The Computer Society South Africa (CSSA) has given a major vote of confidence to the country’s newest information technology show, IP Expo, by becoming a key partner for the two-day event.
The well-respected CSSA strictly vets any IT-related event before giving its endorsement, and has chosen IP Expo as an exhibition and seminar well worth supporting.
The event made its debut in Johannesburg last year, drawing an enthusiastic response from technology vendors and users alike by focusing on the emerging trends of cloud computing, virtualisation and IP infrastructure. This year the focus is broadening to add unified communications, big data and security, in a format designed to be a 2-day consulting experience between end users and technology experts.
CSSA President Adrian Schofield says IP Expo has won its support because of the choice of technologies under discussion, the chance for industry professionals to learn more about them, and the valuable opportunity to network with industry peers.
“We are very picky about which events we support because we jealously guard our role as a custodian of standards and professional ethics in the industry, so when we support an event we make sure it fits into those criteria. The areas under discussion at IP Expo are very significant and many people still need to learn a great deal more about them to see how they fit into the technology world going forward,” Schofield says. “A good event for the IT industry is one where there are great networking opportunities as well as the opportunity to learn. IP EXPO will not only be a good learning opportunity, it’s also a chance to expand our network and meet up with old and new friends.”
CSSA representatives will speak at the event and will run an exhibition stand to highlight its work and the benefits of membership. Over the years the CSSA has made sure it keeps pace with changes in the industry, with more than half its members now black or coloured and more than 20% of them female.
IP Expo was brought to South Africa by Montgomery Africa in partnership with Imago Techmedia, which has successfully staged the event for several years in London.
The inaugural show attracted more than 1,100 visitors and 18 exhibitors, and industry experts staged presentations and workshops in three separate theatres. This year it will be bigger and better, with four theatres running simultaneously to analyse all six content streams – IP infrastructure, unified communications, virtualisation, cloud computing, big data and security. Keynote speakers will include independent IT innovator Stafford Masie, who proved a popular presenter at last year’s show, and Dr Azar Jammine, the Director and Chief Economist of Econometrix.
That mixture of seminars plus exhibitors demonstrating the latest technologies gives visitors a fresh insight into these growing trends, says Michelle Meldau, IP Expo manager from Montgomery Africa. South Africa’s bandwidth boom is finally allowing cloud computing and virtualisation to gain traction, forcing companies to evaluate how and when to introduce them into their operations. IP Expo succeeds where other shows have failed by being an informative event where people can listen to experts and ask questions about these topics and the most appropriate solutions, says Meldau. “We will continue to focus on IP infrastructure, virtualisation and cloud computing, but introducing three new streams focusing on big data, security and unified communications means visitors will have access to more than 80 seminars over the two-day period.”
The event takes place in Sandton Convention Centre on August 15 and 16, and a number of key organisations have already confirmed their involvement including Teraco Data Environments, Vision Solutions, Citrix, Veeam Software, Gigamon, ESET South Africa, Ruckus Wireless, MIA Telecoms and Panduit.
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