What to expect from Spiceworks SpiceWorld 2018
It’s hard to believe, but it has been four years since the Computer Weekly Developer Network set foot on Texan soil for a Spiceworks SpiceWorld event.
As we have detailed before, Spiceworks is a vertical network for IT that connects millions of IT professionals with over 2,000 technology brands — it’s mission is to simplify the way we buy and manage technology products and services.
In terms of use, Spiceworks users submit ratings and reviews on thousands of individual IT products and services. The company claims that this makes Spiceworks the largest repository of B2B technology product ratings and reviews in the world.
This year’s event themes include security, datacentres and channel issues.
In security, the focus will be directed towards blockchain, cyber issues and emerging solutions, which will include biometrics, deception technology, cloud workload protection and employee security training tools.
Sessions here will include ‘security vs. functionality’: a sysadmin’s guide to finding balance and staying sane; guerrilla threat intelligence; and security isn’t a job, it’s a lifestyle.
Datacentre sessions will examine all things virtual and drill into storage, Software Defined Storage (SDS), cloud network/infrastructure management and IT troubleshooting, network inventory/monitoring and user support/training.
In channel, we can expect the focus to drill towards how the IT channel is coping with the shift to the cloud and the biggest emerging IT trends that businesses are actually adopting (e.g., automation, AI, IoT).
Powering IT together
“The theme of SpiceWorld this year is ‘Powering IT Together’ which we think captures the spirit of what Spiceworks and the IT community has always been about – connections, said Jay Hallberg, CEO and co-founder of Spiceworks.
Hallberg contends that this year’s event is all about enabling connections for IT professionals – to the people, tools, content and tech brands they need to get their jobs done every day.
“We’re excited to talk about an important milestone in our history – our development and usage of AI technologies that are specifically designed to power new personalised experiences and connections at scale. But ultimately, SpiceWorld is about the people, the businesses they support, and the lasting relationships that are forged for three days in Austin,” added Hallberg.
State of the IT nation
Spiceworks will summarise a lot of these areas in its annual State Of IT report. A compendium of survey responses from hundreds of IT practitioners that hail from a mix technical disciplines across North America and Europe.
“Anxious to know upcoming IT budgets and trends? You’ll get the first peek as we bring our annual, data-fueled report to life. We’ll walk through our findings, plus provide next steps so you can begin using our data to fuel your 2018 strategies,” blogs Alexis Simonetti of Spiceworks.
So what kind of Spice Girl would Spiceworks be if Spiceworks was a Spice Girl? We’re guessing the company would say Sporty Spice — she’s nimble, agile & flexible… and the only one that can really sing, right?
The event hashtag is #SpiceWorld2018