The Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA) today announced that Alliance board member BMW will headline the second annual ODCA Forecast 2013. The conference is scheduled for June 17-18 in San Francisco in conjunction with GigaOm’s Structure event. Forecast 2013 is a unique opportunity for enterprise IT professionals to set actionable plans for deployment of cloud and big data solutions based on real-world best practices from leading IT organizations.

ODCA Chairman and BMW Vice President of IT Infrastructure, Mario Müeller, will headline the proceedings with an opening keynote where he is expected to detail BMW’s plans for cloud computing and the influence of ODCA requirements on the company’s strategy. The keynote will set the stage for a full agenda focused on sharing insights from leading enterprises and providers on the implementation of enterprise-ready cloud. The Forecast 2013 agenda includes an “ODCA University” workshop delivering detailed training on the organization’s requirement publications, hot topic panel debates covering subjects as far ranging as software defined networks, cloud security and big data, best practice discussions on deployments aligning to Alliance requirements, and sponsor executive Q&A sessions. Companies interested in presenting a session or demo at Forecast 2013 are encouraged to submit entries to the organization’s call for papers, open through March 15, and consider sponsor opportunities.

“Forecast was established to help Alliance members and other interested IT professionals share the latest thinking on cloud computing deployments. Our conference program, including an opening keynote delivered by BMW and panels and sessions from a who’s who of cloud usage in the enterprise today, aligns perfectly with the peer engagement opportunities embraced by our membership,” said Marvin Wheeler, Open Data Center Alliance Executive Director. “With enterprise class cloud maturing to a point of broad scale deployment, organizations seeking to solidify long-term strategies for cloud and big data should prioritize Forecast in their plans for 2013.”

The Alliance will also be sharing information on its end user driven requirements and progress in member deployment at two upcoming Solutions Summits. These events provide members and prospective members a unique opportunity to meet with Alliance leadership to discuss the organization’s requirements and network with members to drive increased engagement within the organization. The upcoming Solutions Summits will be held in Paris on March 13 and Beijing on April 9.

The Alliance has also added a combined conference discount with GigaOm’s Structure and Structure: Data conferences. The “Enterprise Cloud Season Pass” offers individuals access to all three conferences for a discounted rate of $2,000 and is offered in addition to already announced Forecast early bird and Forecast + Structure discounted registrations. For more information about Forecast 2013, including conference agenda details, early bird discounted registration, GigaOm Structure discounted registration, call for papers, and sponsorship information please visit www.opendatacenteralliance.org/forecast2013. To pre-register interest in attending a Solution Summit event please email contact@opendatacenteralliance.org.

About The Open Data Center Alliance

The Open Data Center Alliance℠ is an independent IT consortium comprised of global IT leaders who have come together to provide a unified customer vision for long-term data center requirements. The Alliance is led by a twelve member steering committee which includes IT leaders BMW, Capgemini, China Unicom, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Lockheed Martin, Marriott International, Inc., National Australia Bank, NTT Data, T-Systems, Terremark, Disney Technology Solutions and Services, and UBS. Intel serves as technical advisor to the Alliance.

In support of its mission, the Alliance has delivered the first customer requirements for cloud computing and big data documented in Open Data Center Usage Models which identify member prioritized requirements to resolve the most pressing challenges facing cloud adoption. Find out more at www.opendatacenteralliance.org.