Without the past, there would be no future. An outcome of persistent efforts and indomitable perseverance resulted in Asia’s First SQL Conference in the year 2015. At SQLServerGeeks Annual Summit 2015 (SSGAS 2015), 50+ speakers delivered 70+ sessions in 5 tracks across 3 days for 600+ attendees –a remarkable beginning!
Continuing the success, SQLServerGeeks Annual Summit 2016 (SSGAS 2016) witnessed a bigger and better conference. 3 days, 5 tracks, 70+ speakers, 130+ sessions, 800+ attendees – the learning event was a grand success and embarked on its position as a signature tech event of India. The data & analytics professionals in India learned from the who’s who of the industry. Microsoft SQL CAT Team, SQL TIGER Team, Global Black Belt Team, Product Engineers from Redmond, USA – name it and they were there.
The third conference was re-named Data Platform Summit 2017. DPS 2017 saw the IT Minister of Karnataka inaugurating the 3-day learning event, followed by an intriguing keynote by Mr. Narendra Bhandari (GM, Microsoft India). More than 200 sessions were delivered by 80+ speakers on the following tracks – Database Administration, Database Development, Data Science, Cloud, IoT & NoSQL, Big Data & VLDBs, and Professional Development.
In the fourth year, we broke many barriers. DPS was shifted to a five-star property with world-class infrastructure, more Pre-Cons were added and summit sessions were highly curated. DPS 2018 set new standards for the industry to follow by making the conference sponsor-free. 0% Marketing, 100% Learning. The best from the industry & Microsoft joined us, and it was mind-blowing. Five days of non-stop learning and our delegates wanted more. DPS 2018 was majestically executed and feedbacks from delegates were overwhelming. Rohan Kumar, Corporate Vice President, Azure Data Group, from Redmond along with his team delivered a marvelous keynote, much-awaited by the industry. DPS 2018 witnessed a 1400+ strong audience.
And then came another landmark: The 5th edition, Data Platform Summit 2019. Building on the massive success of 2018, DPS 2019 delivered new features like Round Tables, Ask-The-Experts/Community Zone, along with regular breakout sessions, open talks, and chalk talks. Keynote was delivered by Gayle Sheppard, Corporate Vice President, Azure Data Group & Azure Data Team members. Focusing on diversity and inclusion, Gayle Sheppard also hosted the first-ever Women-In-Technology round table at DPS.
After pulling off a landmark edition of the Summit in 2019, a new challenge awaited us. With the global pandemic in 2020, it was evident that we needed to adapt the virtual delivery model to serve our audience. And we did! It came as a blessing in disguise, as the 6th edition – renamed as Data Platform Virtual Summit 2020 was delivered online, reaching out to curious minds from across the globe, making it the largest online learning event on Microsoft Azure Data, Analytics & Artificial Intelligence.
DPS 2020 ran round-the-clock and covered all time zones. With 30+ Training Classes, 200+ Breakout Sessions, 170+ World’s Best Educators, 48 hours of Pre-Cons, 48 hours of Post-Cons & 72 hours of non-stop conference sessions, it was a marquee digital event. With a heap of learning & heart-warming testimonials from many, we wrapped up yet another successful and record-breaking endeavor. Just as promised.
DPS 2021 continued the virtual journey. We found a new home in the virtual world. The biggest motivation was catering to a global audience from 50+ countries. All the goodness of DPS was being broadcasted on a global scale. At DPS 2021, we touched 90+ countries and more than 6000 delegates attended the event. This blew off our minds. The feedback from the delegates, speakers & sponsors was overwhelming. DPS steadily became the largest online data event.
Following the success of DPS 2021, DPS 2022 broke new barriers. 10000+ delegates joined the event from 112 countries. 1900+ organizations were represented. We saw the largest women speaker participation too. For the first time, the content was delivered in 14 languages. For the first time, DPS ran in five editions: ANAZ, APAC, India, EMEA, and AMERICAS. On each parameter, we broke our previous records and took the DEI efforts to a completely new level. The event was made free – all to join, all to learn. A massively successful event. Thanks once again to Microsoft for being a diamond sponsor and enabling us to spread the magic.
We are looking forward to DPS 2023. Stay tuned.
