Report from CeBIT 2017

report-from-cebit

Last week, March 20-24, 2017, I was representing eEngine at the CeBIT, the International Software, Computer Hardware and New Technologies Exhibition. It was a very intense trip, during which I learned a lot and today I would like to share my impressions with you.

You can read more about the CeBIT itself on the event page

The idea of a trip

In January 2017 we received an invitation to take part in a competition organized under the economic mission program of the Marshal’s Office in Łódź. I could not miss the opportunity to go to this kind of event, so I did not hesitate to register eEngine. It turned out that we met all the criteria and I’m going to Hanover!

We learned that in early March. On the one hand, we felt the pressure of time and the motivation to act on the other. This was also the perfect reason to refresh our advertising materials, both printed:

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And animated version, which in 72 seconds tells about what we are dealing with.

Support of AHK

The departure was preceded by a training organized by the Polish-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK). During the course we took part in a presentation on the specifics of cooperation with German companies as well as on the role of trade fairs in Germany. These two presentations gave me practical information that I could use at the exhibition. There was also a presentation on the legal aspects of functioning of companies in Germany and the lecture about design thinking, an innovative approach to project design and service or product development.

I’m on the CeBIT 2017

Our CeBIT stand had a good location, we were in Hall 6 „Research & Innovation”, spot A17. Apart from eEngine, three other Software Houses from Lodz (binar::apps, Inovatica and LikiMS) and one hardware company (MPC) qualified for the program.

The area occupied by the exhibition halls was huge. Each of the halls had its leading topics such as: ERP & HR Solutions, Internet of Things, Startups, or Planet Reseller. One of the halls was entirely dedicated to the partner country of current year exhibition. In 2017 it was Japan. Most memorable part of this section of the exhibition was the visualisation of cherry trees in the wind. It was really a thing of beauty and will be remembered by me for a long time to come.. It was something beautiful!

Besides the Lodz voivodeship, Poland was represented on CeBIT by other regions (Pomorskie, Silesia). It was nice to meet familiar faces and exchange experiences from the event.

At our stand, representatives of the Marshal’s Office promoted Lodz as the organizer of EXPO 2022 and of course the whole region. All companies have received tremendous support from AHK representatives. We all had scheduled dozen or more meetings with German companies.

I am very positive about most of these meetings. Together with a representative of AHK I also had the opportunity to visit a large German e-Commerce (MDM) and meet with the Tech Leader of the project.

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What I’ve learned from my trip to CeBIT 2017

  1. The German market is able to accept any (literally any!) number of Magento certified programmers. Our e-Commerce section is already preparing for certification.
  2. Next year we will be presenting our new product for eCommerce / Magento in Startups section.
  3. Coming to any event we will arrange to meet with companies that are interesting to us before the event takes place. Quoting one of the people I talked with: „The idea with scheduling meetings was very cool!"
  4. Even outside Poland, positive relations with Polish companies can be established ;-).
  5. Representatives of German companies are willing to share their knowledge and talk about technical issues if they have the opportunity.
  6. Germans likes to meet. Nay! They want to visit Polish companies in their Polish offices.
  7. Germans do not “beat around the bush”, if they’re interested in, they are, if no, they’re not. How I like this approach!

Now, ahead of me , stands the task to take care of the conversations and relations I established. There are lots of them. Trip to CeBIT was a great opportunity to gain new customers. The greatest value, however, is the experience I gained this week. I am very happy that I did not hesitate and registered us for this event.

Sending greetings to the whole CeBIT team, thank you for a wonderful time.