I attended Data Center World 2019, which was held at the Phoenix Convention Center on March 19-22, 2019. I haven’t attended the conference in a couple of years and it was a great event.  The multi-day conference featured keynotes on the State of the Mission Critical industry presented by Bill Kleyman, EVP, Digital Solutions, Switch; Coming Untethered: Digital Natives and the Changing Workforce with Julie Albright, digital sociologist, USC; The FedEx Mandate: The Virtual Data Center of Tomorrow, Gary Bronson, vice president of IT operations, FedEx; and The Case for Hybrid Migration, Atte Lahtiranta, chief technology officer, Oath.

In addition to the keynotes, three workshops were held for all access pass holders, Fundamentals of Data Center Design – Soup to Servers! with Carrie Goetz, global technology director, Paige DataCom; Co-Location Bootcamp: Everything You Need to Know to Get it Right, presented by Kirk Killian, president, Partners National Mission Critical Facilities; and The 25kW Challenge! A Workshop in Achievable Energy Reduction, presented by Kevin Kent, data center operations manager/engineering lead, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

In addition, sessions in six different tracks were offered, IT Infrastructure Technologies; Design, Build, Operate, Control; Resource Efficiency and Cost Control; Data Center Strategies/Delivery Models; Next-Generation Technologies; and Professional Development.

The event also featured an exhibit hall for opportunities to network and learn about new technologies. Next year’s event will be held March 16-19, 2020, at the San Antonio Convention Center, Texas.