I’ve been to many conferences over the years. As a matter of fact, as last calculation in my 20+years of IT, I’ve got more than 70 weeks of my life spent at conferences and conventions. TechEd, TechReady, MGB, MGX, MSUniversity, Build, Ignite, Inspire, SANS, MMS…. Ah MMS, the old one, not the new one, was one of my favorites. MMS was typically a party-like atmosphere when in Vegas (I got married 2x at MMS.. no really). But the best thing, it was technologies, industry and people with a lot in common – systems management. The inaugural Experts Live US started yesterday in Houston TX and it’s got that same focused, energized feel. Maybe even more so. And it’s Houston (recovering well from the Hurricane), in a nice venue (The Marriott Woodlands) and very centralized. One doesn’t have far to walk for sessions, meetings or vendor events. Top that with leading experts and speakers from around the world and it’s a recipe for community, collaborating, sharing and learning.
With numerous sponsors (including gold sponsors Adaptiva, Lumagate, iVanti and of course 1E) the venue, event and food have been notable. Not the traditional conference fare with food on a stick. (can you say “brisket”?)
Some of the more interesting take-aways?
- Mike Niehaus (Microsoft) announced his new “back to technical role” as Principal Product Manager for AutoPilot during the ELUS2018 Keynote. Watch for lots of great news, content, and tech from Mike!
- OEM vendors are already lining up to support new hardware birth certificates for the AutoPilot functionality
- Steve Rachui (Microsoft) delivered a pair of well-attended sessions covering Windows Update for Business, co-management benefits, implementation, and troubleshooting. Great stuff.
- Windows 10 and automation were obviously a theme and undercurrent of the sessions. Clearly the industry and market are armed and ready for the upcoming Windows10 wave now that the Windows 7 end-of-life clock has started. The great news… 1E has tools, technology and partners ready to help!
- Wally Mead was in the house, presenting and covering CM advancements and updates!
If Experts Live hasn’t been on your radar before… add it to your planning for next year!
