VeeamON Goes Virtual: Face-To-Face Event Canceled Due To Coronavirus

VeeamON 2020, which was scheduled as a face-to-face conference to be held in the first week of May in Las Vegas, will now become a virtual conference, according to data protection and management software company Veeam.

VeeamON has joined the list of spring tech conferences canceled or postponed due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Citing concerns over the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, data management and protection software vendor Veeam Wednesday postponed its VeeamON conference, making it the fourth tech company to cancel or postpone shows in the first week of May.

With the move, Veeam joins Dell Technologies, Kaseya and Zadara as companies that had planned to hold their annual conferences the first week of May in Las Vegas.

[Related: Channel Partners Share Tales From The Trenches During Coronavirus Pandemic]

Veeam originally scheduled its VeeamON 2020 partner and user conference for May 4 to 6 at the Aria Hotel in Las Vegas. However, because of concerns that large crowds could be conducive to spreading the COVID-19 coronavirus, the Baar, Switzerland-based company has decided to move to a two-day virtual conference scheduled now for June 17 to 18.

Veeam said via its VeeamON website and a letter from Veeam CEO and Chairman Bill Largent that recent developments and the rapid impact that the virus is having across the globe pushed the company to transform VeeamON 2020 to a virtual conference in place of the original face-to-face gathering in Las Vegas.

"Nothing is more important to us than the well being of our Veeam community, and this decision was made with great care and consideration for the health and safety of our employees, customers, partners and sponsors. We want to bring you the same level of content and the rich user experience you have come to expect from VeeamON, but through a virtual environment," Largent wrote.

Jim Kruger, chief marketing officer at Veeam, told CRN the company made its decision over the course of a couple of weeks based on data from international health organizations along with local and state governments. Furthermore, he said, the Aria Hotel said it will be closed until May 2 because of the pandemic.

Veeam will be refunding any fees attendees had paid, and also refunding 100 percent of the up-front payments sponsors of the conference had paid, Kruger said.

Veeam is now planning its virtual VeeamON 2020 conference, which will have much of the same content including keynotes by Largent, Chief Technology Officer Danny Allan, and Senior Vice President of Product Management Anton Gostev, along with breakout sessions, he said. However, it has yet to be determined whether there will be certification classes.

Kruger was unable to say how many attendees had signed up for VeeamON. "We were tracking well," he said. "We were about 20 percent further along than we were at the same time last year. And we only saw a few cancellations."

Veeam previously held two virtual conferences every year, mainly related to new product introductions, and those will continue, Kruger said.

Three other events scheduled for the same week and in Las Vegas were previously canceled.

Kaseya last week said it is postponing its Connect IT 2020 conference, which was originally scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand hotel from May 4 to 7.

"As we continue to monitor the evolving developments surrounding COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Connect IT Global scheduled for May 4th – 7th at MGM Grand will be postponed. Details to follow. Thank you and be safe," the company said on its event website.

The Zadara Summit 2020 conference, which had been scheduled in Las Vegas for May 6 to 7, was canceled, Irvine, Calif.-based Zadara said earlier this month.

The conference had been purposely scheduled to follow VeeamON given the close partnership between the two and a good overlap in channel partners, Shawn Yakely, senior director of channels for North America told CRN previously.

Dell Technologies World 2020, originally scheduled from May 4 to 7 in Las Vegas, was turned into a virtual event only.