Nasuni CloudBound2020: The First Cloud File Storage Conference is a Virtual (and Actual) Success

So, we had this idea to launch the first conference dedicated solely to cloud file storage, and we gave ourselves six weeks to pull it off and…it worked! Why did we think this was necessary? We all have Zoom fatigue so we surely didn’t need more virtual events, but we saw how many enterprises were struggling with how to deliver file access to employees working from home. At a time when file data is exploding coupled with cloud infrastructure adoption accelerating, overnight companies have been forced to shift entire global workforces from the office to the home. Given all these changes, we felt that today’s enterprise IT leaders would really benefit from a conference that gave them the tools and knowledge they need to modernize legacy file infrastructures, which severely depend on physical data centers and office locations.

That’s what Nasuni CloudBound2020 was all about, and it was a fascinating – and very, very busy – two days.

My sincere thanks to those of you who found the time to attend the event – the interactions with and feedback from our attendees were critical to Nasuni CloudBound2020’s success. Huge thanks to our sponsors, including our friends at Microsoft and our partner Insight Cloud & Data Center Transformation (CDCT). Of course, we couldn’t have an educational event without help from our customers. Thanks to URBN, Ramboll, Perkins+Will, and Burns & McDonnell. Not to mention the amazing industry analysts who offered their unbiased takes.

Throughout the two-day event, we offered sessions on a variety of topics, organized into industry, business, and technical tracks. Given the wealth of information presented, it would be hard for me to pick a favorite, but there were two exciting panels. One featured a great mix of thought leaders discussing the fundamental shifts happening in enterprise IT, including the risks of traditional hardware, the shortcomings of cloud, and the lasting impact of our new WFH reality. Plus, our CTO, Andres Rodriguez, led the discussion, and trust me, having the “most interesting man in storage” moderate an analysts panel is always interesting.

The other was a customer panel, moderated by our product guru John Capello, which included the IT leaders at some of our largest customers, including CIO Murali Selvaraj of Perkins+Will and Todd Bickel, IT Project Manager at Burns & McDonnell. These are two longstanding Nasuni customers. They know about as much as anyone about extracting value from a cloud infrastructure and implementing cloud programs cost effectively.

A few other highlights:

• Tad Brockway, the Azure storage leader at Microsoft spoke about the changing nature of the data center, and the key steps organizations must take to prepare for the future.
• Former NetApp EVP of Product Joel Reich detailed the SaaSification of file storage, the shortcomings of traditional storage, and the cost savings benefits of the cloud.
• Jerome Wendt of GigaOm detailed the evolving ransomware threat, and the best practices enterprises are putting into place to detect, stop, and recover from attacks.

Again, thank you to those of you who were able to attend. For those of you who couldn’t make it live, the content is available on-demand. I’d encourage you to look through the sessions, as I believe there’s something of value in these presentations for every modern enterprise IT leader.

The idea for this conference started at a virtual happy hour, but after the success of Nasuni CloudBound2020, I can tell you with certainty that we’re going to be back next year, and that we’re going to make this the must-attend event for any IT leader thinking about file storage. This time, though, I might give my team in Marketing a little more time to prepare.