Originally posted by: TonyPearson

The [IBM Edge2015 conference] is premiere conference covering Infrastructure Innovations for IBM System Storage, as well as sessions about z Systems and POWER Systems from our IBM Enterprise conference. Check out this short two-minute [YouTube video on IBM Edge2015].

Here is my quick recap of the kickoffs and keynote sessions on the first day, Monday, May 11, 2015.

Storage Systems Technical Kickoff

 

At the dreadful hour of 8:30am on Monday morning, Clod Barrera and Axel Koester kicked off the Storage portion of Technical Edge.

 

Clod is IBM Distinguished Engineer and Chief Technical Strategist for IBM's System Storage product line. He discussed IBM's investments in Software Defined Storage, FlashSystem products, and Storage Virtualization.

Axel Koester is IBM Executive IT Specialist and Storage Chief Technologist for the European Storage Center of Competency. Axel discussed IBM's invention of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) in 1966, and how this led to the development of Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), Electronically Erasable PROM (EE-PROM), and NAND Flash systems. Running out of two-dimensional surface for NAND Flash has led to the development of 3D Flash.

General Session

Stephen Leonard, Tom Rosamilia and Jen Crozier presented the opening keynote. It is available as a 90-minute YouTube video [IBM Edge 2015 - General Session] compliments of SiliconAngle.

Tom Rosamilia is my fifth-line manager and IBM Senior Vice President of the recently formed "IBM Systems" business unit, comprised of System Storage, z Systems, POWER Systems and Middleware.

By 2016, there will be 26 billion things on the Internet. Connected cars, for example, can serve as Wi-Fi "hot spots" to connect multiple mobile devices in the vehicle. Each mobile transaction triggers up to 100 back-end system transactions. Security is non-negotiable at every stage of these transactions. As an example, client testimonial from TravelPort and Priceline.com indicated that it takes over 90 billion back-end transactions to handle 120 million travel reservations.

Analytics converts raw data into actionable insights. Unfortunately, as much as 90 percent of data never gets analyzed. By combining Systems of Record, Systems of Engagement and Systems of Insight, your IT infrastructure empowers you to engage your customers in the manner they expect. A Hybrid Cloud can help bring these systems together.

Jen Crozier is IBM Vice President, Global Citizenship Initiatives. She asked mayors of cities across the world a simple question, if you had access to six IBM executives and technical experts, what problem would you want them to solve? In partnership with Twitter, IBM donated over $100 million dollars in expertise as "Smarter Cities" grants to address the most challenging problems. The following 16 cities won the grant for 2015 (I have been to eight of them!):

• Allahabad, India - Prime Minister Modi of India is interested in having over 100 "Smarter Cities" across the country. IBM will help Allahabad to improve waste management.
• Amsterdam, Netherlands - to help the city support new business startups
• Athens, Greece - to reduce traffic congestion and offer car-free transportation alternatives
• Denver, United States - to coordinate services for the homeless
• Detroit, United States - to help with urban recycling, debris and blight to rebuild the city infrastructure
• Huizhou, China - to help with tourism management
• Melbourne, Australia - to help with disaster preparedness
• Memphis, United States - to help coordinate emergency calls across fire, police and medical departments
• Rochester, New York, United States - to help with assistance to families with children living in poverty
• San Isidro, Peru - to help with traffic congestion and related pollution
• Santiago, Chile - to help with disaster preparedness, especially important given the recent earthquakes, landslides, floods and fires
• Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana - to help expand its tax base to reduce corruption
• Surat, India - to help integrate urban planning across agencies
• Taichung, Taiwan - to help with road safety and traffic congestion
• Vizag, India - to help with disaster preparedness in flood and cyclone prone areas
• Xuzhou, China - to help optimize transportation as a regional hub

The mayor of Memphis TN, A C Wharton, gave a quick acceptance speech, introducing his chiefs of fire department and police departments, and explaining his focus to better serve his citizens.

Deon Newman is IBM Vice President for IBM z Systems marketing explained IBM's [Intelligent Operations Center], or IOC for short.

Stephen Leonard highlighted some of the key products announced this year, including the z13 System mainframe, the new 4-socket E840 POWER System, and the FlashSystem V9000 storage system. Nobody supports more open standard than IBM, including Linux, OpenStack, Apache, Eclipse, Cloud Foundry, SPARK and Hadoop.

The kickoff sessions and keynote presentations are always a great way to set the context for the rest of the week.

technorati tags: IBM, #ibmedge, Edge2015, System Storage, Clod Barrera, Axel Koester, Software Defined, SDE, SDS, Stephen Leonard, Tom Rosamilia, Jen Crozier, AC Wharton, , Smarter Cities, Allahabad, Amsterdam, Athens, Denver, Detroit, Huizhou, Melbourne, Memphis, Rochester, San Isidro, Santiago, Sekondi-Takoradi, Surat, Taichung, Vizag, Xuzhou, Deon Newman, Intelligent Operations Center, IOC, VodaFone, Boeing, Hybrid Cloud