Every year, numerous DevOps conferences share the latest frameworks, platforms, software developments, and IT technologies. From small, intimate meetings to large, global summits, there is sure to be an event that fits your needs and your budget.
As in previous years, we’ve put together a complete guide to 2021 DevOps conferences that will help you choose which events to attend. Whether you are looking to stay on top of emerging DevOps trends, hear from top experts in the field, or network with other industry professionals, there’s a DevOps conference for you.
Of course, this year’s list looks a bit different, with many popular events moving online. Though a virtual event might feel underwhelming, consider all the benefits:
- No travel
- Lower costs (some events are free!)
- On-demand content
- Global reach
Feel free to reach out if you would like to add a DevOps conference to the directory. To be considered, please email the conference name, dates of the event, location, and a link to the event’s website to blogs@bmc.com.
Check out our other conference round-ups, including Top IT/Tech Conferences, Programming & Software Dev Conferences, and CyberSecurity Conferences.
(This article is part of our IT Conferences & Events Guide. Use the right-hand menu to navigate.)
Top DevOps Conferences of 2021
Microsoft Ignite
Date: March 2-4, 2021
Location: Online
Cost: $2,395
The Microsoft Ignite conference is Microsoft’s annual meeting specifically for enterprise professionals, services, and products Ignite offers its 25,000+ attendees priority access to technical training, new and innovative tools, and opportunities to network with peers and experts in the tech community.
Of course, the 2020 version moved online, and this year’s edition will stay digital, too. MyIgnite, as they’ve dubbed it, doesn’t have much detail out yet. But, take a look at all of last year’s on-demand content will give you a sense of what to expect.
DevOps Days
Dates & Locations:
- March 2-3: Texas
- April 6-7: Boise, ID
- April 8: Raleigh, NC
- April 15-16: Tokyo
- April 21-22: Zurich
- April 22-24: Kyiv, Ukraine
- May 4: Seattle, WA
- May 18: Paris
- May 24-25: Portugal
- May 24-25: Poznan, Poland
- June 2-3: Prague
- July 20-21: Minneapolis, MN
- July 30-31: Medellin, Colombia
- August 25-26: Dallas, TX
- September 9: Cairo, Egypt
- September 21-22: Houston, TX
- September 22-23: Bogota, Colombia
- September 27: Boston
- October 28-29, Nashville
Cost: Varies
DevOps Days bills itself as a worldwide community conference series for anyone interested in IT improvement. This global series of technical conferences focuses on software development and IT infrastructure operations. The topics range from automation and testing to security and organizational culture.
Each conference is decentralized and organized by local teams of individuals and companies, but you can expect outstanding keynote speakers and best-in-class hands-on development.
DevSecOps Days
Date: March 5, 2021
Location: Online
Cost: Free
DevSecOps Days is geared toward the latest DevOps development: adding Security to DevOps. Attendees of DevSecOps Days will come away with insights about:
- Automating security
- Overcoming challenges in implementing DevSecOps
- Scaling your practices
The DEVOPS Conference
Date: March 23-24, 2021
Location: Online
Cost: Free
The DEVOPS2021 is a free, two-day conference aimed at inspiring, teaching, and connecting a broad range of people working in software development. The DEVOPS Conference returns for the 7th time, bigger and better than ever, the result of a merger in the Nordic’s two biggest DevOps conferences, the former CoDe-Conf and DEVOPS 2020.
The 2021 DEVOPS Conference users real cases to show how both better decision-making and betters tools improve the customer experience. This event is open to anyone in the DevOps ecosystem, from executives and managers to engineers, programmers, and designers. Expect to learn about these topics in particular:
- Agile transformation
- Compliance & security
- Management & culture
- Continuous Integration & Continuous Delivery
- DataOps & analytics
- DesignOps
Visual Studio Live!
Online training dates & topics:
- March 23-24, Data Seminar, Online
- April 13-14, DevOps Training, Online
- May 4-5, .NET 5 Training, Online
- June 22-23, .NET Training, Online
Cost: Varies
At 25+ years old, Visual Studio Live! is one of the most respected, longest-running, independent developer conferences in the country. With keynotes, workshops, hands-on labs, fast focus sessions, and more than 50 breakout sessions, this conference covers a wide variety of development technologies for everyone.
Last year, VSLive! pivoted to a series of online events and trainings. They’ve continued this trend into 2021, offering attendees both online, best-in-class trainings and in-person events.
Visual Studio Live! presents on all the topics you need to grow your teams and software solutions, including:
- DevOps trends & developments
- Microservices &containers
- Databases, both traditional and cloud-based
- Security & compliance
DevOps Talks Conferences
Dates & Locations:
- March 25-26: Melbourne, AU
- March 30-31: Auckland, NZ
- Singapore (Dates TBA)
Cost: Varies
DevOps Talks Conferences (DOTC) attract leaders and engineers who are practicing DevOps in startups and leading-edge enterprise companies. World-class speakers from cutting-edge IT startups and enterprises such as CHEF, Google Cloud, New Relic, Scalur, JFrog, Rancher Labs, Microsoft Azure, present about:
- DevOps
- Cyber Security
- Containers
- Cloud
- Serverless
- SRE
- Blockchain
- ChatOps
- Advanced and new technologies
PowerShell and DevOps Global Summit
Date: April 27, 2021
Location: Online
Cost: $300
The PowerShell and DevOps Global Summit is the annual gathering of PowerShell + DevOps professionals and enthusiasts, featuring expert presenters and an opportunity for the entire PowerShell community to network and share ideas.
If you’re working with PowerShell, Desired State Configuration, and related technologies, and especially if you’re moving your organization toward a DevOps footing, then this is the 400+ level event you will want to attend. Previous speakers include engineers and technical leaders from companies like DevOps Collective, Rackspace, Puppet, FM Global, and more many.
This year’s event is being held online. We love that the significantly lower price makes this possible for people who can’t budget in-person prices. Plus, that $300 gives you access to on-demand content, too, so you can use it exactly when you need it.
KubeCON + CloudNativeCon Virtual 2021
Date: May 4-7, 2021
Location: Online
Cost: TBA (Registration opens February 2)
This event about all things cloud native is brought to us by none other than the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). This year’s four day event will take place entirely online which, along with its European time slot, makes it accessible to much of the globe.
Expect to hear from and interact with technologists and adopters from all cloud native corners, including:
- Kubernetes
- containerd
- Helm
- Fluentd
- Thanos
- And many more
Continuous Lifecycle Online 2021
Date: May 10-12, 2021
Location: Online
Cost: TBA
Continuous Lifecycle London is a three-day conference that brings together top leaders in DevOps, Containerization, Continuous Delivery and Agile. Attendees can:
- Learn the best ways to reorganize software development and operations teams
- Gain insights about ChatOps in organizations
- Pick up strategies for taking containerization to the next level
Like many conferences, the 2021 edition is moving online. Still, the organization says you can expect the best lineup of Containerization and CD practicioners, so you’ll still come away with practical tips and processes.
DevOps Enterprise Summit 2021
Dates: May 18-20 (Europe); October 5-7 (U.S.)
Location: Online
Cost: $650
DevOps Enterprise Summit, or DOES as those in the know call it, bills itself as “the conference for leaders of large, complex organizations.” Hosted by Gene Kim and IT Revolution, DOES continues to offer the best of the best in keynote speakers, hands-on learning, and ongoing networking in its Slack channels.
Weary of adding another virtual event to your calendar? This might be the one to prioritize. DOES went virtual last year, and its website is chock full of quotes from multi-year attendees attesting to how great the virtual option is. Arguably, with these online events, you can do even more; no missing one event because it’s scheduled at the same time as another one you have to attend.
DockerCon
Date: May 27, 2021
Location: Online
Cost: Free
DockerCon focuses on Docker and its support of next generation distributed apps that are built with containers. Like last year, DockerCon 2021 will be an entirely free, entirely online event, so the value it provides is open to all. According to their placeholder webpage, virtual attendees can expect
- Product and innovation demos, from both Docker and Docker partners
- Deep technical sessions led by Docker experts, Docker Captains, and other industry leaders
- Community connection with global Docker enthusiasts
Sign up on the website to get information as it’s announced.
LISA21 (Large Installation System Administration Conference)
Date: June 1-3, 2021
Location: TBA
LISA is the premier conference for operations professionals, where sysadmins, systems engineers, IT operations professionals, SRE practitioners, developers, IT managers, and academic researchers share real-world knowledge about designing, building, securing, and maintaining the critical systems of our interconnected world.
Organized by Usenix, LISA is aimed at educating and training on the design, building, and maintenance of critical systems by and for systems engineers and operations professionals. In its 34th edition, the 2021 conference will cover areas like technical issues, technical excellence and innovation, technical issues, most advanced information on the developments of all aspects of computing systems and other topics.
Agile + DevOps West
Date: June 6-11, 2021
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Agile + DevOps West brings together practitioners seeking to accelerate the delivery of reliable, secure software applications. With industry experts providing insights on how to leverage agile and DevOps concepts into your organization, this event can help you learn how:
- Improve deployment frequency and time to market
- Reduce lead time
- More successfully deliver stable new features
According to their website, it looks like the 2021 edition will be taking place in June in Last Vegas. They’re currently looking for papers and submissions, but few other details are released yet.
The National DevOps Conference 2021
Date: June 2021
Location: London, UK
Cost: £635 for a single-day pass; £735 for both days
The National DevOps Conference is a UK-based event that provides the software community at home and abroad with practical presentations and executive workshops, facilitated and led by top industry figures. This premier industry event also features a market leading exhibition, so delegates can view the latest products and services available.
This year’s event takes place at the British Museum. (A touch more inspiring compared to your standard convention center.)
DevOps India Summit DOIS 2021
Date: August 27-28, 2021
Location: Online
Cost: Free
DOIS21 is the 4th iteration of the biggest DevOps conference in India. The 2021 edition will take place online, drawing on its experience from last year. The best part? It’s completely free! Get more than 33 hours of content about everything DevOps.
This year’s theme is all about adapting to Industry 4.0 (aka the Fourth Industrial Revolution), with a focus on:
ChefConf Online
Date: September 7-9, 2021
Location: Online
For nearly a decade, ChefConf has been the gathering for the DevOps community to learn, share, and network. ChefConf allows attendees to have access to the top Chef experts and IT innovators from around the world while being able to take part in technical workshops, training, and two days’ worth of keynotes and sessions presented by Chef, its partners, Chef practitioners, IT executives, and DevOps leaders.
ChefConf did move online last year and they’re keeping it online for 2021 as well. The good news? We have no doubt that ChefConf will still be incredible!
Live! 360 Conference
Date: November 15-19, 2021
Location: Orlando, FL
Cost: Various paid packages and discounts available
Back in person, Live! 360 offers five in-depth technical conferences in one for the IT, Developer, and Data communities. With unlimited access to Live! 360’s five co-located events (Visual Studio Live!, SQL Server Live!, TechMentor, Artificial Intelligence Live!, and Cloud & Containers Live!), you and your team will get the training you need to keep you and your business competitive and future-ready. Live! 360 = the Ultimate Education Destination.
2021 DevOps conferences
No matter which DevOps conferences you choose, you will hear from global experts and thought leaders, inspirational innovators, software developers, and like-minded peers. Attending a conference means you’ll learn about the latest research, practices, and strategies concerning DevOps and software that the industry has to offer.
These postings are my own and do not necessarily represent BMC's position, strategies, or opinion.
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