3 observations on Cloud Expo Europe - and one of them is an angry RANT.
1. The show is confused, fragmented and in transition - just like our industry.
Lots of vendors and partners are trying to find an identity and a clear / differentiating proposition in the cloud. Most are failing miserably.
2. A few new players are emerging in the collaboration space. I welcome the competition - and I'll be watching you closely...
3. WHY AREN'T THERE MORE WOMEN IN TECH ? Sorry to rant but we have to fix this. I can deal with exhibitors putting their young (mostly female) employees at the front of the stand to lure punters in - I'd do the same because it works). But what really hacks me off is that too many times, the person they take you to chat to is a man. Will the next generation have to spend their lives talking to middle aged blokes like me ? I do hope not ... https://girlswhocode.com/get-involved/
Colin, I think I may have a solution for your points 1 and 3. Struggling to attract buyers, in the absence of a hot product offering, they are using, hot women. Maybe a way of differentiation, that will save 300 man years of development is to use hot men? I think, if companies like yours started hiring for instance the Cambridge men's rowing team, you would instantly attract more women in to your organisation and to your stand. As a woman who has worked in this industry for 25 years, I would welcome this change! Alternatively, we could just start showing we value women for what they can do not how they look...just saying.
LeadaMarket Founder & CEO | B2B Marketing |Green Economy MSc | Ex-Microsoft| Woman of the Week Publisher
8 年Colin. I believe, rather sadly, that at least part of the answer to your third point lies within your question.
Rebuilding better: collaboratively. I empower people, families, and subject experts to support people, family and communities' health and emotional wellbeing. Let's share opportunities and rebuild better!
8 年Hi Ian, I have a female relative in senior management of a prominent leading European cloud services infrastructure comapny. So I always think of how her company is competing and growing. When I think of you I cannot stop thinking about your now famous tea trolley! In the end the market is growing and it is up to providers to stand out, go above the usual standards and offer a compelling story. So I have hope both for women in the cloud space and Irish businesspeople generally taking on this challenge!
Helping organisations manage workflows between on-premises infrastructure and Cloud
8 年It's turning into Storage Expo, i.e a networking event only worth attending to catch up with old friends and colleagues which is fine but you have to question the benefit. Any event which purports to be the premier event of its kind for Cloud technology has to be doing something wrong if key Cloud vendors like Microsoft, AWS, Google and Oracle aren't there. That says a lot more than us disgruntled punters.
Commercial Director @ Codel Software Ltd | Activ People HR SaaS Lead and Cofounder
8 年Well said Colin Chesterman, this scenario is the same at every expo I've ever exhibited at. Here's to seismic change!