Thousands of business technology users have been
visiting CeBit, the world’s largest IT trade show, this
week.
The annual exhibition, which runs from 10-16 March in Hannover,
Germany, sees users gather to find out what IT hardware, software
and services suppliers have on offer to boost business efficiency
and drive down costs.
As ever, the show is largely a showcase for products that are
available now or will be released in the near future, rather than
blue-sky technologies.
Neil Macehiter, partner at analyst firm Macehiter Ward-Dutton,
said, "Linux, open source and voice over IP are figuring
prominently – as are products to help firms to manage regulatory
compliance."
Claus Egge, IDC’s programme director for European storage
systems research, said this year suppliers are talking about tiered
storage systems, which are being used by some companies already,
but not, for example, about future concepts such as information
lifecycle management (ILM).
"ILM is out there on the horizon, but not here or now. At CeBit
we are addressing the market needs for the next year or so," he
said.
Security is once again a key theme of the CeBit show, with a
focus on mobile device security this year.
Visitors to the stand of security software firm Kaspersky Lab
are able to download specialist security software straight onto
their handheld devices.
In networking, Cisco and Lucent are discussing converged voice,
data and video networks, and intelligent storage networking, which
is designed to automate the transfer of data across a storage
infrastructure.
In the server market, Fujitsu Siemens is launching a
dual-operating system mainframe at CeBit – the SX150 – based on
Sun’s Sparc64 V processor.
Alongside business technology, the digital home is also high on
the agenda, with products including home networks, media hubs and
PVRs (hard-disc-based personal video recorders).
With growth in the enterprise segment in low single-digits,
suppliers want to extend their reach into the consumer market, said
Macehiter.
This year at CeBit there is a strong emphasis on IT innovations,
particularly from the UK and New Zealand.
For example, UK firm Mantic Point Solutions will show a product
that uses radio frequency identification to tag and track mobile
assets in hospitals.
New Zealand firm NextWindow will demonstrate gesture recognition
technology, which allows people to access services and information
from a computer screen with a wave of the hand.