Recap: Data Center World Orlando Conference

Data Center World kicked off in Orlando Monday with a packed audience for a keynote session with Jennifer Torlone, senior director of technology and information services at Amerijet International.

Jennifer Torlone, senior director of technology and information services at Amerijet International, speaking about the way she reorganized the cargo carrier's IT team to enable company growth.

Attendees gathered at the Hyatt Regency to network and attend sessions with a variety of facilities and data center management topics.

Data Center Knowledge had the opportunity to cover several of these sessions throughout the week, including a presentation from Kevin Brown, vice president of data center strategy for Schneider Electric. Brown's session was focused on the misguided prediction several years ago that overall power density would increase rapidly in the near future.

In a second Monday session, specialists in storage, networking and data center environments discussed the software-defined data center, including software-defined storage and software-defined networks. Panelists provided insight into the deployment of these new services, the opportunities they offer and the risks to be managed.

Art Meierdirk of INOC during “Software-Defined Data Centers: Next Steps for Storage & Networking” Monday morning. Other panelists (not pictured) included Bina Hallman, IBM Corporation; Aaron Rallo, TSO Logic and Marco Alves, SDN Essentials. (Photo: Rich Miller)

To close out the morning, Adrian Porter, senior manager for data management at 1-800-CONTACTS, spoke about real-world disasters and the lessons they hold for disaster recovery. He identified “disaster-causing” attitudes and behaviors and ways they can be modified to enhance our work environments.

Adrian Porter of 1-800-CONTACTS discussed lessons learned from disasters in a session Monday at Data Center World in Orlando. (Photo: Rich Miller)

During day two of the conference, Chris Crosby, CEO of Compass Datacenters, stressed the importance of commissioning, the thorough testing of mission-critical systems in new data centers. Crosby called on service providers to commit to Level 5 commissioning of new data centers, which involves integrated testing of all mission-critical systems.

In another Tuesday session, industry leaders discussed the role a data center plays in the overall business. Panelists took a hard look at strategies for improving performance and compliance and for reducing risks and costs in the data center today.

The session on "Aligning Business and Technology Strategies to Deliver Value and ROI" included panelists (left to right) Dennis Wenk, Symantec; Jake Sherrill, Tier 4 Advisors; Nicola Hayes, Andrasta; Chris Crosby, Compass Datacenters and Derek Odegard, CentricsIT.

David Snead, founder of the Internet Infrastructure Coalition, discussed how revelations about the NSA's electronic surveillance activity have led to more data center customers avoiding U.S. and placing their infrastructure elsewhere around the world. Snead also outlined the steps that can be taken by data centers in order to have a greater voice in Internet governance issues that will impact their business.

David Snead, founder of the Internet Infrastructure Coalition, speaking at Data Center World 2014 in Orlando. (Photo: Rich Miller)

If you're interested in more information about the sessions or would like to download conference presentations, log onto the Data Center World website.

For scenes from around the conference, check out our Data Center World Expo Hall Highlights.