First Time at IDUG, Second Time Around
Not having attended IDUG for 5 years at least, registering for IDUG EMEA in Berlin I felt as apprehensive as the first time I attended IDUG. But it didn’t take long to bump into some old DB2 friends (colleagues I have known for many years before the anti-ageism crowd get excitable) and catch up on the latest news. The main hall was full of conversations such as what version of DB2 are you running, tales about recent performance issues and the sharing of potential migration challenges and handy tips.
Alongside the extensive technical programme featuring sessions from leading DB2 professionals and customers alike, the chance to share information with DB2 peers from around the world really makes IDUG unique in value within the DB2 world. A problem shared is a problem halved so the old proverb goes, and it is always comforting to find you are not alone with challenges faced when managing DB2, be it z/OS or LUW. I lost count of the times I heard “We had a similar problem too”.
IDUG got off to a bright start with the keynote Session and David Barnes entertaining a packed out room with some interesting insight into Big Data. Some of the numbers David quoted with regards data volumes were too large to comprehend, and although the amount of unstructured data will continue to grow at an astonishing rate, there will always be a place for structured data, pl backed up David’s 90/90 rule: –
90% of the world’s data is unstructured
90% of the world’s important data is structured
Trying to identify the information of value in the huge amount of unstructured data available appears to be the main challenge for Big Data
After the keynote session attendees headed off to the many technical sessions spread over the six threads. Some of the highlights were Terry Purcell providing valuable optimiser insight into new access path types available in DB2 V10 z/OS and Melanie Stopfer’s DB2 V10 LUW upgrade best practices session. Always plenty of useful info in Melanie’s session.
Following the end of the technical session attendees headed into the Solutions Exhibition Hall. There was definitely a buzz around all of the stands and plenty of people conferring trying to complete the Triton DB2 Geek crossword.
No time for rest after the Exhibition session as it was straight off to the Triton party. The conversations certainly became louder and livelier as the night progressed, with first time attendees and seasoned IDUG campaigners alike enthusing about the days events. And I suspect that a new world record must have been set for the largest number of DB2 Geeks in one place (or at least people wearing DB2 Geek t-shirts).
So, a very busy opening day, and night, at IDUG EMEA 2012 in Berlin with plenty of valuable hints and tips for all attendees, be it their first time at IDUG, tenth time or even those that feel like a first time attendee again.