Storm Clouds Gather Over SNW

This years Storage Networking World kicked off in Orlando, Fla., today against the backdrop of hurricane Wilma, with key vendor Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) canceling its attendance at the show and a number of execs from other firms struggling to reach the storm-ravaged state.

Although the Orlando area escaped the worst of the storm, flights into the city have been thrown into confusion. A quick survey revealed some big names had still not made it to the show. Mark Sorensen, the vice president of software development at storage giant EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC), for example, was not yet in town, along with some managers from vendors McData Corp. (Nasdaq: MCDTA) and LSI Logic Corp. (NYSE: LSI).

Late in the afternoon, Brocade sent word that its executives heading to the show cancelled because of the storm.

Although 3PARdata Inc. CEO Dave Scott managed to successfully make it to the show, the team supposed to work on the company’s booth could not get into Orlando.

Word on the show floor is that overall attendance could be down by as much as a third.