This article originally appeared in the October 2012 issue of INTERNET TELEPHONY
Austin, Texas, is a hotspot for the latest and greatest in technology, new music and delicious food. We hope to see you there this month for ITEXPO.
Judging from the show’s past success, its soaring registration numbers, and the exciting lineup of speakers and exhibitors, ITEXPO West 2012 looks to be an especially strong event.
As of mid-August, attendee registration numbers for ITEXPO West and its co-located conferences were tracking 80 percent higher than last year with just seven weeks to go before the event.
“As ITEXPO Austin approaches, we’re very pleased attendees are coming out to register, showing their support for the incredible educational program offered at ITEXPO and its co-located conferences,” said Rich Tehrani (News - Alert), TMC’s CEO and Conference Chairman. “ITEXPO is considered the best in the industry because of the high level of attendees, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors who participate. Participants have access to unprecedented education and networking opportunities at ITEXPO Austin.”
ITEXPO West 2012, where you will gain new insight and learn about new products and networking solutions that will keep you and your company ahead of the curve, takes place at the Austin Convention Center. The event brings together enterprise, government and SMB end users, resellers, service providers, manufacturers, developers, media and analysts gather to examine solutions in conference sessions, demo products and services live on the expo floor, and forge beneficial relationships.
The event kicks off Oct. 2 with workshops and conference sessions, which run through Oct. 5. The exhibit hall is open Oct. 3 through 5. And keynote speeches are slated for Oct. 3 and 4.
Keynote speakers slated for ITEXPO West include Peter Blackmore, president and CEO of ShoreTel; Robert B. Carter, executive vice president of information services and CIO with FedEx; Raymond P. Dolan, president and CEO at Sonus Networks; Chris Hummel, chief commercial officer with Siemens Enterprise (News - Alert) Communications; Huw Rees, vice president of business development for enterprise communications at 8x8; and David Tucker, vice president and general manager of the Small Business Unit at Cisco;
To give you a sampling of what to expect at some of the keynotes, Hummel aims to tackle the subject of unified communications. His speech will address the existing barriers to UC and how customer companies can overcome them.
Tucker, meanwhile, will discuss how small businesses can leverage new communications technologies to their benefit. “Small businesses are generally the first to ride the wave of change that technology transitions provide, such as cloud applications, bring your own device, social communications, mobility and IP telephony,” notes Tucker. “It’s about enabling the small business owner to do more with less people and fewer dollars. The trick to serving small businesses is providing very simple products to deploy and manage, with sophisticated functionality under the covers.”
Dolan of Sonus will touch on a variety of hot topics, likely including the cloud, unified communications and SIP. “Vendors, analysts and users have all talked about applications such as unified communications or high-def, low bandwidth video for several years, but the promise has been unfulfilled for a number of reasons – with proprietary constraints, cost and complexity all near the top of the list,” Dolan says. “The steady increase in the availability of SIP trunks and the clear demand by end users for an open, standard-based environment have finally ignited the move to SIP-based applications.”
The ITEXPO Conference Program addresses a wide variety of topics and industry experts. Conference subject matter includes big data, BYOD, cloud communications, collaboration,
contact centers, E911, E-SBC, Microsoft Lync, mobile commerce, open source, SIP trunking, social media (including social CRM and the social enterprise), unified communications, Universal Service Fund reform, videoconferencing, VoIP, and more.
As if that weren’t enough, TMC (News - Alert) once again welcomes to ITEXPO a plethora of partners, which offer event attendees an even wider array of options for education and interaction. Co-located events include:
Asterisk 123
Cloud4SMB EXPO
Cloud Communications EXPO
CVx
Door64’s Software Painpoint Job Fair
HTML5 Summit
Ingate’s SIP Trunking-Unified Communications Seminars
LatinComm Conference and Expo
M2M Evolution
Megapath's MPLS University
Mobility Tech Conference & Expo
MSPAlliance MSPWorld
StartupCamp6 Comms Edition
Super Wi-Fi Summit
Telecom Reseller Week
Video World Conference & Expo
Asterisk 123 is an opportunity to learn about basic Asterisk installation, configuration and operation. Cloud4SMB Expo, meanwhile, addresses the unique needs and challenges of small and medium businesses seeking to leverage the benefits of cloud computing solutions. The Cloud4SMB Expo’s platinum sponsors include cBeyond, Entreda (News - Alert) Inc., GFI Software, GoToAssist, nGenX, Okta, R1Soft, Verio, Verizon, ViaWest, Vocalocity, and Zenith Infotech.
The HTML5 Summit, a DevCon5 event, provides web developers and designers conference with focused, educational sessions on technology developments, user experiences and trends. Topics include interactive multimedia animation techniques, the power of next-generation mobility and applications, new mobile web business models and retail strategies, gaming market developments, the impact of WebRTC, security threats and more.
The M2M Evolution Conference & Expo will include an event called The Battle of the Platforms, which is intended to highlight network platforms and how the migration to these new independent systems makes it economically feasible for all markets to adopt M2M. The Battle of the Platforms categories include Enabling Independent Applications Developer to work with M2M devices; Platform for Best BI Controls Solutions; Platform for Service Providers to support wholesale services; and Platform for Enterprise Deployment. “As Geoffrey Moore would point out, the life cycle of M2M has moved beyond the single solution and into economies of scale,” says Carl Ford (News - Alert), founder and community developer for Cross Media, which puts on the M2M event. “We are excited not only to highlight the benefits of platforms but the breadth of opportunity as a result of wireless M2M becoming adaptive, economical and ubiquitous."
Mobility Tech Conference & Expo represents an expansion of the popular 4GWE Conference and features individual educational tracks focused on 4G/LTE and Wi-Fi. The event will delve into how today’s powerful mobile Internet ecosystem expands the range of services and applications being delivered to businesses and consumers.
The future of white space spectrum is again the focus of the Super Wi-Fi Summit, which addresses all aspects of this market including spectrum issues, technical trial results and next steps, backhaul opportunities, database issues, devices, standards and more. Rick Whitt, director and managing counsel for Google, kicks off the conference at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3.
Video World Conference & Expo helps attendees explore the opportunities for video through two comprehensive tracks: service provider and enterprise. Says Tehrani: “We have secured top industry experts to provide attendees with the latest in content delivery platforms, management solutions, implementation strategies and more – everything that’s needed to make next-generation video a reality.”
In addition to all of the educational and networking opportunities at ITEXPO West 2012 and related events, TMC and its partners also invite show attendees to join us on Wednesday, Oct. 3 at The Famous ITEXPO Conference Party. Sponsored by Conexiant, CoreDial, DIDXchange, OnSIP and Taqua, this party will feature the musical stylings of The Spazmatics.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi
