Canalys announces Channels Forums for EMEA and APAC in 2013

Canalys today announced the return of the world’s largest independent channels events. By popular demand, the EMEA Channels Forum will once again be held at the Hotel Arts in Barcelona, from 1 to 3 October 2013. Following the success of the inaugural Channels Forum in APAC, Canalys revealed that the 2013 event will be held in the stunning city of Bangkok from 22 to 24 October 2013. Both locations are popular choices among vendors and partners, with wonderful climates and first-class entertainment options.

‘The Canalys Channels Forum 2012 exceeded expectations in EMEA once again; partners rightly view it as the premier event for the whole channel and are already looking forward to 2013,’ said Rita Chaher, Marketing and Events Director at Canalys. In APAC, Canalys was able to attract a 900-strong audience to its debut event, testament to the company’s ability to recognize the needs of the channel and to build an event that enables delegates to effectively build their own agendas.

Canalys’ unique online booking system allowed for over 5,000 one-to-one meetings to be arranged between senior business managers from the industry’s leading vendors, distributors and channel partners at both events in 2012. ‘When you consider that 55 countries were represented you realize that this would normally take partners months of planning and travelling,’ Chaher added.

In addition to visionary keynotes and panel sessions, over the years Canalys has introduced additional session formats to meet delegates’ wishes for more direct business planning and management support. Theater sessions, designed to provide topic-specific market deep-dives have been popular, as have Canalys tracks and best practice workshops covering business functions such as marketing, sales, finance and talent management. Mitradutta Mohaptra, Senior Director at Ingram Micro said of the APAC event, ‘It was a perfect caliber and mixture of presenters, channel partners and vendors. All aspects are to the liking of the participants.’

Canalys also recognized the achievements of the channel partners at this year’s events, introducing the Candefero Channel Partner of the Year awards in both regions. Presenting the awards was the perfect way to close the events and highlighted the quality of the audiences. ‘It’s humbling to win such a prestigious award on a European stage,’ said Martin Hellawell, Managing Director of Softcat, winner of the EMEA Partner of the Year award.

The range of subjects that channel partners need to be experts on is wide and deep. The Canalys Channels Forums have in the past discussed mid-market opportunities for cloud computing, enterprise mobility, wireless networking and security. ‘We are in an interesting transition phase for the IT industry, and channel partners need to be armed with the best possible intelligence to continue their agile evolution,’ said Steve Brazier, Canalys President and CEO. ‘We expect to discuss a broad range of topics at our 2013 events, including analytics, converged infrastructure, financing and enterprise apps.’ Given the events’ growing reputation and their prominence in the channel’s calendar, and with many more new features planned for 2013, the Channels Forums looks set to be another great success.

About Canalys

Canalys is an independent analyst firm that strives to guide clients on the future of the technology industry and to think beyond the business models of the past. We deliver smart market insights to IT, channel and service provider professionals around the world. Our customer-driven analysis and consulting services empower businesses to make informed decisions and generate sales. We stake our reputation on the quality of our data, our innovative use of technology, and our high level of customer service.

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