COMDEX's Channel Focus

Plethora of new programs, seminars dot this year's agenda

Nov. 07, 2003

Comdex Las Vegas this year will feature a track of channel-related seminars, and the largest section of the show floor other than Microsoft's will be devoted to The ASCII Group of solution providers.

Comdex promoter MediaLive International, previously Key3Media before it emerged from bankruptcy early this year, said the event's seminars and vendors will focus on seven key B2B vertical offerings: wireless and mobility, security, open source, Web services, digital enterprise software, on-demand computing, and Windows and .Net.

"You have to get past being a one-dimensional trade show," said Eric Faurot, vice president and general manager of Comdex. "We believe an $870 billion industry needs a major event and one that doesn't look like the old Comdex."

Solution providers say Comdex is valuable for networking opportunities.

Many solution providers still attend Comdex, mainly as a networking opportunity, but welcome more focus.

"They should make it more channel-oriented," said Brett Corbin, president of Networks 2000, a San Diego-based solution provider. "I went to two keynotes last year and they were just too general and not geared to a company like mine."

Comdex promoters said they realized they had to address complaints like these. "We basically tried to raise the intellectual quotient of Comdex by improving the quality of the audience and the quality of exhibitors," Faurot said. "It used to be about grabbing eyeballs, now it's about ROI."

The most noticeable change attendees will confront is the reduction in size. For the first time in the show's history, the organizers enacted an auditing process to ensure the majority of attendees are IT-related professionals. This year's 40,000 registered attendees, down from about 70,000 last year, will receive free admission while others will be charged $100, Faurot said.

"You'll have to do some serious calculations to figure out how many free T-shirts would be worth $100," he said, adding that 30 percent of the registered attendees are solution providers, up from an estimated 20 percent last year.

The number of exhibitors has decreased to about 525 from about 900, Faurot said.

What you won't see on the show floor this year are cars, masseuses, digital cameras and other consumer-related devices, he said. Instead, the show will feature a variety of "hands-on" solutions booths hosted by such companies as Extreme Networks, Avaya, SonicWall, Palm, Nortel Networks and IMLogic.

Samsung, Canon and Computer Associates International are among a handful of companies rolling out new products. IBM, which backed out of the show several years ago, will be providing executives to speak on panels. Siebel Systems will make its debut and Dell will have a large presence, following a seven-year absence.

CA plans to unveil the eTrust Secure Content Manager. The product, which will be sold through the channel, is aimed at addressing the content security challenges facing businesses.