The detrimental effect COVID-19 has had on businesses over the past couple of years is finally beginning to waver as organisations muster up the courage to send their employees back to the office and society regains its confidence to meet in large groups, as opposed to meeting on Zoom.
In-person business events such as Data Centre World held in London and MWC Barcelona are now back, with attendees and exhibitors rediscovering the benefits of meeting face-to-face. This type of collaboration also offers innovators a chance to showcase their products, build meaningful and long-lasting relationships with potential new clients, as well as having more significant conversations about the industry and where it’s heading.
Events such as these also offer industry experts the opportunity to bring their wealth of knowledge and advice to the market alongside sparking new ideas for thought-leaders. However, last year Gartner predicted that by 2024, in-person meetings will drop from 60% of enterprise meetings to 25%, driven by remote work and changing workforce demographics.
Today’s workers are making the most of collaboration tools and are now well-equipped to attend virtual meetings which have in some cases become preferable. Gartner also found, in its Digital Worker Experience Survey, that nearly 80% of workers were using collaboration tools for work in 2021, up from just over half of workers in 2019. This type of collaboration might on the whole seem more efficient and meet the requirements of the modern employee, constructed over the last two years.
Here we explore how industry leaders view collaborative approaches and events in today’s modern working world…
Dean Boyle, Chief Executive Officer, EkkoSense
March sees the physical return of Data Centre World at Excel London, and it will be great to see our industry get together for one of the flagship events for the data centre community.
Despite the wealth of information and opinion available online, events are still a great way for data centre professionals to seek out potential options and ideas for their own operations. And there’s no substitute for seeing solutions in action with a live demo, and understanding more about how they can help support your key operational goals.
As we approach the second anniversary of the start of lockdown and the Omicron threat fades, it’s clear that we’ve all missed the buzz of industry events, crowded exhibition floors, award ceremonies and other industry meetings. In their absence we’ve had to make do with lots of different virtual substitutes. However, while some of them may have given us the insights or answers we needed – or even helped us to understand what’s really going on in our sector – I’m sure most of us would be glad to see the back of what seemed like an endless diet of webinars.
Of course while we go to events for the conference programme, awards ceremony and exhibition hall, what we really enjoy is the chance meetings that allow us to catch up with friends and colleagues past and present. We also hope for those random connections that often turn out to be the catalyst for potentially exciting new business opportunities. It’s these meetings that can only happen in-person. I’m sure Microsoft and Zoom are busy trying to come up with their virtual equivalents, but you know they’ll never work!
As EkkoSense grows, we’re obviously attending more and more industry events around the world, either directly or supporting our growing network of partners. We’ve succeeded in building out this network though largely virtual means, but as things open up and travel and events become much easier, I’m personally looking forward to attending and supporting partners at events. And it will be the face-to-face meetings and networking that will really allow us to cement our virtual relationships and drive our business forward together.
So, whether it’s Excel London, the Austin Texas Convention Center for AFCOM’s Data Center World Global Conference, events in Silicon Valley or conventions in Singapore, I’m hoping that this year’s industry events will prove to be as busy and productive as their pre-lockdown counterparts. For 2022, preparations are already underway to attend specialist industry shows around the world – such as the DCD New York show and also the smaller events such as DATACENTRE.ME – that continue to serve as networking hubs for data centre professionals.
And because there’s only so much you can achieve on Zoom or Teams, let’s hope that 2022 turns out to be a great year for our industry events.
Jonathan Leppard | COO, Future Facilities
In-person collaboration and networking is unquestionably a valuable means for data centre leaders to gain intelligence on commonplace technological and human problems, discuss approaches and share suggestions on good practice across different types and sizes of company. While these conversations are possible to have remotely, they come more easily in an informal, relaxed, face-to-face setting.
What’s more, events such as exhibitions allow data centre leaders to explore and experience new and existing technologies first-hand, helping to make their jobs easier. Of course, information on the same solutions could also be found online and demos individually organised outside of an event. However, setting aside time and headspace to conduct the necessary online searches and explore new technologies and approaches is more difficult in a busy working environment. By contrast, when a couple of consecutive days are allotted to attend an event, diaries are cleared and time can be given over to deep thinking and exploring without day-to-day workplace activity acting as a disruption.
That being said, many professionals have enjoyed key conference sessions being available online and on-demand over the course of the pandemic. This has meant they can learn at any point, without the need to travel, which incurs extra time and cost implications to the business, not to mention the environment.
Although the convenience of the online experience is compelling, it’s questionable whether it’s really equal in value to in-person events. As such, organisers need to carefully consider how the two factors can be balanced.
Post-pandemic, professionals are likely to go to fewer, high-quality physical events. To attract data centre leaders to these, compelling conference goals and content – including interesting speakers and panel discussions – must be offered. For example, events that have the potential to positively impact industry progress towards important milestones – by addressing key issues, such as data centre energy efficiency – will be more appealing.
David Kyle, Business Development Director – FlaktGroup
Networking for data centre leaders would be a great opportunity to vacate the boardroom, Zoom and Teams, and get away from the day-to-day pressures of managing the efficient operation of highly critical facilities.
Many people shudder when they hear the term ‘networking’ – ‘oh my goodness do I actually have to speak to people’ – and having been involved in data centre events for the past decade it gives you the opportunity to meet some very interesting and amazing people from all different aspects of the design, construction and operation of data centres, who keep the wheels of our industry turning.
Regular networking within our industry will give a broader, deeper knowledge and help gain insights into what is really happening out there like potential supply chain issues, what is driving server capacity demand, aims towards net zero, upcoming changes in legislation – lots of interesting discussion points. Building relationships and broadening access to develop long-lasting professional and personal relationships is vital for our industry not only for right now, but for the generation that comes next. Networking events certainly assist in keeping up with current issues taking place within the industry, but also provides the opportunity to help others.
Networking can be described as the exchange of information and can develop business-to-business ideas among people, and where else do you get the opportunity to meet so many like-minded individuals under one roof in an informal social setting to potentially discuss unique insights and knowledge.
