Last week, the 4th annual GigaOM Structure conference was held in Northern California and GoGrid was part of the show in many ways not only as a sponsor but also active in a variety of panels. This was our 4th Structure conference that we attended and 3rd that we have sponsored…so I guess you can say that we have been there from the start and support the efforts of the GigaOM team. Structure is GigaOM’s “flagship conference on Cloud Computing and Internet Infrastructure” and we have seen the conference grow from a single day to this year’s two day sold-out conference.

What struck me and my colleagues most about this show is the professional and technical level of the attendees. This was not a show of cloud or IaaS “tire kickers”, these were people and businesses who knew their stuff about cloud computing and who were bringing value to the cloud (not diluting the term “cloud” like we are seeing in the mainstream media, in TV commercials and elsewhere). This was a partnership-making event. You could just feel the deals being drafted out in the hallways between sessions.

(image source: GigaOM)

But Structure 2011 was also an educational event, with carefully chosen speakers and panels providing thought-leadership ideas and commentary to a captive audience. I’m not going to discuss each and every session in this article, simply because GigaOM already has that covered. However, because GoGrid was an active in the event, I did want to provide a brief recap of two sessions that we were part of:

• “Dedicated, In More Ways Than One: The IaaS Panel”
• “The What, How and Why of Secure SaaS Delivery – GoGrid and Orange Business Services Discuss the Hosted Private Cloud as the Enabler”

The IaaS Panel was hosted by Paul Miller, Founder of Cloud of Data. On the panel with Paul was our very on John Keagy, Executive Chair and Founder of GoGrid; Chris Pinkham, Co-Founder and CEO of Nimbula; and Duke Skarda, CTO of SoftLayer. You can watch the full panel discussion in the video below.

More businesses are demanding dedicated infrastructure (not sharing hardware with other tenants) on the grounds that it is more secure and offers better performance. The panel discusses the merits of this reasoning and highlight the fact that you aren’t getting the true benefits of cloud computing using solely dedicated hardware. While public clouds, as multi-tenant environments, may make more sense financially, it’s still met with trepidation from “hardware huggers”. The speakers all believe that dedicated infrastructure will grow over the next 5 years, but will ultimately serve as a gateway to public and private cloud infrastructures.

The panel also talks about the mentality towards applications. For so long, developers were adamant about which hardware and operating systems they built their applications on. Now the types of cloud and OS aren’t as important as they used to be. The experts claim that cloud computing users should focus on the application and need to find solutions that best meet the needs of that application.

Finally, the video highlights and discusses the current trend away from virtualization – John Keagy even declares that, “The party is over for virtualization,” essentially, that cloud computing is not virtualization alone. As John states, the type of virtualization software that is used by a cloud provider usually doesn’t matter (unless it is costly to the vendor and that mark-up is passed on to the end-user – my side note) when the customer is shopping for a cloud and it will matter even less in the future. (For those interested, GoGrid uses opensource Xen and a proprietary management layer.)

The GoGrid and Orange Business Services Workshop was a question and answer panel moderated by Paul Miller. Panelists were: Lee Cardona – Director, Orange Business Services, Michael Mascia – Director, Technology Partners, Platform Engineering and Development, Orange Business Services, Mario Olivarez – VP of Products, GoGrid and Jeffrey Samuels – CMO, GoGrid. GoGrid and Orange recently implemented a private cloud using GoGrid’s Hosted Private Cloud service. Soon, GoGrid will be releasing the Orange Case Study which goes into more details of the reasoning behind Orange choosing GoGrid as their solution provider.

Did you attend or watch the livestream or recorded videos of Structure 2011? I would love to know what you thought of the event, the content, the speakers, the sessions and what you gained from it.

Starting on Sunday, May 8th, 2011 and going until May 12th, cloud computing, virtualization, security, mobility and other data center experts will converge on Las Vegas for Interop, a conference that brings all of these leaders together. Interop bills itself as “the leading business technology event, driving technology adoption by providing knowledge and insight to help IT and corporate decision-makers achieve business success.”

GoGrid CEO and Founder, John Keagy will be at Interop, delivering a presentation “The False Cloud Debate” on May 9th. Similarly, GoGrid’s Manager of Cloud Ecosystems, Paul Lancaster, will be doing a “deep dive” about GoGrid’s Cloud Computing offerings.

Details on the sessions are below:

Interop

• Speaker: John Keagy, CEO
• Session: The False Cloud Debate
• When: May 9, 2011 – 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM
• Location: South Seas B, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV
• Event Website: http://www.interop.com/lasvegas/

Abstract: Are private clouds clouds? Or is the third-party business model inherent in what makes a cloud a cloud? As the FUD flies on both sides, everyone’s got a different opinion of what defines cloud computing. We’re going to see if we can get to the bottom of it, sitting public cloud providers across from private cloud toolmakers.

Interop – Enterprise Cloud Summit

• Speaker: Paul Lancaster
• Session: Under the Covers: GoGrid in 10 minutes
• When: May 8, 2011 – 3:25 PM – 3:35 PM
• Location: South Seas B, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV
• Event Website: http://www.interop.com/lasvegas/conference/enterprise-cloud-summit-public-clouds.php

Abstract: Major public clouds will respond to our shortlist questionnaire, giving attendees a practical, side-by-side comparison of public cloud offerings. Hear GoGrid answer our shortlist questions on pricing, capacity, service levels, data location, and architecture.

We hope to see many of you at Interop! Please be sure to check our Events page for more upcoming Shows and Webinars.

GoGrid was a sponsor and exhibitor at the recent Structure 2010, a Cloud Computing industry event that took place on June 23 & 24 in San Francisco.

The event topics covered a wide range of Cloud subjects, with many industry leaders discussing their views on the subject matter at hand. Topic titles included:

• Dealing with the Data Tsunami: The Big Data Panel
• Cloudonomics: The Value of the Cloud
• Guru Panel: Web Infrastructure for Real Time and Critical
• Hitting Reset: Reinventing Core Internet Technologies
• Analytics and Management Layers
• What Comes After the Blade? Architectures for the Cloud
• Fatter and Faster: Reducing Latency and Increasing Capacity on Broadband

There were several panel sessions as well.

GoGrid’s CEO & Co-Founder, John Keagy, was interviewed by GigaOM Pro’s Derrick Harris. John answered the following questions:

• “GoGrid is a cloud provider, can you explain the GoGrid service?”
• “Cloud computing is a hot topic right now, how is GoGrid’s business?”
• “One of the keys to GoGrid’s success is your strong Partner program. Can you talk a a little bit about your Partner program and why it is important for Cloud providers to have one?”
• “Do you find that a lot of your Partners bring a lot of business to GoGrid?”
• “Another unique thing about GoGrid is your background in managed hosting and dedicated servers. Can you talk about how that enables GoGrid to offer a hybrid cloud option?”

You can also catch up on a variety of other sessions using the GigaOM/Structure widget below:

Do you have any questions for our CEO? If you do, feel free to leave a comment on this post or you can drop me an email to: michael[at]gogrid.com.

The ASCII Group held their ASCII Reseller Success Summit in Chicago, IL in June 2010 and GoGrid was there to spread the word about the GoGrid Reseller Program we have in place. And at the end of the Summit, GoGrid was awarded the “Best Channel Incentives” award!

The ASCII Success Summit was attended by about 130 IT resellers that sell into the SME market and about 30 vendors. GoGrid announced our Premier channel program that provided the resellers the opportunity to get involved with an IaaS provider that really understands their reselling business. GoGrid offers a program that provides for a true partnership between the reseller and the vendor by helping evolve their business into a cloud services model versus asking them to make wholesale changes to their business strategy as most vendors do. Our lucrative discount strategy, joint marketing incentives and deal registration programs provide the business tools that resellers need in order to make this transition into IaaS business.

The main focus of the show was Cloud Services. Most resellers were highly interested in the space but, confused as to how to go about getting a piece of this growing market segment. The overall message was that up to 30% of their legacy infrastructure and software business was going to go away in place of as a service type business. Resellers wanted to know what role they had in this market and how they were going to make money by participating.

Reid Cooper, Sr. Channel Account Manager at GoGrid, represented GoGrid at the show and helped GoGrid secure the “Best Channel Incentives” award.

The Channel Incentive Award was given to GoGrid because of the consensus of the reseller community that GoGrid had the best overall channel program and sales incentives at the show. Our 50% discount for Premier Partners, joint marketing activities investment and deal registration program combined, provided the best in class and resonated well with the reseller community.

Reid also sat on a advisory panel at the event with three other vendors including Google titled, “Cloud Consulting… The Conversation You Need to Have Now With Your Clients” which was moderated by Gennifer Biggs, Managed Services Editor of Business Solutions.

About The ASCII Group

The ASCII Group, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is the world’s oldest and largest group of independent computer solution providers and integrators. Their members provide products and services to clients ranging from small and medium businesses, to Fortune 500 companies, as well as governments and educational institutions in the United States, Canada, the UK and other countries. The ASCII community members sales are over $9.5 Billion in the U.S. alone!

The ASCII Group’s focus remains the same — providing solution providers with the tools necessary to survive and grow in the competitive technology market. These tools include leveraged purchasing programs both through major computer products distributors and direct with manufacturers; education and training; knowledge sharing amongst peers; sizeable discounts on business services such as errors and omissions/business liability insurance; and a worldwide locator which allows customers to find a local independent solution provider.

If you are local to the San Francisco Bay Area or Silicon Valley, there is a Cloud Computing event that you definitely shouldn’t miss: Under the Radar. At this event, sponsored by GoGrid, you will hear from 350 technology leaders about who is adopting and using the cloud, who is innovating and how they are doing so and why you should seriously be considering a Cloud Computing strategy for your IT infrastructure.

Before I get into the details, you can receive a $200 discount off the regular ticket price by following this Registration link.

A bit about Under the Radar:

Under the Radar is a catalyst for doing deals. Meet with 350 other tech leaders to hear about who’s adopting the cloud, who’s innovating and why it matters to you. From the new data center to SaaS, the ROI for leveraging the cloud has never been more clear or compelling.

Sessions include:

• “Data Debate: MySQL or NoSQL” – John Quinn (VP Engineering, Digg)
• “Data 2.0″ – presenting companies:
  • Cloudant
  • GenieDB
  • Neo Technology
  • NorthScale
  • Sones
• “Compliance” – presenting companies:
  • Aprigo
  • Conformity
  • Kinamik
  • SaaSure
• “Analytics” – presenting companies:
  • Crowdcast
  • GoodData
  • Indicee
• “Virtualization” – presenting companies:
  • CloudShare
  • Delphix
  • Layerboom Systems
  • VMTurbo
• “Communications” – presenting companies:
  • AwayFind
  • CubeTree
  • Fonolo
  • SendGrid
• “App Development & Management” – presenting companies:
  • AppDynamics
  • AppFirst
  • Makara
• “Infrastructure” – presenting companies:
  • CloudSwitch
  • MaxiScale
  • Puppet Lapbs
  • RiverMuse

Don’t recognize any of these names? You aren’t alone. This is because at this event, these Presenting Companies will be going into tech details of their startup, in order to show how they are adopting, using or leveraging Cloud Computing for their IT success. They may simply be fully implemented in the Cloud or have created a business strategy for managing Cloud Computing. These are emerging companies with smart, successful teams who a a little bit of traction (some are in seed state and have a handful of strategic beta customers while others have a Series A and a handful of recognizable enterprise customers). Regardless, there should be some very interesting and dynamic sessions at this conference.

Judges for the presenting companies include executives from: ING, Nokia, MTV Networks, Intuit, Verizon, Accel Partners, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, ZDNET, Norwest Venture Partners, Salesforce.com, Bank of America, Deloitte Consulting, AT&T, Hummer Winblad, Information Week, Virgin America and Battery Ventures. More information about the judging process:

• Leading up to Under the Radar, the Dealmaker Media team interviews approximately 150+ startups to identify trends and filter through applicants to select a small group of presenting companies to hit the stage. Approx 30 startups present at each Under the Radar.
• Both the audience and “judges” vote of their favorite company in each category. There are 7 categories.
• Criteria for “judges” choice are based on market opportunity, how compelling the startups solution/product is, team and business model.

Additionally, GoGrid will be awarding 2 Winners a $500 GoGrid Cloud Infrastructure Hosting credit (each)! Oh, and while you are at the event, please be sure to visit the GoGrid table to find out how our cloud can help your business succeed!