eWeek to Hold a Series of Technology Summits

Series Overview

eWEEK, a flagship publication of Ziff Davis Media, has long been a trusted source for the latest in enterprise IT. In 2004 it took its expertise beyond the page to create a series of focused technology summits for senior technology leaders. The upcoming fall events bring together the brightest minds in security, storage, and business continuity to address the most pressing challenges facing modern organizations.

Enterprise IT departments operate under constant pressure from evolving threats, increasing data volumes, and the need for uninterrupted service. The series is designed to give CIOs and other decision makers the tools, knowledge, and contacts they need to stay ahead. By concentrating on one critical theme per summit, the events allow attendees to dig deep into practical solutions and emerging trends rather than skimming a broad range of topics.

Three full‑day gatherings are scheduled for the fall. The Security Summit opens the series on September 29 in the Metropolitan Club at the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois. The Storage Summit follows on October 6 at the Hilton Hotel & Towers in New York City. The final event, the Business Continuity Summit, takes place on November 16 at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington, D.C. Each venue is chosen for its accessibility, history of hosting technology conferences, and proximity to major corporate hubs.

The summits are not just seminars; they are ecosystems of insight and partnership. Each day features a mix of expert panels, vendor showcases, and interactive workshops. Pre‑arranged one‑on‑one meetings link sponsors with attendees, providing a high‑value networking opportunity that is hard to find at generic trade shows. The sessions are curated to deliver actionable outcomes that executives can apply immediately to their organizations.

At the heart of each summit is eWEEK’s reputation for in‑depth analysis. The magazine’s writers and editors contribute through keynote speeches, live demonstrations, and product reviews. Industry experts from partner companies join the conversation, bringing real‑world experience that balances theory with practice. The result is a platform where ideas are tested and refined in front of an audience of peers who share the same operational realities.

Senior technology leaders who attend the summits report tangible benefits. Many describe the events as a “single source of truth” for that month’s most urgent topic. After the Security Summit, for example, participants often leave with a clearer understanding of threat vectors, a refreshed incident‑response plan, and new relationships with vendors who can help them tighten defenses. Similarly, the Storage Summit yields a new set of benchmarks for performance and capacity planning that leaders can use to justify budget increases.

Chris Dobbrow, Senior Vice President and Publisher of eWEEK, emphasizes how the Custom/Conference Group amplifies the magazine’s impact. “Through these summits we bring together the knowledge that eWEEK has built over the years with the real‑time needs of today’s IT leaders,” he says. “The combination of print, online, and face‑to‑face engagement ensures that information travels quickly and is applied effectively.”

For executives looking to stay competitive, the fall summits offer a concentrated dose of learning and networking. Whether it’s mastering new security protocols, scaling storage architectures, or building resilient operations, the events are designed to move ideas from discussion to deployment. Registration opens now for the Security Summit, with space limited to ensure an intimate environment conducive to deep learning and meaningful conversations.

eWEEK Security Summit

The Security Summit, scheduled for September 29 at Chicago’s Metropolitan Club, is the launch pad for eWEEK’s fall series. Sponsored by industry leaders Checkpoint, nCircle, Spirent, and Symantec, the event tackles the growing spectrum of cyber threats that compromise enterprise data and operations. Attendees will hear from Richard Clarke, the former White House advisor on cybersecurity, who will open the day with a keynote that frames the current threat landscape in a national security context.

The day begins with an overview of the most prevalent attack vectors - malware, ransomware, phishing, and insider threats. From there, breakout sessions drill into specific defensive strategies. One workshop focuses on building layered defenses that combine endpoint protection, network segmentation, and threat intelligence feeds. Another session examines the evolving role of artificial intelligence in detecting anomalies before they turn into breaches. Throughout, speakers present real case studies from Fortune 500 companies that illustrate both the cost of inaction and the ROI of proactive security measures.

Vendor presentations are tailored to show how their products solve common pain points. Checkpoint showcases its next‑generation firewall architecture, emphasizing integration with cloud environments and automated rule updates. nCircle delivers a live demo of its threat‑intel platform, highlighting how it aggregates data from open‑source and commercial feeds to provide actionable insights. Spirent presents its network testing solutions, enabling organizations to validate security controls under simulated attack scenarios. Symantec’s panel explores its unified endpoint security suite, focusing on the balance between protection and performance.

CIO roundtables offer a forum for senior leaders to compare strategies and share lessons learned. Participants discuss how their organizations measure security maturity, align budget with risk, and embed security culture across departments. The roundtables are moderated by eWEEK’s own editors, who bring a balanced perspective that encourages candid dialogue.

In addition to scheduled sessions, the summit hosts a dedicated matchmaking event that pairs executives with vendor representatives. These one‑on‑one meetings allow for in‑depth conversations about specific challenges and product fit. Attendees come away with a clear action plan, vendor contacts, and a set of metrics to track post‑summit progress.

Beyond technical content, the Security Summit emphasizes governance and compliance. A panel of experts from the NIST, ISO, and PCI organizations explores how organizations can align their security programs with regulatory requirements while maintaining operational agility. Participants leave with templates for risk assessment and compliance reporting that can be customized to fit their organization’s structure.

The summit’s location, the Metropolitan Club, offers a quiet setting that encourages collaboration. The club’s historic architecture provides a backdrop for informal discussions that often yield fresh perspectives. The combination of a robust agenda, top‑tier sponsors, and an intimate venue ensures that participants receive maximum value from their time in Chicago.

For CIOs, IT directors, and security officers who need to stay ahead of the curve, the Security Summit is a must‑attend event. Registration opens today, and early‑bird pricing is available for the first 100 registrants. The conference promises to deliver actionable insights that can be translated into stronger defenses, reduced risk, and a more secure business environment.

eWEEK Storage Summit

Data has become the backbone of every modern enterprise, and the Storage Summit, slated for October 6 at New York’s Hilton Hotel & Towers, addresses the complexities of scaling and managing that data. With the explosion of unstructured information - from multimedia files to sensor data - organizations must rethink how they store, retrieve, and protect their digital assets. The summit provides a platform for executives to explore new storage architectures, cost‑optimization strategies, and emerging technologies that promise higher performance and resilience.

The agenda opens with a keynote by a leading storage strategist who outlines the shift from traditional SANs and NAS devices to software‑defined storage (SDS) and hyper‑converged infrastructure (HCI). The talk explains how these paradigms simplify management, improve scalability, and reduce total cost of ownership. The session sets the stage for deeper dives into topics such as block storage performance, object storage for archival, and the growing importance of data tiering.

One breakout session focuses on the challenges of storing big data in a hybrid cloud environment. Participants examine how to decide what stays on-premises, what moves to public clouds, and how to maintain data integrity across locations. The panel includes vendors that provide hybrid cloud gateways, data replication tools, and policy‑driven storage automation. Attendees walk away with a framework for building a cloud‑native storage strategy that aligns with their business goals.

Another workshop tackles storage performance benchmarking. Through live demonstrations, experts show how to use tools like Iometer, fio, and vendor‑specific suites to measure IOPS, throughput, and latency. The session emphasizes how to interpret results and translate them into actionable decisions - whether that means upgrading SSD arrays, reconfiguring RAID groups, or re‑allocating workloads.

Vendor showcases highlight the latest innovations from leading storage manufacturers. A top SSD vendor presents a new line of enterprise drives that promise 10x higher endurance and 5x lower latency compared to previous models. An HCI vendor demonstrates its platform’s ability to deliver virtualized compute and storage with a single management console, reducing administrative overhead. A software vendor offers a data lifecycle manager that automates archival and deletion policies based on regulatory compliance and business needs.

Throughout the day, CIO roundtables facilitate candid discussions about budgeting, workforce skill gaps, and technology roadmaps. Leaders share their experiences with storage consolidation, migration, and vendor selection. Moderators guide the conversation toward concrete takeaways, such as creating a storage‑centric IT budget that justifies capital expenditure and aligns with the organization’s growth trajectory.

The summit also dedicates a session to data protection and disaster recovery. Participants learn about the latest trends in backup‑as‑a‑service (BaaS), immutable storage, and continuous data protection (CDP). Case studies illustrate how companies achieved near‑zero recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs) by integrating backup solutions into their storage stack.

Beyond technical learning, the Storage Summit emphasizes strategic alignment. Executives leave with a clearer understanding of how storage decisions impact application performance, user experience, and regulatory compliance. They also gain access to a network of peers and vendors that can help them navigate the evolving storage landscape.

Early registration for the Storage Summit is now open, with discounted rates for the first 50 attendees. The Hilton Hotel & Towers provides an inspiring setting that encourages collaboration and networking. For CIOs and IT leaders who want to future‑proof their storage investments, the summit offers the knowledge and connections necessary to make informed, data‑driven decisions.

eWEEK Business Continuity Summit

The final event of eWEEK’s fall series, the Business Continuity Summit, is scheduled for November 16 at Washington, D.C.’s Willard Intercontinental Hotel. Sponsored by EMC, the summit focuses on strategies that keep critical services running in the face of disruption - whether from cyber attacks, natural disasters, or system failures. In today’s interconnected world, business continuity plans are no longer optional; they are essential to operational resilience.

The day starts with a keynote on the evolving definition of continuity. Rather than simply restoring IT systems, modern continuity frameworks emphasize maintaining value delivery and stakeholder trust during crises. The speaker outlines a holistic approach that integrates people, processes, technology, and partners into a cohesive strategy.

A series of workshops explores key components of a robust continuity plan. One session examines risk assessment techniques, teaching attendees how to identify threats, evaluate vulnerabilities, and prioritize assets. Participants use practical exercises to map out potential impact scenarios and calculate financial exposure. The outcome is a risk register that can be incorporated into the organization’s strategic planning.

Another workshop tackles the design of recovery strategies. Experts demonstrate how to choose appropriate recovery sites - whether data centers, cloud environments, or hybrid solutions - based on RTO and RPO requirements. The discussion covers failover mechanisms, data replication, and the importance of automated testing. Attendees leave with a set of best practices for ensuring rapid, reliable recovery.

Vendor presentations highlight EMC’s portfolio of solutions that support continuity objectives. EMC showcases its data protection platform, which combines backup, replication, and disaster recovery into a unified, scalable architecture. The vendor also demonstrates its cloud‑based disaster recovery services, illustrating how businesses can reduce time to restore critical workloads while keeping costs predictable.

The summit’s CIO roundtables provide a forum for senior leaders to share their continuity challenges and successes. Moderated by eWEEK editors, the conversations cover topics such as executive sponsorship, cross‑departmental collaboration, and measuring the effectiveness of continuity programs. The roundtables help participants benchmark their practices against industry peers and identify gaps that need to be addressed.

An essential component of the summit is the focus on business continuity testing. A dedicated session covers the planning, execution, and analysis of tabletop exercises, simulated outages, and full‑scale failovers. The goal is to help organizations uncover hidden dependencies, improve incident response times, and validate the efficacy of their continuity plans. Participants receive templates and checklists that can be used to streamline future testing cycles.

Throughout the day, attendees interact with EMC’s experts and other vendors who provide specialized services such as managed continuity testing, cloud migration assistance, and compliance consulting. The matchmaking portion of the event allows for in‑depth discussions about specific business needs, leading to actionable vendor engagements.

The Business Continuity Summit concludes with a collaborative workshop that helps executives create a continuity roadmap tailored to their organization’s strategic priorities. The roadmap includes milestones, resource requirements, and key performance indicators that align continuity initiatives with overall business objectives.

By the end of the summit, participants will have a clear framework for assessing, designing, and testing continuity programs that protect their critical operations. Early registration is still available, with priority seating for attendees who book before the end of October. The Willard Intercontinental Hotel offers a historic venue that fosters focused discussion and networking among industry peers.