Next: NEC iEXPO 2013
My last conference for the year will be NEC iEXPO 2013 and the C&C (computers and communications) User Forum in Tokyo.
Did you know that NEC has been providing telecom solutions for longer than any other UC and Telecom vendor? The company was formed in 1899 as a joint venture with Western Electric – it was the first Japanese-American joint venture. It was actually created in 1898, but it took a year for the laws to legally recognize it. The firm is usually cited as the third largest vendor of business communications systems worldwide. Telephony and UC is only a small part of company. One of the pieces of technology that I recall being the most proud of was my NEC Multisync 17″ CRT VGA monitor that I had sometime around 1992 (it probably weighed 70 lbs).
NEC is global brand, and offer a much wider portfolio than what is available in the US. In terms of UC and telephony, NEC’s strategic platform is 3C which is available as software or SaaS, along with its SV8n00 series appliances found in the smallest businesses and largest hotels. This part of NEC I know about, but there is more to learn.
NEC is at the forefront of software defined networks (SDN) with its ProgrammableFlow switches and controllers (based on OpenFlow). NEC radios are keeping our planet in touch with some of the most distant satellites, and I know its NEC battery technology that powers my Nissan Leaf.
What impresses me most about NEC is its vision. They don’t just talk about selling more stuff, they talk about creating “value for a more livable and affluent society.” NEC aspires to be “a leading global company leveraging the power of innovation to realize an information society friendly to humans and the earth.”
The problems concerning NEC include “aging populations, natural disasters, population growth, water supplies, food demand, and energy resources.” The expo hall will feature services and solutions “that aim to realize an information society friendly to humans and the earth.” In other words, this isn’t going to be just another telecom conference.
The speaker lineup looks pretty good too, including Nobuhiro Endo, President NEC. No UC event would be complete without a session on transformation, but this one is more significant than product to cloud stuff. Shigetaka Komori, CEO of FUJIFILM, will discuss actions as they watched profits from film wither. There’s also a session on NFC use in movie theaters in India. Tap and pay for tickets, refreshments, and loyalty program benefits in over 15 cities on nearly 400 screens.
That’s the pre-show post. More to come.