Storm Clouds Gather Over SNW

This years Storage Networking World kicked off in Orlando, Fla., today against the backdrop of hurricane Wilma, with key vendor Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) canceling its attendance at the show and a number of execs from other firms struggling to reach the storm-ravaged state.

Although the Orlando area escaped the worst of the storm, flights into the city have been thrown into confusion. A quick survey revealed some big names had still not made it to the show. Mark Sorensen, the vice president of software development at storage giant EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC), for example, was not yet in town, along with some managers from vendors McData Corp. (Nasdaq: MCDTA) and LSI Logic Corp. (NYSE: LSI).

Late in the afternoon, Brocade sent word that its executives heading to the show cancelled because of the storm.

Although 3PARdata Inc. CEO Dave Scott managed to successfully make it to the show, the team supposed to work on the company’s booth could not get into Orlando.

Word on the show floor is that overall attendance could be down by as much as a third.Gary Pedersen, a network engineer at the City of Plano, Texas, said this is not what users want to hear. “If there are vendors that can’t make it, then that will impact us,” he says. “That’s some of the reason I am here.”

Ron Milton, executive vice president of Computerworld, which organizes the SNW conference, says that, without the hurricane, he would have predicted just over 2,900 registrants for the show. So far, he adds, 2,611 attendees have registered.

”Today we will get hurt by planes at the docket not taking off,” he says. “By now it’s a question of whether people can change their flights.”

John Lavelle, network administrator at LifeLink, a Florida-based organ procurement organization, told NDCF that the event certainly seemed quiet. “Looking at other events I have been to, there’s probably not that many here at this point.”

According to Milton, this was the fifth time the show has been held in Orlando, but the first time it has been hit by bad weather. “We’re advising caution and telling people that personal safety is the main thing,” he adds.Unsurprisingly, a golf exhibition slated for today fell victim to the wind and driving rain of the hurricane, although Milton promised to arrange “something creative” in its place.

But one IT manager from a Florida-based firm in the hospitality industry was unimpressed by all the fuss in Orlando. “This isn’t anything –-- I have been through hurricanes and this isn’t one,” he snorted. “This is a rain storm.”

— James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-Gen Data Center Forum, and Dave Raffo, Senior Editor, Byte and Switch