ITEXPO 2022 #TECHSUPERSHOW
Broward County Convention Center
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
June 21-24, 2022

Attendees: 7,000 (event organizer’s estimate)
Exhibitors: 288
Sponsors: 124 (+ 42 media sponsors)
Speakers: 175
Media/Analysts: Unreleased

Calysto Overview

Rethink, Regroup, Rediscover was a fitting tagline for this year’s ITEXPO, presented by TMC. After two-plus years of cancellations, hybrid shows, social distancing and remote work, trade shows are slowly starting to emerge from the COVID lockdowns. ITEXPO 2020 snuck in under the wire in 2020 just before COVID struck. The conference gathered again in June 2021, though with smaller attendance estimated at 50-60% less than pre-pandemic numbers.

For many, this June’s four-day ITEXPO marked the big reunion and an anxiously-awaited opportunity for all to reconnect – and make new connections – with clients, partners, colleagues and peers in the tech industry.

ITEXPO, first launched in 1999, has grown to be one of the largest technology communications events in North America. It has become a #TECHSUPERSHOW that also includes a series of co-located tech conferences (more on this below). This year, sessions, keynotes, presentations and panels focused on the “Digital Transformation” and cloudification of current technologies like Unified Communications (UC), Messaging, Collaboration, SD-WAN and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), Cybersecurity, Contact Center, Video Conferencing, along with Service Provider solutions, Blockchain topics, the future of work, and much more.

Making connections is the power of the ITEXPO #TECHSUPERSHOW. Each night featured a networking event/reception, and the ITEXPO show floor was said to be double that of 2021, with nearly 300 exhibitors.

“The show was unexpectedly large – the exhibit floor was busier than in years past, our conference room was booked non-stop, and conference attendees were very engaged,” said James Brehm, founder and chief technology evangelist, James Brehm & Associates.

IT professionals, engineers, C-level executives, business owners, Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and the channel, and service providers will find ITEXPO an excellent forum for business dealings, forming new partnerships and making tech purchasing decisions.

Co-located Events Create a Holistic View

ITEXPO 2022 had something for everyone in the tech community. Time could be split among a series of nine collocated events, including the 5G and 6G Expos, IoT Evolution, Industrial IoT, The Blockchain Event, MSPEXPO, Future of Work and The Smart City Event. There was even a Cannatech Expo for those involved in IT and technologies related to the fast-growing cannabis industry, a unique vertical that is projected to surge as legalized markets for both medicinal and recreational cannabis take off in the U.S.

Having a variety of colocated events along with the long-standing ITEXPO affords attendees a more holistic view of the technologies that can impact their businesses. Akshay Sharma, CTO, Kovair Software, shared “In my standing-room-only panel on UCaaS and Collaboration, I mentioned that co-location with [events that cover] related technologies like SD-WAN, 5G and IoT, was one of the advantages of this show. I asked each panelist about their plans on cross-platform integrations, to CRM, to AI and analytics engines, to SD-WAN, to Industrial IoT, Security SASE, etc., which was universally accepted.”

IoT Evolution has been collocated with ITEXPO for several years, and remains one of the top IoT events, attracting solutions and platform providers, device manufacturers, connectivity providers, enterprises and end users. With a heavy emphasis on emerging technologies, IoT applications and business use cases, IoT Evolution highlights how companies of all kinds are leveraging sensors and connectivity, as well as edge computing, AI, machine learning and virtual and augmented reality to change the course of their business, create new strategic opportunities and improve the lives of people around the world.

“If this event is any indication, the industry is transitioning from IoT 1.0 to IoT 2.0.” said Brehm. “Driven by climate change, the move to curb the use of fossil fuels, COVID, and supply chain issues, enterprises are looking at the world from an ESG (environmental, societal, and governance) lens, and IoT is their tool. Additionally, municipalities are increasingly driving sustainability, resilience, and compliance initiatives using IoT as the solution to solve these challenges and measure success. People are no longer talking about smart cities for smart cities sake – they are actively becoming catalysts for change.”

The Industrial IoT Expo took attendees on a deeper dive into how to increase productivity and efficiency of manufacturing and production processes, while the 5G Expo looked closely at opportunities for the enterprise, channel and developer communities.

By some accounts, the MSP Expo was the biggest of the co-located events. This conference and networking summit (once a separate conference, but combined with ITEXPO in 2020) attracts MSPs, channel and reseller execs, service provider professionals and solution partners. Business growth strategies and driving recurring revenue were naturally top of mind for all attending. But, this year, due to high demand, the MSP Expo included a new Security track, with panel sessions on cybersecurity, risk management, threat monitoring and remediation. Experts also discussed Ransomware: “Should I pay or Should I go?”

This year’s Future of Work Expo was focused on cutting through the hype with practical strategies and tactics for today’s hybrid workplace reality. Speakers discussed how to navigate the challenges of a new workplace culture, the employee experience, and new disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and Augmented and Virtual Reality. What’s the best way to automate work and processes, while keeping employees engaged and productive? How can you ensure cybersecurity and privacy with a hybrid workforce?

The Blockchain Event was a big part of the ITEXPO 2022 with 19 sessions, covering topics like local government blockchain adoption, how blockchain is disrupting the Real Estate market, blockchain in the enterprise and the future of cryptocurrency. Blockchain technology has the potential to secure business transactions by making it more difficult to hack systems. “When decentralized, every transaction will be peer to peer, removing that middle repository, such as a bank,” said GenoBank.io Chief Operating Officer Sharon Holm during a panel discussion, “Blockchain creates a sense of security because there is less opportunity for hacking or breach of data.”

Keynotes & Content

The future of work and the trend toward a hybrid model looks like it’s here to stay, and it’s changing how service providers and channel partners do business. For technology channel partners, there is a massive transformation toward “as-a-service” subscription sales and away from traditional product reselling.

In a keynote panel discussion, Intelisys President John DeLozier, Telarus CEO Adam Edwards and TCG’s Dan Pirigyi explored the topic “rethinking the channel” in light of this new way of working and new way of selling. Opportunities are emerging to upsell businesses on work-from-anywhere technologies, integrated collaborative workspaces and high-quality video, to name just a few. Not only that, channel partners need to reassess their own organization and how to restructure around online selling, social media and more automation.

Cisco’s Elizabeth Bieniek, Internal Startup Founder and Co-Founder, Webex Hologram, discussed technology and the human connection in this post-pandemic world of remote and hybrid work. While this may seem “out there,” Cisco is developing hologram technology that lets you feel co-located with a colleague, though they may be thousands of miles away. Multi-dimensional 3-D interactions like virtual staff meetings, virtual offsite visits and virtual watercooler conversations, could very well be a reality in the next 12-24 months.

Attendees could select from more than 125 sessions across the 4-day event, with the majority of content covering Future of Work, MSP and Blockchain topics. A SASE Summit included a half dozen sessions.

Idea Showcase

Miami-based start-up, Modern Trials, took home first place at ITEXPO #TECHSUPERSHOW IDEA Showcase. Modern Trials has a HIPAA-compliant platform that searches electronic medical record data from a wide network of healthcare organizations to match patients with advanced treatment options and clinical trials.

South Florida Tech Hub awarded Modern Trials with a free Startup level membership for one full year. And, for the first time, the prize package came with an investment opportunity with Seedfunders, a Florida-based investment firm. Modern Trials will receive a minimum of $5000 investment that could increase later after Seedfunders performs some due diligence.

The contest, which featured 5-minute pitches from seven startups seeking to disrupt the tech communications industry, also included CERA, Envonics, flo-ops, Nebulai, Unitii, and In My Team.

Show Buzz & Energy

While large number of media organizations were listed as sponsors the show (reportedly more than 40), only a handful of articles were posted by TMC’s own publications, namely Future of Work News, MSP Today News and Cloud Computing Magazine (see Articles of Interest below). These covered major topics at this year’s show: the Hybrid Workplace, Blockchain applications and use cases, and opportunities for MSPs to help businesses tackle the very real threat of Ransomware.

ITEXPO is not so much a show for thought-leadership articles and new concepts, but makes a great springboard for launching new products and services. Grandstream launched a new Wi-Fi Access Point that supports 2.4G and 5G; Telinta and DIDWW are partnering to deliver a White Label Hosted PBX Solution for VoIP Service Providers; and Reinvent Telecom released a new UI & UX for its UCaaS platform, just to name a few.

The real show buzz and energy at ITEXPO and co-located tech events, is networking and solidifying business relationships and sales. Those in the tech community enjoyed a long overdue opportunity for engaging face-to-face with colleagues and peers in the industry, within the large expo area, educational sessions and social gatherings.