Enterprise Tech Strikes Back on Dec. 2 in Boston

Dell, Schmell. You may think you can come in here, drop $67 billion, and leave with our state’s biggest technology company, EMC.

Well, OK, I guess you can. But see how much our innovation community cares, really. There are dozens of companies around town that are looking to become the next EMC—whether it’s in data storage, cloud services, networking, security, or even telecom.

In fact, a new era of enterprise technology seems to be upon us. Tech companies have fresh spins on traditional-sounding fields, and investment is pouring into the sectors that Boston historically does best. And now enterprise customers have big choices to make when it comes to their IT infrastructure and other critical services.

What are the real opportunities and challenges for today’s startups, investors, and entrenched vendors? What lessons are prominent serial entrepreneurs applying to their next startups? And, given its history, how can New England lead the world in enterprise tech sectors?

On December 2, we’ll find out the answers. Xconomy is convening well-known leaders across the tech industry to discuss the above topics, and much more. This special half-day (afternoon) conference is called Enterprise Tech Strikes Back, and it’s all happening at the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology near South Station in Boston. Maybe even near Michael Dell’s new house, we’ll see.

Our distinguished speakers include:

Steve Papa, CEO and co-founder of Parallel Wireless (Endeca co-founder)
Andy Ory, CEO and co-founder of 128 Technology (Acme Packet co-founder)
Ash Ashutosh, CEO and co-founder of Actifio
Yuchun Lee, CEO and co-founder of Allego
Rich Levandov, Partner at Avalon Ventures
Paula Long, CEO and co-founder of DataGravity (EqualLogic co-founder)
Richard Napolitano, CEO of Plexxi
Ben Nye, CEO of VMTurbo and Managing Director at Bain Capital Ventures
Dan Phillips, CEO and co-founder of CloudHealth Technologies
Susie Kim Riley, CEO and co-founder of Aquto
Ellen Rubin, CEO and co-founder of ClearSky Data
Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association

I mention Endeca, Acme Packet, and EqualLogic above, as these are three of the biggest exits in New England tech history, prior to EMC’s sale. Each company was acquired for over $1 billion, for a combined value of $4.5 billion-plus. (The acquiring companies were Oracle, Oracle, and Dell, respectively.)

We’ll have much more about the agenda in the days and weeks to come. Tickets are going fast, so grab a special rate today, and we look forward to seeing you on Dec. 2.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.