WESTBOROUGH, Mass., April 18, 2017 - The Channel Company today announced that it will be hosting the much-anticipated Midsize Enterprise Summit Spring (MES Spring) from April 30 to May 2 in Nashville, Tenn. The end-user event is the largest independent gathering of midmarket CIOs and features the industry’s most relevant research through its strategic collaboration with Gartner, Inc. This year’s theme, “Take the Risk, Then Reap the Reward,” will explore how CIOs and senior IT executives can facilitate constructive change in their organizations through calculated risk-taking, creating business environments in which breakthrough thinking thrives.

The two-and-a-half-day summit is designed to help executives learn about the latest IT industry opportunities, trends and innovative solutions. This year’s MES Spring 2017 agenda (https://www.thechannelco.com/events/mess17/agenda) will connect CIOs and senior IT executives with the IT industry’s leading technology suppliers, developers and solution providers through numerous networking opportunities, interactive boardroom sessions, on-stage interviews, roundtable discussions, private meetings and more. The defining feature of this unique end-user event is the expertise and insight provided by Gartner analysts, who present new, original research and actionable business intelligence to IT executive attendees. The analysts also are available for one-on-one meetings to discuss the latest midmarket developments, opportunities and business strategies.

Event highlights:

• MES Keynote by James Kane, renowned loyalty expert and author of “The Loyalty Switch”
• Opening Keynote: “Five Trends Driving Change in the Midmarket,” Mike Cisek, Research Director, Gartner
• Gartner Vendor Session: “Gartner Midmarket Perspectives for Technology Suppliers”
• Gartner Executive Sessions:
  • “Infrastructure-as-a-Service Magic Quadrant,” Mike Dorosh, Research Director, Technology and Service Provider Group, Gartner
  • “Business Intelligence Data Analytics,” Kurt Schlegel, Research Vice President, Gartner
  • “Data Security Strategies For Midmarket IT Leaders—Phishing And Ransomware,” Brian Reed, Research Director, Gartner
  • “Is Hyper-Convergence Overhyped?” Mike Cisek, Research Director, Gartner

• MES Keynote: “Cost Optimization And Budgeting—Prepare Now For Cloud's Impact On Capex/Opex,” Jim McGittigan, Research Vice President, CIO, Research Group, Gartner
• Gartner Analyst Roundtables:
  • Hyper-Convergence and Cloud Strategy
  • Budgeting and Cost Optimization
  • Security
  • IaaS and Managed Service Provider
  • Business Intelligence and Analytics
• 180+ Interactive Boardroom Discussions
• Access to 50+ top vendors and tech suppliers

VIEW GARTNER ANALYST BIOS HERE: https://www.thechannelco.com/resources/mes-gartner-analysts-spring-2017

About The Channel Company
The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. Follow the Channel Company on www.thechannelco.com.

Platinum sponsors of the event include HPE / Intel, HPE SimpliVity and Scale Computing. MES Spring Gold sponsors include Datto, Fortinet, Ruckus and ShoreTel. A full list of sponsors is available online at www.thechannelco.com/events/mess17/sponsors.

Midmarket CIOs and IT leaders can learn more and register for MES Fall 2017 at www.thechannelco.com/events/mesf17/about

Connect with MES on social media to get real-time updates and engage with midmarket IT peers:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/TheMidmarketCIO
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/159753