Interop 2008, a foremost business technology event tackling the biggest issues in computer networking, heads to New York in September with a strong lineup of keynotes, workshops, and other events covering the hottest IT issues, ranging from cloud computing and green IT to virtualization and videoconferencing.

The Big Apple show, Sept. 15-19, promises to be bigger than last year, with more than 250 exhibitors -- 20% more than last year -- and a 7% increase in attendees, organizers say. The show's growth reflects how companies view technology as helping to reduce costs in a weak economy.

"There's a lot of emerging technology that can make a difference," Interop general manager Lenny Heymann said. "There's a lot of depth this year in areas such as cloud computing, virtualization, and mobility that didn't exist last year."

Indeed, this year's keynoters include Marc Benioff, chairman and chief executive of Salesforce.com. The success of Salesforce has been an important driver behind the trend among corporations to adopt the software-as-a-service model for some applications, particularly for CRM and sales and marketing management. Salesforce offers CRM applications as a Web service.

Other keynoters include Marie Hattar, VP of network systems and security solutions at Cisco; and Ronald W. Hovsepian, president and chief executive of Novell. Hattar is expected to discuss trends in data centers and videoconferencing, and Hovsepian is expected to address the latest in virtualization.

Interop's Five Tracks

Interop this year is bringing five "focused zones" along with the general IT expo. Vendors associated with each group will exhibit at the same hall, but workshops and other activities will be separate. Benioff's keynote will be open to attendees of Interop and the Web 2.0 Expo.

The other mini-shows include the bMighty.com SMB Theater and Pavilion, which features technology targeted at small and midsize businesses; the Mobile Business Expo, which is geared toward attendees interested in exploring wireless technologies, mobile devices and applications; the Security & Compliance Zone, which will offer the opportunity to evaluate security technology; and Startup City, which will highlight innovations from technology companies that have been in the market for a year or less.