The Enterprise Grid Alliance (EGA) today announced a series of end-user seminars designed to provide insight on the potential and power of enterprise grid computing. Attendees will participate in interactive discussions with peers and industry thought leaders on real world deployments, the status of industry standards and predictions for the future direction of the marketplace. "The EGA User Forums connect end users with leading visionaries to drive the future of the industry," said Don Deutsch, president, Enterprise Grid Alliance and vice president, standards strategy and architecture, Oracle. "These Forums are another way that the EGA is bringing together the community to collaborate on enterprise grid solutions, highlighting the extraordinary opportunity that grid technology provides organizations to maximize the value of their technology investments." Designed to foster a greater understanding of grid computing and its benefit to enterprise IT, EGA User Forums provide a unique opportunity for participants to learn about the current state and future direction of the market from leading industry analyst feedback, end-user case studies and a review of EGA technical deliverables, including the recently announced Reference Model and Enterprise Grid Security Requirements. End-user feedback collected during the Forums will be incorporated in future EGA technical deliverables. Events are free of charge and will take place in Santa Clara, London, Munich and Tokyo. For more information on dates and specific agendas or to register, please visit its Web site. "It's vital that enterprises considering the use of grid technologies are able to gather information from the grid visionaries and architects, so that they can better understand the applicability and potential value of enterprise grid to their organizations, both today and in the future. Likewise it is critical that the visionaries and architects of grid have a clear understanding of enterprise needs and the context within which grid technologies will be deployed - ensuring that they are both relevant and compelling," said Paul Strong, chairman of the Enterprise Grid Alliance technical steering committee and systems architect at Sun Microsystems. "The EGA User Forums will provide an excellent opportunity to address these issues globally and drive a shared understanding and vision of the future." The EGA was launched in April 2004 to accelerate the deployment of grids in enterprise data centers. Since its inception, the EGA has founded two regional steering committees (in Europe and Japan) and launched the industry's first Reference Model and Security Requirements document. The EGA has established five individually chartered technical working groups to address specific areas including the reference model, component provisioning, data provisioning, security and utility accounting. EGA Technical Deliverables To download a copy of the Enterprise Grid Security Requirements document and the Reference Model, visit the EGA's homepage at its Web site.