I recently attended IT Nation 2011 in Orlando, the annual conference put together by the good folks at ConnectWise, the software vendor who develops the ‘Professional Services Automation’ system used by Compuquip and many IT Service Providers throughout the world. Some of the highlights of this three day event were:
- A great key note speech by Daniel Burrus, author of Flash Foresight.
- Dozens of informative Breakout Sessions covering various aspects of ConnectWise and the IT Services industry in general (including a couple of sessions with our fearless leader, Eric Dosal, as the moderator).
- The vendor pavilion, where dozens of software and hardware vendors attempt to convince attendees why they’re the next big thing. The pavilion highlight, of course, was the fantastic debut of BrightGauge.
Some of the topics and items that caught my attention, in no particular order, are as follow:
- There are literally hundreds of vendors who are throwing the word ‘Cloud’ in their name and marketing material trying to capitalize on the rush towards Cloud-based services. This is very reminiscent of the Internet’s early days (remember Pets.com?) or the early days of Virtualization (whatever happened to Virtual Iron?). I have a feeling that a lot of these companies will fall by the wayside while some of the lucky ones will get purchased by some of the more traditional IT heavyweights.
- Speaking of purchases, there were several heavily attended breakout sessions covering the topic of mergers and acquisitions. As Cloud Services and heavy competition erode profitability from the smaller one and two man shops, there should be a good amount of activity nationwide as Service Providers look to consolidate and stay ahead of the curve.
- Apple and Service Providers are starting to see iPads (and other tablets) as more than just cool toys and as true business enablers. Developers and Service Providers alike are going to take advantage of this mobile business market as a solid new revenue stream, though as companies figure out how to really use these devices and mobile apps to drive new business they will be the big winners.
That’s all for now. Have a great Holiday Season and see you next year!
