Enterprise Connect Orlando 2017, which ran March 27 to 30, was a whirlwind event, chock-full of enterprise communications educational content and vendor news.
So what did you miss?
- Justin Haefner, a collaboration architect with Medtronic, take home the largest prize in the TADHack-mini Orlando hackathon that took place the weekend leading into and coincident with Enterprise Connect. This first-time hacker created a communications-enabled app for helping families take care of elder health needs. He calls the app Elder Connected Care.
- We kicked off our first future-focused conference-within-a-conference, Enterprise Communications & Collaboration 2020, which drew large crowds of enterprise folks looking to plan their strategies for communications systems for the next three years.
- In a keynote presentation, Microsoft rolled out enhancements to Skype for Business within Office 365, including advanced calling features like auto attendant and call queues. In addition, keynoter Rob Markezich, corporate VP, Office 365, demoed the new Microsoft Teams product for team collaboration.
- Cisco made four product announcements during its keynote. Jens Meggers, SVP and GM for the Cloud Collaboration Technology Group, unveiled the Cisco Spark Room Kit Series, opened up security keys to Spark customers, enhanced Spark Hybrid Media Services, and rolled out Spark Care. Cisco also won Best of Enterprise Connect 2017 for its Spark Board 55.
- Amazon Web Services made a splash with its entrance to the enterprise contact center space, revealing Amazon Connect during its first Enterprise Connect keynote, led by Gene Farrell, VP, AWS Enterprise Applications.
- Twilio CEO and co-founder Jeff Lawson, who took to the stage for Twilio's first Enterprise Connect keynote, discussed the value an API-driven build-it-yourself approach can bring to the enterprise.
- Google delivered its third Enterprise Connect keynote, this time led by Scott Johnston, director for real-time communications in G Suite. He demoed the newly revealed Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meetings apps, as well as Google's interactive whiteboard, Jamboard.
And that's just a start on some of the notable developments coming out of the event.
Every year, we conclude Enterprise Connect with a locknote in which we ask many of the subject matter experts (SMEs) who have helped lead the conference sessions to discuss the week and exchange ideas about what they learned. The discussion always generates lots of good analysis that helps frame the current state of the enterprise communications space. It's my favorite part of the event! This year's group of experts were:
- Zeus Kerravala, president, ZK Research
- Dave Michels, principal analyst, TalkingPointz
- Melissa Swartz, owner, Swartz Consulting
- Sheila McGee-Smith, president & principal analyst, McGee-Smith Analytics
- Kevin Kieller, partner, enableUC
- Elka Popova, program director and senior fellow, Frost & Sullivan
- Marty Parker, principal consultant, UniComm Consulting
If you missed Enterprise Connect or the locknote, you're not out of luck. This year, we're taking the locknote into the digital realm, and bringing back many of our SMEs to discuss the top takeaways from the event. Many of our locknote participants will be on hand, Wednesday, April 12, from 4 to 5 p.m. ET, to continue the #EC17 discussion, while looking ahead to next year. We'll be chatting about the keynotes, the impact of new services like Amazon Connect, how team collaboration is picking up in the enterprise, how technologies like IoT and AI/analytics will be making their mark moving forward, and more!
We'd love No Jitter readers and Enterprise Connect attendees/followers alike to participate in Wednesday's Enterprise Connect (@enterprisecon) Twitter chat, "ICYMI: Top Takeaways from Enterprise Connect 2017." Join us from 4 to 5 p.m. ET, and get your questions in front of the leading SMEs in enterprise communications and collaboration. Bring your questions, comments, and experiences, and take part in the live online discussion by using the hashtag #ECchat on each of your tweets.
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