IT distributors, M&A and marketing experts, vendors prepare for CRN Pipeline 2023

Australian IT buyers will explain how their IT spending priorities are evolving in a challenging economic climate, when they take to the stage at the 2023 CRN Pipeline conference in August.

With CIOs worldwide looking to “optimise” technology spending according to Gartner, and organisations focussed on “thoughtful spending”, as one cloud giant put it recently, CRN Pipeline will examine what this means for IT partners.

The conference, which takes place from August 22 to 25 at the 5-star Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort on the Gold Coast, will begin with Tech Research Asia’s Trevor Clarke delivering a keynote address about trends critical to how IT and digital channel partners position their businesses.

Clarke has seen business priorities shift in the last year. “In previous years, business focus has been about top line growth. That's changed very quickly in the last 12 months in particular and will continue to be so this year. Now it’s a focus on the bottom line, on margins,” he told CRN Australia.

This is driving a push for operational excellence. Organisations are asking “‘How do we get more out of our current spending? How do we trim the fat…and just be a really, really well-run machine?” Clarke said.

At Pipeline, technology buyers will discuss their IT priorities in the year ahead and technology partners will share how they are adapting their businesses to shifting customer demands.

Attendees will also hear from Microsoft Global Partner Solutions Director for ANZ, Vanessa Sorenson, about key issues for the IT channel, with details about that talk to be announced soon.

Distributors, M&A experts to speak at Pipeline

Pipeline will also provide a snapshot of how technology distribution options are evolving in 2023 and the benefits for partners. 

Attendees will be able to speak to a range of distributors, with Arrow, Dicker Data, Fifteen,  Ingram Micro, Pax8, rhipe and Westcon-Comstor attending as sponsors, and more to be announced.

Some distributors will take part in discussion panels on day two of the event, August 23, in a session designed to help partners assess the latest distribution offerings and models.

On day three of the event, August 24, a technology banking lead from a major bank (to be announced soon) will speak about the M&A landscape. More than a dozen M&A deals were announced in the Australian IT channel in early 2023. Pipeline will unpack key considerations for those thinking about or actively seeking to buy or sell a technology business.

Attendees will also hear from technology marketer Melanie Unwin, Co-Founder and Director at Mogrify, which provides B2B marketing services to ICT and professional services clients. Unwin’s speaking engagements have included the Marketing Innovation Expo, Microsoft’s Australian Partner Conference, Microsoft Inspire and the Partner Profitability series. She is also a Microsoft Partner Mentor, a global initiative from Microsoft HQ in Redmond.

Unwin has worked with Australian IT businesses that went through M&A and she will share marketing advice for IT partners who are looking towards M&A. IT partners will also share their M&A experiences and insights.

More sponsors appearing at Pipeline

In addition to the sponsors mentioned above, Pipeline 2023 will also be attended by sponsors NBN, Swoop, Schneider Electric, Aussie Broadband, ConnectWise, eSentire, Fujitsu, HaloPSA, Huntress, Kaseya, NinjaOne and GoTo.

Guests will have a range of opportunities to speak to these sponsors and network with fellow IT partners, including at sponsor stands and in some cases in roundtable conversations and at networking activities at the Sheraton Grand Mirage and offsite, and at the CRN Impact Awards dinner on August 24.

CRN Pipeline 2023 takes place from August 22-25 at the Sheraton Grand Mirage, Gold Coast. See the CRN Pipeline 2023 agenda and register your interest in attending CRN Pipeline 2023.

If you are a technology vendor and want to be involved in CRN Pipeline, there are only eight sponsorships remaining so reach out to the CRN team here.