Interop Explained

Interop is an annual information technology conference organised by Informa PLC. It takes place in the US and Tokyo (Japan) each year. 2016 marked Interop's (US) 30th anniversary and throughout that time, Interop has promoted interoperability and openness, beginning with IP networks and continuing in today's emerging cloud computing era.

History

In August 1986 the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) held the first TCP/IP Vendors Workshop in Monterey, California. This event later became Interop.^[1] The conference was founded by Dan Lynch, an early Internet activist. From the beginning, large corporations, such as IBM and DEC, attended the meeting.^[2]

The Las Vegas International Telecoms Show is called "the granddaddy of networking shows" because it was created in 1986,^[3] a decade before the technology and internet bubble that made it a success. It reached a peak with 61,000 visitors at the 2001 edition, just before the bursting of this bubble, which resulted in a major stock market crash for this sector. This year's event was marked by innovation, and among the major telecom providers, the rivalry between Juniper Networks and Cisco Systems in the Terabit router market, while the so-called "alternative" operators, such as KPNQwest, Global Crossing and Carrier, launched revolutionary offerings in the enterprise market.^[4]

After the crash of 2002, the fever has subsided. The 2004 edition in Las Vegas brought together less than 300 exhibitors. The following editions saw a recovery.^[5] The organizer of the 2013 edition hopes to increase the number of visitors from 18,000 in 2012 to 20,000 with the presence of 500 suppliers.^[6]

2011 events

Interop Las Vegas was held in May 2011 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Exhibitors included Avaya, Hewlett-Packard, Citrix Systems, D-Link, Exinda, Riverbed Technology and F5 Networks. Notable speakers include Vint Cerf and Mark B. Templeton.

The Tokyo Conference was held in June, 2011. The Mumbai conference was held in September, and the New York conference in October at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

2012 dates

• Interop Las Vegas – May 6–10
• Interop Tokyo – June 12–15
• Interop New York – October 1–5
• Interop Mumbai – October 10–12

2013 dates

• Interop Las Vegas – May 6–10
  • InteropNet demonstrated IEEE 802.1aq (Shortest Path Bridging – SPB) interoperability between Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, HP, and Spirent.^{[7] [8]}
• Interop Tokyo – June 12–14
• Interop Mumbai – November 20–22

2014 dates

• Interop Las Vegas – March 31 – April 4
  • Demonstrated Shortest Path Bridging and Software-defined networking
• Interop Tokyo – June 9–13
• Interop New York – September 29 – October 3

2015 dates

• Interop Las Vegas – April 27 – May 1
• Interop Tokyo – June 10–12
• Interop London – June 16–18
• Interop Delhi – Summer 2015
• Interop Mumbai – Summer 2015

2016 dates

• Interop Las Vegas – May 2–6
• Interop Tokyo – June 8–10
• Interop London – June 21–22

2017 dates

• Interop ITX Las Vegas – May 15–19
• Interop Tokyo – June 8–10

2018 dates

• Interop ITX Las Vegas – April 30 – May 4
• Interop Tokyo – June 13–15^[9]

2019 dates

• Interop Las Vegas – May 20–23
• Interop Tokyo – June 12–14

2020 dates

• Interop Tokyo – April 13–15

Notes and References

1. Web site: A Brief History of the Internet Advisory / Activities / Architecture Board.
2. Web site: 2020 . Vinton G. Cerf : An Oral History . 2024-06-29 . Stanford Oral History Collections - Spotlight at Stanford . 113, 129, 145 . en.
3. News: Miller . Michael J. . 30 Years of Interop: The Importance of Making It All Work Together . 14 December 2023 . PC Magazine . Ziff-Davis, LLC . 27 April 2016.
4. Web site: rédaction . La . 2001-05-31 . Las Vegas consacre la voix sur IP . 2022-11-01 . 01net.com . fr-FR.
5. Web site: Evénement - Les Grands Prix de l'Accélération Digitale . 2022-11-01 . GPAD . fr.
6. 2013-04-25 . NetWorld + Interop : Nuagique . L'Usine nouvelle. fr.
7. Web site: Interop: Networking Leaders Demo Shortest Path Bridging . Newsfactor . 7 May 2013 . Sue Smith . 24 November 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131202234031/http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Interop-Debuts-Shortest-Path-Bridging/story.xhtml?story_id=13100006UU9N&full_skip=1 . 2 December 2013 . dead .
8. Web site: Avaya Fabric Enabled Networking to Power InteropNet at Interop 2013 . Avaya . 2013 . 24 November 2013.
9. Web site: Interop Tokyo 2018. Interop Tokyo 2018. Jun 29, 2020.