Take Five With Tom Fenton

5 Reasons to Attend Dell EMC World

Lots of datacenter goodness to be had, for starters.

• By Tom Fenton
• 04/10/2017

Dell EMC World 2017 will be held at the Venetian in Las Vegas this year from May 8 - 11. It looks like Dell EMC World just got too big for Austin. Vegas, on the other the other hand, has the infrastructure and a venue to handle the increased volume of attendees, which is expected to be more than 12,000 this year. Dell EMC World is not inexpensive, but does offer value to its attendees. Below are five reasons why it's worth attending Dell EMC World this year.

1. Dell Technology in your datacenter. Dell Technology is the largest supplier of storage and the second largest supplier of servers for the datacenter. It has a serious presence in networking, security, end-user computing, virtualization and most other datacenter technologies. This event isn't just about Dell and EMC, however, as it also is sponsored by the other Dell Technology companies: Pivotal, RSA, SecureWorks, Virtustream and VMware.


2. Learning about the future of the datacenter. Michael Dell, along with the presidents of Dell, EMC and VMware, will each give speeches during this year's conference. These leaders have unparalleled insight into the industry; they also have a large influence in the future direction of IT. What they think and say will affect your company and how your company does business in the future.


3. Learning more about the technology in your datacenter. The major thrust of Dell EMC World will be technology, and there will be a wide range of tracks to increase and broaden your knowledge about the technology you care about. These tracks range from mundane but important topics such as backups, security, and business continuity, to more exciting ones such as leading-edge technologies like DevOps, Internet of Things, and data lakes. The conference also has some niche tracks such as mainframes and storage automation. Chances are that you'll be able to find sessions that will increase your knowledge about technology and give you ideas on how to improve your datacenter operations.


4. Vendors for your datacenter. Your time is valuable, and shepherding a passel of different vendors into your office to hear about their wares can result in spending too much time with some vendors and not enough time with others to discuss their technologies. At Dell EMC World, however, you can set your own schedule, sort through the technologies you're interested in, and arrange for follow up conversations with the vendors of your choosing at your covenience.


5. Certification Exams. Getting the time and allocating the budget to get certified has always been problematic. Dell EMC World offers a cost-effective and convenient solution to this problem. Conference attendees will get a $200 voucher to take a certification exam at the event. Some of the certifications you can obtain include Dell EMC Proven Professional, Dell EMC Certified Professional, and VMware Certified Engineer.

Dell EMC World is a great opportunity to catch up on the latest technology and learn about the future of the industry; but there's more to it than that. It's a chance to catch up with your peers and become acquainted with others who share your interests. Because Vegas is easy to get to, has reasonably priced accommodations, and a plethora of venues to catch up with your colleges after the day's events, Dell EMC World is ideal event to attend.