Big Data & AI World Paris Recap

Eliatra attended Big Data Paris on the 23rd and 24th of November in Paris. The conference took place at the Paris Porte de Versailles and was attended by almost 230 exhibitors both big and small. It was great to attend a conference in person, where everyone took all safety precautions necessary in our current pandemic world.

For the two day event, Eliatra had booth R51 and we held a talk titled “OpenSearch and its impact on FOSS”. The presentation created lots of engaging feedback and interesting questions. Luckily the booth was located directly next to the stage, so after the presentation we could stay with the audience and continue our discussions. Additionally our team members had the opportunity to give valuable feedback on each slide, especially about the aspects they feel needs to be changed!

Discussions during our two days tended to be about specific challenges with Big Data security, regulations and compliance, and overall about open source. We had conversations about the differences and migration to OpenSearch. People were asking if we think OpenSearch is reliable and mature enough meaning production ready or if it can be used at scale. We were happy to share our knowledge and perspective and support for OpenSearch.

We met a wide range of specialists, from hardware experts to datacenter professionals as well as people in software and services, from the public sector, and even military personell. There were also plenty of students and innovative Startups coming to talk to us at the booth. Despite our tiny French vocabulary, conversations were smooth and interesting! We were happy to discuss all things OpenSearch, open source and Big Data Security in person, and to hear your thoughts, concerns and opinions.

And of course no summary would be complete without a small mention of food and the weather. As always, the food in Paris was delicious beyond comparison and we were lucky to have sunshine both days. This meant our time on the way to and from the event plus during our breaks the team enjoyed some lovely fresh air a very scenic view of Tour Eiffel.

Attending very few events makes getting in touch with customers and prospects in person a very special occasion. Online events can never really replace this specific opportunity to meet and talk about what really matters. We are again reminded that there are business needs we would not have thought of, and at the same time teams are sometimes not aware of certain risks until they talk to a specialist. In person meetings are really beneficial for all.

A big thank you to the community, everyone we met, for the venue and event staff. We look forward to seeing you all again soon, stay tuned and true to open source, and enjoy the end of the year!