Burton Group and USinternetworking to Keynote InfoWorld's Virtualization Executive Forum

Business Wire, August 23, 2007

InfoWorld's Virtualization Executive Forum Returns to New York September 24-25, 2007 with a Focus on Mastering Virtualization from the Datacenter to the Desktop

SAN FRANCISCO -- IDG's InfoWorld, the leading integrated media brand for IT solutions management, today announced the full keynote and presenter lineup for its fourth Virtualization Executive Forum, taking place September 24-25, 2007 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. The executive-level event offers real-world guidance for implementing an enterprise-wide virtualization strategy. Chris Wolf of Burton Group and Toby Ford of USinternetworking, an AT&T company, will set the stage for the event's two days of dynamic and interactive case studies and technical track discussions on mastering virtualization technologies across the Server, Storage, Desktop, File and Application. Passes to attend the Virtualization Executive Forum are priced at $1,295, with credential and early registration discounts available. Members of the press using promotional code VIRTPRESS are eligible for complimentary registration. For more details and to register, visit: http://VirtExecForum.com.

Wolf, a senior analyst at Burton Group and author of the first book on virtualization, will bring fresh insight into how enterprises today are incorporating virtualization while working around current architectural and performance limitations. He'll highlight key trends and future security, automation and management technologies that you need to know. Ford, USi's CTO, will share his own battle scars received from converting an entire organization to a virtualized infrastructure.

"When the Burton Group's Chris Wolf agreed to keynote, I stood up on my chair and did a back flip over my desk -- finally the formula was complete," said Doug Dineley, InfoWorld's executive editor and content chair for the event. "Wolf will kick off the event Monday morning with the big picture view and key trends; then on Tuesday morning, Toby Ford of AT&T's USi will kick the conference into high gear with tales of extreme virtualization and utility infrastructure. On top of the excellent keynotes, we'll have the nitty gritty technical track led by our own Paul Venezia, and more case study sessions than ever before -- real IT people with real lessons drawn from their experiences in virtualizing servers, desktops, applications, storage and files. Don't miss it!"

September's agenda features strong end user voices throughout the Case Studies Track where IT experts including Andy Abbas of AT&T, David E. Cohen of Merrill Lynch, Gene J. Doody of the City of Richmond, VA, Rob Helble of Time Warner, Stephen Hilton of Credit Suisse, Ed Simcox, Jr. of Clarian Health Partners, Zak Khalil of Lessard Group and George White of the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General will share their virtualization experiences, challenges and results. Plus, the deep-dive Technical Track will detail all you need to know to get started, migrate to virtual systems, monitor VMs and scale a virtual infrastructure. Additional sessions led by Ian Pratt, leader of the Xen project and Don Norbeck of SunGard Availability Services will show how to leverage virtualization in open source and for information availability and business continuity; and Ted Samson, InfoWorld's Sustainable IT Blogger, will lead a vibrant discussion on virtualization as a means of greening the datacenter. The full lineup of topics and participants can be found at: http://VirtExecForum.com.

Sponsors for the fourth Virtualization event include top vendors driving enterprise virtualization: VMware (Diamond sponsor); PlateSpin (Platinum sponsor); 3Leaf Systems, DataSynapse, Egenera, Novell and Microsoft Corp., and Sentillion (Gold sponsors); Red Hat (Silver sponsor) and Neoware (Associate sponsor).

About InfoWorld Media Group

InfoWorld Media Group helps IT solutions management choose the right technology, within the context of a cohesive strategy, for maximum business impact at their organizations. Rather than merely covering the enterprise technology market, InfoWorld identifies and promotes emerging technology segments that add unique value for the organizations that implement them, as well as the vendors that provide those solutions. Using an integrated communications approach including online, events, social media, research, and a continued investment in an independent Test Center, InfoWorld analysts and editors provide both hands-on analysis and evaluation, as well as expert commentary on issues surrounding emerging technologies and products. Visit InfoWorld at http://www.infoworld.com.

About International Data Group (IDG)

International Data Group (IDG) is the world's leading technology media, events, and research company. IDG's online network includes more than 450 web sites spanning business technology, consumer technology, digital entertainment and video games worldwide. IDG publishes more than 300 magazines and newspapers in 85 countries including CIO, CSO, Computerworld, GamePro, InfoWorld, Macworld, Network World, and PC World. IDG's lead-generation service, IDG Connect, matches technology companies with an audience of engaged, high-quality IT professionals, influencers, and decision makers.