Let's Talk Cloud at Interop ITX

Application migration issues, security, new software models and evaluating total cost of ownership. All are part of an enterprise cloud initiative. If your company is moving to the cloud -- or maybe you are already there -- there is no shortage of both concerns and opportunities.

I'll be exploring these issues when I head up InformationWeek's cloud coverage at Interop ITX, coming up in three weeks, May 15-19, at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

If you are attending Interop, I hope to meet you there. If you aren't going yet, consider the options available. The agenda built out by the staff of Interop and myself and other InformationWeek editors features more than two dozen cloud-related sessions, plus many times that in related tracks focused on IT Leadership, DevOps, Infrastructure, Data & Analytics, and Security.

Here are some of the expert presentations that I plan to catch:

How IoT Impacts Your Cloud Security Strategy, with Bill Kleyman of MTM Technologies.

Cloud Migration: After the Honeymoon, with Ken Griffin of Harvard Business Publishing.

Not As Simple As It Looks: Evaluating Cloud TCO , presented by John Burke, CIO of Nemertes Research.

Developing Your Cloud Operating Model , featuring JP Morgenthal of DXC Technology.

How You Can Benefit from Software Eating the World , with Joe Emison of Xceligent.

Moving Applications: From Legacy to Cloud-to-Cloud , presented by Susan Wu of Midokura.

For example, when I spoke with him, Nemertes' Burke was sifting through data that indicates the real savings of infrastructure as a service don't necessarily come from "lift and shift" migrations into the cloud. They stem more from making use of the plug-in services, such as Amazon CloudFront content distribution or Aurora database services, that are there once you get there. He'll discuss that point in It's Not as Simple As It Looks: Evaluating Cloud TCO.

Within the Cloud track there's also coverage of some niche subjects. For example, this year we're paying special attention to the role of containers in the cloud and how they can be used in there as well as on premises, and how they can be managed in both places. If containers have a future, then part of that future lies in their cloud operations. See Madhura Madkasky's How Containers Factor into the Cloud, or Scott Lowe's Deploying Applications to the Cloud with Containers. 

Another one that might not sound sexy but merits attention would be The Liberty Group's JP Morganthal on Developing Your Cloud Operating Model. Operations in the cloud need to be tied to the application and unbound from infrastructure. In the past, you'd get alerts if the server on which the application was running failed. Now you need to know whether end users are seeing application responses that mean the app itself has stalled or failed.

Interop ITX has five days of cloud content, including single-speaker sessions, panel discussions, workshops and summits, plus unlimited peer networking opportunities. For an update on what's going on in the cloud, mark up an agenda that matches the sessions you'd like to attend to the time you have available. 

If you haven't registered, visit the Interop ITX site for more information.