They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that is true I guess the folks over Informa Telecoms and Media Ltd are very, very sincere. Why else would they change the name of their DevOps Conference from “DevOps Summit” (which name they “borrowed” from the Sys-Con folks) to DevOps Connect Europe. No matter that we here at DevOps.com have already held several events in Europe and London specifically with our DevOps Connect name. No matter that we have a website and own the domain http://www.devopsconnect.com. Why shouldn’t they just use our name and employ the “colorful” technique of registering a hyphenated play on the domain name? I guess that alone should tell you all you need to know about this company and the events they produce.
Now of course we can go hire some International copyright attorneys and litigate first usage and ask for injunctions and damages. But why bother? I am a big believer in letting the market be the judge, jury and executioner. I am perfectly fine with using DevOps.com to get out the word about these kinds of business practices and letting the market act.
The event these people want to put on will probably be no better than the several DevOps Summit events they put on previously. I have heard from exhibitors, speakers and attendees of those events that they were less than successful. Mind you I haven’t attended any, just reporting on what I was told. Ultimately though if they were successful they wouldn’t be trying to rebrand using someone else’s name. Hard to argue with that logic.
I am asking our readers (and there are many of you in London, as it is our single biggest city for viewers) to let this company know that copying others business names will not stand. The best way to do this is to not attend, don’t participate and get the word out that this is not the way business is done.
Don’t be fooled by the attempt to piggyback our brand and success, we have nothing to do with that event. In fact we will be holding several DevOps Connect events in London and elsewhere in Europe in the fall. Details will be announced shortly but there will be lots of opportunities to participate.
Some of you may ask, “you haven’t given us the link to this event?” You’re right, I have not and for good reason. I have already given this company and their event more ink than they are probably due.
So be aware of imitators, remember there is only one DevOps Connect and those are the events put on by us at DevOps.com. We hope to see you at them and will be sure to let everyone know when we do. Until then don’t reward imitators.
