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What's on 2021's data protection conference calendar
Curious about data protection conferences in the coming months? This roundup details dates and topic areas for 2021 events covering backup and disaster recovery.
Coronavirus vaccine rollout in the U.S. is gaining steam, but most data protection conferences will remain digital for 2021. Some remain hopeful for in-person events in the fall, and others have not yet announced dates, but it looks like attendees will tune into most backup and disaster recovery events from their computers.
While virtual conferences don't have the same immersive experience as an event floor, remote attendance not only makes many of these events safer, but also more accessible than before. Along with no concerns about booking hotel rooms or flights, participants often have the option to watch sessions on demand, after the initial kickoff.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a predictably strong effect on the fields of backup and disaster recovery. Prior to the pandemic, the biggest threats backup and DR planners prepared for were ransomware attacks and natural disasters. COVID-19 has shown how unprepared many organizations were for a pandemic scenario and a remote work strategy. Data protection conference attendees can expect plenty of discussion around pandemic preparation, business continuity and what recovery will look like.
Below is a list of 2021 data protection conferences to watch. We'll update this list as conferences are announced, so check back for the latest info.
ZertoCon, April 20
ZertoCon may have taken place prior to this article's publication, but that doesn't mean you've missed your chance to learn from the event. Conference sessions are available on demand with free registration on Zerto's event website.
Key 2021 sessions cover significant topics in today's backup and disaster recovery space. Hot topics include cloud data protection, Kubernetes, ransomware recovery and the future of backup.
Pure Accelerate, May 17-20
Pure Storage's conference is a multiweek digital event this year, from May 12-June 10. The second week will be dedicated to modern data protection and security. While the host is a data storage vendor, sessions in this track go beyond data storage to cover a range of data protection topics.
Ransomware, high-performance data protection, container management with Kubernetes and business continuity and DR will be discussed in a variety of sessions that will take place from May 17-20.
Rubrik Forward, May 18-20
Rubrik's second digital event is also the vendor's second user conference, after the inaugural Rubrik Forward 2020. The conference is the first following Rubrik's acquisition of Igneous Systems in December 2020. Rubrik plans to integrate the unstructured data protection company's technology into the Rubrik platform.
Speakers include Rubrik CEO Bipul Sinha, NetApp CEO George Kurian, and Twitter Chief Information Security Officer and former Rubrik CISO Rinki Sethi.
VeeamOn, May 25-26
Veeam was busy in 2020, with 25 product releases and updates. Veeam had previously scheduled VeeamOn 2021 for May in Hollywood, Fla., but it decided to go completely virtual once again.
VeeamOn sessions will cover Microsoft 365 backup, expert tips on ransomware recovery, Kubernetes backup and cloud-native backup.
Everbridge Spring 2021 COVID-19: Road to Recovery (R2R), May 26-27
The Everbridge R2R spring symposium is a two-day virtual event. Customers used the critical event management vendor's platform to send more than 5 billion communications in 2020. These communications covered wildfires, protests and, unsurprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event will kick off with a keynote from former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Other sessions will cover topic such as resilience, the future of public warning technology and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected disaster recovery and security.
DattoCon21, Oct. 11-14
DattoCon21 has yet to announce sessions, but Datto does plan to host the event live rather than virtual. DattoCon is the only backup and recovery conference currently on the calendar as a live conference, taking place in the fall. The conference page says they are "cautiously optimistic," and details on the location and how they plan to ensure attendee safety will be available soon.
More conferences to watch
Other 2021 conferences that will likely cover data protection include:
- Dell Technologies World, May 5-6
- IBM Think, May 11
- HPE Discover, June 22-24
- VMworld, Oct. 5-7
- Kaseya Connect IT, Oct. 19-22
Some data protection conferences have yet to add dates to the 2021 calendar, including Acronis Global Cyber Summit and Commvault Go.
