CeBIT Australia 2005

May 01, 2005: With more than 30,000 visitors expected, and over 600 exhibitors from 22 countries, CeBIT Australia is one of the country's most important IT events. As a special prelude to the event, which takes place at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre from May 24-26, IDM talked to a number of the exhibitors to find out what draws them to the event, what visitors can expect from them at the show, and what would lead them to regard the event as a success upon reflection once the dust has settled on CeBIT 2005.

IDM-What are the primary reasons for your participation in CeBIT?

Sony-Peter Norman, marketing manager, business solutions divisionFor Sony Business Solutions Division, as a company focused on enterprise markets, we consider CeBIT a 'must attend' event. It is the country's leading IT trade show and as such attracts the kind of quality and quantity of attendees that makes our investment worthwhile.

In terms of our event marketing objectives for CeBIT, the focus will be on our new line-up of IPELA branded IP communications products. CeBIT will give us the opportunity to bring the IPELA vision of high quality Integrated Visual Communications to life.

Microsoft-Kerstin Baxter, Partner Group Director, Microsoft AustraliaMicrosoft is participating in CeBIT to promote the innovative software solutions developed by Australian Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). ISVs are a key group within Microsoft's Certified Partner community and through CeBIT we aim to assist their sales and marketing efforts. This event is a component of our broader strategy to help our partners in all aspects of their business, including product development, sales and marketing, and business operations.

We work with hundreds of Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and our presence at CeBIT is a platform where we can showcase their solutions.

Further, CeBIT plays an important role for the Microsoft Channel Builder programme which is designed to help Microsoft Certified Partners achieve commercial success with solutions they have built on the Microsoft platform. These companies have invested heavily in the development of their solutions and have asked Microsoft for assistance in building sales-engagement relationships.

Through participation at CeBIT, we hope to help drive networking opportunities for our ISVs that can lead to new partnerships, new solutions and new revenue streams.

Centennial Software-Phil Hare, regional manager, Asia PacificCeBIT has become Australia's premier IT event and it provides us with a facility to showcase our leading products to key industry leaders and managers.

Scansoft-Bob Anderson, regional director, Asia Pacific, productivity division CeBIT has clearly established itself as the global event brand in the IT industry.ScanSoft has been involved with CeBIT's Hannover event for many years and our continued growth in the APAC region made our decision to become involved in CeBIT Australia a simple one.

We see CeBIT as the ideal event to meet with potential customers, resellers and solutions partners.

WebCentral-David Lammey, general manager business & consumer division

As the official hosting provider of www.cebit.com.au, WebCentral is also pleased to be participating as an exhibitor at CeBIT 2005. We consider CeBIT to be the premier event in the Australian IC&T industry's calendar. It gives a great opportunity for us to showcase our solutions and network amongst a diverse range of people in the IT and business community, as well as providing excellent exposure for the WebCentral brand.

ISYS Search Software-Tim Morris, Australian sales manager ISYS Search Software has attended CeBIT Australia for a number of years, primarily for lead-generation and networking purposes. This year, in particular, we're using CeBIT as a platform from which to launch the new generation of our enterprise search technology-ISYS 7.

WebSpy-Tom Fallon, worldwide marketing managerWebSpy recognises the commercial importance of attending a number of national and international ICT exhibitions and seminars throughout the year. CeBIT Australia represents one of the region's most important and comprehensive ICT events and therefore plays an important part in WebSpy's extensive exhibition calendar.

As a regular exhibitor at CeBIT Australia, WebSpy objectives include the identification of short to mid term sales opportunities as a direct consequence of the sheer volume of visitors to the WebSpy stand. Additional focus is placed on identifying potential resellers, distributors and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) alliances. These are typically CeBIT exhibiting vendors who have complementary products and services in the areas of ICT Security, Bandwidth Optimisation and Quality of Service solutions, Internet and email management services.

WebSpy also gains considerable exposure in terms of brand awareness and business intelligence development by using these events to evaluate competition, emerging technologies and general business trends.

Avalon Software-Christopher Prince, CEO We regard CeBIT as the premier event to showcase software. Avalon Software participated in last year's event for the first time and we were more than pleased with the business opportunities that this created. Last year's event literally translated into new customers and the appointment of a major reseller. Avalon Software participated in the AIIA showcase and this attracted a lot of attention as the AIIA is the major sponsor of the event. The event also presents the opportunity to see the innovation that is occurring, so we make time to visit the other vendors.

IDM-What can delegates expect to see/hear at your stand?

Sony-We are investing heavily in our stand for 2005, which is not only a reflection of how important we consider CeBIT to be, but also to appropriately convey the new products and technologies we will have on display.

Our focus will be on our new IPELA line of high quality Integrated Visual Communications products and giving show-goers an appreciation of the real-world applications and possibilities IPELA products deliver in videoconferencing and IP monitoring. IPELA is very significant for us because it signals Sony renewed commitment to delivering cutting edge, high quality products for the enterprise markets.In addition to IPELA, we will be showing our portfolio of storage products including our new state-of-the-art AIT Turbo drives and Blu-Ray optical storage solution. Sony's Digital Signage products will also feature.

Importantly, Sony Business Solutions Division's highly experienced team of product managers and specialists will be on hand to help show-goers and answers any questions.

Microsoft-Delegates can expect to see an exciting booth where more than 30 local software development companies, with solutions based on Microsoft technologies, will be demonstrating their applications.

Centennial Software-Delegates will see and hear about our very latest version of our award winning IT inventory tracking tool, Centennial Discovery. Additionally, delegates will be the first to see in Australia Centennial Software's new DeviceWall product which allows organisations to manage the unauthorised connection of peripheral devices such as iPods, USB sticks, PDAs, Floppies, optical drives, cameras, and mobile phones, etc to protect their sensitive data.

Scansoft-Apart from showcasing our leading imaging and speech recognition products (e.g. OmniPage, PaperPort and Dragon NaturallySpeaking), ScanSoft will be focusing on our range of PDF solutions.

PDF has been widely embraced by design and pre-press professionals, however the deployment of PDF capabilities within business environments has been slow due to the high cost, complexity and limitations found within current solutions. ScanSoft has developed PDF solutions that overcome these historical limitations, delivering the price, performance and features specifically designed for business users.

ScanSoft's desktop applications are geared towards removing the barriers to personal and business productivity. From desktop scanning, OCR/PDF conversion and personal document management, to eForms, speech recognition and dictation, CeBIT delegates will have the opportunity to review our product range and discuss their many personal and business applications with members of the ScanSoft team.

WebCentral-At CeBIT 2005, delegates visiting WebCentral's stand can expect to learn more and experience first-hand our range of managed applications-hosted solutions that give businesses of any size access to what have traditionally been 'big business' tools at affordable monthly price points, and includes premium email services, online collaboration and email marketing tools, and e-commerce solutions. We will also be promoting our Partner Program, which provides web developers, technical advisors and marketing consultancies with the ability to utilise WebCentral's services in their business and resell them to their end customers.

ISYS-As we are launching ISYS 7, delegates will have the opportunity to see this technology in action, for the first time. On display at the ISYS Search Software stand (#019) will be ISYS:desktop 7 and ISYS:web 7, which are the core tools that our customers use to search for information on their desktops, networks, websites and intranets.

WebSpy-WebSpy will be presenting its range of Internet and email analysis, monitoring and reporting applications. We will also be giving our selected customers the chance to have a sneak preview of our newly developed analysis and reporting beta application, "Network Analyzer"! This remarkable solution takes TCP/IP traffic analysis to the next level of interrogation and transparency in Network Traffic Management capabilities.

WebSpy developed Network Analyzer as a direct result of customer requests for more advanced network traffic log analysis. When used in conjunction with WebSpy's real-time monitoring application Network Live, alerts can be configured to immediately notify the administrator of breaches in network traffic usage. Additional levels of visibility are provided through the management console with a range of charts and diagrams displaying the flow of traffic between organisational subnets and VLANs, computers, network equipment and ports.

Network Analyzer also provides for all levels of historical analysis of network traffic log files and incorporates configurable triggers to analyse particular patterns of network traffic behaviour.

Avalon Software-Avalon Software is showcasing Avalon SeaView at the AIIA exhibit on the Wednesday. This is probably the last year that we will qualify to exhibit in this area as the AIIA is focused on showcasing new technologies and new companies in ICT. Sales revenue in the next year based on current trends will preclude us. We will then need to take our own stand, but that's next year. This year we will be showcasing the new release of Avalon SeaView based on substantial customer input over the last year.

Avalon SeaView is a powerful document management system but its description belies its capability to improve information processes in an organisation. We are not keen on calling it knowledge management as the term does not sit well with us, but Avalon SeaView does fit in this area. Knowledge enablement or information enablement would be better terms from our perspective.

SeaView is extremely powerful in managing documents which includes scanned documents through to reports with SeaView's integration capabilities with Business Objects. In fact any report, document or image can be managed and delivered in SeaView, flexibly and powerfully over the intranet or internet.

Quite a number of customers have licensed SeaView to satisfy compliance requirements. This year we will be showcasing how SeaView can get information under control, assist with compliance and highlight its collaborative features.

IDM-What will it take for you to regard the CeBIT event as a successful one for your company?

Sony-Given our focus on IPELA, a key objective is to help create an identity for the brand and in doing so, increase market awareness. IPELA is really about taking IP communications to the next level in terms of performance and functionality and this is what we want the market to understand. CeBIT is an important part of our IPELA marketing strategy.

Of course, as with many vendors, prospecting and new business acquisition are also integral parts of our CeBIT presence. Although this is sometime difficult to quantify, we expect to see some flow-on benefits later in the year.

Microsoft-Microsoft will view CeBIT a success if our partners are successful in demonstrating their applications to delegates and generate customer sales opportunities as a result. Furthermore, the event will be successful if our partners are establishing strong channel partnership opportunities either domestically or internationally, as part of networking with other Microsoft partners who attend the event.

Centennial Software-Sales of our products following the event. This will be our third CeBIT Australia and at the two previous events we have had sales of our product following each event. In addition, we have always gathered quite a lot of sales leads from key managers visiting our stand from large organisations. It's important to be seen at CeBIT and the decision to participate is easier when we can be reasonably sure sales are going to follow.

Scansoft-Along with the branding benefits of being involved with an industry-leading event, we will gauge the event's success on the amount of quality interactions we encounter over the three-day event. Whilst ScanSoft enjoys leading market share in each of our product categories, CeBIT is an ideal vehicle to further educate the market on how to maximise value and efficiency of information and document processes.

Ideally, CeBIT will assist us in creating demand for our products with customers, resellers and potential solutions partners.

WebCentral-We hope to see a great deal of interest in our products and services, and to also achieve some positive leads. Establishing strong relationships with other vendors, businesses and attendees will also be a key factor in the success of our participation in CeBIT this year.

ISYS-When it comes to events such as this, we'll always judge it by the amount of traffic we receive at our stand, the number of leads we obtain and the quality of those leads. Obviously, as our sales manager, the show is a success if we can trace a sale back to it. But as long as we can meet some great people, have some good conversations and build relationships that we can develop over time, then we're satisfied.

WebSpy-There is a considerable focus on simply identifying, qualifying and securing new business from the visitors attending the exhibition. Based on our previous attendances and business successes at CeBIT we have been able to demonstrate a strong return on investment. This is further compounded when a potential reseller or distributor is identified at the event and subsequently secured as a business partner.

For the most part, securing a specific number of key customers justifies the direct costs incurred to fund these events. Given the other objectives and additional benefits gained from exhibiting at CeBIT, WebSpy continues to invest in this type of event.

WebSpy will be at the Microsoft stand from the 25-26 May and at the West Australian Government stand K22, throughout the entire event.

Avalon Software-One of our major thrusts for the event is to make contact with international distributors and systems integrators to begin to take SeaView offshore. We are already working on plans for representation in New Zealand through a major reseller but now are looking to Asia and Europe for expansion.

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