CeBIT 2002: Packs A Punch

I have always had great faith in the importance and the

crowd-pull of CeBIT and made it a point to visit it. But this year being an

exhibitor for the first time, I was a little nervous on the first day.

Excitement of doing business kept me stuck to my booth on the first day.

However, my colleagues and I were quite disappointed with the turnout at the end

of the first day.

I approached the organizers of the show and they assured me that

since CeBIT was extended by another day this year, they expected a larger

turnout from the second and third day onwards.

And they were absolutely right! With over 7,00,000 visitors,

CeBIT was a great success and silenced all skeptics. The visitor profile was

excellent with over 24.2 percent constituting of professional overseas visitors.

The growing interest from Eastern Europe was very high, pegging almost 12.3

percent of all foreign visitors.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder shares light moments with Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer (left) at the opening

Indian IT makes it big



Though the turnout this year was lower than the 8,30,000 footfalls in 2001,

the quality of visitors had improved. 32.3 percent of the business visitors had

a decisive or advisory influence on corporate purchasing decisions.

One thing that was evident during CeBIT was that the Indian IT

sector has finally woken up to the need to make their presence felt in the

European market. 46 Indian IT companies participated this year as against 25

last year and this change in thinking was well-timed.

Indian companies reported a very positive response from the

show, specially from the European software sector. NASSCOM, Electronics

Components and Software Companies Association and Karnataka IT ministry

organized separate pavilions. Many other companies had set up their booths

independently in specialized sections.

Technology to the max



This year´s show strongly reflected the convergence of voice and data

services in the telecom sector. Many telecom companies used the show to

demonstrate the myriad benefits and value-added features of new data services.

Large-screen flat-panel monitors attract attention

GPRs (general packet radio service) data transmission –already

supported on large scale –promises to be the initial cornerstone of the brave

new telecom world.

The growing need for enhanced transmission capacity and quality

will power the transition to third generation communication services. End-device

manufacturers are wooing users with increased functionalities and smaller sizes.

The latest devices not only offer telephony, audio player

functions and radio reception, they also increasingly boast of cameras and GPRS

navigation functions.

Java, the platform-independent programming language, is now

available for downloadable applets and PDA functions. These functions include

address, task and schedule management, which can be synchronized wirelessly with

your workplace computer via GPRs or Bluetooth data transmission.

Better hardware



Flat panel monitors continued to gain popularity, offering larger screen

diagonals and higher resolutions, while taking up less desk space. This trend is

also promoting the practice of using multiple monitors to work on several

applications simultaneously at the same workstation.

Visitors hooked by the speed of a large-format printer.

The traditional PC segment is profiting from the development of

high-speed chipsets. This new-generation chips allow faster memory access while

offering stereoscopic sound in Dolby quality. And thanks to the new

multiprocessor architecture, servers have become more powerful. Recordable DVDs

are poised to become the mass storage medium of the future.

Smart cards that can digitally sign electronic documents, emails

and payment transactions, also found many takers at CeBIT. These smart cards are

sometimes used for access control and as customer or bonus cards. An increasing

number of functions are built on these cards. The progressive digitalization of

public administration procedures (e-governance) will also find smart card

applications becoming more prevalent.

Data encryption and Internet security are prerequisites for

concluding commercial transactions electronically. Solutions such as face or

finger print recognition are available as independent or combined security

solutions for smart cards and these were displayed at the event.

Software for businesses



In the area of professional software, the inclination is towards fine-tuned

solutions. The reason is very clear, users want to map their business processes

into complete e-commerce and m-commerce solutions. These solutions use XML-based

technology which supports the transfer of data and information from centralized

data stores to terminal devices via the Internet, cell phone or television.

Checking out applications supporting mobile and the Net

Major strides are specially evident in the area of CRM and SCM.

Computer aided systems are used to integrate the process chain from development

to manufacturing and after-sales support. The focus is on complete business

processes based on digital data and this development has narrowed the gap

between various stages such as design, engineering, process planning and

production planning.

Yet another development involves the cross enterprise exchange

of data throughout the supply chain. A growing number of applications support

mobile or Internet-based transmission of operational data for integrated use by

other applications. Voice recognition systems, too, are becoming increasingly

flexible and reliable.

All in all, the event lived up to expectations and one was

exposed to the latest in technologies and products. Channel participation in

events like these make sense as they can select technologies that will

complement their product offerings and be the first to introduce it in India.

This will give them the first-mover advantage and also give them top-of-the-mind

recall.

Ajay Agarwal is the MD of Pune-based Seacom Solutions and can be

contacted at ajay@seacomindia.com