2016’s biggest cloud computing conferences

04.01.2016
Some predict 2016 will be the year of the cloud. While that may be up for debate, what’s not is that there are a whole slew of cloud computing-related conferences on tap for the year.

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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

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Brandon Butler