Strong attendance, healthy and candid conversations, and unparalleled energy resonated throughout the Hynes Convention Center earlier this month at SHARE in Boston. SHARE in Boston attendees had the opportunity to meet enterprise IT experts, learn about the latest developments and solutions in the industry, and build relationships with peers experiencing similar challenges.
For our volunteers who helped to make this event a success and all those that participated, both in-person and online, I thank you for continually making this event what it should be…a community that gathers year-round to share experiences for the betterment of our industry, businesses, and institutions. If you missed SHARE in Boston, check out SHARE Online from Boston which offers access to 43 recorded sessions for up to six months after the event. Carefully selected and recorded sessions include all of our keynote speakers and a number of the zEnterprise sessions and Architecture Summit presentations.
While the week was filled with excitement, exchange and opportunity, one of the true highlights of the event was the unveiling of the new IBM zEnterprise. Announced a mere week-and-a-half before the start of SHARE in Boston, IBM chose our event as the first venue to showcase their new System of Systems.
Not only was there a zEnterprise System on our trade show floor running our hands-on lab sessions, there was also a zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension (zBX). We had nearly a dozen technical sessions describing this new hardware and related software, in addition to the more than twenty sessions on cloud computing, our architecture summit, and our traditional z/OS and z/VM presentations. The activities surrounding the zEnterprise were launched by a keynote from Karl Freund, IBM Vice President of System z Marketing and Strategy, who described the latest system innovations, including how this System of Systems plays well within the heterogeneous Enterprise Data Center environment that is typical of SHARE Member installations.
The summer event also marked a significant milestone week for our zNextGen group, a gathering place for younger enterprise IT professionals. This group celebrated its fifth anniversary at SHARE in Boston. Now boasting over 700 members in 24 countries, it’s a community that frequently meets online and of course, meets face-to-face at our semi-annual meetings. SHARE in Boston featured nine sessions that were designed specifically for this community. Programming included certification programs, networking events and a 5th Anniversary Celebration.
Related to our outreach to younger enterprise IT professionals—IBM’s Academic Initiative brought in nearly a dozen university professors to our event, where we recognized our first ever Academic Award for Excellence winner. This year, SHARE begins to recognize students with an interest in enterprise computing. The Grand Prize winner, Ahmet Alper Tecimer, submitted a project on an ISPF-based tool that he created as an intern at Garanti Technology. He was a graduate student at Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul, Turkey at the time. His ingenuity and creativity lead to his subsequent employment by Garanti Technology.
SHARE Members elected their new officers and directors at this event. As President, I extend my sincerest of congratulations to our new officers and directors. The SHARE leadership team is committed to delivering strong, compelling programs and ongoing collaborative opportunities which will help you drive business value from your IT investment. On behalf of this new leadership team, I would like to once again thank our volunteers, Member companies and all those that participated in our Boston events. I look forward to your continued support and participation.
Sincerely,
Janet L. Sun
SHARE President