Open Data Center Alliance Announces Obama Campaign CTO Harper Reed as Forecast 2013 Luminary Speaker

PORTLAND, Ore., April 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA), a global organization where hundreds of enterprise IT organizations are working together to drive broad scale requirements for the enterprise ready cloud, today announced that Harper Reed, accomplished cloud computing and crowdsourcing expert and CTO of the Obama for America 2012 campaign, is the Forecast 2013 luminary speaker. Forecast is ODCA's premier cloud computing event taking place in conjunction with GigaOM Structure in San Francisco on June 17 and 18. Registration information, including information about early bird registration which runs through April 30, is available on the Forecast 2013 website.

Reed is expected to discuss his extensive experience in developing and managing successful cloud and big data implementations, his views on the current state of the cloud and data management, and his passion for building paradigm-shifting technologies. He joins Mario Mueller, BMW's Vice President of IT Infrastructure, Chair of the Open Data Center Alliance, and Forecast 2013 keynote speaker who will discuss how BMW is using ODCA usage models and requirements to implement his company's cloud strategy. The complete two-day agenda is posted on the Forecast 2013 website.

"Harper Reed is an incredible addition to the Forecast 2013 lineup of expert speakers and we look forward to his insight as company's everywhere implement their own big data and cloud strategies," said Marvin Wheeler, executive director, Open Data Center Alliance. "With best practices from industry leaders, real world success stories based on ODCA usage models, and a continuously growing list of compelling speakers, Forecast 2013 is the event global IT managers and cloud service and solution providers won't want to miss."

Today's news follows a steady stream of Forecast 2013 announcements ODCA has issued this year. The first group of Forecast 2013 speakers was announced late last month and in February ODCA announced that Cisco, a leader in cloud solution delivery, will serve as a Forecast 2013 platinum sponsor, and Intel, the technical advisor to the Alliance, will serve as the conference's underwriting sponsor. In addition to Cisco and Intel, the following companies and organizations have been announced as Forecast 2013 sponsors:

Kingston Technology Corporation, a Forecast 2013 breakfast sponsor; Cloud Security Alliance, Cloud Credential Council, DMTF, the Distributed Management Task Force, OASIS, SNIA, the Storage Networking Industry Association, Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and TM Forum as collaboration sponsors and CloudTimes, Security Stock Watch and Web Host Industry Review and WHIR Magazine as media sponsors. ODCA will continue to issue media alerts about new Forecast 2013 sponsors and speakers on a regular basis.

Now in its second year, Forecast offers a unique opportunity for participants to engage with their peers on best practices for adoption of enterprise ready cloud deployments and to learn about the latest ODCA usage models from ODCA leadership.  Forecast 2013 attendees will gain a solid understanding of how ODCA members are driving the enterprise ready cloud and how companies can leverage the work of ODCA to immediately begin implementing their own cloud strategies and architectures based on ODCA requirements. More information is available on the Forecast 2013 website.

About The Open Data Center Alliance
The Open Data Center Alliance℠ is an independent IT consortium comprised of global IT leaders who have come together to provide a unified customer vision for long-term data center requirements. The Alliance is led by a twelve member steering committee which includes IT leaders BMW, Capgemini, China Unicom, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Lockheed Martin, Marriott International, Inc., National Australia Bank, NTT Data, T-Systems, Terremark, Disney Technology Solutions and Services, and UBS. Intel serves as technical advisor to the Alliance. More information about Alliance publications and membership can be found at the organization's website: www.opendatacenteralliance.org, and on Facebook, LinkedIn, Slideshare, Twitter, and YouTube.

In support of its mission, the Alliance has delivered the first customer requirements for cloud computing and big data documented in Open Data Center Usage Models which identify member prioritized requirements to resolve the most pressing challenges facing cloud adoption. Find out more at www.opendatacenteralliance.org. 

MEDIA CONTACT:
Russ DeVeau
Open Data Center Alliance
[email protected] 
Mobile/Text: 908-251-1549

SOURCE Open Data Center Alliance