25th Annual Vanguard Security & Compliance Event a Success

LAS VEGAS, July 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Vanguard Integrity Professionals, the largest independent provider of enterprise security software for System z, today announced the successful conclusion of Vanguard Security & Compliance 2011, the world's largest System z security and compliance training event. Security and compliance professionals from the Fortune 500, other large enterprises and government agencies worldwide attended this year's four-day event focused on training to secure System z, cloud computing environments and other network devices connected to System z.

"The response and feedback about this year's event from attendees and speakers has been extremely positive," said Thom Fisher, director of VSC 2011. "Vanguard Security & Compliance is the go-to training event for modern security techniques and technology for large enterprises and government agencies."  

Concluding its 25th year, Vanguard Security & Compliance remains the largest and longest-running event dedicated to enterprise-wide IT security and compliance training. Many distinguished keynote speakers and instructors addressed cybersecurity defense, the future of System z, positive IT changes during a fiscal crisis, cloud computing and more as part of this year's silver anniversary celebration.

Dr. Joe Heck, U.S. representative of Nevada, gave the opening keynote presentation on Monday, June 20. As one attendee said, "Dr. Heck helped me to appreciate what the government is doing to address cyber threats in both the private and public sectors." Dr. Heck was followed as a keynote speaker on Monday afternoon by Christopher Ipsen, chief information security officer for the State of Nevada. Ipsen also received the 2011 Chairman's Award for advancing IT security in the State of Nevada and nationwide through his active participation in multiple successful government and private sector cybersecurity initiatives over the years.

On Tuesday, June 21, Greg Lotko, IBM vice president and business line executive for System z, was the opening keynote speaker. One attendee stated that, "It was great to hear from IBM about pertinent z/OS developments." Dawn Meyerreicks, deputy director of national intelligence for acquisitions and technology, gave the afternoon keynote on Tuesday. Attendees were very impressed by the breadth and depth of the cyber activities of the U.S. government. As one attendee commented, "It was eye opening to learn about what the intelligence community knows and the vast amount they don't know."

The keynotes on Wednesday, June 22, included Somer Hollingsworth, president of the Nevada Development Authority, and Steven Ringelberg, COO of Vanguard. "The reality is that System z security professionals have been securing virtualized cloud computing environments for decades. We already know how to do it. Now it is all about sharing that expertise with network cybersecurity professionals," said Ringelberg. The closing keynote speaker on Thursday, June 23, was Ed Marootian, vice president, strategy, Mainframe Business Unit, CA. Marootian focused on the future of System z and the critical role of mainframe security experts in helping to secure internal networks and providing their expertise to effectively secure network cloud computing environments.

Throughout the week, attendees received training from the world's leading System z security experts from IBM, Waste Management, Bank of America, the State of Alabama, Vanguard Integrity Professionals, and many other notable organizations. Each year Vanguard awards the instructors with the highest student rating from the prior year's event with the Top Gun Award. At Vanguard Security & Compliance 2011, Robert Hansel, president and lead RACF specialist at RSH Consulting, was named Top Gun Award winner for the 2010 event, and Doug Behrends, professional services consultant at Vanguard, was runner-up.

For more information about VSC 2011, visit www.bestsystemzsecuritytraining.com. For more information about Vanguard Integrity Professionals year-round training programs, visit www.go2vanguard.com.

About Vanguard Integrity Professionals

Vanguard Integrity Professionals, an IBM Business Partner, provides enterprise security software and services that solve complex security and regulatory compliance challenges and deliver a rapid return on investment. With automated solutions for Audit and Compliance, Operational Security and Intrusion Management, Vanguard enables government agencies and corporations around the world to ensure continuous monitoring of z/OS systems, safeguard secure cloud computing domains, and protect critical data and applications from cybersecurity threats. Vanguard provides live customer support 24/7/365 from the United States for all customers worldwide and locally in other countries.

IBM, RACF, System z and z/OS are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. CA is a trademark of CA, Inc. VSC and Vanguard Security & Compliance are trademarks of Vanguard Integrity Professionals, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

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