Events

Data storage insights among the highlights of Technology Live!

Federica Monsone, CEO, A3 Communications, reflects on this year's recently-held Technology Live! event in Munich. Backup and data recovery trends, flash storage innovations, the use of cutting-edge AI in virtual machine environments and more were at the heart of the Munich edition of A3 Communications’ Technology Live!. On show were Tintri, Keepit, and Pure Storage. Showcasing their wares to an international audience of journalists and analysts, the event offered exciting deep dives into new technologies, drilled down into upcoming product roadmaps, and offered a glimpse of future growth strategies. Tintri Tintri, a division of DDN, provides products designed for cloud computing, virtual machines (VMs), and containers. The core product line is the VMstore, a storage system and software designed to simplify management in data centre and cloud environments. At the Munich edition of the event, Tintri explored how to secure business value from AI. VP of revenue, Phil Trickovic, and VP of sales EMEA, Mark Walsh, presented the company’s rational and practical outlook on the future of AI in enterprises, and shared their vision of data management platforms’ role in the success of AI.  The session dove into how Tintri is currently assisting how organisations derive business value from AI-driven data management. Phil and Mark also explained the blueprint for the company's future roadmap to support customers along their AI journeys. They highlighted how the vendor is seeking specialist partners who recognise the importance of its key market verticals, such as the public sector, health, education, and services, markets with technology needs around virtual servers, SQL, VDI and DevOps. As Mark explained, this is part of Tintri’s drive to further boost its EMEA channel partner programme. Keepit Danish-born Keepit provides independent backup of SaaS data, safeguarding businesses from data loss due to unforeseen events, including human error, cyberattacks and malicious deletion. By using a cloud-native, vendor-independent architecture, Keepit ensures data availability even if a main provider’s cloud is inaccessible. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Copenhagen, Keepit showcased how its unique data backup and recovery services operate, and how its SaaS backup achieves its impressive security and reliability targets. Keepit’s CTO Jakob Østergaard, CISO Kim Larsen, and VP DACH Michael Heuer demonstrated the Keepit Platform, providing insights into the technology under the hood. Built exclusively for SaaS applications, Keepit is the only vendor-independent cloud dedicated to SaaS data protection, ensuring data is stored in a separate geographical location from the production environment. A deep dive into the platform included its five-minute set-up as well as fast and granular restoration, guaranteeing business continuity through reliable and instant data availability. During this demonstration, Keepit also detailed installations at a number of Keepit’s German customers: Edeka, Deutsches Rotes Kreuz Hessen, and ThyssenKrupp. Pure Storage Founded in 2009, Pure Storage develops all-flash data storage hardware and software products. At the Munich edition of the event, Pure’s Principal Technologist, Markus Grau, offered an overview of the company’s evolution. Grau stressed Pure’s unified data storage platform, a platform that can satisfy the full range of customers' data storage needs (block, file, and object) across the entire price and performance spectrum. Grau also covered flexible consumption models, and explained why Pure chose to offer a highly differentiated as-a-service portfolio, and how its users benefit from its industry-leading SLAs and guarantees. The audience were also briefed around the way Pure is empowering its customers across a wide variety of AI use cases (financial services, healthcare, generative AI RAG applications), and how it helps them achieve environmental sustainability goals, reduce energy consumption, and minimise e-waste. The influencers in the room also heard about Pure’s ongoing revenue growth, which has increased by 20% YoY after the quarter ending in May, boosting the confidence to win a future hyperscaler customer. For more from Pure Storage, click here.

Meet your market in just two days at DataCentres Ireland

DataCentres Ireland, the largest gathering of data centre professionals in the country, will this year take place on 20-21 November 2024 at the RDS in Dublin. The exhibition is focused on the infrastructure involved in the design, build, operation and management of new and legacy data centres, server and comms rooms, and critical environments, both in Ireland and beyond. Last year’s DataCentres Ireland showcased over 100 exhibitors to over 2,000 attendees, and this year it is on course to be bigger and better than ever. The exhibition The exhibition will feature over 120 exhibitors and offers visitors the opportunity to see the latest products, solutions, technologies, and service providers that can assist in creating secure and resilient critical infrastructure. The list of exhibitors continues to grow, with recent additions in the last month including ECI Lighting (Stand 517)PowerShield Europe (Stand 620)Dynamic Electrical Engineering Contractors (Stand 106)Flowtech (Stand 511)TSL Projects (Stand 502)CCG Cable Terminations (Stand 557)DerryCourt Cleaning Specialists (Stand 253)Edina UK (Stand 452)Expeditors (Stand 258)Surelock McGill Group (Stand 710)Centrax (Stand 201)Advanced Technical Products (Stand 523)Pronomic AB (Stand 121)ElectroRoute Energy Trading (Stand 712)KOREC Group (Stand 459)DGD Shredding (Stand 708)Huawei (Stand 249) To view the full exhibitor list, click here. Conference programme Whilst the conference programme that supports the exhibition is due for release in early September, the international speaker line up continues to grow, with 40 names already confirmed. Recent additions to the programme include: • Brian Byrne, Business Development and Strategic Growth, OFS• Patrick Liddy, CEO, DRAI (Demand Response Association Ireland)• Bobby Smith, Head, Energy Storage Ireland• Philipp Lukas, CEO, Future Biogas• Susan Anderton, MD, The Brand Marquee• Susanne McMenamin, Partner, Corporate Department, Matheson LLP• Glenn Stephenson, Operations Director, Electronic Security, DPI• Stefan Frenzel, Co-Founder, DataCentre Decarbonisation Group• David G, Co-Founder, DataCentre Decarbonisation Group• John Curley, General Manager, Clarke Energy• Dr Carmel Kirby, Director of Economic Development, Clare County Council• Brian Doherty, Managing Director, Atlantic Hub• Brendan Leonard, MD UK & Ireland, Stulz• Rachid Arabi, Vice President Europe & UK, Uptime Institute• Venessa Moffat, EMEA Channel Partner, Ekkosense• Mark Foley, Independent Consultant• Noel Cunliffe, CEO, Wind Energy Ireland• Lewis Oxley, Regional Manager Europe, Danfoss• Peter Byrne, CEO, South Dublin Chamber• Keith Sullivan, Director, Strategic Innovation, AFL Hyperscale• Paul Roberts, Legrand• Conall Bolger, CEO, Irish Solar Energy Association• Brendan Kelly, Commercial Manager, Bord na Mona DataCentres Ireland is free to attend, and you can click here to register today. For more from DataCentres Ireland, click here.

Sabey to present at upcoming data centre conference

Sabey Data Centers, a premier designer, builder and operator of multi-tenant data centres, has announced its participation at the Advancing Data Center Design Engineering conference, taking place on 26-27 August 2024 in San Jose, California. As part of the event, Sabey Data Centers’ Vice President of Engineering & Development, Dave Buckner, will be speaking on supply chain optimisation during the data centre design phase. The seminar, Optimising Supply Chain During the Design Phase to Avoid Change Orders & Delays in Construction, will explore strategies for mitigating risks and improving efficiency in data centre projects. Dave will discuss methods for conducting thorough supply chain risk assessments, implementing agile design iterations and cultivating strong vendor relationships to address challenges in the rapidly evolving data centre industry. The seminar takes places at the Holiday Inn San Jose - Silicon Valley at 3.40pm PDT on Monday 26 August 2024. To register for the Advancing Data Center Design & Engineering conference, click here. With a portfolio of more than four million square feet of mission-critical space, Sabey Data Centers is one of the largest privately owned multi-tenant data centre owners, developers and operators in the US. Sabey specialises in scalable, custom-built data centre solutions that are recognised for their efficiency, low total cost of ownership, operational maturity and sustained uptime. For more from Sabey Data Centers, click here.

Registration now open for DataCentres Ireland

Now in its fourteenth year, this year's edition of DataCentres Ireland will be held at the RDS in Dublin on Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 November - and the event will once again bring together everyone involved in the dynamic and fast-growing Irish data sector. DataCentres Ireland’s multi-streamed conference will discuss the issues and opportunities effecting both the Irish and the wider data centre sector. The multi-streamed conference will look at the strategic issues and opportunities driving the sector, whilst the operational stream will look at the practical issue that can make your IT infrastructure more effective and efficient whilst remaining safe, secure and resilient. The conference programme is currently under construction, but if you have a case study you think will be of interest to this audience of decision makers, click here to offer a submission. DataCentres Ireland has consistently delivered a quality audience of decision makers and specifiers responsible for the Irish data centres sector and beyond. The exhibition is an opportunity for companies to showcase their products, services, technology and solutions to all involved in the sector across the two days of the event this November. Last year, over 100 companies secured their stand within the DataCentres Ireland exhibition, recognising the business opportunities that can be achieved from meeting a quality audience of buyers and decision makers.Whether your company's objective is direct sales, securing partnerships, getting invitations to tender, launching new products and services or re-enforcing existing relationships and making new industry contacts, DataCentres Island's organisers believe that exhibiting at this event will be hugely beneficial. Due to the increased demand in stands, the exhibition recently opened an expansion area. To view the latest floor plan, click here (available stands are shown in white). To find out more about DataCentres Ireland, visit datacentres-ireland.com or call the team on +44 (0)1892 570513. To register for the event, click here.

First-ever Broadband Excellence Awards to take place

The best of the best in the broadband sector will be celebrated at the first-ever Broadband Excellence Awards, which have been launched by the World Broadband Association (WBBA). The awards will celebrate the achievements of the industry leaders and innovators who are building and operating the networks that connect all our worlds. “The Broadband Excellence Awards will set a new standard of excellence across the industry,” says WBBA Director General, Martin Creamer. “We have been delighted with the quality of entries submitted so far, and we look forward to being able to reveal our inaugural award winners later this year.” The deadline for entries for the five award categories has been pushed back to 15 August to ensure even more companies can enter. Organisations of all sizes and types are welcome to enter multiple categories, but can only enter only one solution per category. The winners will be announced at a ceremony to be held in Paris, France on 8 October 2024, which will take place alongside this year’s Network X event. There are five categories in the Broadband Excellence Awards. The Outstanding Contribution to Network Excellence category will recognise achievements in network infrastructure that have demonstrated substantial revenue generation, reduction to the costs of operating a networking, and improvements in the key areas of network accessibility, user experience, and energy efficiency. The Excellence in Broadband Application category highlights the best practices of cooperation seen between players across the ecosystem. It celebrates those driving digital transformation and creating services in ‘smart’ sectors such as cities, education, healthcare, hotels, homes, and Industry IoT (IIoT). The categories also include the Network Innovation Excellence towards realisation of Future Networks and Services, which recognises the breakthrough technologies associated with future networks, including network security, application and security, alongside concepts such as cloud and network convergence, AI for networks, and deterministic networks. Of the final two categories, Product and Solution Excellence will award developments within equipment, devices, services and application solutions. Gigacity Excellence is focused on municipalities that have successfully invested to become Gigacities and promoted broadband excellence. This category will be assessed against the WBBA’s published criteria for Gigacities. Meticulously chosen for their market knowledge, the judging panel for the Awards includes three representatives of research firm OMDIA and is led by Michael Philpott, a Principal Analyst at the company. The shortlist of nominees will be announced Monday 9 September. For full details on entry information and submission guidelines, click here.

DTX + UCX London is back for 2024

DTX London, the UK’s leading digital transformation event, has announced its doors will open on 2-3 October 2024, for what is set to be one of the most exciting technology exhibitions of the year. To maximise the experience, DTX will be co-located with Unified Communications EXPO (UCX) - the UK’s biggest show for colleague and customer communications, plus Digital Commerce Expo - which explores the technologies revolutionising customer experience. DTX + UCX will welcome decision makers from the biggest brands in the UK, including Lloyds, BT, Microsoft, DWP, Booking.com and Deliveroo. These forward-thinking organisations will take centre stage, offering insights into how they are harnessing technology and data to drive forward their digital agendas whilst putting trust and security at the heart. The event will be a hotspot to get involved in and learn about today’s most important digital conversations, with exclusive panels, workshops, technical deep-dives and community meetups. Whether it’s AI, cyber security, DevOps or cloud, DTX provides insights across the entire technology stack, with UCX covering unified communications and collaboration tools for both colleague and customer experience. The events combined will provide visitors with ideas, case studies and unrivalled knowledge from those at the forefront of digital transformation - all under one roof. The event has been designed around today’s most topical issues and its audience will gain unique insight around how to: • Master the art of continuous reinvention to keep up with tech advancements• Modernise IT tool stacks, maximise legacy infrastructure and reduce tech debt• Cut through the noise and identify the AI use cases for your business• Architect your way to next-gen software engineering and delivery whilst improving DevX• Establish responsible frameworks for data and AI through effective governance and architecture• Build a secure ecosystem that is responsive to today’s threat landscape• Educate and empower colleagues with the latest communications and collaboration tools• Meet changing customer demands for interaction and engagement• Streamline your IT service desk for faster and more intuitive responses• Attract and retain the best and diverse tech talent DTX + UCX helps organisations stay ahead of the competition, offering insight to help them rethink their current operational strategies, reimagine their future possibilities and realise their potential for change. Tackling this year’s event theme – 'The Road to Reinvention' – DTX + UCX will also present a series of case studies, roundtables, hacks, debates, and workshops. To guarantee a front-row seat and join the game-changers and tech pioneers at this year’s most exciting digital event, get your free pass by clicking here.

Upcoming INCA Summit to examine the future of Altnet

The future shape of the UK fibre and broadband sector will be a key area of discussion at the INCA (Independent Networks Cooperative Association) Summit this November. The event, to be held at the Wales International Convention Centre on 26-27 November, will also cover topics such as any policy changes resulting from the general election, the impact consolidation on operators and their customers, and the shifting wholesale market. Keynote speakers will include high profile industry figures alongside senior representatives from Government, BDUK and Ofcom. Building on the success of the INCA Conference, which was a staple of the UK digital infrastructure event calendar since 2012, the newly launched Summit aims to deliver a more collaborative and networking-based environment. Delegates can participate in interactive workshops, ‘Wildcard’ sessions aimed at provoking debate, and opportunities for one-to-one networking. Workshops designed to help shape the way INCA works for its members and the Altnet community will cover topics including infrastructure sharing, standardisation, labour and skills, and more. The event will also feature the INCA Awards dinner, for which nine awards categories – including sustainability, innovation, consolidation, and individual achievements – are now open for entries to celebrate the contributions to and successes of the Altnet sector. INCA CEO, Malcolm Corbett, comments, “This INCA Summit has been developed after listening to feedback from across the sector on what was missing from their event calendar. We’ve created a programme that will enable delegates to meet the ISPs and operators building a Digital Britain, the suppliers delivering the solutions to make that happen, and the other key players contributing to the Altnet sector.” Keynote speaker sessions at the Summit will feature senior representatives from DSIT, BDUK and Ofcom. Delegates will also be able to hear and contribute to discussions on the support Altnets need to thrive in the face of BT Openreach exerting its market dominance, and there will also be the chance to hear expert opinions on the 2026 Ofcom Telecom Access Review. The INCA Summit runs alongside the INCA Golds Awards, which are now open for nominations. The Awards celebrate the great work members of the Altnet community have done throughout the year across categories ranging from community projects, net zero, customer acquisition and technical innovation. Past winners include CityFibre, Ogi, and Freedom Fibre. For more information and to register, click here.

Espria to host its next Optimise IT panel discussion

Espria, a provider of digital workspace solutions, will host its next Optimise IT 2024 panel discussion, discussing how IT solutions with integrated AI technologies are best suited to support businesses and operation teams this year and beyond. Throughout this year, Espria has hosted discussions on various topics, covering themes such as business peace of mind and business readiness. These discussions have featured key spokespeople from some of their leading IT solutions partners. This next discussion will take place on 18 July and will feature insights from Sophos, Gamma and Xerox. Recently appointed Chief Technology and Revenue Officer, Greg Hawthorn, will be joining from Espria, and the discussion will be chaired by Richard Merrin, CEO at Spreckley Partners. Greg comments, “With the launch of Copilot AI tools from Microsoft, businesses need guidance for onboarding and integrating new technologies into their existing operations. I am excited to be helping lead the conversation with some of our top industry partners to provide businesses and IT providers alike with a comprehensive overview of AI challenges shared across all industries. “I am looking forward to collaborating with our partners in providing much-needed perspective and insights about the future of IT solutions as they pertain to the new era of AI. As Microsoft Cloud Solutions and Copilot tools form a large part of the AI discussion, I look forward to bringing my previous experience to the conversation as part of my new role at Espria.” Enabling the capability of teams with AI and generative AI tools has been a big part of the cloud industry conversation – a sentiment shared by frequent Optimise panellist Lauren Williams, UCaaS and CCaaS specialist at Gamma. Lauren says, “Giving your teams a voice is a key part of business telephony, and only more accessible and important with the proliferation of AI tools. Businesses need a clear road map when it comes to what they want to achieve with their platform of choice, and so these discussions of what tools can best amplify your teams’ voice and what can support operational efficiency are all the more important.” “Upgrading extremely outdated infrastructure has always been a priority, but cost-effectiveness is a key factor for choosing tools that will aid your teams in the best and cheapest way. That’s where experts come in – and more reason for conversations like Optimise to help unify and build from one another for integrated customer support.” To sign up for the event on 18 July, click here.

atNorth recognised at RAC Cooling Industry Awards

atNorth, the Nordic colocation, high-performance computing, and AI service provider, has announced its shortlisting in the ‘Customer Initiative of the Year’ category at RAC’s 21st annual Cooling Industry Awards. The awards aim to celebrate innovation, best practice and business excellence across the refrigeration and air conditioning sectors. With global awareness of the amount of energy needed to power and cool data centres, especially those built to cater for AI and other data intensive industries, it is important to atNorth to showcase the benefits of its cool Nordic locations that allow for highly energy efficient cooling technologies. atNorth was recognised for its work with Shearwater Geoservices, a business that initially had some apprehension over moving digital infrastructure away from the UK to one of atNorth’s data centres in Iceland. atNorth liaised extensively with the Shearwater team, enabling access to its Gompute HPCaaS Platform in order to conduct comprehensive testing before migrating to its own servers. Shearwater successfully moved its UK HPC to atNorth’s ICE02 site, resulting in a 92% reduction in CO2 output and an 85% reduction in cost. “We are delighted to be acknowledged at RAC’s Annual Cooling Awards,” says Anna Kristín Pálsdóttir, CDO, at atNorth. “The cooling of digital infrastructure is becoming a fundamental factor in choosing a data centre partner and we are committed to raising awareness of more sustainable options in the industry.” The news follows atNorth’s win in the ‘Digital Infrastructure Project of the Year’ category at the Tech Capital Awards. Additionally, the business has also achieved considerable recognition by multiple other awarding bodies including TechRound’s Sustainability60 campaign, the Data Cloud Global Awards, the Energy Awards, the DCS Awards and the UK Green Business Awards. For more from atNorth, click here.

Schneider wins data centre award for Loughborough Uni project

Schneider Electric, a leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, has received double honours in two categories at the DCS Awards 2024. The first saw Schneider Electric awarded for the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Diversity, Equality and Social Responsibility’ category for its continued commitments to providing equitable opportunities for everyone, everywhere, and ensuring a safe, inclusive working environment. In collaboration with its UK Elite Data Centre Partners, on365 - a specialist in physical IT and data centre infrastructure services, Schneider Electric also won the DCS Award for ‘Data Centre Consolidation/Upgrade Project of the Year’ for the second consecutive year. The award was given for a major modernisation project undertaken at Loughborough University, the world’s leading university for sport-related subjects, and saw Schneider Electric and on365 modernise the university's data centres with new energy efficient and resilient technologies to support new breakthroughs in sporting research. “I’m delighted to accept these awards on behalf of Schneider Electric, which are testament to our ongoing commitments to diversity and inclusion, and our work to address both the sustainability and talent challenges across a host of critical industries”, said Mark Yeeles, Vice President, Secure Power Division, Schneider Electric UK&I. “The data centre sector has become a fourth utility on which all of us depend, and it’s a great honour to be awarded alongside our longstanding partners, on365, for our work together at Loughborough - one of the world’s leading universities.” Data Centre Consolidation / Upgrade Project of the Year In 2023, Schneider Electric and its Elite Data Centre Partners, on365, partnered to deliver a comprehensive modernisation project at Loughborough University, a world-leader in sports related subjects. For the university, IT operations are fundamental to its student experience, providing High Performance Computing (HPC) servers which support analytical research projects, and a highly virtualised data centre environment for critical applications, including finance, administration, and security. To overcome a series of challenges including a redesign and upgrade of its legacy cooling systems, and the need for improved cooling efficiencies, Loughborough worked with the companies to undertake a major modernisation project at its Haslegrave and Holywell Park data centres. Delivered in two phases to avoid the threat of downtime, on365 deployed Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Row Data Centre solution. Further improvements in resilience and efficiency were also achieved by replacing legacy UPSs with new Galaxy VS UPSs’, and DCIM EcoStruxure IT software, providing Loughborough with enhanced levels of visibility and data-driven insights which quickly help it to identify and mitigate potential faults before they become critical. This, in conjunction with a new three-year Schneider Electric services agreement, has provided the university 24/7 access to expert maintenance support, reflecting its ongoing commitment to protecting its IT investments, and ensuring the equipment is fully operational, reliable, and quality maintained. Outstanding Contribution to Diversity, Equality and Social Responsibility Schneider Electric’s commitments to diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) earned it the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Diversity, Equality and Social Responsibility’ award for the company's continued work to provide offer equal opportunities to everyone everywhere, and its ambition to make employees - no matter who they are, or where in the world they live - feel uniquely valued, and safe to contribute their best. It’s action-driven and strategic DEI efforts are evident through various initiatives, such as doubling the number of opportunities for early-careers and apprenticeships as part of its mission to develop a new generation of talent, while building leadership communities, and implementing inclusive recruitment initiatives, which have been instrumental to its UK operations. Furthermore, active work has taken place to work on building a sense of community and belonging by creating spaces for sharing, exchanging, and fostering connections through its Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), Women's Leadership Cohorts, Military Ambassadors, dedicated initiatives for employees on late stage of their career, and others. Additionally, inclusive policies and flexibility have played a pivotal role in supporting employees on different career and life stages. Ensuring employees are also able to contribute to society showcasing collective impact is represented with Schneider Electric’s Volunteering Day on 12 July 2024 which runs for a second year. Last year, employees from across the UK and Ireland united with a shared purpose: to give back to their communities and make a positive difference in the world with activities like litter picking, gardening, and beach clean-ups, showing dedication to community engagement and sustainability. Schneider Electric’s sustainability efforts also exceeded expectations during the last twelve months, with 112 million tonnes of CO2 saved and avoided in 2023 alone. Great strides were also made in transforming its supply chain, and carbon emissions from Schneider Electric’s top 1,000 suppliers fell by 27%, while 21% of the company’s most strategic supply chain partners met Schneider Electric’s decent work standards. By the end of 2023, 63% of Schneider Electric’s product packaging was free of single-use plastic and made of recycled cardboard. The company’s long-standing commitment to close the energy gap also advanced at pace, with 46.5 million people now accessing clean and reliable electricity around the world. For more from Schneider Electric, click here.