One of the most edutaining digital conferences over the last couple of years has been the Zenoss GalaxZ event.  Where some trade shows fall flat translating from physical to virtual, Zenoss has done an excellent job of making that transition.  To find out what Zenoss has planned for this upcoming event, VMblog reached out to Trent Fitz, the Zenoss Chief Marketing Officer.

VMblog: Looks like GalaxZ22 will once again be virtual only. Do you have plans of bringing this event back to a physical event next year? This was always a great in-person event, although you've found a way to make your virtual event entertaining and differentiating as well.

Trent Fitz:  We hope very much that we can have GalaxZ in person next year. We were actually planning for it to be in person this year, but ultimately made the call to do it virtually again. In the fall, our customers were pretty much unanimously saying they would 100% be here if we had it in person in 2022. But after the omicron variant outbreak, companies were (understandably) playing it safe and limiting travel. So, many of those same customers began telling us they wouldn't be able to attend in person. 

This is our third year doing the event digitally, and I think we have a pretty good blueprint for it. It's surprising how so many companies are just bad at it - mostly because they end up being all-day webinars. Our primary focus is making the event engaging, and you'll find that it's unlike any virtual event you have attended or will attend. We guarantee that.

VMblog: What are you most excited about in preparing for this event?

Fitz:  That's the same every year - it's hearing all of our customers' stories. They explain the challenges they face, both technology and otherwise, and the innovative solutions they develop. It is so rewarding to hear how companies are leveraging Zenoss to solve real-world problems. Some of the stories you'll hear at the conference are things like:

• A customer leveraging Zenoss to ensure newborn babies are continuously observed for high-risk conditions, receive the correct medical treatment, and do not get separated from parents.
• Another leveraging Zenoss to monitor a power grid that dynamically shifts demand from overloaded grids to keep electricity running to millions of homes.
• We are part of an interoperability initiative for Next Generation 911, to ensure that anyone in need has access to help, regardless of where they are.
  

VMblog: Can you give us some more details around the upcoming GalaxZ 2022 event?  What can we expect?

Fitz:  First, you can find all information about the event at https://galaxz.zenoss.com. It's a one-of-a-kind virtual event on May 19, free for everyone. The sessions start at 8:30 a.m. CDT, with virtual networking for the hour leading up to it (so, starting at 7:30 a.m. CDT). We will be giving away prizes all day, including a trip to the Formula 1 event here in Austin in October.

The theme this year is "Lights Out and Away We Go," which is how every Formula 1 race starts.

Our guest speaker will be Mario Andretti. Yes, the Mario Andretti. And he's not just the driver of the century, he's an amazing person with an incredible story. As I said, we pride ourselves on making the event engaging and entertaining. You'll find that it's unlike any virtual event you have attended or will attend.

VMblog: Can you talk about any of the sessions or discussions that are expected to take place at the event? What are the hot topics?

Fitz:  Did I mention Mario Andretti is our guest speaker? We will also have a keynote presentation from Forrester analyst Carlos Casanova, who is one of the foremost experts on AIOps. We will also have customer and partner breakout sessions from Google AI experts, leading health care organizations, leading financial services organizations, leading service providers, and more. The lineup includes companies like Guardian Life Insurance, Geisinger Health, Parkview Health, Grainger, Southern Company, Enbridge, Rackspace, Australia Bureau of Meteorology, Boston University, Acxiom, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Nuance Communications and Dell.

The hot topic is pretty simple - how innovative organizations are managing incredibly complex IT environments to provide more value to their businesses. This includes case studies for unified monitoring, AIOps, observability and automation.

VMblog: Are there any new trends in the industry that people should be aware of or should keep their eyes and ears on the lookout for anytime during the show?

Fitz:  In recent years, there has been a trend of collecting vast amounts of data from IT infrastructures and applications. The problem has been finding the best way to get value from that data. What innovative organizations have learned is that they need to consolidate monitoring to get the data out of silos. Then, they can leverage machine learning to derive insights from that data to help accelerate problem resolution and even predict and prevent IT outages altogether. The breakout sessions will feature one customer after another presenting case studies that convey the benefits they were able to realize by taking this approach.

You will also want to keep an eye out for interstitial content between sessions that is likened to Super Bowl ads for IT geeks.

VMblog: Who are your virtual event sponsors? How are your partners participating this year?

Fitz:  This year our sponsors include Google Cloud, SOPRIS Technologies, ADCom Solutions and Voss Solutions. They are all amazing partners and will each have a breakout session to discuss challenges they're seeing in customer environments and what they're doing to address those challenges.

VMblog: Zenoss GalaxZ always showcases and brings the fun. What are you doing for the digital event? Do you have any special guests or speakers to help entertain?

Fitz:  Did I say Mario Andretti will be there? Also, bring your popcorn and enjoy the fun stuff - engaging content that is a fusion of IT and auto racing. And we make fun of Texas. (We're Texans, so we're allowed).

VMblog: Anything else attendees of this event should be aware of?

Fitz:  It's free, it will be fun, and it will be packed with high-value information for IT operations and DevOps pros. That is all.

VMblog: If someone is interested in attending the event, where can they find more information and how can they get registered?

Fitz:  https://galaxz.zenoss.com

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