The current trend in event management - that of co-locating any number of smaller events under the wings of a much larger, higher profile tradeshow - is one that simultaneously excites and frustrates.
On the one hand, you`re faced with a vast amount of information to be had, a potential stream of new contacts to be made, and depending on the fortunes of the industry, absolute loads of swag to be bagged.
On the other hand, there`s so much overlap between all the seminars, keynote addresses, case studies, and the rest that there`s no chance to work the floor and even less chance of coming away with the most toys. Gone are the days of the staid, protracted trade show - these days you`re more likely to attend something which makes you feel like a character zooming around in a speeded up film.
With this trade show comes evidence that the strategy adopted by larger vendors to tap into the SME market has not worked as they may have hoped.
Basheera Khan, UK correspondent, ITWeb
An event such as this is kicking off in London tomorrow. Internet World 2002 - a trump card of a trade show in its own right - features no less than six smaller dedicated events which will run concurrent to the main attraction; Internet World Wireless, Collaborative Commerce, Content Management, New Media New Marketing, eCRM, and Internet Security - all pretty self-explanatory, really.
From all the literature available, it appears that the new products hogging the spotlight this year are all decidedly retro. The focus appears to be on releasing solutions targeted at small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which are designed to take in-house all the services these businesses had outsourced in the last great sea change. Interestingly enough, these products are almost exclusively being marketed by companies which, relative to the larger vendors who staked out the market for managed services, seem pretty puny.
The hungry new market
Nevertheless, puny doesn`t necessarily mean powerless, a truth which can be seen most dramatically in the IT world. Set next to the business model of managed services, these product offerings seem to hark back to a time just before the dot-com bubble burst, when SMEs were beginning to harness technology as a tool of empowerment, and a springboard to competition with players which they previously may not have stood a chance against. They were seen as the hungry new market to which larger vendors could tailor their products.
In the wake of the disastrous two years which followed the dot-com collapse, I think most SMEs ended up feeling the pinch of having bought over-engineered solutions at a price which though competitive from the vendors` perspective, is from the SMEs` perspective, considerable.
With this trade show comes evidence that the strategy adopted by larger vendors to tap into the SME market has not worked as they may have hoped. If there is a supply of products which revert back to the earlier strategy of effective, low-cost DIY solutions, it can only mean the SME market here demands it.
I will be keen to see if this theory proves true. If it does, it seems that larger vendors may yet again have to rethink the strategy behind siphoning off their share of SME spend. And though it may yet prove to be the best outcome for all parties involved, it seems unlikely that larger vendors will take their sights off the SME market in the foreseeable future.
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