Interop Roundtables: Start The IT Conversation

Interop is debuting roundtable sessions at Interop Las Vegas. These sessions aim to facilitate discussions among attendees and Interop instructors. They are a casual and interactive environment where you can share ideas and opinions with your peers.

Rather than give formal presentations, Interop instructors will kick off the roundtable sessions and lead discussions.

We’ll have whiteboards on hand if you get the urge to sketch a diagram to help illustrate a point, but there’s no PowerPoint, no microphones, and no podium—just good converastion.

Interop will host the roundtables on Monday April 27 and Tuesday April 28 for Workshop Pass and Total Access Pass holders. Lunch is provided.

Monday’s roundtables include discussions on real-world DevOps, the evolution of hacktivism, mobile-first development, and how to deal with IT burnout.

Tuesday’s roundtables will discuss what’s working in infosec, how to get started with network automation, and private vs. public clouds.

Full descriptions of the roundtables are listed below. Please note that participation is limited to 20 people per roundtable, so sign up now.

Monday April 27

Beyond the DevOps Buzzwords
Can we talk? Let's go beyond the buzzword and the hype and really talk about DevOps in practice, not theory. What are you doing now? What do you want to do? What do you want DevOps to do for you? Let's forget about what other people claim DevOps is and talk about what it means to you and your organization.
Host: Lori MacVittie, Principal Technical Evangelist, F5 Networks

Hacktivism Goes Geo-Political
Hacktivism has shifted its focus since 2011. While actors self-affiliated with Anonymous continue to execute one-off campaigns, hacktivism has crystalized as a component of geo-political conflicts. From Ukraine to Syria, hacktivists align with warring factions, rallying to support nations or forces opposed to them. This roundtable will examine the role hacktivists play in conflicts, evaluate new techniques, and consider how hacktivism will continue to develop.
Host: Stu Solomon, Vice President, iSIGHT Partners

How Would Your Business Change If Application Development Was Mobile-First?
A mobile presence is a must today for any business. But many mobile efforts are secondary to the Web, in part because companies have already investments in Web app development, tools, and training. Is it time to flip the emphasis to mobile first? What opportunities would this new stance create? What challenges would you face? How could you get buy-in? Join us to share your experiences with mobile and Web development and find out what your peers are up to in a collegial roundtable setting.
Host: Ravi Singh, Vice President of Mobile Engineering, MarkITx

IT Burnout: Let's Talk
Feeling stressed? Join us for informal roundtable where we can safely discuss issues related to stress, anxiety and depression in our industry. Recently, incidents of stress and depression hit the DevOps community pretty hard, and these problems are not uncommon through the IT industry. This session has three goals:

1. Get more IT pros comfortable talking about stress, anxiety and depression, and figure out how to reduce the stigma associated with these ailments
2. Better understand how we can be good listeners, and learn some do's and don'ts when dealing with colleagues who need our help
3. Be creative. These are serious problems, so let's brainstorm what we can do better

Host: John Willis, Independent, Consultant

Tuesday April 28

Beyond the FUD: What's Working in Infosec for Organizations of All Types and Sizes
Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) drives a lot of sales, interest, and investment in security technologies, strategies, and solutions. Sometimes they work as advertised, but often they under-deliver and don't adequately address the problems they are intended to solve. Is this the fault of the vendor, the product, the user, or a combination? What information risk and security practices and technologies are working for organizations today? This roundtable provides a forum for an open and honest discussion amongst peers to share their insights on what is really effective versus what they're told by industry, vendors, and the media.
Host: John Pironti, President, IP Architects, LLC

Network Automation: Tales From The Script
There are lots of ways to get started with network automation. Join this roundtable discussion if you've got automation tales to share (scary or otherwise), or you're looking for practical answers to questions on tools, training, organizational challenges, and more.
Host: Matt Oswalt, Network Software Engineer, Independent

Private Vs Public: Which Cloud And Why
Join us for a roundtable discussion on private vs. public clouds. We'll discuss why you'd use one or other, talk about when it makes sense to build a private cloud, and share experiences of how people use both public and private clouds in the same enterprise.
Host: Ivan Pepelnjak, Network Architect, ipSpace.net AG

Interop Las Vegas is April 27 through May 1. Register now to learn the latest technology developments, accelerate your career, and network with your peers in the IT community.