Sydney is always a good place to visit.  And the annual Cebit show makes the city irresistable for an IT guy like me.  So out with the passport and hello to Botany Bay.

The Cebit show continues to grow in popularity and relevance.  It's an annual show highlighting the ICT industry downunder. Held in the Sydney Exhibition Centre n Darling Harbour, it is a big deal, and the Cebit signs hanging from every downtown lamppost certainly make us feel welcome there.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to a couple of cocktail parties, including one at Government House - wow - what a magnificient building!!  The importance of ICT to the Australian economy was highlighted over and over in the official commentary, and the proof is there in the governments commitment to rolling out broadband.  It is clear that if NZ does't follow suit, we will fall further behind.

Cebit provides a catalyst to get around and meet people, with so many being drawn into the city for the week.  I spent most of my week visiting our various Sydney-based Australian partners, and even going from dawn to dusk wasn't sufficient to see everyone.  Nonetheless, it was very worthwhile seeing what is going n and sharing ideas.

The show itself is a little multi-personality.  It includes consumer products, gaming systems, electronic gizmos, as well as the products we find ourselves deploying for our clients.  There is a strong market in mobility, and it is clear that our Activiser product is very much a technology leader. 

Lots of people selling IP based phone systems - these are looking like a commodity item now (yes, I know every phone company will now email me to correct this claim, and in doing so, they will prove my point!),  And lots of people selling switches and routers, racks and cable systems, all of which look pretty much the same as each other.

But hidden amongst these are some real gems.  People with mobile POS solutions, hot back-up DR offerings, and some clever use of virtualisation.  But little presence of ERP vendors, and limited evidence of the technology you use every day.