The lineup for the CRN Pipeline conference in August continues to grow, with the agenda now also including discussion with IT leaders from Suncorp, Austereo, the CEO of ASX-listed Atturra, channel M&A veterans, and sessions about IT revenue diversification, SOC-as-a-service, the future of cloud marketplaces, channel marketing tactics, and the reveal of research about IT buyers’ and the channel’s priorities for the next 12 months.
The event, which brings together the IT channel at the 5-star Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort on the Gold Coast from August 22 to 25, will also cover AI opportunities for the IT channel, hiring, customer cost realities, revenue growth opportunities, the future of technology distribution partnerships and more – in addition to an extensive networking agenda.
More than 150 partners and 20+ sponsors are expected to attend the event, which presents IT priorities in the year ahead and what IT partners should be investing in to be ready.
Suncorp and Austereo to discuss IT priorities
CRN Pipeline attendees will hear from Charles Pizzato, Executive General Manager of IT Infrastructure at Suncorp Group, which early this year reported a half-year profit of $560 million, and which includes the brands including Suncorp, AAMI, GIO, Shannons and APIA.
Late last year, it was reported that Suncorp had set a “flag on the hill” with its declaration that it intended to exit owned or leased data centres by early 2024. The company is at the tail end of a long-term cloud migration, including to AWS and Azure.
At Pipeline, Pizzato will join a discussion panel about IT buyers’ priorities in the year ahead and how their partner needs are evolving.
Also joining the CRN Pipeline stage to discuss IT priorities will be Stephen Haddad, Chief Technology and Operations Officer at Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), which reported group revenue of $260.1 million for the six months ending 31 December 2022, and which counts 95 percent of Australia’s population as its audience via radio, television and digital assets including the Triple M and Hit brands.
With SCA’s digital publishing empire and physical operations spanning 60 locations, and Haddad’s role overseeing everything from corporate networks to business systems, infrastructure and digital products and the project management office, this Pipeline session is bound to be fascinating.
M&A identities to share lessons, discuss market
Following a keynote about channel M&A by Macquarie Bank’s Technology Industry Lead for Macquarie Business Banking, Evan Hinchliffe, and a talk about brand building and M&A by B2B marketer Melanie Unwin, Co-Founder and Director at Mogrify, channel identities will take to the stage to share their M&A experiences and insights and comment on the current M&A market.
They include Scott Frew, CEO & Founder of iasset.com, who has more than 30 years' experience building IT companies across Asia Pacific, including as Founder and Executive Chairman of Distribution Central.
Frew will be joined on stage by former rhipe CEO, and now a board member and advisor to CEOs, Dominic O’Hanlon, who has extensive involvement in technology business transactions.
Also taking part in this discussion will be Christian Pacheco, Managing Director of Virtual IT Group and Chief Executive Officer of Pia. Virtual IT Group ranked eighth in the last CRN Fast50 and is well-known for its M&A journey.
Revenue diversification and cloud future
Pipeline attendees will also hear the latest about revenue diversification opportunities and the evolving security sales story from Yasser Elgammal, Dicker Data General Manager of Sales, ANZ. This Q&A will look at business opportunities that exist beyond the usual scope of IT businesses.
The future of cloud marketplaces will also be discussed on stage in a Q&A with James Bergl, VP of Community & Ecosystem, Pax8 APAC. This discussion will look beyond today’s product catalogues to how Bergl sees cloud marketplaces evolving.
Australian SOC-as-a-Service market & AI in the channel
Managed Security Operations Centre (SOC) services are among the growth drivers for some MSPs, and Pipeline attendees will get to join a session looking at this opportunity. eSentire's Head of Channels ANZ, Mert Mustafa, will lay out his view of how the SOCaaS market is developing in Australia, the use cases and how to enable them.
This will be one of various security sessions at Pipeline, including a session about building on the Essential Eight baseline featuring Huntress.
New research into what percentage of IT buyers and partners apply Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) principles to cybersecurity and the maturity of their cybersecurity approach will also be revealed by Tech Research Asia’s Trevor Clarke.
The research will also reveal what IT buyers and partners are doing with AI, including AI use cases and what IT buyers are looking to partners for help with when it comes to AI. This is in addition to the previously announced talk by Nick Beaugeard about incorporating AI into daily business processes. Another session on AI will also be announced soon.
It will also reveal IT buyer’s strategic priorities for the next 12 months, and preferences on a wide range of issues, from preferred channels for engaging with IT partners to their approach to using online software marketplaces and choosing a technology partner.
Channel marketing tactics
One of IT partners’ perennial challenges is how to make the best use of marketing funds. So, IT channel marketer Melanie Unwin will take the stage to lay out key marketing tactics IT partners should be focussing on. That’s in addition Melanie Unwin's talk at Pipeline about building an IT business brand for M&A.
Atturra CEO to join partners on stage
This year, ASX-listed IT services company Atturra has bought Sydney IT business Somerville Group, Melbourne Microsoft partner Hammond Street Developments, and announced it is looking to buy Sydney human resources and payroll company Silverdrop. The company posted $82.8 million in revenue for the six months to 31 December 2022.
Atturra CEO Stephen Kowal will join other IT partners on stage for a discussion about the evolving market and the opportunities they see in the year ahead.
More sessions and speakers to be announced soon.
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.
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