From specialized seminars to massive meet-ups, DevOps events in 2018 will cover every imaginable topic – but how do you choose? Below is a list of the industry’s top shows and a great starting point for making your 2018 travel plans.

A central aspect of DevOps is continuous…conferencing! All around the world, and in practically every month, there are more shows related to DevOps than one person can hope to attend. But the huge popularity of these conferences demonstrates that going to at least some of them is an essential requirement for all levels of DevOps professionals, from coders to upper management.

So many conferences, so little time…how does one choose? The key is to find events that are hot and current on the technological front, while also excellent networking opportunities. Below are our picks for the top events in the biz, based on our own experience and a little research to back it up.

Note that some have repeating shows across the globe, so you are sure to find one that’s conveniently local. But where’s the fun in that? Many event organizers understand your pain, and even provide assistance in convincing the big boss that the world will crumble if you don’t go to Vegas this year.

1. Cloud & DevOps World
June 12-14, London

Cloud & DevOps World is part of TechXLR8, a series of various tech conferences, networking opportunities, and an expo. Cloud & DevOps World covers cloud innovation and management micro services, DevOps, containers, serverless architecture, and regulatory practices. Part of the excitement of Cloud & DevOps World is that you can see DevOps and cloud concepts in action through other parts of the show, such as the IOT and virtual reality conferences.

Attendees can also demonstrate their cloud solution to the audience and enjoy networking, interactive sessions, and discussion panels. At last year’s event, there were more than 300 exhibitors and more than 15,000 attendees, making this one of the biggest shows in the industry.

2. DevOps Enterprise Summit (DOES)
June 25-26, London

DevOps Enterprise Summit is aimed at senior managers of major enterprises that are part of the DevOps revolution. The show delves into major DevOps subjects covering technical and architectural issues on one hand, and leadership challenges on the other. The DevOps Enterprise Summit features keynote speeches, panels, discussion rooms, a networking area, and an expo hall.

Speakers for the London event include senior people from IBM, Puppet, Microsoft, and a variety of other corporations from across the spectrum. DOES is a bi-annual event and changes location between the United States and Europe. The previous show in San Francisco was attended by more than 1,400.

3. O’Reilly Velocity Conference
June 11-14, San Jose

The third on our list of DevOps events in 2018, the Velocity Conference is organized by O’Reilly Media, a technology media firm that holds numerous shows in various technological fields. The Velocity Conference appeals to web ops, system engineers, and DevOps pros in the discussion of site reliability engineering, infrastructure as code, chaos engineering, automation, continuous delivery, resilience, and security. Speakers at the San Jose show (there are actually three Velocity Conferences this year in different cities) include reps from Microsoft, Netflix, Amazon, and Google.

4. ChefConf
May 22-25, Chicago

ChefConf is intended for administrators and developers with an interest in DevOps, automation, and compliance. ChefConf looks at the strategies and skills needed to handle the entire application development and management lifecycle. The event focuses on practical and immediate steps to cover activities such as building apps for the cloud, continuous compliance, and extensive automation. Last year’s ChefConf attracted approximately 1,500 attendees with speakers from Chef and other major tech firms.

5. Continuous Lifecycle
May 15-18, London

Continuous Lifecycle is held every year in London and concentrates on DevOps, containerization, continuous delivery, and Agile. It is a three-day event consisting of conferences and workshops, while attendees include development heads, architects, developers, CTOs, engineers, and tool/infrastructure specialists. Every industry is represented, from the highest levels of high technology to manufacturing firms.

6. DevOps Con
May 28-31, Berlin

Sprechen sie Deutch? Even if you only sprechen a little bit, DevOps Con is well worth the visit. It is known as perhaps the most important conference of the year for continuous delivery, with excellent discussions regarding micro services, Docker, cloud computing, and lean business. This year’s speakers include top staffers from Uber, Red Hat, and Siemens. DevOps Con speakers use both German and English, and keep attendees busy with practical workshops, sessions, and keynote speakers.

7. DevOps Days

If you can’t attend a DevOps Days conference, you must be living on the moon. From Atlanta to Zurich, DevOps Days are constantly happening year ‘round, with as many as ten events in a month, across the planet. DevOps Days events look at software development and IT infrastructure operations, with a focus on automation, testing, security, and organizational culture.

Each show is as different as its location, so if you have a specific area of interest, make sure you sign up for the most relevant track to make the most out of this seminal 2018 DevOps event. DevOps Days even encourages professionals to organize their own shows.

8. DockerCon
June 11-15, San Francisco

dockercon-devops-events-2018

It’s no surprise that DockerCon’s speakers are mostly from Docker itself. However, past years have hosted presenters from AWS, Puppet, Cisco, and CloudBees. The three-day conference examines the future of distributed, container-based apps and provides a fascinating look at how leading firms are currently exploiting the Docker platform and containers.

Attendees will have the opportunity to sit in on technical presentations, lab tutorials, and keynotes. The previous DockerCon had more than 5,000 attendees.

9. Gartner IT Operations Strategies and Solutions
May 15-17, Orlando

With more Gartner analysts than you can shake a stick at, the IT Operations Strategies and Solutions show is a great way to learn from the experts who truly have the big picture view of the DevOps industry.

The event is ideal for IT operations management, cloud operations, and IT service support professionals. Tracks for the this year’s show include IT operations optimization, DevOps & Agile, cloud & automation, emerging IT operational trends, and strategy.

10. IT/Dev Connections
Oct 15-18, Dallas

IT/Dev Connections describes itself as an “anti keynote” conference. This means that it concentrates on practical subjects and training, and avoids too much marketing by vendors. And speaking of practical, the organizers of IT/Dev Connections even have an “Attendance Justification Center”.

The conference is also noteworthy for its Women in Technology luncheon, in addition to various workshops, panel discussions, and networking events. IT/Dev Connections is organized into five tracks with more than 250 sessions about cloud and data centers, data platforms, business intelligence, enterprise collaboration, management, mobility, security, and DevOps.

11. Jenkins World
Sep 16-19, San Francisco

DevOps is just one of the topics covered at Jenkins World, which also addresses diverse areas such as community, Cloudbees, and ecosystems. Although this event leans more towards a specific toolset, it is still very popular, with approximately 2,000 attendees at the 2017 event. Past speakers have represented companies such as Docker, Red Hat, and Amazon Web Services.

12. Large Installation System Administration Conference (LISA)
Oct 29–31, Nashville

The Large Installation System Administration Conference bills itself as “vendor-neutral,” so that marketing is kept to a minimum. LISA is organized by Usenix, the Advanced Computing Systems Association, and is held in a different U.S. city each year. The show attracts a large number of vendors and system administrators, with a focus on design, building, and maintenance of critical systems, as well as practical considerations surrounding architecture, culture, and engineering. Speakers have included top reps of companies such as Dell, Netflix, Facebook, and Fastly.

13. Microsoft Ignite
Sep 24–28, Orlando

This will be the mother of all DevOps events in 2018, as the expo looks to surpass its stellar 2017 showing of over 24,000 attendees. In fact, Microsoft started Ignite in 2014 as a way to combine several conferences, and the numbers reflect this. Expect to be very busy at Ignite, because it involves more than 700 sessions. However, not everything is about Microsoft, as the show includes more than 100 vendors who are part of the expo and session presentations.

14. Monitorama
June 4–6, Portland

Monitorama is another specialized show that is limited to topics about software and infrastructure monitoring tools and techniques. It also hosts a hackathon event. Monitorama is one of the few shows with only one track, so that visitors can focus on a single issue and avoid a FOMO experience. The show has been around since 2013 and is limited in attendance to around 600 people, so making early reservations is a good idea.

15. PuppetConf 2018
Oct 9–11, San Francisco

PuppetConf is relevant for anyone with an interest in how Puppet, an open source configuration management tool, affects DevOps, cloud management, next­ generation infrastructure, application delivery, security, compliance, and continuous delivery.

With more than 80 sessions presented by more than 100 experts, PuppetConf is a fantastic learning experience for everyone ranging from beginners to veterans. PuppetConf is attended by IT leaders who want advice regarding DevOps transformations, cloud migration, and continuous delivery. Speakers from the 2017 event included Puppet staffers and pros from Twitter, Yelp, Google, Salesforce, and Slack.

Those are our picks for 2018! Which events do you plan on attending this year?