Channels Forum announces impressive, independent agenda

Canalys today announced the final agenda for its forthcoming Channels Forum, which will be held in Monaco from 4 to 6 September 2007. Four prestigious independent keynotes have been arranged, along with a plethora of panel sessions. The main conference will begin with a keynote presentation by Don Tapscott, author of the best-selling book Wikinomics. Don will be telling the channels about the impact the Web 2.0 revolution will have on them, and their customers. Later, Pierluigi Collina, the most famous soccer referee in the world, will transfer his renowned man-management skills, humour and enthusiasm from the football pitch to the entrepreneurs in the room.

Timo Mäkelä will bring both a moral and commercial dimension to the event, as he looks at the impact the technology industry is having on the environment. In his role as Director, Sustainable Development and Integration for the European Commission, Timo is actively involved in helping and persuading technology companies to take their environmental responsibilities seriously. Steve Brazier, Canalys President and CEO, will fill the final keynote slot, where he will tell the audience how they should expect channels to develop over the next three years. Crucially, the audience will learn where they should invest, as well as the hype elements they should avoid.

Alan Cardy, VP, Business Development at Canalys, added, ‘The agenda has been designed to mix big-hitting keynotes with interactivity and dialogue. We are delighted that we have been able to arrange three prestigious panel sessions for the plenary event. Our first panel will allow the leading vendors to tell the channel where they are heading, and what they expect from their partners. The executives who have most influence over the destiny of the money in the channels’ pocket will be speaking. The panellists include representatives from Cisco, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, Intel, Microsoft and Nokia.’

The two other panel sessions will be equally powerful. The world’s leading distributors will be taking the stage to address where they see their businesses heading, and what trends they see among their most important customers. The event attendees are all being surveyed beforehand so they can suggest questions and make sure their most important issues are covered.

The majority of attendees at the event will be mid-market resellers from across EMEA. Too often in the past they have attended events where they have been preached at, rather than listened to. This event is different, as it is giving them their own platform to describe what they see, and want, from the industry. So the reseller panel will bring a reality check to the whole event, as selected resellers have the chance to comment on the sessions that went before them. The managing directors of Caperio, Softcat, Elmec and Avit Systems have been chosen to represent the resellers’ point of view in a session hosted by Alastair Edwards, Senior Analyst at Canalys specialising in channels.

Another element on the agenda will be provided by the three Platinum sponsors, Cisco, HP and Microsoft, each of which will each be running interactive breakout sessions to update resellers on their channel strategies, opportunities and programmes. Canalys will be hosting further breakout sessions where speakers will be covering industry hot topics: enterprise mobility, unified communications and Web 2.0.

Steve Brazier added, ‘We think we have assembled a wonderful agenda. But, as everyone knows, the most valuable part of the event is the opportunity to develop new relationships, and renew old ones. To facilitate this, all registered delegates have access to our innovative ‘one-to-one meeting tool’ that allows them to set up meetings in advance with other attendees. There will be opportunities for plenty of informal meetings too, and we are all looking forward to a fun gala dinner in the Salle des Etoiles.’

He continued, ‘We are delighted that so many have already signed up for this event. But it is not too late, as there are more places available.’ Visit www.canalyschannelsforum.com or call Rita Chaher on +44 (0) 118 984 0539 to register for the Canalys Channels Forum in Monaco.

About Canalys

Canalys specialises in delivering high quality market data, analysis and advice to the world’s leading technology vendors. It is recognised as a key provider of continuous advisory services and confidential custom projects for marketing managers and strategists within blue-chip IT, telecoms, navigation and consumer electronics companies. It has unrivalled expertise in European routes to market for all kinds of high technology products and services in the consumer, SMB and large enterprise segments, and provides worldwide market data and trends analysis.

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