FT.com / Technology - CeBIT 2007: Identity crisis fails to lessen appeal

FT.com / Technology - CeBIT 2007: Identity crisis fails to lessen appeal

Stephen Pritchard

Published: March 14 2007 09:35 | Last updated: March 14 2007 09:35

March brings variable weather to Germany’s central plain – a day of bright sunshine could easily give way to drifting snow. And the vibe around the annual CeBIT trade fair, held in Hannover, can be as hard to predict.

Observers have recently questioned the direction of the show. Is it a showcase for consumer electronics? Is it an enterprise technology fair, or a conference, a meeting place for small business, or a forum for government ministers?

Those who feel consumer electronics is the future will put much store by Apple’s decision to attend, to promote its digital TV and entertainment technologies. Much is also being made of industrial giant Siemens’ decision not to attend. Meanwhile, meetings of EU and G8 IT and telecoms ministers at CeBIT only adds to the show’s relevance to political decision-makers.

Either way, CeBIT continues to have mass appeal. CeBIT is open to the public and many of the paying visitors may be buying technology for their businesses, too.

“People close to CeBIT do become jaundiced about it, especially if they have to attend for more than three to four days,” says Tony Lock, an industry analyst with Freeform Dynamics and a CeBIT regular. “But the public flock to it, and a good proportion are IT professionals.”

CeBIT’s vast size as well as its location – Hannover is one of Germany’s smaller cities – means visitors and exhibitors alike have to plan in advance to make the most of the show.

Most private individuals and business visitors come for one or two days, according to organisers Deutsche Messe. Depending on the level of detail required, that suggests taking in between two and four halls a day. As each hall follows a clear theme, it is relatively easy to organise a focused set of meetings without needing to trek around the Messe site.

“Visitors should maximise the value of CeBIT by reading the magazines, the website and the show guides,” suggests Matthias Vogler of enteo, a vendor of IT management software based in Germany. “If you visit CeBIT, it is important to have a clear target in mind. Many exhibitors have CeBIT websites where you can book meetings with product managers or sales managers.”

Among the pluses of CeBIT, especially for smaller firms, are demonstrations of technology of a type normally reserved for large enterprises. Demonstrations can be busy, though, so it pays to turn up early.

Visitors should not worry too much about closing deals at CeBIT, however. Most exhibitors have robust systems in place for following up leads after the show, not least because leads generated at CeBIT are viewed as high quality prospects. And it would be a missed opportunity not to allow time to explore the more advanced, or even entertaining, technologies on show.

Another advantage of CeBIT is that it brings together several different strands of technology, making it an important showcase for anyone who is serious about either selling or using “converged” solutions. It also allows large and small vendors to set up stall side by side.

“We can make contacts that we would not make at other shows,” says James Tagg, CEO of Truphone, a fast-growing company in the converged internet telephony and mobile sector that is exhibiting at CeBIT and looking for partnerships.

“We get to see consumer electronics vendors, handset makers and operators that we could otherwise only see at three shows. Everybody is there, even though there is a lot of walking about,” says Mr Tagg.

Truphone should benefit from this, because there is a buzz around both internet telephony and mobile communications. The mobile halls are always among the best attended but VoIP – which is growing rapidly in Germany – is attracting serious interest from businesses and members of the public.

Internet TV and other interactive entertainments are also set to be a draw, especially on public days. But, says Deutsche Messe, CeBIT remains an important forum for lower-key, business-to-business technologies.

Customer relationship management is one area that is expected to generate much interest among business visitors, according to Dr Sven Michael Prüser, managing director of CeBIT at Deutsche Messe. “Companies see it as one of their major areas to improve,” he says. Security will also be important.

He also expects company visitors to look for ways to improve their business processes and administration, with exhibitors putting a lot of weight behind their service-oriented architecture (SOA) offerings.

This, he suggests, is simply consistent with CeBIT’s origins as an office technology show, where electric typewriters were among the first exhibits.

But CIOs and IT directors will approach CeBIT with a keen eye for convergence between consumer and business technologies, and how it could help their businesses.

Voice over IP is a good example of this, but as Dr Prüser points out, many telecoms or computer “gadgets” are increasingly at home in both consumer and business environments.

“The process of convergence has been going on for at least 10 years,” he says. “From a technological point of view, much equipment is the same, whether used at home or in the office.”

And some technologies – such as telemetry, GPS navigation and systems that combine geographic and social information may well appeal to consumers first – but could be key business tools in just three or four years, Dr Prüser predicts.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007