The organisers reluctantly took the decision because many Information and Communication Technology (ICT) vendors and resellers whose technologies were on show have cut their advertising budgets again as the recession continues to bite.

Damion Angus, managing director of Montgomery Africa, said the cancellation was a disappointment after its successful debut last year. “This has been particularly frustrating as the response to the inaugural show was so positive.”

“Pressure on global marketing budgets has made it difficult for ICT vendors to focus on developing markets such as South Africa,” said Hugh Keeble, managing director at Imago Techmedia, Montgomery’s partner in the project. “We will be keeping a keen eye on the region, however, and hope to make more announcements when conditions are right.”

Keeble also said that perhaps the show was a little ahead of its time for the South African market, since it focuses on the still-emerging technologies of cloud computing, IP infrastructure, and virtualisation. The recession has forced businesses to reduce or delay their investments in IT infrastructure, and at the moment those bandwidth-intensive technologies are still at the early adoption stage in South Africa. But that would inevitably change in the near future, Keeble said.

“The benefits of IP networks on increased business agility and collaboration are well understood, and the impact of technologies such as virtualisation and cloud computing means that adoption is inevitable,” said Keeble.