SANOG was started to bring together operators for educational as well as co-operation. SANOG provides a regional forum to discuss operational issues and technologies of interest to data operators in the South Asian Region. The main objective is educational, but at the same time gives vendors a chance to talk to engineers about newer technology and products on the sidelines. Engineers get to talk to each other about experiences, benefit the entire community. This non commercial people networking is in line with established practices like NANOG in North America, RIPE Meetings in Europe and APRICOT in Asia.