2017 TCC Gallery

Re-experience the 2017 TCC!

The 2017 Technology Convergence Conference was held on February 23, 2017 at the DoubleTree Hotel in San Jose. We welcomed end users, sponsors, and speakers from all over the country and world to engage in a premier educational and networking event. Below are some of the highlights from the event.

Opening Address

Speaker: Maricel Cerruti, Founder of the TCC

Keynote Address: “Cities of the Future”

Speaker: Shara Evans

In this keynote speech, technology futurist Shara Evans shares the latest insights on smart city initiatives that are being undertaken around the world, as well as her vision for “Cities of the Future”. With an emphasis on global, rather than US projects, Shara will describe cutting edge deployments such as robots doing maintenance on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and work being done in Europe to develop self-repairing cities. She’ll also talk about the collaboration between government, industry, start-ups and researchers that will be required to create a future that we want to live in.

In the software enabled world of the near future, robots as a service will be offered by innovators in a range of industries, autonomous vehicles + drones will communicate with each other and the cloud, all kinds of things will be 3D printed on demand, our homes will contain voice and gesture activated smart appliances, and humans will become increasingly integrated with the ‘net. Strap in: Shara’s speech will take you on a ride into the future.

Track A

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Learn how to influence a highly siloed global IT Operations organization to adopt a solution that requires a high degree of coordination between People, Processes, and Technologies.   This session explores development of an DCIM Onboarding Plan, establishment of a DCIM Champion Initiative, and expanding the solution value proposition to influence other business initiatives including transition from traditional IT to managed services.  See demonstrations of how to customize commercial DCIM software, NLyte Enterprise, and enable role-based usage-scenarios that map onto varied IT Operations workflows.

Speaker: Phil Pennington, Global DCIM Lead & Solutions Architect, VMware

Recent statistics show that only 18% of undergraduate computer science degrees and 26% of computing jobs are held by women. It also shows that only 5% of leadership positions in the technology industry are held by women. This issue punctuated at the first Infrastructure Masons Leadership Summit, where only 5 of 105 attendees were women. Members commented that the pipelines for female candidates interested in Technical Infrastructure positions are empty. Infrastructure Masons will be targeting solutions to narrow this diversity gap in 2017.

Join Maricel Cerruti, IM Board Member and leader of the IM Women in Technical Infrastructure (WITI), as she gains insight from women in leadership positions at Facebook, Google, Siemons and Uber. How/why did they chose this career; What barriers are there for women participating in this industry; and strategies on how to attract more women to this field.

Moderator: Maricel Cerruti, Founder of the TCC and Treasurer, Infrastructure Masons
Carrie Goetz, Global Director Data Center Services, The Siemon Company
Carissa Clark, Data Center Facility Operations Electrical Engineer, Facebook
Sarah Keller, Sr. Manager of Technical Procurement, Uber

Infrastructure Masons Working Session 1: Data Center Performance Certification

There is no accepted industry standard for measuring the performance of data centers through a business lens. This members only working session will focus a new proposal to normalize this measurement through provided performance based criteria. The goal of this sessions is to review this content, discuss and debate the merits and align on a solution. IM Leaders and senior members will facilitate this session.

Dean Nelson, Head of Uber Computer & Chairman/Founder, Infrastructure Masons
Mark Monroe, Executive Director, Infrastructure Masons

 

Infrastructure Masons Working Session 2: Infrastructure Resource Gap

IM leaders have confirmed that there is a storage of technical infrastructure talent coming into the industry. College degree programs and recruitment efforts are focused on software, finance, and business careers. College curriculum and certification programs underserve the foundational layers of the digital age (data centers, network, hardware, storage, and infrastructure software). This session will focus on solutions around vocational education, college & university curriculum & degrees, and diversity programs to raise the awareness and visibility of the issues and opportunities in filling this gap. IM Leaders and senior members will facilitate this session.

Mark Monroe, Executive Director, Infrastructure Masons
Winston Saunders
, IM Education Workgroup Chair

Moderator: Brian Donathan, Principal, TELADATA
Jamie Saguindel, Data Center Manager, Box
Rob Morris, Managing Partner, Skybox Datacenters

Data center efficiency and automation go hand in hand, and availability and reliability can improve with automation as well.  In fact, most every measure of performance can improve with the addition of properly deployed automation and artificial intelligence.  See what Silicon Valley data center operators are discovering today as they release control of their data centers to pre-programmed systems that respond dynamically to real-time data center demands and improvements in technology.  Hear about what is working as promised and what is not, and what is done with the good and the bad.   Also see how performance is monitored and  measured to compare different solutions and to select the best approach to automate. We will have an interactive session and encourage attendees to bring your stories and share your experiences with the audience in search of next generation data center automation solutions.

Moderator: Bruce Myatt, Critical Facilities Solutions
Mark Thiele, Chief Strategy Officer, Apcera
Richard Donaldson, Director Business Operations & Strategy, eBay
Phil Pennington, DCIM Solutions Architect, VMware
Ralph Renne, Director of Workplace Resources – Real Estate and Facilities, Americas, NetApp

Track B

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Increasingly, organizations are seeking to transform their workplaces through customized, alternative solutions that reflect their culture, promote the brand, support recruitment, and boost the bottom line.  Work settings today are a migration from traditional environments to open spaces that support spontaneous and planned collaboration. However, this change often results in uneasiness and pushback from staff that isn’t ready to give up their privacy for an environment that encourages alternative solutions and new technology. This creates a challenge for management, architects, and project managers, particularly in workplaces where multiple generations, each with different attitudes and skillsets, work side by side. Fortunately, there are proven methods that address these issues.

Key to this discussion is change management…a thoughtful process to engage employees in the development and decision-making process. The goal is to make everyone more receptive to change and optimize successful solutions. In our upcoming panel discussion, we will bring together a group of distinguished, local business leaders who can provide firsthand information about their challenges and results in dealing with these dynamics.  Robin Weckesser—founder of a3 Workplace Strategies and an industry pioneer in the forefront of innovative project management changes—will lead a timely and lively discussion designed to be educational and interactive.

Moderator: Robin WeckesserPrincipal at a3 Workplace Strategies
Primo Orpilla, Co-Founder of Studio O+A
Marlene Sironi, Workplace Strategist, Inside Source
Dwain Christensen, Director of Workplace Strategies, SAP

Moderator: Brian Mata, Senior Audiovisual Designer, TELADATA
Scott Ethersmith, Global AV Systems Lead, Airbnb
Christopher Rosario, IT/AV Project Manager, SAC Health System
Trent Tanaka, Global AV Manager, Tesla

The internet only became useful to the masses when HTML allowed people to create webpages and applications. Likewise, the IOT is going to need a protocol for people to communicate with their machines in a way that allows them to become programmers and data scientists and unlock the value of the IOT – without having to learn how to code or understand the underlying algorithms. This presentation will explore some of those concepts applied to Industrial IOT devices: how we interface to building infrastructure (BAS/BMS and DCIM systems) and allow people to help teach those systems using simple UI/UX.

The IOT is not about the internet or about things: it’s about having better experiences with the things that surround us every day, it’s about clean man/machine interfaces, and it’s about allowing people to use ever-day language to communicate with machines and teach them what the data they are gathering really means – allowing humans to help teach the new IOT – the Intelligence of Things.

JP Balajadia, VP, Co-Founder, LitBit

This presentation will give an overview of the fundaments of project planning process with as it relates to the facilities world of planning, design & construction. Examples will include a case study of a large tenant improvement project in Silicon Valley where employees were relocated to a new campus.

Top three takeaways from this presentation are:

  • Overview of Project Management 101
  • Actual case study of real project
  • Good opportunity for Q&A with speakers

Anne Merrill, Senior Project Manager Planning, Design, Construction, Stanford Health Care
Cynthia Ruby, LEED AP+OM, RPA, FMA, CEO and President; Cynthia Ruby and Associates

Moderator: Thomas Keller, Senior Security Consultant, TELADATA
Dan Hoffman, Corporate Real Estate Facilities Executive at Nimble Storage
Gary Backus, Manager of Safety & Security, Pandora

Platinum Sponsored Lunch Sessions

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The next horizon for IT Data Centers is The Edge and Edge Computing. “Edge Computing is pushing the frontier of computing applications, data, and services away from centralized nodes to the logical extremes of a network“ -Wikipedia

We know where we are heading, but what is required to get there?

IT applications and hardware will continue to evolve, but where these products and services will be deployed is changing dramatically – by definition The Edge could be just about anywhere. Including deployment in spaces that may not have: 1.) Multiple layers of security and access control; 2.) Sufficient heat removal and climate control; or 3.) Reliable and stable power supply and distribution. In many cases – these spaces may not be optimal for deploying Edge Computing.

In this session you will:

  • Understand how to successfuly navigate these new installation environments and conditions when moving to the The Edge.
  • Learn how to create a migration plan for critical infrastucture components required to support Edge deployments – including climate control, power distribution, and physical security.
  • Acquire a comprehensive overview of solutions available to insure a safe, stable and secure Edge installation.

 

Speaker: Herb Villa, Senior Systems Consultant, Rittal Data Center Solutions

Jonathan Hewitt, Regional Sales Manager at Crestron
Greg Mattson, Technical Director at Crestron

Thanks to our valued speakers for a great show!

View Speaker Bios