Transform IT … and yourself

‚”Transform IT, the business and yourself‚” was the main message of last week’s EMC Forum 2012 event, focusing on how cloud, virtualisation and big data solutions can drive transformation of IT infrastructures.

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, backup 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.

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