SYS-CON Events announced today that Mike Neil, general manager for virtualization strategy at Microsoft will deliver the keynote speech, entitled "Virtualization Futures: From the Desktop to the Datacenter," at SYS-CON’s upcoming “International Virtualization Conference & Expo 2008 West” event due to take place November 19-21, 2008, in San Jose California.

Join Microsoft General Manager Mike Neil for this keynote as he shares his thoughts on the state of IT computing and tomorrow’s trends, and how Microsoft is helping to transform the traditional desktop and datacenter. Mike will discuss directions for Microsoft’s virtualization and management technologies, and the related applications and infrastructure that will make IT stronger, leaner, and more strategic. He'll demo yet-to-be released products so that you can see what Microsoft is developing. Learn how you can implement Microsoft's solutions today to achieve consolidation, business continuity, accelerated desktop deployments, as well as where Microsoft is headed.

Mike Neil is general manager for virtualization strategy in the Windows Server Division at Microsoft Corp in Redmond, Wash. He is focused on the delivery of the Windows virtualization technology, including Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Microsoft Hyper-V Server and Virtual PC 2007. Mike also directs the technical enablement of Microsoft’s broader vision for virtualization, to include virtualization management tools and virtualized desktop infrastructure. Prior to this role, he was responsible for Microsoft’s server and PC virtualization efforts since 2003.

Neil joined Microsoft as part of Microsoft’s February 2003 acquisition of Connectix Corp. While at Connectix, he was the vice president of engineering and worked on the original team that developed Virtual PC Mac, allowing Apple Macintosh computers to run Windows. He also was one of the founders of Pixo, a small company that developed operating systems and applications for handheld devices, the most notable of which is the Apple iPod.

After attending the University of Michigan, Neil joined Apple culminating as the integration lead and technical lead for Apple’s OS project code named Copeland.

View Virtualization Power Panel

View Microsoft's David Greschler's Keynote

View Red Hat's Brian Stevens' Keynote

Virtualization is becoming an increasingly important concept, not only to IT staffs, but to CIOs and line-of-business managers as well. It is quickly being deployed in server, storage, networking, as well as client environments.

"Deploying Virtualization in the Enterprise" is the conference theme of SYS-CON's 4th International Virtualization Conference & Expo.

Conference Faculty - A Who's Who of Virtualization Technology Rock Stars!
International Virtualization Conference & Expo faculty alumni include such notable speakers as: Bret Adam (rPath), Deepak Alur (JackBe), Theo Beack (BEA Systems), Kevin Brown (Kidaro), Donato Buccella (Certeon), Bob Buffone (Nexaweb), David Christian (MindBridge), Jonathan Clark (Thinstall), Ariel Cohen (Xsigo Systems), Andrew Conte (APC), Simon Crosby (Citrix Systems), Kurt Daniels (Parallels), Sujil Das (Mellanox Technologies), Kevin Epstein (Scalent Systems), Shai Fultheim (ScaleMP), Rick German (Stoneware), Dror Gill (Ceedo), Ravi Gururaj (VMLogix), Matthew Haynos (IBM), Stephen Herrod (VMware), Arthur Hitomi (Endeavors Technologies), Gordon Jackson (DataSynapse), Peter Jensen (Thinstall), Steve Kaplan (AccessFlow), David Kleidermacher (Green Hills Software), Madhur Kohli (Levanta), Brian Korn (Scalent Systems), Gary Lamb (AccessFlow), Rich Lechner (IBM), Matt Lee (Neocleus), Victoria Livschitz (Grid Dynamics), Bob Lozano (Appistry), Peter Manca (Egenera), Andi Mann (EMA), Jerry Melnick (Marathon Technologies), Mark Milligan (VirtualLogix), Shridhar Mittal (iTKO), Hezi Moore (Reflex Security), Phil Morris (Sun Microsystems), Parviz Peiravi (Intel), Geva Perry (GigaSpaces Technologies), Harry Petty (Brocade), Stephen Pollack (PlateSpin), George Pradel (Vizioncore), Bob Quinn (3Leaf), Ben Rudolph (Parallels), Bill Scarborough (VMware), John Stetic (PlateSpin), Brian Stevens (Red Hat), Robert Steward (DataDirect), Allen Stewart (Microsoft), Butch Villafor (Egenera), Roland Wartenberg (SAP), Matt Waxman (EMC Corporation), Julian Weinstock (Desktone), Hubert Yoshida (Hitachi) and Kurt Zieglar (SIMtone).

Sponsors and Exhibitors
SYS-CON's International Virtualization Conference & Expo events are sponsored by the world's leading virtualization technology providers, including: 3PAR, APC, AppStream/ Symantec, Astaro, B-hive, Ceedo, Certeon, Green Hills Software, Grid Dynamics, IBM, InstallFree, Intel, Lazslo Systems, Mellanox Technologies, Nexaweb, NextAxiom, Parasoft, PlateSpin/ Novell, Rackspace, Red Hat, Reflex Security, RingCube, Skytap, Splunk, Stoneware and Xsigo Systems.

Sponsorship and Exhibit Opportunities Offered on a First-Come First-Served Basis. To inquire about sponsorship and exhibit opportunities please contact Carmen Gonzalez at 201-802-3021 or by email at events(at)sys-con.com. Currently, a limited number of sponsorship and exhibition packages with multiple sponsorship discounts are available for the following international events:

4th International Virtualization Conference & Expo 2008 - West
November 19-21, 2008, San Jose, CA (www.VirtualizationConference.com)

5th International Virtualization Conference & Expo 2009 - Europe
April, London, England (www.Virtualization-Europe.co.uk)

The Most Distinguished Virtualization Faculty at the Upcoming
November 19-21, 2008 Conference San Jose, CA
SYS-CON’s upcoming “4^th International Virtualization Conference & Expo” faculty includes such distinguished speakers as: Dan Avida (Opus Capital), Alex Bakman (VKernel), Michael Berman (Catbird), Ken Berryman (Symantec), Brad Brown (TUSC), Jonathan Bryce (Mosso), Donato Buccella (Certeon), Rachel Chalmers (The 451 Group), Stuart Charlton (Elastra), Reuven Cohen (Enomaly), Dave Durkee (ENKI), Mike Eaton (Cloudworks), Yakov Fain (Farata Systems), Walter Falk (IBM Global Technology Services), Mike Feinberg (EMC), Joe Fitzgerald (ManageIQ), Kyle Gabhart (Web Age Solutions), Anup K. Ghosh (Secure Command), Michel Gien (VirtualLogix), Alex Givens (UC4 Software), Dr. Robert Hagmann (Coral8), Patrick Harr (Nirvanix), Ralph James (RSSBus), John Janakiraman (Skytap), Mike Kemp (Liquid Computing), Lynn LeBlanc (FastScale), Lars Leckie (Hummer Winblad Venture Partners), Patrick Leonard (RogueWave), David Linthicum (The Linthicum Group), Paul Lipton (CA), Jay Litkey (Embotics), Bob Lozano (Appistry), Jim Mackay (iTKO LISA), Billy Marshall (rPath), Dave McCroy (Hyper9), Dwayne Melancon (Tripwire), Leslie Muller (DynamicOps), Mike Neil (Microsoft), Baldwin Ng (Microsoft), Peter Nickolov (3Tera), Gerardo Pardo-Castellote (Real-Time Innovations), Cornelius Pone (PPC), Bob Quinn (3Leaf), Sean Rhody, Jesus Rodriguez (Tellago), Michael Rowley (Active Endpoints), Nati Shalom (GigaSpaces), David Snead, Javier Soltero (Hyperic), John Suit (Fortisphere), Ratmir Timashev (Veeam), Omer Trajman (Vertica Systems), Dr. Werner Vogels (Amazon), Thorsten von Eicken (RightScale), Ed Walsh (Virtual Iron), Roland Wartenberg (SAP), John Whaley (MokaFive) Alan Williamson (Blog-City), Steve Wilson (Sun Microsystems), Rich Wolski (U.C. Santa Barbara), David Young (Joyent) and Songnian Zhou (Platform Computing).

Virtualization Technology Providers and Contributors in 2008-2009
The following companies are among the providers and contributors of Virtualization technology: 3PAR, Accellion, Acronis, Actional, Active Endpoints, ActiveGrid, activePDF, ActiveServers, ActiveState, Actuate, Adaptec, Agile Software, AGiLiENCE, Agilysys, Akorri, AlachiSoft, Alter Logic, Altor Networks, Altova, AMD, AMDAHL, Amentra, Amyuni, anacubis, Apani, APC, Appcelerator, AppSense, AppStream, Array Networks, Ascential, Astaro, Attune Systems, Autodesk, AutoVirt, Availl, Avanade, Azul Systems, Barracuda Networks, BEA Systems, B-hive, Black Duck Software, Blackbaud, Blade Network Technologies, Blue Coat, Blue Lane, BlueArc, BlueNote Networks, BluePheonix Solutions, BMC Software, Borland, Bristol Technology, Brix Networks, BroadVision, Brocade, Burton Group, Business Objects, CA, CalAmp, Cassatt, Cast Iron Systems, Catbird, Cayenne Technologies, Ceedo Technologies, Cenzic, Certeon, CiRBA, Cisco Systems, Cision, Citrix Systems, ClearApp, ClearCube Technology, CollabNet, Compass America, Composite Software, Compugen, Compuware, Configuresoft, Continuity Software, Coraid, Courion, Coyote Point Systems, Crescendo Networks, CSC, DataCore, DataSynapse, Dell, Desktone, Digipede Technologies, Double-Take Software, Ecora Software, EDS, eG Innovations, Egenera, Elastra Corporation, Electric Cloud, Embotics, EMC Corporation, Emulex, Endeavors Technology, Enigmatic Corporation, Enterprise Management Associates, Entuity, EqualLogic, Ericom Software, ESRI, EVault, eXludus Technologies, F5 Networks, FalconStor, FastScale Technology, Foedus, Force10 Networks, Fortisphere, Forum Systems, Fujitsu, GemStone Systems, Getronics, GlassHouse, Green Hills Software, Grid Dynamics, GridGain Systems, GT Software, Hitachi, HP, Hyper9, Hyperic, IBM, ICEsoft, IGEL Technology, Illumita, ILOG, IMEX Research, Information Builders, Ingres, InstallFree, Integrien, Intel, Intellium, International Computerware, iTKO LISA, JBoss, Juniper, KACE, Kidaro, LeftHand Networks, Leostream, Lifeboat Distribution, Liquid Computing Corporation, Liquid Technology, Lynux Works, Mainline, ManageIQ, Managed Methods, ManageSoft, Marathon Technologies, McAfee, Mellanox Technologies, Microsoft, Mid-Atlantic Computers, Mindbridge Software, Mindreef, MKS, MonoSphere, Motorola, MQSoftware, mySoftIT, NASTEL, Ncomputing, NEC, Neocleus, NeoPath Networks, Neoware, NetApp, Netegrity, Neterion, Netuitive, Neverfail, Nexaweb, NextAxiom, Nimbus, Nimsoft, Niyuta, NoMachine, Novell, ONStor, Opalis Software, Open Kernel Labs, OpenSpan, OPNET Technologies, Optaros, OpTier, Oracle, Pano Logic, Parallels, Parasoft, Perforce Software, PHD Technologies, Phoenix Technologies, Phurnace Software, Pillar Data Systems, PlateSpin/Novell, Progress Software, Prolifics, ProSync Technology, Provision Networks, QLogic, Quest Software, Racemi, Raritan, Raxco Software, Red Hat, Reflex Security, Resolution Enterprises, RingCube Technologies, Riverbed Technology, Rogue Wave Software, RSA Security, Sagnet Solutions, SanDisk Corporation, SAP, SAVVIS, ScaleMP, Scalent Systems, Seanodes, Secure Command, Secure Computing, Sentillion, Shavlik Technologies, ServInt Internet Services, Silpion IT Solutions, SIMtone, Skytap, Skyway Software, Software AG, Sonasoft, SourceGear, Splunk, StackSafe, SteelEye Technology, StillSecure, StoneFly, Stonesoft, Stoneware, StoreVault, StrikeIron, STT WebOS, Sun Microsystems, SunGard, Supermicro Computer, Surgient, SWsoft, Sybase, Symantec, Systar, TBD Networks, Tenfold, TheInfoPro, Thinstall, Third Brigade, TIBCO Software, Tidal Software, Tideway Systems, TOA Solutions, TRANGO Virtual Processors, Trend Micro, Tresys Technology, Trigence, Tripwire, Ulteo, Unisys, United Devices, VaST Systems, VDIworks, VeeAm Software, Verari Systems, Verio, VeriSign, Vicom Computer Services, VirtenSys, Virtera, Virtual Iron, VirtualLogix, Virtugo Software, Virtutech, VisionCore, Vizioncore, VKernel, VMLogix, vmSight, VMware, Vordel, vThere-Sentillion, Vyatta, WaveMaker, Web Age Solutions, WSO2, Wyse Technology, XDS, XenoCode, Xiotech, xkoto, Xsigo Systems, Zenith Optemedia, Zeus Technology.

Cloud Computing Technology Providers and Contributors in 2008-2009
The following companies are among the providers and contributors of Cloud Computing technology: 10Gen, 3Leaf, 3Tera, Absolute Performance, Accenture, Akamai, Amazon.com, Appirio, Appistry, Areti Internet, Boomi, Box.net, Canaan Partners, Cloud9 Analytics, CloudWorks, CNI Systems, CohesiveFT, CSRware, DataDirect, Dell, DNAmail, eBay, Elastra, EMC, EngineYard, Enki Consulting, Enomaly, Excelian, Flexiscale, Fortress ITX, Forum, GigaSpaces, GoGrid, Google, HP, IBM, IBRIX, Joyent, JumpBox, Layered Technologies, Level 3 Communications, Linxter, LongJump, MDV, Microsoft, Moka5 (MokaFive), Mosso, NewServers, Nirvanix, Ocarina Networks, OpSource, Panorama Software, Peer1 Networks, Pervasive Software, Platform Computing, PLX Technology, Qlayer, Rackspace, RampRate, Red Hat, RightScale, rPath, Salesforce.com, Saugatuck Technology, ServePath, Skills Matter, Skytap, SnapLogic, SOASTA, Sun Microsystems, Symphoniq, Symphony Services, Tap In Systems, Teneros, Terremark, Transitive Corporation, Univa UD, Verizon Business, Vertica, VMware, XCalibre, Zabovo.com, ZOHO and Zuora.