Canalys announces fifth annual Channels Forum in EMEA

Canalys today announced the launch of its fifth annual Channels Forum for EMEA, to take place from 8 to 10 October 2012 in Barcelona. Expecting more than 1,000 attendees this year, the forum will gather senior channel leaders to examine the impact of an increasingly mobile world on the enterprise IT ecosystem. Confirmed sponsors include HP, Cisco, Juniper Networks, Fujitsu, AMD, Iomega, Joyent, McAfee, Trend Micro, Autotask, Avira, and CHG.

‘Mobility is a fundamental part of today’s enterprise. Channel partners must be equipped to guide customers toward an IT environment that merges infrastructure with domains that were traditionally outside the realm of IT, such as HR, to ensure the mobile workforce can effectively tap into a wide range of services and solutions,’ said Canalys Chief Analyst, Adam Daum. ‘The Canalys Channels Forum is the ideal framework for channel partners looking to spearhead this integration, as they will gain valuable insights from leading vendors, analyst specialists and business peers from around the region.’

The Canalys Channels Forum 2012 will focus on the key elements of strategic IT planning and management, including corporate IT infrastructure, apps and analytics. Information and debate will be shared via keynote sessions, theater presentations and a variety of workshops, in addition to the many hundreds of one-to-one meetings scheduled throughout the event.

‘The Canalys Channels Forum is an event our executive team is delighted to make time for,’ said Ingram Micro Senior Vice President of Vendor Management and Business Development, Vincenzo Baggio. ‘Ingram Micro is strongly committed to building collaborative partnerships and looking for common, innovative ways of doing business. The forum offers a superb occasion for networking and sharing insights with key decision-makers from vendors and top resellers in the European ICT industry.’

Some of the sessions planned for this year’s Canalys Channels Forum include:

• Private clouds: upstream and downstream.
• Capitalizing on current and future trends in collaboration.
• Securing opportunities in mobility and the cloud.
• Empowering the wireless workplace.
• Virtualization: enabling the BYOD movement in the workplace.
• Capitalizing on the enterprise app store opportunity.
• The operator play: what are service providers doing to woo enterprises and the channel?
• Cloud to clarity: channel opportunities one year on.
• Tools and platforms for next-generation applications.
• Asset management for the mobile workforce.
• Big data: the channel opportunity.

‘The Canalys Channels Forum is a great opportunity to get informed about the future trends in the IT channel,’ said Magirus AG Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Christian Magirus. ‘We consider the forum the “main event” out of all the European channel events and a good chance to have a professional exchange among experts. We very much look forward to seeing our customers, vendors and existing or potential partners there.’

The Canalys Channels Forum is the only independent event that unites senior managers from leading technology vendors, distributors and channel partners to discuss industry trends, forge new business relationships and create sales opportunities. In addition to vendor keynotes and theater presentations, the event will feature a variety of workshops, more than 2,000 senior one-to-one meetings and a prestigious gala dinner, among other networking activities.

The Canalys Channels Forum 2012 is open to senior business managers, both from IT vendors and channel partners. Vendors should contact Canalys directly for more information. Channel partners should contact their distributors, as event attendance is by invitation only. Leading distributors Also-Actebis, Avnet, Ingram Micro, Magirus, Tech Data and Westcoast have already confirmed their participation, with others joining in the coming weeks. Journalists should contact press@canalys.com to learn how to obtain a press pass. More information about the event can be found at www.canalyschannelsforum.com.

About Canalys

Canalys delivers 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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