Introducing EDGE 2022
- 23 June, 2022 08:15
ARN and Reseller News are proud to launch EDGE 2022, the leading technology outsourcing conference for business leaders in Australia and New Zealand, built on the foundations of collaboration, education and advancement.
Set for 13-16 November 2022 at Novotel Sunshine Coast Resort, attendance at EDGE 2022 is by invitation only, limited to 380 decision-makers shaping the technology outsourcing landscape on both sides of the Tasman.
New Zealand-based delegates will arrive on Saturday 12 November, kicking off with an informal evening welcome followed by a dedicated Kiwi track featuring tailored research and interactive sessions on Sunday morning, before moving into the full conference agenda. All attendees will depart on Wednesday 16 November.
Such high calibre of attendance is the catalyst for a four-day destination event designed to provide business coaching at an executive-level, targeting seasoned leaders to aspiring entrepreneurs.
The market is saturated with conventional conferences following traditional rules of engagement – stock-standard content, heavy technology pitches and irrelevant delegate interactions – delivering predictable insights with no actionable takeaways or outcomes.
In an industry fixated on the why, EDGE 2022 will focus on the how, offering step-by-step guidance around outsourcing trends, solution monetisation, business growth and customer acquisition.
“We look forward to hosting an ecosystem returning to full strength at EDGE 2022,” said Cherry Yumul, vice president of Channel at Foundry. “And we are notably pleased to welcome the Kiwis and delegates from Western Australia back to this conference following a challenging period of travel restrictions.”
From an audience standpoint, EDGE 2022 is not a conference to meet end-user customers and by design, does not accept CIO, CTO, CISO or CDO attendance.
Why? Because EDGE 2022 is a commercial forum built for outsourcers, playing host to the most influential business leaders in technology, reflective of a diverse, innovative and expanding partner ecosystem.
Mirroring the market, this event will bring together emerging and established technology players, spanning large-scale business consultants, service providers and system integrators, to bleeding edge start-ups, cloud specialists and boutique agencies.
Such an approach creates a unique environment in which extreme partner types can come together for an industry sales kick-off shaped by objective analysis and lucrative outsourcing takeaways.
“EDGE 2022 will connect the most influential business leaders in technology outsourcing, offering an environment to create long-lasting commercial connections,” Yumul added. “This will be underpinned by local insights through in-market research, compelling speakers, and interactive sessions to equip business leaders with the information required for success.
“This is a powerful combination and aligned to our aim of providing actionable and pragmatic takeaways through consumable and transferable content to ensure post-event execution is achievable and attainable.”
Plans are now underway shaping an editorial narrative built around the theme of Skills: Sharp, Strategic & Smart – offering step-by-step guidance on pragmatic and realistic ways to overcome ongoing resource challenges.
This will be underpinned by EDGE Research, housing in-depth end-user and partner analysis across Australia and New Zealand, uniquely delivered in partnership with Tech Research Asia.
Skills: Sharp, Strategic & Smart
As the market engages in a stalemate struggle for talent – a struggle in which employees rule and salaries swing the balance – a pragmatic approach to skills is required.
Winning the talent war is impossible, time to focus on the more realistic battles ahead and build out skills aligned to three core objectives – Sharp, Strategic and Smart.
With new technologies flooding the industry at pace, partners must prioritise solutions aligned to internal capacity and end-user demand, while also exploring viable outsourcing strategies and practical methods to achieve scale. But this can only be achieved through a commitment to individual up-skilling as an executive leader, armed with the modern-day attributes to spearhead growth.
On the one hand, this is a market bursting at the seams with new technology projects and increased outsourcing demand. Yet on the other, remains woefully under resourced and unable to capitalise.
EDGE 2022 will side-step the predicable talent rhetoric to focus on solving the most crippling skills challenges facing the technology ecosystem – converting questions into answers and ideas into game-plans.
Day 1: Sharp Skills
Sharp in the context of prioritising the most lucrative solutions in the market, technologies which command the highest customer spend and help create a unique point of industry differentiation.
- Most lucrative solution areas to pursue based on customer investment
- Technical capabilities required to meet evolving project requirements
- Most in-demand skills customers are willing to pay for / outsource
Credit: ARN / Reseller News Day 2: Strategic Skills
Strategic linked to business transformation to achieve scale at a sustainable pace, reducing reliance on premium labour while enhancing employee retention and acquisition approaches.
- How to scale at an achievable and pragmatic pace
- Ways to reduce reliance on labour by eliminating manual processes
- Best practice specific to employee retention and acquisition
- Salary insights and tapping adjacent industries for talent
- Best methods to acquire new skills (M&A, onshore vs. offshore etc)
Credit: ARN / Reseller News Day 3: Smart Skills
Smart in relation to leadership development on an individual level, improving executive engagement with employees and customers aligned to corporate objectives.
- How to better show up with employees and customers
- Business coaching linked to individual executive development
- Top skills and attributes of successful leaders post-pandemic
Credit: ARN / Reseller News EDGE Research
EDGE Research will examine customer investment and outsourcing priorities across Australia and New Zealand, benchmarking end-user plans against technology partner strategies.
This does not follow the predictable approach of analyst firms which offer high-level industry spend that lacks depth or outsourcing context.
Rather, this localised survey deep-dives into the specific details of customer requirements in the context of third-party technology providers, crucially counterbalanced with the priorities of the partner ecosystem – is the market aligned?
Delivered in partnership with Tech Research Asia, EDGE Research will focus on the short- to medium-term opportunities ahead for the outsourcing ecosystem, uncovering what makes end-users tick on both sides of the Tasman. This is alongside insights into the purchasing patterns of organisations, key solution focus areas and the balance of project work being delivered in-house compared to outsourced.
Findings will also outline what customers truly think of solution providers from a pros and cons perspective, offering critical advice from an engagement and selling standpoint.
On the flip side, immediate partner priorities will also be outlined from a business and technology standpoint, documenting commercial best practice, customer acquisition tactics and financial models of success.
Unique to the trans-Tasman outsourcing industry, EDGE Research is designed to offer the clearest indication as to whether the ecosystem is aligned with the end-user market. In addition, findings will be further segmented to provide a New Zealand-specific research breakout housing Kiwi data points and insights.
In addition to data-driven insights, EDGE 2022 will also play host to market-leading business coaches and analysts, hand-picked to provide strategic guidance and support at both organisational and individual levels.
From award-winning corporate consultants to highly-respected people-based trainers, EDGE 2022 will house independent and objective speakers to provide unvarnished insights into the mechanics of business and executive development.
To enquire about attending or sponsoring EDGE 2022, click here
