UBM TechWeb Announces Cloud Connect 2010 Launch Pad Finalists

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Cloud Connect, produced by UBM TechWeb, today announced four Cloud Connect Launch Pad finalists. Cloud Connect Launch Pad provides a unique public forum for companies to present new platforms and applications to the cloud computing community. Finalists will present live on the keynote stage on Wednesday, March 17 during Cloud Connect at the Santa Clara Convention Center. For more information on Launch Pad, visit: http://launchpad.cloudconnectevent.com/.

The four Launch Pad competition finalists are:

• Appirio – Appirio, a cloud solution provider, is launching the world's first social services management application for the enterprise, powered by Force.com Chatter.
• Cloud Switch – CloudSwitch enables enterprises to move their existing applications to the right cloud computing environment—securely, simply and without changes.
• Drawn to Scale – Drawn to Scale presents the complete data platform to process, store, query, search, and serve all your data to all your users.
• MaxiScale – MaxiScale's cloud-scale file serving and storage platform is a breakthrough for Internet data centers and storage infrastructure that fundamentally changes the economics of deploying Web-scale applications.

"Happening for the first time at Cloud Connect, Launch Pad is a competition to recognize the companies shaping the cloud computing industry," said Steve Wylie, Cloud Connect General Manager. "We are thrilled by the number and diversity of responses we received and applaud the innovation of all participating companies. The four companies selected as Launch Pad finalists truly represent new levels of enthusiasm and technological advancements in cloud computing."

After a first round of submissions via Twitter, the Launch Pad Jury voted on the top eight submissions. These elite eight were then asked to upload a short YouTube video for the community to vote and compete for the title and chance to present at the event. The selected four Launch Pad finalists will showcase their ideas to the cloud computing community and a People's Choice Winner will be announced live on-site at Cloud Connect.

Cloud Connect brings together all of cloud computing's stakeholders, and promises to be the industry's definitive event focused on the on-demand platforms and breakthrough technologies that are revolutionizing IT. Sponsors include Diamond Sponsor, IBM; Gold Sponsor, McAfee; Silver Sponsor, CA, GoGrid, MeghaWare, SOASTA and VMOps Inc.

About Cloud Connect

Cloud Connect, produced by UBM TechWeb, is the defining event of the cloud computing industry. As both a conference and an exhibition, Cloud Connect's goal is to chart the course of cloud computing's development by bringing together enterprise IT professionals, developers, infrastructure providers and cloud computing innovators. UBM TechWeb has produced cloud events that define and frame cloud computing discussions since June 2008, including Cloud Summit Executive and Enterprise Cloud Summit at Interop. Cloud Connect is a new one-of-a-kind event that encompasses the entire cloud computing ecosystem featuring Cloud Business Summit, a Launch Pad program, IT & Developer workshops and a full conference program. Cloud Connect will take place March 15-18, 2010 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Silicon Valley, CA. For more information visit: www.cloudconnectevent.com.

About UBM TechWeb

UBM TechWeb, the global leader in technology media and professional information, enables people and organizations to harness the transformative power of technology. Through its three core businesses – media solutions, marketing services and paid content – UBM TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed brands and media applications in the technology market. More than 14 million business and technology professionals (CIOs and IT managers, Web & Digital professionals, Software Developers, Government decision makers, and Telecom providers) actively engage in UBM TechWeb's communities and information resources monthly. UBM TechWeb brands include: global face-to-face events such as Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat and VoiceCon; award-winning online resources such as InformationWeek, Light Reading, and Network Computing; and market-leading InformationWeek, Wall Street & Technology, and Advanced Trading magazines. UBM TechWeb is a UBM company, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.

SOURCE UBM TechWeb