SNIA ANZ is one
SNIA ANZ is one
Jan 01, 2005: At the end of last year, the ANZ chapter of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA ANZ) turned one year old. IDM caught up with chairman Mark Heers to get his thoughts on how the association fared in its maiden year, as well as to learn where it will focus its attentions in 2005.
IDM-Has the progress made by SNIA ANZ in its first year fallen short of, met, or exceeded your expectations?
Mark Heers-In mid 2003, the SNIA ANZ working group (before any members and the conduct of any elections) met and initiated a number of objectives that we could measure our progress on, which we would want to achieve by the end of the first year of formation. These were:
(1) Financially viability (with a starting base of $0).
(2) Grow the membership base to at least 20 vendor members (10 full members and 10 general members).
(3) Establish an end-user membership base of at least 200 people.
(4) Create informational currency via the local website: www.snia.org.au.
(5) Initiate local events and informational seminars.
(6) Increase awareness of SNIA certification.
(7) Initiate Storage Networking World (SNW) by at least 2005 (requirement of affiliation).
(8) Increase awareness of SNIA ANZ and promote storage networking.
(9) Meet the requirements of SNIA.
On any measure, I believe that we have had a very successful first year. (1) SNIA ANZ completed 2004 with a bank balance of around $80,000 which provides financial stability going forward.
(2) We have a membership of 25 vendors including a number of local companies and a strong representation of the global storage vendors.
(3) Over 750 people have registered with SNIA ANZ being able to receive newsletters and invites to local events. The anti-spam act has made it difficult to acquire registered users as we cannot email potential users without their permission, though a number of the member vendors have included SNIA ANZ articles in their various customer newsletters.
(4) www.snia.org.au is up and running and regularly visited and used.
(5) SNIA ANZ has conducted a number of successful local events in Sydney and Melbourne with attendances of up to 75 people per seminar. We continue to look for opportunities to run events outside of these two cities and plan to run quarterly events in Sydney and Melbourne through 2005. The presentations from these events are available on www.snia.org.au. Additionally, SNIA ANZ has participated in a number of local events including StorageWorld where SNIA ANZ chaired the two day conference.
(6) We have had some fruitful discussions with a number of universities and education centres. SNIA certification is available trough a number of local sources and there has been a significant increase in the number of certified people through 2004.
(7) The inaugural SNW Australia will run in 2005 in August at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.
(8) Through a combination of a supportive local press, the support of members, and an continuing increase in registered user numbers, we believe that we have dramatically increased awareness of SNIA ANZ.
(9) As chairman, I report to SNIA quarterly and they are more than pleased with our progress over the first year. SNIA have signed an agreement with Terrapinn and SNIA ANZ to produce the first SNW in Australia
IDM-What do you feel has been the three main accomplishments of the ANZ chapter to date?
Heers-The major achievements of SNIA ANZ include a financially viable state with a membership representing a broad cross section of the storage industry players. We have an active and regularly used website, and have initiated successful local breakfast events which will culminate in the production of SNW in 2005. Awareness of networked storage and storage management standards and SNIA ANZ has increased dramatically.
IDM-What do both the SNIA ANZ and its US parent stand to gain from this year's Storage Networking World event in Sydney?
Heers-SNW is the major event for SNIA and its affiliates in the various geographies around the world. It will increase the exposure of SNIA ANZ's major focus areas whilst building on the awareness that the StorageWorld show that has run over the past few years. Over 1500 people visited the StorageWorld exhibition in 2004. As a board, SNIA ANZ believe that our marketplace was best served by not adding another event to an already crowded calendar but rather building on a well-accepted and regular event.
IDM-How much of a contribution have the member vendors made to the chapter's policies and future direction?
Heers-Whilst many of the affiliate's policies are prescribed by SNIA itself, the way in which we meet these objectives are typically decided locally. Both through the formation period and throughout its first year, we have received excellent suggestions and feedback from a broad range of sources including the membership, registered users, the analysts and other affiliates in South Asia, Europe and Japan.
IDM-How much input will the local chapter have into the Sydney SNW event compared to the US organisation, and what will Terrapinn's involvement amount to?
Heers-Terrapinn are the event producers whilst SNIA ANZ are co-owners of the event and will provide guidance on content.
IDM - What developments in storage technology do you think will occupy the SNIA the most in the months ahead and what are your main aims?
Heers-NIA is involved with a broad number of projects. After extensive discussion with both members and the end-user community, we decided locally to focus on three major SNIA initiatives - the storage management initiative (SMI) for which SNIA is probably best known, the information lifecycle management initiative (ILMI) and the data protection initiative (DPI). Whilst this does not preclude focus on other topics, we believe that storage management, cost effective deployment of networked storage and data availability continue to represent some of the major challenges for organisations, and we anticipate that we will continue to focus on these three areas throughout 2005.
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