11:00 - 11:45 AM ET
Opening Keynote Address:
Getting the Most from your Virtualization Environment

So your company has decided to embrace virtualization. Now what? Ensuring your IT environment makes the most of virtualization technology can save your company valuable time, money and space. But a poorly executed virtualization strategy can cause major headaches. Our keynote expert will discuss how a well-executed strategy can help companies save money and realize the most from a virtualized environment through proper planning and the latest in virtualization technology.

Moderator: Charlene O’Hanlon, Editorial Director, eSeminars & Virtual Tradeshows, Ziff Davis Enterprise
Speaker: Michael Dortch, Senior Research Analyst, Aberdeen Group

12:00 – 1:00 PM ET
Hitachi Data Systems Sponsor Presentation:
Enabling a Virtualized World

Data is often stored in multiple locations using different vendors, making it difficult to manage. Join Claus Mikkelsen, Chief Scientist, Hitachi Data Systems, as he explains how implementing an intelligent virtualization strategy can reduce the complexity of the process while driving down the costs of ownership.

Moderator: Steve DeGeorge, Virtual Tradeshow Host, Ziff Davis Enterprise
Speaker: Claus Mikkelsen, Chief Scientist, Hitachi Data Systems

1:00 - 1:45 PM ET
Hot Button Panel One:
Planning a Virtualized Environment from the Ground Up

Companies looking to build their IT infrastructure from scratch, or replace their existing infrastructure wholesale, are looking at virtualization to help them save costs associated with hardware, software, cooling and power, not to mention manpower. But it’s about more than installing virtualization software and partitioning servers – successful virtualized environments take a fair amount of planning to reap the most benefits. Our panel of experts will delve into the tips and tricks of planning a viable and successful virtualized environment.

Moderator: Pam Schancupp, Executive Editor, eSeminars & Virtual Tradeshows, Ziff Davis Enterprise
Speaker: Don Norbeck, Director, SunGard Availability Services
Speaker: Chris Rogers, President, ServerCave, Inc.
Speaker: Robert Zylowski, Virtualization Director, GlassHouse Technologies

3:00 - 3:45 PM ET
Hot Button Panel Two:
Avoiding the Sprawl: Tips for a Successful Migration to Virtualization

It's easy to adopt virtualization as a quick fix in solving resource issues, but oftentimes a hodge-podge virtualization effort leads to sprawl. This can lead to other, equally pressing resource issues such as management and security, to name two. How can a company successfully utilize virtualization technology without falling victim to sprawl? Our panel of experts will discuss the ways to avoid sprawl through keen observance of the physical and virtual environments and persistent management of both.

Moderator: Pam Schancupp, Executive Editor, eSeminars & Virtual Tradeshows, Ziff Davis Enterprise
Speaker: Eric Greenfeder, Director, Product Management, Primitive Logic
Speaker: Chris Wolf, Senior Analyst, Burton Group
Speaker: Stephen Fink, Senior Infrastructure Architect, Americas CTO Organization, Avanade

5:00 - 5:45 PM ET
Hot Button Panel Three:
Keeping Your Virtual Environment Secure

Virtualized environments can suffer the same security breaches as their non-virtualized counterparts, yet sometimes those breaches are not easily recognized in a virtualized environment. Ensuring a secure and proper virtualized environment is relatively uncomplicated, however, and often mimics most existing security best practices. Layering security, keeping antivirus and other malware-defense software programs up to date, and keeping a close eye on logging reports are some of the ways a virtualized environment can stay secure. Learn from our panel of experts other ways companies can keep their virtualized environment as secure as the rest of their IT infrastructure.

Moderator: Charlene O’Hanlon, Editorial Director, eSeminars & Virtual Tradeshows, Ziff Davis Enterprise
Speaker: Brian Dykstra, Senior Partner, Jones Dykstra & Associates
Speaker: Joe Fitzgerald, CEO, ManageIQ
Speaker: David O’Leary, Principle Consultant, Forsythe Solutions Group