On September 6, the third MERLION IT Solutions Summit ended. It was the largest event in the company's history.
The annual MERLION IT Solutions Summit, which took place in the territory of the Skolkovo School of Management from September 4 to 6, gathered over 1800 representatives of well-known Russian and foreign IT companies and became the largest event of its own in the history of the company. At the summit, global IT corporations and Russian system integrators discuss the most important technological trends, as well as the changes that they make in our lives and the business of developers, suppliers, and users of IT solutions. This year, 47 reports were delivered at IT Solutions Summit, and 320 negotiations were scheduled through the MERLION mobile application. Its active users this year included 1264 participants.
Over 60 leading IT manufacturers supported the event. The platinum sponsors are IBM, Intel, HPE and Microsoft. Premium partners include APC by Schneider Electric, Dell Technologies, Hikvision, Lenovo, and VMware. Summit Technical Partner is HP Inc.
Welcoming speeches to representatives of Russian and foreign IT companies, as well as customers of IT solutions from among the largest Russian enterprises invited to the summit, addressed the General Director of MERLION Dmitry Vinogradov. He emphasized that in present-day realities, IT-distributor is not only a direct supplier of goods but also a service company that, in close partnership with integrators, provides an effective implementation of projects for the selection, customization, and implementation of IT solutions.
Alexey Abramov, Chairman of MERLION Board of Directors, noted the continued importance of live communication in the era of global digitalization. According to Alexey Abramov, artificial intelligence today helps us to automate a variety of communication and business processes effectively, but they can hardly ever replace the innate aspiration of mankind for perfection.
Speakers at the plenary session of the summit made presentations on current trends in the IT industry, traditionally representing the world's leading IT corporations Intel, HPE, and IBM, at the most significant global events. In her speech, Lina Stukov, Intel Sales Enabling Director, noted the growing role of technology in a world built around big data. Till Stimberg Hewlett Packard Enterprise Director Hybrit IT Business Unit, DACH and Russia explained why every organization today must develop its strategy for using information, not only for its development but for survival. Barbora Paulovic Deckerova, Vice President IBM Partner Ecosystem Central and Eastern Europe, shared her IBM experience in building the most effective partnerships.
52 stands of manufacturers and system integrators were represented in the expo zone. Visitors could note the growing role of collaborations and how the competencies of developers and IT service providers harmoniously complement each other.
As part of the work of 11 demo laboratories focused on technical specialists, leading experts from IBM, HPE, Nutanix, VMware, Dell Technologies, Lenovo, Skala-R, and Hikvision held their master classes. This year, experts focused on virtual infrastructure and hyperconverged solutions.
Speaking at the MERLION IT Solutions Summit, Russian and foreign analysts shared exclusive data and their vision of the current and future IT market with the expert community. According to IDC estimates, voiced by Elena Semenovskaya, IDC Russia/CIS Research Director, despite the impact of trade wars and the volatility of certain segments, the IT market remains stable and positive dynamics in business consulting and project-oriented IT services related to digital initiatives (Big analytics data, IoT, AI). Daniel Thorniley, president of DT-Global Business Consulting, assessed the current state of Russian high-tech business from the investor's point of view. He noted that in the IT sector, Russia has become eighth in the world in terms of labor productivity, and is significantly ahead of all developing countries in terms of investment attractiveness. Stanislav Mirin, a leading consultant at iKS-Consulting, spoke about why the cloud market in Russia can be considered mature this year, 2019, and shared important data on key players in the IaaS and SaaS segments. Andrei Seregin, the senior consultant at GfK Consumer Choices, described the most promising areas of development for the Russian regions and the problems that small and medium-sized IT businesses primarily face today.
MERLION and the summit participants praised the effectiveness of meetings of this kind, contributing to direct contacts between Russian and global business and building a development strategy for the Russian IT industry.
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