Special Report
Mobile. Social. Cloud. Virtualization. Big Data. Software Defined Networking. Convergence. The technology industry continues to transform the way we work and play. For IT organizations, keeping up with these changes can be challenging. One of the best places to see this dynamic at work is the Interop show in Las Vegas, where the latest in technology innovation will be on display. The show's panels and discussions feature the smartest technology gurus and managers on the planet, helping you to find the products, services, and strategies to keep your enterprise in the forefront. Bookmark this page so you can read InformationWeek's coverage of all the Interop action before, during, and after the show.
Interop Las Vegas: 10 Cool ProductsFrom video conferencing knockouts to data protection tools, intriguing new products are on tap at Interop Las Vegas 2013. Take a closer look.
Critical Thinking
So You Want To Be A CIO? 4 Tips
If you have C-suite aspirations, consider these four pieces of advice from the school of hard knocks.
Software Hot, Hardware Not, At EMC World, Interop
The EMC World and Interop conferences showed technology forces reshaping the storage and networking ecosystems and the data center's future -- forces largely driven by software.
SF Giants CIO: Quit Bellyaching, Start Leading
San Francisco Giants' CIO Bill Schlough gives winning advice to InformationWeek CIO Summit attendees at Interop. If your CEO doesn't "get" IT value, lead by example, he says.
Digital Disruption Can Expand Your Business
UPS's My Choice service shows the power and potential of the new consumer-funded digital infrastructure.
CIOs Must Innovate Or Go Home
How can IT leaders drive profitable business innovation when they're so caught up in their day-to-day work? Learn from your peers who've done it.
Why You Should Attend Interop
Big data, enterprise mobility and software-defined networking lead the themes for conference sessions and exhibits at Interop Las Vegas 2013.
The Great CIO Debate
Is the role of the CIO to be an innovator or a custodian? Two leading CIOs share advice on how to become the innovation champion in your company.
4 Ways To End Your IT Break-Fix Rut
It's a classic IT influence problem: Can you leave the break-fix cycle behind? Consider this advice from Interop keynote speakers.
The Buzz @ Interop
Vegas Resorts Bet On Location-Based Apps
IT's Self Image Needs Work, Cisco Study Shows
Interop: Cisco, NBA Star Tout Internet Of Things
Interop Cloud Experts Debate SDN's Future
Interop: Open Compute Project To Tackle Network Switching
Interop: Higher Ed CIOs Focus On Bandwidth, Mobility
Meet The Best Of Interop 2013 Winners
Interop: Expert Advice On IT ROI, Chargeback
Facebook's Frank Frankovsky: Open Compute Update
Interop Las Vegas: 10 Cool Products
Interop Las Vegas: 10 Cool Startups
3 Warning Signs Your IT Team Is Job Hunting
VCE Adds Smaller Vblocks To Attract SMBs
Interop Preview: Expert Advice On Building Private Cloud
InteropNet: How A Unique Network Takes Shape
HP Details Software Defined Networks Strategy
SDN Buyer's Guide
SDN is essentially the networking manifestation of what Marc Andreessen terms "software eating the world." IT's yanking proprietary management and control technology and replacing overpriced switches and routers with commodity hardware built from merchant silicon under the direction of centralized controllers running on virtual servers, themselves running on commodity hardware. While the market is still young, we decided to define four product categories, outline what to look for in each and ask vendors to take their best shot at your SDN business. (Free, registration required)
Research: 2013 State of Storage
Infrastructure may be "cool again," as the then CTO of Zynga declared at last year's Interop. But the recent focus on server virtualization and software-defined networking meant that, for storage professionals, it seemed like the server and network guys were having all the fun. (Free, registration required)
Research: 2013 Backup Technologies Survey
Today no area of IT stays static for long, even the important but (seemingly) unexciting backup arena. In fact, the business technology professionals responding to our March 2013 InformationWeek Backup Technologies Survey are scrambling to keep up with fast-evolving production IT architectures and security and business demands. (Free, registration required)
Research: 2013 Networking and Data Center Management Salary Survey
Median base salaries for networking and data center IT pros remained essentially flat from 2012 to 2013. Base salaries for data center managers and data center staff rose a median of 1.6% and 1.3%, respectively, according to the InformationWeek 2013 U.S. IT Salary Survey.
Research: 2013 Wireless LAN Survey
Dense flash memory and advanced batteries made smartphones and tablets feasible; wireless networks make them useful. Given the cost of cellular access, the multiplying number of mobile devices and the imminent ratification of the superfast 802.11ac specification, we decided to survey InformationWeek readers about their wireless LANs today and plans for the future.
Informed CIO: SDN and Server Virtualization on a Collision Course
The fusion of virtual servers and networks joins two of IT’s hottest and most transformative technologies: hypervisor management platforms/private cloud stacks and software-defined networks.
At Interop, Ixia announced that its IxNetwork and IxANVL test applications now support OpenFlow protocol emulation that's fully integrated with other network protocols and provides a suite of OpenFlow compliance tests.
With its 2U, 72-port, 40-Gbps Ethernet switch, the GS0072, the U.K. upstart has built a giant slayer.
McAfee announced three new additions to its security family at Interop in Las Vegas this week, including an improvement in performance and scalability, and some enhancements to its support for virtual environments.
At Interop, Gigamon announced GigaVUE-VM, so administrators can look at the same traffic flows, but this time between virtual machines -- again, setup and defined down to the application (including custom applications, by the way).