Software-defined Everything is taking the IT world by storm. And the drivers are clear: virtualization, big data, mobility, and an insatiable desire for more, bigger, faster. That large-scale datacenter infrastructure is well beyond its breaking point is undeniable. But where are the solutions? And more importantly, what are the pragmatic steps that organizations must take to make the promise of the software-defined datacenter a reality?

Our entire industry is feeling the reverberations of a major architectural shift from static silos to a more dynamic, highly interconnected infrastructure inclusive of compute, storage, networking, and applications. But the transition from the one to the other is neither straightforward nor well documented. And for those of us who have lived through massive transformations before, we know that the line between success and failure is quite fine, depending on far more than just the supporting technologies.

At the 2013 Software-defined Data Center (SDDC) Symposium, we will bring together vendors, practitioners, analysts, and pundits to discuss the practical realities of successfully navigating these turbulent waters. Our experts will provide different viewpoints on everything from technologies to business implications, from organizations to talent in an attempt to uncover what exists between you and the marketing promises.

The SDDC panel discussions will each feature a mix of user and vendor with an eye toward reconciling what might be with what really is. The panel discussions include:

• Technologies - Underpinning the entire movement is the set of technologies required to bring together compute, storage, networking, and applications. But where do these technologies intersect? And how are they deployed side-by-side in a cohesive, end-to-end data center architecture? With so many competing ideas, our panelists will help identify the right questions to ask so you can evaluate where to place your company's bets.
• Business - The rise of new solutions will change forever the vendor landscape. What once were partners might now be competitors. What used to be disparate will now be interconnected. In this kind of environment, what are the business implications? Who are the beneficiaries of change? And how do you use this to the benefit of your own architectural designs?
• Organization - How can technologies converge if they exist in organizational silos? In a word, they don't. Companies must ensure they have alignment of purpose, priorities, budget, and resources. How is success measured? What management structures must exist? And to what extent must the organization prepare psychologically for a shift this large? Technology evolution can progress in quarters, but cultural shifts can take years. Is your organization ready?
• Talent - Even if your plans are well thought out and your organization prepared, what kind of skills do your teams need to execute against this grand vision? Does talent lead technology? Or do you bring technology in and train your teams? What happens to your specialists? Who is capable of creating the programmatic glue to bring these silos together?

Whatever the path for your specific organization, one final outcome will look a lot different than today. Join us for a day of networking, presentations, and panels to prepare yourself for the inevitable rise of SDDCs.

Order of the Day

• 08:00 - 08:30:  Meeting and Registration
• 08:30 - 12:00:  Introducing the Next Generation SDDC Leaders Featuring Embrane, NEC, Nuage Networks, OpenDaylight, Plexxi, and others.
• 12:00 - 13:00:  Lunch with Nutanix
• 13:00 - 13:30:  Next Generation SDDC:  How Coca-Cola is building SDDCs
• 13:45 - 14:30:  Next Generation Software-defined Data Center Architecture Panel with Ivan Pepelnjak Discuss the convergance of compute, storage, and network and what that means to the datacenter architectures.
• 14:30 - 15:15:  Money Flow:  Predicting Budget Winners and Losers Panel with Jim Duffy Discuss how SDDC changes economic buyers, challenges vendor loyalties and who are the power brokers for SDDCs within the enterprise.
• 15:30 - 16:15:  Public or Private Software-defined Data Center Panel with Greg Ferro Discuss how and when to build a private SDDC or rent public SDDC capabilities and understand the political and organization impact of each decision.
• 16:15 - 17:00:  Which comes first in the SDDC:  Talent or Technology Panel Discuss how the skills and talents required to successful deploy a SDDC and do you make technology / vendor decision before you hire or do you hire experts before vendor section.
• 17:00 - 17:30:  Next Generation SDDC:  Closing Remarks

Attend In Person!

Tickets are now available for the Symposium. We have two ticket types available, both including full attendence and lunch:

• Reserved Seats are toward the front of the room and include a table and electrical power outlet. This makes attending an all-day event more comfortable and productive!
• General Admission ticketholders will be able to choose from seats to the back of the room, many of which will not have electrical power or a table.

Tickets are $25 (General Admission) and $50 (Reserved).

Note that event capacity is severely constrained. Therefore, we are focusing on end-user implementers and encouraging others to participate online by viewing the live video stream at http://tfd.bz/SDDC13

More Information

The Software-Defined Data Center Symposium is a co-production of SDNCentral and Tech Field Day. Our media partners are Packet Pushers Podcast and Gestalt IT.

Event sponsors include Brocade, Embrane, NEC, Nuage Networks, Nutanix, OpenDaylight, and Plexxi.