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August 15, 2013

Gearing up for ITEXPO with Axcient's Eric Weiss

By Blaise McNamee, Web Editor

In just under two weeks, IT professionals, tech companies, and thought leaders will converge en masse on the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino for ITEXPO (News - Alert), the world’s largest and best-attended communications and technology tradeshow. Here, attendees will be greeted with dozens of technology exhibitors, conference sessions, keynotes, and expert panels designed to keep visitors abreast of the latest industry trends and ahead of the technological curve.  



Two of these panels will feature Eric Weiss, VP of marketing at Axcient, a provider of cloud-based business continuity, backup, and disaster recovery solutions. The first session, titled “Cloud Computing: Silver Lining or Hot Air?” will examine the best practices for developing an effective cloud strategy while avoiding unnecessary complexity and operational disruption. The second, “Keys to Avoiding Cloud Failure,” will discuss the most common mistakes made by enterprises during cloud platform rollouts.  Those considering a cloud solution for their business will not want to miss out on these sessions, which will take place on Wenesday, August 28th at 10:00am and 12:30pm respectively.

In anticipation of these talks, TMCnet caught up with Eric to get some of his pre-conference thoughts on other hot technology trends. Those interested in hearing more from Eric and other industry leaders can register for ITEXPO today.

How will wearable technology develop in the business world?  Will you buy an iWatch or other comparable device?

Although I am probably not going to be investing personally a lot in wearable technology, I can definitely see our developers hooked on Google (News - Alert) Glass. Why have monitors on your desk if you can project your coding project directly in front of your eyes regardless of where you are looking? This can have a big impact on productivity, too. 

How will the growing movement towards software impact traditional hardware vendors?

Software is the new hardware and the cloud is the new software. It is a move to more transparency and control for the end user. First, we are seeing hardware becoming smaller in size until you don’t even notice it is there. Then, we start not having to install software on our computers because we access it via the Web. But while software is taking over, there is another trend related to mobile. Everything is an ‘app.’ Even enterprise software vendors are releasing mobile apps for their users.

How has the BYOD trend impacted your business?  What changes have you had to implement and what challenges have you experienced?

As you allow people to bring their own devices to work you may unwittingly create an internal operations problem. Suddenly IT is burdened with support requests for connecting three different mobile operating systems to the network, supplying certificates for different email programs, and spending hours troubleshooting customized laptops. The way to make this work is to first involve IT or your internal operations team and decide on a BYOD policy. Set guidelines and limits to what is acceptable, and procedures for taking care of issues when they arise. At Axcient, we have been lucky that while we allow employees to bring their own devices, we also supply them with company-approved technology that is as good as what they have at home, and thus most employees end up choosing to just use the company-provided tech. BYOD has also represented an opportunity for Axcient to differentiate because we enable our customers to access their Axcient-managed virtualized IT infrastructure from any Internet enabled device, of course subject to security controls. This makes it easier for businesses to retain secure access to their data and applications anywhere and anytime via any device.

What different devices do you use in your daily business activities?  Which are the most useful and why?

Of all the devices that we have available today, for me the cell phone is still my inseparable piece of tech I cannot do without. From checking email in between meetings, to joining conference calls as I walk my dog, my iPhone (News - Alert) is the device I use the most.

To what degree has cloud computing influenced your business model?

Cloud computing is at the core of our business model. Axcient has created a new platform for backup and disaster recovery that has the cloud as a core component. The benefit goes both ways. We can use economies of scale to serve our customers at a low cost while maintaining quality of service, and our customers can rely on our growing infrastructure that ensures their systems will always be available. We see the cloud as a platform for innovation, enabling us to roll out over 200 features per year, and as a means to enable distributed access to data and applications for our customers.

What are you looking forward to accomplishing at ITEXPO Las Vegas?  What topics are you looking forward to discussing or hearing about?

I am looking forward to meeting people that are doing innovative things, launching new products, and challenging established industry players. ITEXPO has so many interesting sessions that it will be difficult to choose which ones to attend, but I have my eyes on a couple of mobile related talks, also on cloud computing, and of course I cannot miss the chance to hear Steve Wozniak give a special keynote presentation.




Edited by Blaise McNamee
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