The world’s leading experts and authorities in cloud computing to convene on April 20-24 at Cloud Slam ’09 to analyze and uncover top trends and challenges.

TORONTO – February 10, 2009 – Cloud Slam ’09, a virtual conference developed to promote collaborative analysis of the latest trends and challenges in the world of cloud computing, will commence on April 20. Organized by more than 30 leading experts and authorities in the field, this four-day conference will highlight research, developments and accomplishments by industry leaders whose contributions are helping to shape the future of cloud computing. Key topics will include the significant benefits of an open cloud, enterprise readiness of IaaS architectures, and the impact of cloud computing on application developers.

According to industry experts and analysts, cloud virtualization is expected to explode over the next 18 to 36 months, and by 2012 will account for new tech spending. Cloud Slam ’09 gives industry leaders and professionals keen insights into published research, unique and evolving ideas and best practices, as well as an opportunity to network with leading experts in cloud computing. The conference is designed to be a career-enhancing experience for researchers, engineers, directors and IT professionals. It’s also an ideal opportunity for corporate leaders to glean information on the latest innovations in cloud computing, generate leads and develop ideas on how to capitalize on what’s estimated to eventually become a $100 billion dollar market.

“Information sharing and collaboration will be key components in the evolution of cloud computing, especially now, as we prepare for its continued, industry-wide impact on both small businesses and large corporations,” said Khazret Sapenov, CTO of Cloudcor Inc. and conference organizing committee member. “Our conference brings together members from the world’s largest cloud computing community, comprised of more than 8,000 members, to share and analyze existing research, and tackle hot topics including infrastructure, implementation, privacy and compliance.”

Cloud Slam ’09 will feature several keynote speakers, and presentations from academia on the current and future aspects of cloud computing. Among the featured speakers are Songnian Zhou, CEO of Platform; Simon Crosby, CTO, Virtualization and Management, Citrix Systems, Inc.; Russ Daniels,VP and Chief Technology Officer, Cloud Services Strategy, HP; Hal Stern, SVP Global Systems Engineering; Maximilian Ahrens, CTO of Zimory; and Jayshree Ullal, President and Chief Executive Officer, Arista Networks.

Cloud Slam ’09 is presented by more than 30 industry and academic leaders. The organizing committee includes the following experts: Geoffrey Fox, Professor of Computer Science, University of Indiana; Greg Pfister, Independent Computer Hardware Professional, Distinguished Engineer at STG, IBM; Tim Mather, V.P. & Chief Security Strategist at RSA Conferences; Eliezer Dekel, Senior Technical Staff Member, Manager, Distributed Middleware IBM Research Laboratory in Haifa; Kristi Schultz, STSM - Blue Cloud Ensemble Management, IBM; Gabriel Sallah, HPC and Virtualisation Architect Global markets at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore; John Savageau, CTO, CRG West; Achim Luhn, Director Innovation Projects at Siemens IT Solutions and Services; Khazret Sapenov, CTO, Cloudcor Inc.; Dave Graham, EMC Corporation; Paco Nathan, Adknowledge; Krishna Sankar, Distinguished Engineer at Cisco; Chris Sears, SunGard; Randy Bias, VP Technology Strategy, GoGrid; Chris Marino, CEO, SnapLogic; Andre Merzky, IT Analyst CCT, Louisiana State University; Igor Edelman, VP Engineering at Bank of America; J. Andrew Rogers, VP Geospatial Systems at Neopolitan; Subra Kumaraswamy, Sr. Security Manager at Sun Microsystems; Richard Donaldson, COO at United Layer; Brian Cinque, Data Center Architect at Sun Microsystems; Sassa NF, Technology Advisor; Eric Moore, Technical Consultant, HP Software; Rob Gingell, CTO and EVP Product Development for Cassatt; Daniel Schwartz, Banking Industry; and Edward Browdy, Information Assurance and Security Professional.

Conference registration is now open. The early bird registration fee is $40, and available until February 15. General admission is $52. For more information or to register, visit www.cloudslam09.com. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Khazret Sapenov at info@cloudslam.org.

About Cloud Slam ‘09

Cloud Slam ’09 is the world’s largest virtual cloud computing conference, covering technology, business models, industry implementation experiences, regulatory compliance, privacy and security, risk management and scientific research in the world of cloud computing. The conference will take place April 20-24. For more information, visit www.cloudslam09.com.

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