It's always great to be in Hannover, Germany during CeBIT time. While in attendance you feel a great buzz; you know you are in the best place in the world for cutting edge information technology, along with a direct insight into the latest and greatest industry trends.

Sure, the more tangible tech is great to see, but for me it's the inspirational speakers that make the whole exercise worthwhile. Gurus, experts, and leaders of the industry that make you believe you can reach out and touch the future, right now. The best part, though: sometimes you can.
 

Now & Then

Two years ago hot topics including mobile and social were just coming into focus at CeBIT. This year the focus was greatly sharpened, with the possibilities of two years ago having well and truly arrived, and the next logical step now evolving naturally.

Back in 2009, Webciety was by far my favourite area of CeBIT Hannover. Beyond the eye-catching design and stand-out layout of the floor area, it had a great younger, up-and-comer crowd and some really fresh ideas with a high online focus. The real highlight of the area was Webciety's Speaker Corner, featuring some great speakers, bloggers and topical panel discussions highly relevant to myself and my work focus.

This year the mood had changed, unfortunately not for the better. The buzz from previous years had died down, with more traditional businesses and speakers stepping in. Some organisations seemed to be trying to cultivate some of what had made Webciety successful in the past, wanting to appear as peers to those with the freshest ideas and products from previous years. Not everyone of course, there were some great companies present, but still, a shame.

Perhaps most disappointing for me, not being too flash with the German language, was the poor representation of the English language on the floor at such a prestigious international event such as CeBIT. Especially visible at the Webciety speaker's corner, again confusing to me given the international focus of the web related topics being discussed. Anyway, perhaps I just need to invest in some German lessons. What's that old saying? When in Hannover...

Let's take a look at some of the outstanding, specific themes of CeBIT 2011 below.

 

 

Mobile

It has been said that perhaps in the near future websites and web applications will be designed for mobile devices first, desktop computers second. This reverse shift in approach to design represents something that is occurring right now. Mobile device usage is growing at an amazing rate, while consistantly becoming smarter and more web-focused. I would be confident if you dive into any analytics you have access to, the majority of these statistics will show you: mobile traffic is climbing, quickly.

An off-shoot of the mobile revolution is the growing importance of related applications being access-everywhere, one set of data, one-time setup. It's great to see that mobile devices are getting increasingly seamless to use, ahh the sweet smell of a competitive marketplace.

The area of mobile is certainly looking strong and showing no signs of slowing down. Oh, by the way, I'm still looking forward to my custom SMS tones, thanks Apple.

 

 

Social

These days social is everywhere. But social is no longer a concept, it's a business reality and one that some are already doing quite well at.

The thing many businesses seem to not understand is that social is not for everyone.

Social has certainly surpassed cool idea or even valid customer relationship strategy and has headed into the realm of overvalued buzzword. Businesses attempting to quickly clamour aboard the bandwagon with the vague hope of riding the social wave to the land of success are bound for failure.

Meanwhile, those willing to take the time to formulate a solid, focused strategy and dedicate resources to social media have a much greater chance of finding success. I was particularly impressed with Dell's demonstration of their Social Media Listening and Command Center; a dedicated resource monitoring social conversations and actively interacting with their community. Nice one Dell.

Social concepts I am really excited about seeing more of are further organisation transparency, along with an increasingly consumer-focused industry. This will benefit us all as individuals through better products at the end of the day, though the related blurring line between work and home is an issue that we should all be aware of, and cautious of.

 

Cloud

Cloud. Cloud cloud cloud cloud cloud. There's a quite lot of talk of this topic, especially now that a few more companies (such as Microsoft) are catching up with Cloud computing leaders such as Amazon Web Services. It was clear at CeBIT that many companies are clearly still playing catch up, and yet real action is possible now. "Get your application on Cloud, now. Just do it, you won't regret it" was one speaker's recommendation that puts the immediate reality of the cloud into focus.

For me, the defining moment of the topic of Cloud at this year's CeBIT was when Parker Harris from Salesforce stepped up onto the Global Conferences stage and started discussing the concept of Cloud 2. I could see a few businessmen in the audience awkwardly shift as if thinking "Cloud TWO? We're not even ready for Cloud ONE!". Cutting edge. Unexpected. Forward-facing. I like it.

As a Microsoft-focused developer I must admit I'm a little excited about the possibilities of the SQL Azure platform. I will be curious to see how the area of Cloud develops with a few newcomers turning up a little late to the party... competition breeds excellence after all.

 

 

One final note, I must once again thank our fantastic Hannover hosts, the Sigrist family, who help make any visit to Hannover well and truly worthwhile despite CeBIT! After a long, action-filled day at CeBIT there is nothing better than being able to put your feet up somewhere that feels more than a little bit like home. Thanks team!

Be sure to check out CeBIT 2011 in Sydney from 31st May - 02 June. Visit their website for more information.