AI, Eh? How HPE Discover 2024 is Shaping the Future of Tech in Canada
A Canadian’s front row seat to the hybrid data centre revolution
He shifted his feet. Looked over his glasses with clasped hands, casually summarizing the headlines written about the keynote in his unmistakable Italian-Argentinian accent. I wondered how he felt being put in a box like this. “Does anyone else have a question for Antonio?” The attendee proclaimed. Curiously, I was nervous. Shy. I just couldn’t gather the courage to speak to him.
“Antonio Nearly” welcomed 14,000 HPE Discover attendees as they entered the showcase floor. He repeated announcements that “accelerate the generative AI industrial revolution.” No, not Antonio Neri – HPE’s well-spoken CEO and President. In a shadow-box LED screen stood a confident Antonio “Nearly” hologram at the nexus of speech recognition, multimodal generative AI and large-language models. The spitting image of Antonio; this exhibit set the bar for our expectations at this year’s technology conference.
How CDW Canada prepared customers for the event
At the helm of CDW Canada’s first know-before-you-go call, Frank DeMasi and I hosted the 35 participants that we’d be hosting in Las Vegas from June 17-21. Going through HPE’s agenda builder to add programming to our schedules, teasing the keynote with NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang inside the Sphere, it all became real.
In the year of AI, HPE would be remiss to omit the latest and greatest trends, but our group was overwhelmingly more interested in the hybrid cloud content. Cloud is not new, but the strategy around moving to and from the cloud is a hot topic. We shared mobile numbers with the group, packed our bags and on the eve of Father’s Day, we arrived in Nevada ready for the week.
CDW named HPE GreenLake Partner of the Year
Typically in the CDW Toronto office, Frank and I are the HPE guys. Green shoes. Green pocket squares. The pins. Going down to the HPE conference was hitting different. It’s not enough to have the shoes out, navy blues out – so I grabbed
some red fabric by the metre, just in case. ‘Cause, you know, handkerchiefs.
Yea, we did a thing. 🏆 We were thrilled to kick off the Discover conference with a major win: HPE GreenLake Partner of the Year! This is such a huge accomplishment for our team in Canada and the United States and we’re proud to be the HPE GreenLake Partner of the Year.
Partnership is part of HPE’s DNA and is a critical part to the success of our business. These awards are just one way that we honor our work together, and we couldn’t be more thankful for their continued partnership and the trust we’ve built to deliver the best solutions and services to our mutual customers.
– Simon Ewington, VP, Worldwide Channel and Partner Ecosystem, HPE
For Frank and I, to be able to make this impact in less than a year, it is a significant achievement. For our customers choosing GreenLake, thank you for trusting CDW and HPE with your data centre operating model. At CDW, everything revolves around our customers. Our partners, our account teams, our marketing folks; we circle around solving problems for Canadian businesses. 🔴 This circle of service is a reflection of all the elements that a Business Development Manager helps orchestrate in orbit. The first picture is the central vision for our team. The second picture is an AI-generated representation of the CDW team supporting our customers. That’s me on the top right with the hat.
AI, AI, AI: The buzzword of the moment
HPE went all-in on AI at Discover. From keynote speeches to customer stories, the message was clear: AI is transforming how we do business. But it wasn't all hype. HPE showcased practical applications of AI across industries, proving that it's not just a buzzword, but a tool that's delivering real value today.
HPE showed how they are making innovative AI quickly and easily available at all levels from edge sites to traditional data centres to supercomputers.
– Randy Evans, CDW Senior Field Solutions Architect
HPE's focus on hybrid IT resonated strongly within our group. Our clients are always looking for flexible solutions that adapt to their unique needs and evolving market conditions. The introduction of HPE's hypervisor is a perfect example of HPE listening to the challenges in the market and providing an integrated protection plan for its customers. Unfortunately, demand for the HPE Discover KVM sessions was so high that some folks got turned away.
HPE’s DHCI and Private Cloud Business Edition offerings are built on VMware today. A lot of our customers voice their concerns about licence affordability and feature functionality and I hear it from our Account Executives and Territory teams when creating solutions. This HPE hypervisor announcement is already getting a lot of attention with a potential release date of early 2025.
On Tuesday night, I had the pleasure of experiencing the Dead & Company show inside The Sphere with our customers. Between picking up our jaws at the spectacle of John Mayer melting our minds, we spoke about the potential changes to their tech stacks:
VMware has such a broad portfolio of services and features, that its value extends beyond those things themselves and into the uniformity across all the different processes and environments that they cover – and for so many companies trying to look for a ‘VMware alternative,’ the biggest drawback for many is that creating something equivalent equates to a messy, long list of patched-together solutions from many vendors, compared to the offering from VMware.
– CDW Customer, Director and Lead Architect, IT Infrastructure
These photos don’t do The Sphere much justice. This immersive venue was mind-blowing and we were lucky enough to experience it twice in one day!
In the ever-evolving digital landscape, HPE Discover 2024 served as a reminder that the future is here, and it's powered by AI and hybrid IT. In the Hybrid Cloud General Session, HPE’s Chief Technology Officer Fidelma Russo was joined on stage by the VP of Cloud and Data Transformation Engineering from The Walt Disney Company. They explored how the Disney resorts rely on GreenLake for their park communications and guest experience delivery. It was these insights that provided attendees with the knowledge-share that only comes from listening to peers across the technology world.
Sitting across from our customers and partners, that’s where we learn the most about our business. It’s what drives success on both sides and puts us to work every day to drive outcomes.
– Rony Toro, Manager, Solutions, Partner Business Development, CDW Canada
Beyond the tech: The human touch
In the heart of the desert oasis of Las Vegas, the annual HPE Discover conference showcased groundbreaking advancements in AI, demonstrating how this transformative technology is revolutionizing industries from healthcare to manufacturing, finance to retail. Yet with a group of us returning to different parts of Canada, some with flight cancellations or redirected routes, some with missing bags – no matter how advanced we get on-paper, we’re still humans who have to overcome challenges every day. AI is the promise to make life easier, so my challenge to the IO-overlords is to fix our airports first (please and thank you!). Jokes aside, there’s always going to be problems that come up but it’s how we work through them that make us successful.
Summary
As a member of the CDW and HPE team I feel it’s important to share the human side of what we do. Yes, speeds and feeds are what drive the latest and greatest, but it’s reliability and accountability that keep the business going.
Of course I was going to write about how we are in a world where adaptability is paramount; HPE's focus on hybrid IT resonated strongly with attendees. Canadian businesses, in particular, need flexible IT solutions that can adapt to their unique challenges and evolving market conditions. The introduction of HPE's new KVM hypervisor is a game-changer, providing enhanced reliability and control over IT infrastructure.
As a leader in IT solutions and services, my team at CDW is excited to bring these innovations to businesses like yours across the country. Whether you're looking to embrace AI, optimize your hybrid IT environment or explore cutting-edge networking technologies, CDW is here to guide you every step of the way.
Photography provided by Randy Evans, Frank De Masi and Jawn Taboika.
