Shaheen Haque, the Territory Manager for Middle East and Turkey at Interactive Intelligence, speaks about his company’s plans for GITEX Technology Week 2016
Are you participating at GITEX Technology Week this year?
Yes, we will be making our GITEX Technology Week debut this year and can be found at stand C7-50 in Hall 7. Earlier this year we introduced to the region PureCloud Engage, our cloud-based solution that delivers customer engagement, communications and collaboration functionality. Our focus at GITEX is to drive its uptake by highlighting how this high-value, low-risk cloud solution can offer a fast return on investment and lead to better customer engagement.
What is your theme going to be for GITEX Technology Week?
The theme of our participation is ‘Imagine the Future of Customer Engagement’ and in line with this, we shall invite visitors to explore how innovative offerings such as our cloud-based PureCloud Engage℠ solution open up the playing field and enable businesses of all sizes to gain access to powerful customer engagement, communications and collaboration functionality.
What technology and market trends have you seen this year on the Middle East market?
One of the trends with the biggest positive impact has been cloud computing. All signs point to this continuing to be the dominant market trend as customers begin to realize the benefits it offers in the form of increased flexibility, ease of deployment, reduced costs and improved accessibility. In fact, research by MarketsandMarkets has predicted that the Middle East cloud applications market will be worth $2404.5 million by 2020. I also see the convergence of big data and business intelligence as an important trend that will give organizations the ability to identify patterns and issues to more effectively meet operational and customer demands.
Will you be launching any new products or solutions at GITEX this year?
We launched PureCloud Engage in the region earlier this year and we will focus on promoting this launch at GITEX Technology Week 2016. We shall conduct live demonstrations of our PureCloud Engage and Customer Interaction Centre (CIC) solutions at our stand. With these, we intend to give channel partners, as well as attending customers, the ability to experience first-hand the latest functionality.
Because it is so well attended, GITEX Technology Week serves as a platform for us to meet with partners from across the region at a single event. We look forward to engaging with these partners to outline our roadmap so that they can be confident in our long-term success.
Will you be recruiting new channel partners? If yes, for which markets?
Yes, we are looking at new channel partners, especially for PureCloud Engage. The best channel partners tend to be organizations who want a partnership, rather than simply a buy/resell relationship. Our successful 20-plus year track record and product innovation demonstrate that we are an excellent investment for partners looking to stay ahead of the competition.
We sell to all market segments, however, we are looking to further expand into automotive, fast-food, finance, government, health, hospitality, retail, telecommunications and utilities, particularly with our PureCloud Engage solution. Without a doubt, GITEX is the largest and most prestigious event in our region. It enables us to reach out to an impressively large number of prospects, customers and partners in just one week.
Customers who attend GITEX are interested in understanding the latest trends and are therefore very receptive to innovative solutions such as those that Interactive Intelligence will promote at the show. The timing of the show also makes it possible for them to begin the strategic planning of their IT investment for the following year.
