AFCOM’S Data Center World 2009 and Expo (http://www.datacenterworld.com), the world’s leading data center industry conference and two-day expo, officially opens today in Orlando, FL, gathering more than 600 data center professionals through October 7 at the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort and Convention Center. This year’s show features educational and tutorial sessions encompassing all aspects of the data center, a keynote session by Bick Group’s CEO Andy Parham on connecting data center decisions with business value, and a look at AFCOM’s most recent member survey on the hottest trends in the data center.

Today, the exhibit floor officially opens and features more than 130 of the industry’s leading vendors, including HP, Siemens Building Technologies and Toshiba International, set to highlight their latest technology advancements, products, and services.

“We’ve strived to make this year’s bi-annual Data Center World a worthwhile networking and educational event and place where data center professionals, IT and facilities managers everywhere can really share their stories with each other,” said Jill Eckhaus, CEO, AFCOM. “We understand that budgets are even tighter now than ever, and with that in mind, created an event that ensures attendees, exhibitors, the media and industry analysts alike are able to get access to the information they need to do their jobs better – all under one roof.”

The five-day conference kicked off on Sunday with two virtual data center tours and two concurrent tutorials focused on energy efficiency and an interactive solutions forum. The conference also includes more than 75 practical sessions, case studies and tutorials to give data center managers thorough training and understanding of the industry’s most critical and current trends and themes. Sessions cover topics such as the Green Data Center, Cost Savings, Disaster Recovery, Security, High Performance and Data Center Efficiency, Leadership and alternative technology topics such as Virtualization and Cloud Computing. For a full list of program details, please visit: http://www.datacenterworld.com/attendees_scheduleofevents.html

Data Center World 2009 Expo and Media highlights include:

Andy Parham, Bick Group CEO keynotes – “The Voice of the Business: Connecting Data Center Decisions to Business Value,” how to engage executive leadership in a collaborative, consensus-driven, fact-based, and creative process that drives alignment of the data center strategy with the strategic intent of the business. (Monday, October 5, 8:30 – 9:30 a.m.)

High-Intensity, Density and Green Virtual Data Center Tours – Live feeds of the world’s greenest and highest density data centers, including Green House Data and SuperNAP.(Sunday October 4, 2:30 – 4:45 p.m.)

The AFCOM Data Center 2009 Trend Survey – Its results, mined from the AFCOM membership base for insights and statistics around the hottest trends in the data center today, will be revealed at the show during a media luncheon. (Monday, October 5 or Tuesday, October 6 – TBD)

Customer Case Studies – Data center customer stories/case study presentations direct from the professionals that run the data centers for Microsoft, State of Vermont, University of Pennsylvania and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, among many others. (Monday, October 5 and Tuesday, October 6)

The Data Center World 2009 Expo Shows Hottest Solutions This Year – A two-day, set-hour affair and chance to walk amongst 150-plus exhibits serving the data center industry – news from all exhibitors will be available soon at the DCW News Bureau at http://datacenterworld.com/media_newsbureau.html. (Expo days/times are Monday, October 5, 4:15 – 6:45 p.m. with cocktail reception and Tuesday, October 6, at 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. with lunch)

Energy Efficiency and Interactive Solutions Forum Tutorials – Concurrent full-day tutorials will provide attendees with professional training and insight into today's key issues; data center managers will collaborate in the interactive solutions forum, or learn how Green House Data has brought its operation to a new level by “going green.” (Sunday October 4, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.)

Best Practices, Data Center Management, Facilities/Greening Tracks – Leading data center experts will share their tips on improving overall data center operation and energy efficiencies. Data center thought-leaders and life-long professionals speaking about trends around the cloud, intra-cloud, virtualization, consolidation, and containerized data center solutions, greening and energy efficiency, and recession-proofing. Also learn how the mainframe is indeed not dead. (Monday, October 5 through Wednesday, October 7)

Note to Journalists: Press and analysts are invited to view event press releases and other information at http://www.datacenterworld.com/index-4.html

About Data Center World Conference:

Data Center World, operated by AFCOM, the world’s leading 4,500-member data center association, is the industry’s premier networking and educational conference, and occurs bi-annually. Thousands of data center professionals, from many of the largest corporations across all industries, government organizations, and academic institutions in the world attend Data Center World to share, discuss and learn about the latest data center trends, technologies and best practices, as well as products and services by some of the world’s leading data center technology and service providers. Tradeshow Week recognizes Data Center World as one of the 50 fastest growing shows in the U.S. (2006, 2007 and 2008). For more information, visit www.datacenterworld.com

About AFCOM:

AFCOM (www.afcom.com) is a leading association supporting the educational and professional development needs of data center professionals around the globe. Established in 1980, AFCOM currently boasts more than 4,500 members and 38 chapters worldwide, and provides data center professionals with unique networking opportunities and educational forums and resources through its annual Data Center World Conferences, published magazines, regional chapters, research and hotline services, and industry alliances.