Invitation to Attend

SAGE-AU is inviting you to attend the 19th Annual Conference (the premier Systems Administration event in the Asia-Pacific region) being held 19 - 23 September in the Hilton on the Park Melbourne. SAGE-AU is all about advancing the profession of System Administration and educating System Administrators in both technical and professional aspects. This is what the national conference will bring to our members and to you. It provides an educational forum for System Administrators of all platforms and levels of experience to gather together and share their experiences and is an excellent opportunity to meet, network with and learn from acknowledged experts in the field.

You will experience three days of quality tutorials and two days of technical sessions presented by renowned experts in their field. You will have the opportunity to speak with vendors in the trade exhibition being held 22 and 23 September; plus have the opportunity to network with hundreds of your colleagues and peers from around Australia at the Welcome Reception on the Wednesday 21 September followed by the highly popular Trivia Night; and then the Conference Dinner on the Thursday night.

The training (tutorial) and technical papers are currently being reviewed and should provide an excellent conference program for all SAGE-AU members.  Papers have been received from IBM (USA), Red Hat, Microsoft and many more.  You will also be pleased to note that Lee Damon from USA will again present a number of tutorials as well as a technical program session.  We can also advise that the keynote speakers already confirmed are: Simon Brunozzi, from Amazon Web Services who presents Architecting for the Cloud; Simon Hackett from Internode who will present "The Nearly Begun Network"; Professor Raj Buyya from Cloud labs, Melbourne Uni who will present "Market-Oriented Cloud Computing and Aneka Platform", Guy Harrison from Quest Software presenting "Barbarians at the gate: the consumer driven cloud invades corporate IT", and now Jeff Alexander from Microsoft presenting "Delivering the Private Cloud using Microsoft technologies".

Our theme for 2011 is:
"The Cloud: Silver Lining or Storm?"

No one can take full advantage of cloud computing without first becoming familiar with the latest issues and trends, which is why, in the main an extensive proportion of the Conference is to ensure - through an intensive five-day schedule of training workshops, keynotes, general and breakout sessions, and the trade exhibition - that all attendees leave with abundant resources, ideas and examples they can apply immediately to leveraging the Cloud, helping them to maximize performance, minimize cost and improve the scalability of their endeavours.

Here are a number of reasons why you should attend

The SAGE-AU National Conference is one of the most cost-effective ways to gain the tools and knowledge needed to meet the changing demands of information technology:

• Attendees pay a reasonable amount for intensive education, unlike any offered within the industry.
• Attendees will gain access to world class presenters and relevant and topical sessions that fit into current industry needs
• Attendees will garner a tangible, immediate return on your investment.
• Attendees will save on education. Conference attendees make professional contacts that they can consult long after the conference ends.
• Attendees will have the opportunity to network with hundred of their peers as well as with the leading technology vendors that are providing a showcase over the two days.
• Attendees have direct access to Industry managers. The conference offers an opportunity to talk one-on-one with industry vendors who provide the latest products and services; and
• Attendees return to the office with real-time solutions that can be implemented immediately - without wasting countless hours in independent research.

Who Would Benefit by Attending?

System Administrators come in all shapes and sizes and most don't even realise that's what they are. And all will benefit by attending the SAGE-AU National Conference.

Do you or your staff….

• Manage or administer your IT infrastructure?
• Keep your web servers and email running?
• Look after the network or the firewall?
• Maintain your database?
• Provide IT security?
• Maintain backups?
• Provide support your staff via the IT help desk?
• Make your organisation's telephony work?
• Provide training in any of these areas?

You could be employed in Banking and Finance; Commercial; Contracting; Defence; Education; Government; ISP; Manufacturing; Not for Profit; Recruitment; and Retail. The list is endless!

If this is you (and you are not already a Member) then you are urged to join SAGE-AU and all should attend the conference. You don't need to be a Member to enjoy the benefits of the education and training provided. But please check out the benefits of becoming a Member of the Guild at www.sage-au.org.au.

Conference Committee