Dubai, September 07 2008 - IDC, the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events to the IT, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets, today announces its preliminary agenda for the IDC CIO Summit 2009 series.

Aiming to build upon the success of its inaugural 2008 event, the latest installment - running under the theme of 'Reflections and Innovations Ahead' - will be held at Atlantis, The Palm, in Dubai on February 8th-10th, 2009 and at Sun City Resort in South Africa on February 24th-25th, 2009. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) CIO Summit 2009 will have 100 CIOs in attendance from Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, as well as the GCC countries, Pakistan, and Egypt. The Africa CIO Summit 2009 will feature 80 CIOs from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon, Senegal, Cote d'lvoire, Kenya, Mauritius, and Angola.

Now in its second year and growing, IDC's CIO Summit has become a must-attend event for IT decision makers interested in leveraging technology to enable and transform business models and processes. Unlike other industry events, the IDC CIO Summit is content-driven, with leading organizations presenting end-user case studies that provide real-world solutions to the key issues faced by IT and business executives. The event will offer practical advice on leveraging technology to streamline management and reduce costs, as well as an opportunity to network with industry leaders and CIOs.

"IDC is pleased to announce the preliminary agenda and speakers for its second annual CIO Summit. The sharing of best practices among IT leaders, business executives, and our analysts is the most effective way to move the industry forward," says Jyoti Lalchandani, Vice-President and Regional Managing Director of IDC Middle East and Africa. "The case studies presented at this event will effectively highlight the successful alignment of IT and business value."

According to IDC, the Middle East and Africa IT market is forecast to reach a staggering value of $80 billion by 2012, up from $51 billion in 2008. One area that is expected to undergo considerable development, according to Mr. Lalchandani, is the datacenter. "A growing number of enterprise CIOs are approaching the physical and operational limits when it comes to managing the server and storage systems proliferation within their existing datacenter environments," he says. "Existing approaches that view the datacenter as a building with walls, power, and wires have led to highly fragmented, uncoordinated, and inefficient deployments of storage and server elements. This makes it difficult for companies to take advantage of scale in the purchase and use of IT assets and to build truly workable enterprise-wide business continuity/disaster recovery plans."

Such business-critical issues will be high on the agenda at IDC's prestigious CIO Summit. The exclusive, invitation-only event will present the first-hand visions and experiences of recognized thought leaders from the world's premier ICT organizations as they analyze today's major trends and provide informed insights into the developments that can be expected over the next three to five years. Plenary sessions, workshops, and roundtable discussions will all maximize value and balance interaction between delegates and partners, creating the optimum-networking environment.

"IDC's inaugural Middle East CIO Summit in 2008 proved to be a tremendous success for all concerned. With one hundred and fourteen CIOs in attendance, it provided Dell with the ideal platform to interact directly with the region's key IT decision makers, spurring long-term professional relationships and business partnerships" said John Coulston, Marketing Manger, Dell. Dell was a partner for the CIO Summit 2008 and will be again for the 2009 installment.

For more information about becoming a partner or securing an invitation, please contact Ronita Bhattacharjee at rbhattacharjee@idc.com or on +971 4 391 2747. You can also visit IDC's events pages  at www.idc-cema.com.

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About IDC
IDC is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 900 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 90 countries worldwide. For more than 43 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. Founded in 1964, IDG had 2005 revenues of $2.68 billion and has 13,600 employees worldwide. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.

Clients can access IDC's technology intelligence through:

• Individual research documents

• More than 500 subscription research services

• One-on-one relationships with industry experts

• Custom consulting engagements

• World-class conferences and events

IDC in MEA
For the Middle East and Africa region, IDC retains a coordinated network of offices in Casablanca, Nairobi, Lagos, Johannesburg and Istanbul, with a regional center in Dubai. Further expansion plans for 2008 include the opening of additional offices in Riyadh and Cairo. Our coverage couples local insight with an international perspective to provide a comprehensive understanding of markets in these dynamic regions. Our market intelligence services are unparalleled in depth, consistency, scope, and accuracy. IDC MEA currently fields over 70 analysts, consultants, and conference associates across the region.

 

© Press Release 2008