Cloud Connect, produced by UBM TechWeb, has announced keynote speakers and new conference programs for this year's event. Cloud Connect, the premier technology event for cloud computing, featuring the latest technologies, strategies and innovations within cloud computing, will take place March 7-10, 2011 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, CA.

The keynote lineup features some of the top minds in cloud computing, including executives from large enterprises, leading industry analysts and vendor experts. Conference attendees will hear from the people defining cloud computing as well as the organizations leveraging the cloud to drive their business objectives. The keynoters that have just been announced are:

• Amazon.com's Werner Vogels, vice president and CTO
• Cisco System's Lew Tucker, CTO of vloud vomputing
• eBay's Neal Sample, vice president of Architecture
• Rackspace's Andy Schroepfer, vice president of Enterprise Strategy
• Yahoo.com's Dr. Todd Papaioannou, vice president of cloud architecture
• Netflix's Kevin McEntee, vice president of systems engineering
• IBM Cloud Labs' Willy Chiu, vice president
• Nimbula's Willem Van Biljon, co-Founder and vice president of products
• Cloudscaling's Randy Bias, CEO, founder and cloud strategist
• Forrester's James Staten, vice president, senior analyst
• Cedexis' Marty Kagan, president and co-founder
• Eventbrite's Scott Baker, director of systems engineering and operations
• Bitcurrent's Alistair Croll, founder and cloud connect chairperson

Cloud Connect 2011 will also feature several new programs, including two new in-depth workshops. Moving to the Amazon Web Services Cloud Step by Step offers best practices for using the Amazon Web Services platform to build highly scalable web applications, for both beginner and advanced audiences. Cloud Performance Summit presents participants with the insight of top-tier vendors and end users discussing important issues around application performance in on-demand environments. All workshops will take place on Monday, March 7.

In addition to new workshops, the Cloud Connect 2011 program presents the Cloud Industry Summit. This exclusive track brings together investors, entrepreneurs, and prominent figures in the cloud computing industry for two days of networking and dialogue on business opportunities in an era of on-demand IT. Other new conference tracks include Cloud Economics, Design Patterns, Cloud Security, Data and Storage, DevOps and Automation, the Future of Utility Computing, Culture, Risks and Governance, Performance Monitoring, and Private Clouds.

"The cloud computing market continues to grow at an amazing pace," said Steve Wylie, Cloud Connect general nanager. "The Cloud Connect program and speaker line-up we are announcing today represent the absolute latest in cloud innovation and best practices-invaluable information for any business needing a more flexible, scalable and economical application environment."

Cloud Connect will feature more than 50 companies and is the premier event for cloud computing hardware, software and service providers to come together in one location. The growing list of sponsors and exhibitors currently includes: Diamond Sponsors Cisco Systems, Inc., IBM Corporation, Intel SOA Products Group, Microsoft and VMware; Platinum Sponsor Rackspace Hosting; Gold Sponsors Abiquo, Inc., GoGrid and SOASTA; Silver Sponsors Apica, Ariba Inc., Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., Cloudsoft, Keynote Systems, MeghaWare, OnApp, and Riverbed.