NORWALK, Conn. - Oct. 1, 2012 - Huw Rees, vice president of business development of 8x8 Inc., will tackle the issue of accelerating the adoption of unified communications (UC) in his keynote address at ITEXPO Austin on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at 11:45 a.m., TMC announced. ITEXPO, the world's largest and best-attended communications and technology trade show, is being held Oct. 2-5 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas.
According to Rees, the definition of unified communications is still in dispute, and adoption by businesses, especially the small and medium-sized business (SMB) segment, is not as strong as it should be. In his keynote address, Rees will discuss where we are on the market life cycle and what needs to be done to accelerate adoption.
'If our industry can't clearly define what UC is, and what it really does for the user and the business, what hope is there for the average businessperson?' said Rees. 'I hope to leave the ITEXPO audience with some key takeaways while bringing a unique perspective on this timely subject to the table.'
Rees has been a senior member of the 8x8 management team for 13 years. A seasoned sales, marketing and business development executive with more than 25 years experience in the telecommunications industry, Rees was responsible for the execution of several key 8x8 strategic initiatives, including its shift in the early 2000s away from an OEM approach to a focus on business and consumer end users and more recent penetration into the mid-market and government sectors.
Prior to his current position, Rees served as 8x8's vice president of sales and marketing, and CEO of Centile, Inc., a former subsidiary of 8x8, where the hosted PBX technology was developed. Rees began his career as an engineer and then regional manager at Marconi PLC, where he opened Marconi's Western U.S. sales office, and held a variety of management roles with Plessey Inc. and Mitel Corporation.
Rees received a B.Sc. (Hons) from the University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and an MBA from the University of LaVerne.
'Unified communications is a terrific buzzword, but the industry now needs to come to a consensus about how to deliver on the promise of unified communications for businesses of all sizes,' said Rich Tehrani, CEO of TMC and Conference Chairman for ITEXPO. 'We're pleased to welcome Huw and 8x8, Inc. back to ITEXPO to tackle this compelling topic.'
Platinum $99 conference passes also include access to free networking receptions, including the opening night reception on the show floor and the conference party on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at 9 p.m. at the Cedar Street Courtyard, featuring the Spazmatics.
All attendees are eligible to win a new Ford F-150! The truck will be given away on Friday, Oct. 5, at 1:45 p.m. in the exhibit hall. Participants need to pick up an entry card at registration, visit the booths indicated, and receive a stamp from participating vendors. Entrants must be present at the time of the drawing to win the truck. The Ford F-150 truck giveaway is sponsored by TAQUA, GFI, Broadview Networks, XKL, LLC., AudioCodes, Sagemcom and AireSpring (News - Alert).
For information about exhibitor or sponsorship opportunities for ITEXPO, contact Joe Fabiano at [email protected]. For information about media and analyst registration, contact Ashley Baster at[email protected].
About TMC
TMC is celebrating its 40th anniversary as a global, integrated media company that helps clients build communities in print, in person, and online. TMC publishes the Customer Interaction Solutions, INTERNET TELEPHONY, Next Gen Mobility, and Cloud Computing magazines. TMC is the producer of ITEXPO, the world's leading B2B communications event. ContactCenterSolutions.com, which is read by two million unique visitors each month, is the leading source of news and articles for the communications and technology industries. In addition, TMC runs multiple industry events: Cloud Communications Expo; Cloud4SMB Expo; CVx (ChannelVision Expo); DevCon5; HTML5 Summit; LatinComm Conference & Expo; M2M Evolution Conference & Expo; Mobility Tech Conference & Expo; MSPAlliance MSPWorld; StartupCamp; Video World Conference & Expo and more.
Visit TMC Events for a complete listing and further information.
About 8x8, Inc.
8x8 Inc. empowers business conversations for more than 30,000 small and medium-sized businesses with cloud communications services that include hosted PBX telephony, unified communications, contact center and video conferencing solutions. Named No. 1 Provider of Hosted IP Telephony by market research firm Frost & Sullivan, 8x8 has been delivering business communications services since 2004 and has garnered a reputation for technical excellence and outstanding reliability. For additional information, visit www.8x8.com or connect with 8x8 on Facebook and Twitter.
Media and Analyst Contact:
Sue O'Keefe
Connect2 Communications
(508) 494-7771
[email protected]