NEC’s first-ever global partner conference, ADVANTAGE 2019, brought together more than 550 attendees from North America, EMEA and Latin America to learn, share and socialize during the three-day event. Attendees representing 200 partners from 50 countries gathered at the Hilton Bonnet Creek in Orlando, including channel partners, systems integrators, technology partners and guests along with key NEC executives.

With its theme of “Experience. Exchange. Excite,” ADVANTAGE delivered a rich blend of experts, guest speakers, networking opportunities, best practices sharing, deep dives into digital workspace topics, and a view of upcoming offerings. NEC executives, including Enterprise Technologies SVP Paul Kievit, Solutions and Services SVP Ram Menghani, and VP of Digital Platform Solutions Paul Aiello, provided a glimpse into the future of the Smart Enterprise and exciting possibilities that are available via dynamic delivery including Cloud, Smart WorkSpace and the UNIVERGE Integration Platform.

Woven throughout the presentations and educational sessions was the importance of the overall customer experience.

Digital transformation enables businesses to prioritize customer experience (CX), which elevates a commitment to employee experience (EX). For example, NEC’s Smart Workspace enhances employee experiences by providing work flexibility, improved collaboration, increased productivity and engagement. Deploying Smart Workspace allows organizations to reduce costs, retain talent, and create a great work culture.

Break-out sessions focused on current workforce trends, secure data management, unified communications solutions, high-availability servers, overcoming infrastructure challenges, and the importance of building customer relationships.

This year’s Solutions Expo featured global innovative solutions from the U.S., Japan and EMEA. The exhibits showcased the best of NEC’s current offerings as well as solutions that are coming soon.

Check out the ADVANTAGE photo album for a closer look at this year’s conference activities

Presentations Designed to Inspire

This year’s agenda also featured guest presenters who shared their expertise, ideas and knowledge with the audience.

• Delivering the keynote address was Seth Mattison, well-known international expert and author on workforce trends, generational dynamics and business strategy. Seth, who is CEO of Luminate Labs, energized the audience with his discussion on The Future of Work and how workforce dynamics are shaping the new workplace.

• LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan expanded on how NEC is an important partner in helping the golf organization achieve an excellent fan experience at its events.

• During the “Proud to Partner” session, several of NEC’s top systems integrators shared stories of success, transformation and best practices from their businesses. Featured speakers included executives from AllStar Communications, SETel, Forerunner, Koning & Hartman and Datasciences .  Highlights from this session included a success story about a large university win that defined a roadmap for how SETel was able to combine creative financing through NEC Financial Services with NEC technology solutions and partner managed services to deliver an OPEX model to the customer, increased margins to the partner, and eliminate competitive bids.

Honoring NEC’s Valued Partners

The ADVANTAGE 2019 conference also provides the opportunity to recognize our extraordinary worldwide partners during the awards presentation. The focus was to not only award top performers for their demonstrated excellence over the past year, but also to give partners the opportunity to share insights and learn from each other. See a full list of the awards here. 

The record-breaking attendance and enthusiastic participation from partners from around the globe made for a smashing success at NEC’s first global ADVANTAGE partner conference. Together, NEC and its partners continue to bring IT and communication solutions that enable organizations and their workforces to embrace the value of digital transformation.

To get an up-close look at ADVANTAGE 2019 check out our video.

Thanks to all who joined us in Orlando. See you in 2020 !