 10 in New Orleans, is all about Power Systems hardware, including storage, and the software that supports IBM i, AIX, and Linux. Much of the focus is on reducing operational costs and simplifying IT environments.

Power Systems session topics include in-depth looks at the new Power7+ servers, including migration and upgrading best practices, live partition mobility, Systems Director, and I/O subsystems. IBM i-specific session topics include VIOS, PowerHA SystemMirror, application development security considerations, Web Query, SAN storage, cloud computing, DB2 for i, business intelligence, and analytics.

Featured speakers include chief architect for IBM i Steve Will, Power Systems program director Jay Kruemcke, and IBM i product offering manager Alison Butterill.

Companies that have purchased specified Power Systems boxes are eligible for Education Coupons that can be redeemed for complementary registration fees to this conference. See this web pagefor details.

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Twelve Best Practices for Data Backup and Disaster Recovery

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Best Practice: Use cloud-based technology for backups. With cloud-based technology, your backup data resides on disk drives, proven to be far more reliable than tapes. When your backup completes, you know the data is secure and accessible. With tapes you never really know if your data is usable until you try to restore it, at which point it's too late.

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Best Practice: Ensure that you can get your data back with minimal delay. You should have direct access to your backups, with no time spent on physical transport (no trucks, no warehouses). Your restores should take minutes, not hours or days. Set yourself up to work with your data, not wait for it. Make sure your solution provider can meet your Return-to-Operations (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) which determine how quickly you can recover your data and maintain business continuity. Inquire about onsite and offsite replication that provide both improved performance and a solid disaster recovery strategy.

5. Scalability. Some backup systems can't scale readily.

Best Practice: Invest in a data protection architecture that can grow with your business. You should be able to back up your data no matter how large it grows. Starting small? Look for an option that handles your backups automatically. Then, as you grow, gives you tools to manage complex environments. Look for "changes-only" and compression technologies to speed backups and save space. And insist on bandwidth throttling to balance traffic and ensure network availability for your other business applications. Make sure that their solution offerings rely on common technology to scale easily as your business--and data--grow.

6. Cost-effectiveness. Companies lose an average of $84,000 for every hour of lost activity.

Best Practice: Calculate the true total cost of tape-based back up. When you do the math, the dollars make sense: Go with cloud backup. Unlike tape, there are close to zero handling costs-no rush deliveries, loading, accessing, locating, or repeated steps. And there's one benefit you can't factor directly: Reputation. Reliability and security can make an incalculable difference with just one avoided breach or failure.

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9. Ease-of-Use. Some companies don't-or can't-manage their backups from one place.

Best Practice: Get control and reporting you can use anywhere, with ease. Managing your backup environment should be simple, and the software you use should eliminate any guesswork that could lead to lost data. You should know at all times if your data is protected across your entire network-including remote offices-by simply looking at a dashboard. The software should be simple to configure using wizards, yet powerful enough to meet your specific needs with customizable views, job propagation, and roles-based security.

10. Operating System and Platform Support. Most backup vendors support a limited range of OS, server types, and applications.

Best Practice: Look for broad and deep technology that supports your complete environment. Your backup solution should accommodate your environment, not vice versa. Demand a single solution to protect your laptops, desktops, and servers regardless of the platform and applications they're running. Beyond the broad claims, check the fine print, and the level of protection offered for applications such as Exchange. For example, can they restore individual mail messages or contacts, and can they support Exchange running on a Microsoft Cluster?

11. Customer Support. Backup vendors' product support varies widely.

Best Practice: Find a vendor whose support is passionate, maybe even slightly obsessed. Customer support should be one of your vendor's main selling points. You shouldn't have to wonder if they'll be there to help when you need them most. Do they offer phone support or email only, and who exactly are you talking to when you call that 800 number? Find a vendor that will treat your data as if it were their own.

12. Reputation. Does your backup vendor have a quality reputation and the financial resources to stay in business for the long haul?

Best Practice: Find a vendor with strong financial backing and customer references. There are a lot of vendors that have come and gone. When you consider a service provider, look for one that has strong financial backing, a solid business plan and the ability to be in business as long as your data needs to be stored. Ask for customer references and case studies as their customers are the best validation you can get.

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Getting Short-Term Maintenance For Your Power i Machine Entry Power7+ Servers: Those 720+ and 740+ Boxes Are Gonna Cost Ya

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