Leading Global Data Center Industry Body Launches Australian/Asia Pacific Expansion
Announcement posted by AFCOM 08 Feb 2010
Orange, CA (February 8,
2010): AFCOM - the
Californian based leading world Data Center industry body (
<http://www.afcom.com> www.afcom.com) has announced plans to expand
its Australian/Asia Pacific seminar/conference/training and recruitment
activities with the launch of its first official Asia Pacific membership drive,
opening chapters in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.
AFCOM has also appointed its first regional Asia Pacific industry public relations consultant, Terry Quinn, principal of specialst ICT services company WordsPLUS.
AFCOM is one of the most respected world authorities in the data center industry with more than 4,000 members and 32 chapters worldwide, now including Australia. This international industry body provides data center professionals with unique networking opportunities and educational forums and resources through its annual Data Center World conferences, award-winning publications, regional chapters, extensive research facilities and the highly respected industry think-tank the Data Center Institute (DCI) which was formed by AFCOM in 2001. AFCOM CEO Jill Eckhaus said leading Data Center executives from Australia and Asia Pacific will be invited to join the prestigious Data Center Institute this year.
The next international AFCOM Data Center
conference is scheduled for Nashville March 7-11 – during which AFCOM’s 2010
Data Center Manager of the Year Award, recognizing outstanding leadership and
excellence in the field of data center management, will be presented. The award
will include entries from Australia for the first time this year.
AFCOM created industry controversy late last year when it launched its latest
world wide Data Center Trends Survey entitled "A Closer Look at Greening
and Cyber Terrorism".
The 2009/2010 Data Center Trends survey offered a detailed
perspective of the major trends facing 436 of the largest
commercial, government and college/university data centers throughout the
world. Twenty percent of the data center respondents were responsible for
annual budgets of $10M plus.
"Significant findings revealed that though the global threat of cyber
terrorism was accepted as very real, it was not being adequately addressed by
the world's keepers of the most confidential financial, military and personal
data," AFCOM CEO Jill Eckhaus said. Cyber terrorism has become even more
prevalent in the past few years. From hackers attacking NATO computers to
cyber-attacks in China, Estonia, Russia, Ukraine, South Korea and the U.S.,
it's not likely a threat that will go away any time soon. Data center
professionals must be well-equipped to handle and respond to cyber terrorist
attacks, but according to AFCOM's survey, there's considerable room for
improvement.
Respondents revealed that 60.9 percent of all data centers worldwide officially
recognize cyber terrorism as a threat they need to deal with, but only a little
over one-third (34.4 percent) have included it in their disaster/recovery
plans. Only one in four, or 24.8 percent, has addressed cyber terrorism
in their policies and procedures manuals. Meanwhile, less than one in five, or
19.7 percent provide any cyber terrorism employee training. On the positive
side, however, 82.4 percent report that they do perform background security
checks on all potential new employees, another solid defense against cyber
terrorists.
However Ms Eckhaus today went out of her way to exempt Australia from most of
the AFCOM survey's negative findings, in fact praising the Australian Federal
Government's anti Cyber Terrorist strategies, such as its new Cyber Security
Operations Center, recently opened to the media in a rare break
with tradition.
Ms. Eckhaus visited Australia for the first time late last year, touring Data
Centers and meeting with industry and government officials. "I was most
impressed with what I heard and what I saw" she said.
"I was particularly impressed with the purpose built $220 million Polaris
Data Center at Springfield near Brisbane (jpeg attached) - which has been
designed to a level of state of the art sophistication I had not seen
before."
"I believe when it comes to Data Center design Australia has a lot to teach the rest of the world," Ms Eckhaus said.
About AFCOM
AFCOM (www.afcom.com) is a leading association supporting the educational and
professional development needs of data center professionals around the globe.
Established in 1980, AFCOM currently boasts more than 4,500 members and 38
chapters worldwide, and provides data center professionals with unique
networking opportunities and educational forums and resources through its
annual Data Center World Conferences, published magazines, regional chapters,
research and hotline services, and industry alliances.
About the Data Center Institute
Data Center Institute (DCI) was formed in 2001 by AFCOM and is a leading
industry think-tank. The group's charter is to provide thought leadership and
direction for the industry. Board members, leading data center industry
experts, include AFCOM's CEO Jill Eckhaus & Founder Leonard Eckhaus; APC's
CTO James Simonelli; Bick Group's EVP Tad Davies; CA's Product Management
Advisor Sam Somashekar; Connectivity Technologies Inc.'s President Tim Hazzard;
Fujifilm's VP of Marketing Rick Gadomski; Intel's DC Architect John Musilli;
NORTEL's Global Data Center Manager Paul Greenley; NER Data Products' SVP Scott
Steele; and Siemens' Head of Commercial Real Estate & Data Center
Initiatives Maureen Versen.
About Data Center World Conference
Data Center World, operated by AFCOM, the world's leading 4,500-member data center association, is the industry's premier networking and educational conference, and occurs bi-annually. Thousands of data center professionals, from many of the largest corporations across all industries, government organizations, and academic institutions in the world attend Data Center World to share, discuss and learn about the latest data center trends, technologies and best practices, as well as products and services by some of the world's leading data center technology and service providers. Tradeshow Week recognizes Data Center World as one of the 50 fastest growing shows in the U.S. (2006, 2007 and 2008). For more information or to register for the upcoming AFCOM 2010 Data Center World scheduled for March 7-10, 2010 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, TN, visit www.datacenterworld.com.
742 E. Chapman Avenue, Orange, CA 92866 T: (714) 997-7966 F: (714) 997-9743 www.afcom.com