Known as South Africa’s premier technology event for IT professionals and developers, TechEd Africa 2013 takes place from April 16-19 in Durban. The event features more than 1,000 learning opportunities and hands-on training, 500 unique breakout sessions with Microsoft speakers and industry experts, and more than 200 self-paced labs created by product experts.
At 9:15am South African Standard Time on Thursday, April 18 AvePoint Senior Vice President Garth Luke will present a session entitled “The Future of Social Collaboration in the Enterprise” in Session Room 6 during the “New Office and SharePoint” track. In order to learn a bit more about his session and what attendees can expect, we caught up with Garth to ask him a few questions.
What is your TechEd Africa presentation about?
Garth Luke: My presentation at TechEd South Africa talks about how social collaboration has evolved over time to become fundamental to business success as well as where it is going in the future. Based on my experience working with AvePoint’s customers worldwide, including many located in South Africa, I will share stories about and discuss key concepts of how to adopt social collaboration in the enterprise and how Microsoft’s innovations in SharePoint 2013 will help.
Why did you choose this particular topic for the event?
GL: With so many organizations supporting globally dispersed employees, collaboration across borders is more important than ever before. Sharing tribal knowledge throughout an organization can be a real challenge for disconnected organizations. Enterprise social collaboration has already made a big impact by breaking down these barriers, and it will continue to have an effect on collaboration habits in the future. With enterprise social solutions, such as those offered by SharePoint 2013, you are able to better establish and foster relationships across the organization that help with this kind of knowledge transfer.
What is one key takeaway you want attendees to walk away with after the presentation?
GL: My aim is for attendees to walk away with an understanding of how social collaboration benefits the enterprise, how it can be effectively introduced to the organization for maximum adoption and effectiveness, and the great tools that SharePoint 2013 offers to help businesses become better connected.
Aside from your presentation, what is one thing you’re looking forward to most about TechEd Africa?
GL: I’m from South Africa, so it will be nice to touch base with friends that I have made in the tight-knit enterprise collaboration community over the years as well as connect with AvePoint customers throughout the region. I am very much looking forward to another great event – and I am proud to be presenting on behalf of AvePoint.
