The fourth annual U2 University conference was held last month in Denver, providing 3 days of hands-on instruction covering the latest best practices in the database and servers industry. "Attendance was up by at least 30% over last year, so we were bursting at the seams at the Warwick hotel in Denver," Susie Siegesmund, vice president and general manager, Rocket U2, tells DBTA.
"Rocket is 100% behind this business and will do what it takes to make it grow," Andy Youniss, CEO and founder of Rocket Software told the packed audience during his keynote. Feedback from the attendees was that this was a great conference - "the best of the four U2 University events we've done," notes Siegesmund. With 10 unique hands-on labs and 45 other unique sessions, there was more technical content than ever before.
Customers came to learn about the new features in UniVerse 11.1 and about U2 DataVu 1.1, both released in the weeks just before the event. Major enhancements in UniVerse 11.1 include external database access (EDA), U2 replication, encryption of keys and indexes via automated data encryption (ADE), and extensible admin (XAdmin). U2 DataVu, the first entirely new product the U2 group has delivered since becoming part of Rocket Software, provides tools to graphically build queries, design visual reports, and create professional dashboards with zero coding, utilizing drag-and-drop techniques from an Eclipse-based IDE. "Customers and partners are very excited about U2 DataVu. Both the hands-on lab and the session were filled to capacity," says Siegesmund.
In addition, the networking session was "very popular," with approximately 30 customers telling the audience about how they're using U2 technology, and sharing anecdotes about something cool they've done recently, Siegesmund adds.
Donald Bridges of Sunset Programming won the drawing for the MacBook Air. Additional U2U events will be held in Sydney, Australia (February 22-24, 2011) and Birmingham, UK (March 22-24, 2011).
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