Interop ITX (formerly known simply as Interop) has shed its old skin as a purely networking and infrastructure show and has implemented a community-driven approach to build an agenda that reflects the evolving IT landscape.
The independently-run expo and conference for IT professionals and sister event to InformationWeek, Interop, has a new name, location, and approach to the content, with a focus on helping IT managers keep pace with the dramatic changes taking place in the enterprise tech sector. The 31-year old event, which has its roots in infrastructure and networking, will cover a broader range of topics this year, embracing the seeming daily shifts in the IT landscape that emphasizes cloud computing, big data analytics, DevOps, and cybersecurity.
“I think most people would say Interop 10 years ago was only about infrastructure and networking, which were really important and remain really relevant to our conference still, but [we’re] broadening that out,” says Meghan Reilly, the new general manager of Interop ITX. “Seeing vendors and content related to…data analytics, DevOps, and some of these broader topics that in some cases didn’t exist [10 years ago]…really making sure that we’re covering the full stack IT in a way that’s comprehensive is a big difference [at Interop this year].”
Reilly comes to Interop ITX from her role as chief administrative officer for Code For America, the non-profit organization that helps government groups go digital. Prior to her work with Code For America, Reilly helped manage the popular Web 2.0 event series — a collaboration between UBM and O’Reilly Media — which was known for attracting A-list tech giants to its speaking roster such as Steve Balmer, Jeff Bezos, Sheryl Sandberg, Eric Schmidt, and Mark Zuckerberg.
IT has changed dramatically over the last decade; shifting from a world where cloud was a fairly new concept, to one where refrigerators, printers, and phones can all connect to the cloud over the office network.
