2016’s biggest cloud computing conferences
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Below is a chronological list of the biggest cloud computing conferences scheduled for this year. If there are others we’ve missed, leave them in the comments. Thanks to ProfitBricks for many of these suggestions.
RSA ConferenceWhen: Feb. 29- March 4Where: San Francisco
While RSA is known as one of the premier security conferences, securing cloud platforms is a major theme each year.
More information: RSA Conference
451 Research Cloud Computing Executive SummitWhen: March 8Where: New York City
Leading analyst and research firm 451 holds an annual summit focused on cloud computing best practices, user stories and networking.
More information: 451 Cloud Computing Executive Summit
Google Cloud NEXTWhen: March 23-24Where: San Francisco
Google Next will feature keynote speeches, technical sessions and a solutions showcase all focused on Google’s Cloud Platform. A major highlight will be Diane Greene – the newly appointed head of Google’s cloud operations – delivering a keynote, her first major appearance since taking over that role.
More information: Google Cloud Next
Microsoft BuildWhen: March 30-April 1Where: San Francisco
This is Microsoft’s developer-focused conference. Microsoft has four major conferences this year. In addition to Build, Microsoft hosts Convergence, its conference for business leaders April 4-7 in New Orleans; its Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) is July 10-14 in Toronto; and Microsoft Ignite, which is for IT professionals, is Sept. 26-30 in Atlanta.
More information: Microsoft event lineup
IEEE International Conference on Cloud Engineering (IC2E) 2016When: April 4-8Where: Berlin, Germany
IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers) is a leading engineering organization. Their conferences attract some of the smartest minds across academia and industry to share the latest cutting edge research across a variety of topic areas. In addition to the second annual cloud computing conference, IEEE is also hosting a big data security conference, which will include a track on hosting and securing big data in the cloud. That conference is April 9-10 in New York City.
More information:IC2E and IEEE Big Data Security/Cloud Computing
OpenStack SummitWhen: April 25-29Where: Austin, Texas
OpenStack returns to its birthplace in Austin for the domestic version of its semi-annual conference. At each OpenStack conference a new version of the open source IaaS software is released, vendors display the latest distributions and developers plan the next major release.
More information: OpenStack Summit
Cloud Connect/InteropWhen: May 2-6Where: Las Vegas
The premier networking event each year has a track focused specifically on cloud computing, which includes user implementation stories, presentations by vendors and usually a big-name keynote.
More information: Interop Cloud Connect
Cloud Foundry SummitWhen: May 24-25Where: Santa Clara, Calif.
Cloud Foundry is arguably the leading open source platform as a service (PaaS), used by some of the biggest names in technology from IBM to Pivotal and many others. The Summit is a place to discuss user implementations and planning of the open source project.
More information: Cloud Foundry Summit
Red Hat SummitWhen: June 28-July 1Where: San Francisco
Red Hat Summit is the go-to conference for all things related to Red Hat, and many other open source technologies. It has a strong cloud component, particularly focused on the company’s OpenShift PaaS and OpenStack IaaS products. The Summit volleys between the east and west coasts each year.
More information: Red Hat Summit
Gartner Catalyst ConferenceWhen: Aug. 15-18Where: San Diego
Gartner, the leading research and analyst firm, and its Catalyst Conference offers a variety of tracks focused on new technologies. Catalyst includes a track focused on architecting a cloud-first digital business.
More information: Gartner Catalyst
VMworld 2016When: Aug. 28-Sept. 1 (VMworld Barcelona is Oct. 17-20)Where: Las Vegas (note VMworld has moved from San Francisco to Las Vegas’s Mandalay Bay Convention Center)
VMworld has evolved from the go-to virtualization conference to now being the go-to data center conference. With VMware and parent company EMC coming under the wings of Dell, this year’s conference will be as interesting as ever.
More information: VMworld 2016
Oracle OpenWorldWhen: Oct. 18-22Where: San Francisco
Oracle is attempting to assert itself as a major cloud computing vendor. While it has transitioned many of its applications to a SaaS model, it is still looking to build up its IaaS and PaaS components.
More information: Oracle OpenWorld
Dreamforce ’16When: Oct. 4-7Where: San Francisco
Dreamforce is the central SaaS conference, attracting more than 120,000 people. Last year Salesforce claimed that Dreamforce had gotten so big that it had to rent a cruise ship to house attendees who could not find a hotel room.
More information: DreamForce
Amazon re:InventWhen: Nov. 28-Dec. 2Where: Las Vegas
Amazon Web Service’s re:Invent conference is considered by many to be the major public cloud conference of the year. AWS’s usually reveals a couple of big products at the event, which is headlined by keynotes from Amazon Senior Vice President Andy Jassy and Amazon CTO Werner Vogels.
More information: Amazon re:Invent