The iMasons were center stage again this year at Datacloud Europe in Monaco, June 12th – 14th.

As well as awarding the industry 1st Diversity Champion Award at the DataCloud Awards Dinner and hosting iM Panels throughout the event – the iMasons held an iM Local Edition – Monaco.

The attendees of the iM Local Edition included iMason Members, Partners and End Users from the iM Advisory Council as well as representatives from the iM Board. As always – an exciting and constructive (and enjoyable) gathering of the good and great from the Digital Infrastructure Industry.

Keynote – Mike Tobin

The iM Local Edition followed the proven format of starting with a “Fireside Chat” with one of the industry greats – Michael Tobin OBE. An iM Member from Finland summed up the interview with Michael when he told me that the interview alone justified the cost and time in attending the event.

Michael shared his fascinating and inspiring story. Despite a tough start in life – from frying pan to fire to abject poverty; escaping from a troubled home at the age of 7; to a civil war in Africa; to returning back to UK as a refugee in his own country – Michael believes he’s been lucky in life.

He shared some great and often very funny stories about his journey. Michael has some unconventional approaches – such as “forget about strategy” and arranging for his management team to swim with sharks (yes – real sharks!)

Think Tanks

The Think Tanks, as always, provoked some fascinating discussions. Each table decided if they were going to tackle the topic of

1. Supply Chain Optimization for Data Centers: Cloud platforms are seeking to deploy data center capacity at an accelerated rate. What has this meant to the supply chain for data center delivery? And – what are the areas where the supply chain can innovate to improve the speed of deployment (and help address the capacity planning challenge)?
2. Data Center Resiliency, Retrofit, and Reuse: As the industry matures, there are a growing number of older facilities that may not meet current standards for advanced data centers. Do these facilities have a future as candidates for repurposing, perhaps with a new or business model (such as “N” hosting, blockchain or cold storage)?

Tridium kindly sponsored the iM Local Edition