On January 18, 2012 Abacus Solutions hosted their third happy hour networking event.

The first two happy hours were overwhelmingly popular, so to kick off 2012, Abacus teamed up with 23 of Abacus’ key partners to host the biggest Abacus event to date. The event was hosted at the Georgian Club in Atlanta, GA.

As before, this was a business networking opportunity for members of the IT community in Atlanta and the surrounding area. This event allowed attendees to meet engineers and executives from several leading IT providers, all in one spot at one event. The open networking environment allowed attendees to focus their attention on the solutions, services and products that most interested them.

Participating partners that joined Abacus in hosting the Happy Hour are Aruba, Bradford Networks, Brocade, Centerity, Check Point, CommVault, Crossbeam, Dell Compellent, Dell EqualLogic, Dell KACE, EMA, Fortinet, Hitachi, Lenovo, Microsoft, Nexsan, Raritan, Riverbed, Solarflare, SonicWALL, Symantec, V3, Veeam, VMware, and Winthrop. This range of companies covered a variety of data center requirements, including storage, enterprise networking and security, virtualization and more.

Dell Compellent’s enterprise storage technology always puts data in the right place at the right time for the right cost. The Dell EqualLogic Series is a family of virtualized iSCSI storage arrays that combine intelligence and automation with fault tolerance to provide enterprise performance and reliability and seamless scalability. Dell KACE is another exciting offering that addresses the systems management requirements of mid-sized organizations, automating many of the tedious projects that consume the System Administrator’s time.

Aruba is one of the world’s leading wireless LAN and remote networking vendors. They securely deliver enterprise networks to users, no matter where they are working from, while streamlining wireless access. Bradford Networks’ NAC solution automatically identifies and profiles all devices and all users on a network, providing complete visibility and control. Check Point is the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, delivering Total Security for networks, data and endpoints, unified under a single management framework. Crossbeam allows businesses to consolidate and optimize their security infrastructure.

Brocade’s innovative network solutions help the world’s leading organizations transition smoothly to a virtualized world where applications and information can reside anywhere. Riverbed provides a comprehensive WAN optimization solution to a host of problems that prevent enterprises from sharing applications and data across wide-area networks from anywhere in the world. Solarflare combines hardware and software to deliver high-performance server adapter products and application acceleration middleware for superior performance in a wide range of applications.

Fortinet is the worldwide provider of network security appliance and a marketing leader in unified threat management. Raritan is a proven innovator of power management, KVM and serial solutions for data centers of all sizes. Centerity is a solution that tracks, detects, and monitors physical and virtual servers, networks, storage, databases and passive equipment. CommVault is a data management software company that gives companies a better way to organize, protect, and access business information. SonicWALL provides intelligent network security and data protection solutions that enable customers and partners to dynamically secure, control and scale their global networks.

Symantec protects business interactions, information and IT infrastructure and optimize security processes to identify vulnerabilities and protect against attacks. Veeam develops innovative products for virtual infrastructure management and data protection. V3 Systems delivers Desktop Replacement Grade Virtual Desktops by creating virtual desktops that would serve as an upgrade for end users who compared them with their physical machines. VMware delivers customer-proven solutions that accelerate IT by reducing complexity and enabling more flexible, agile service delivery.

Hitachi offers a wide range of information technology solutions that drive business value across the enterprise, their products and services streamline business processes and increase productivity, while accruing more value from IT investments. Lenovo creates and builds exceptionally engineered personal technology, including desktops, laptops and tablets. Microsoft’s enterprise focused solutions respond to unique business concerns, helping customers solve problems while getting to market faster and gaining new efficiencies. Nexsan provides a comprehensive range of enterprise-class, easy-to-use and efficient system solutions that help customers meet their storage requirements.

The Happy Hour was held at the Georgian Club. The Georgian Club has great views of the city, as well as a beautiful event space where complimentary cocktails and appetizers are served. Participants were also entered into a raffle for great giveaways, including a laptop, an iPad, gift cards, and more.