If storage end users have felt neglected until now, they are suddenly awash in organizations aiming to meet their needs. Today, Daniel Delshad, the guy behind the Storage World Conference, is launching a new user-oriented association (see End Users Get New Organization).
Aiming to become the first global organization to help storage users navigate an often confusing industry, Delshad's Association of Storage Networking Professionals (ASNP) launched today with the rallying cry, Leave No User Behind. [Ed. note: Hopefully it will prove less illusory than Bushs No Child Left Behind Act.]
End users are very powerless to separate whats hype and whats real, Delshad says. We want to give end users a voice, as well as more opportunities to connect with other professionals.
He adds that the new association aims to help users of all sizes and in all categories, saying he hopes to gain members in large banks, telcos, and governmental organizations, but also in small and medium-sized businesses. Diversity was key for us, he says.
To fulfill this mission, Deshald claims ASNP has already established 22 regional chapters -- 14 in the U.S. and eight abroad -- where local user meetings and training programs will be organized. The association, which according to Delshad has received enough private investment to last it three years, has also created a Website where users can access "vendor-neutral content" and exchange ideas over message boards. The Website will offer a job section and a request for proposal (RFP) database aimed specifically at the storage industry.