From experts to first-time goers, keeping track of all the show announcements and conference sessions can be a daunting task. To help you get ready, our team put together a list of trending discussions and keynotes that are on our must-see list.

• Leading Keynotes: from automakers to players from the finance industry, the 2016 keynote line up offers an opportunity to hear the likes of Ford, MERCEDES AMG Petronas Formula One team, MasterCard and PayPal discuss their take on mobile
• Value of Wearables: as connected devices gain traction across all industries, expect experts to debate the value of wearables in the enterprise
• Defining 5G: there will be no shortage of conversation around 5G, as the industry continues to drive IoT adoption
• Product Announcements: with so much attention on MWC, Barcelona has become the favorite spot for industry players to announce new products. According to some recent articles, expect Samsung, Xiaomi, LG and HTC to unveil new gadgets.
• Connected Women: GSMA has a series of topics and networking opportunities designed to drive greater inclusion of women in the telecom and mobile industries.

To make sure nobody misses the keynotes and industry highlights, the MWC organization has announced that all keynote sessions will be streamed live. Are you attending MWC or planning to follow the action online? Tell us what has caught your interest at MWC.

Not just any solution fits the bit. Most are expensive and complex, offering too many unnecessary features while lacking tools an SMB actually needs. They also require special training and technical expertise. As a result, staff is often reluctant to use the technology. This leaves uncertainty as to which steps to take and when to start, build and grow the customer relationships pivotal to reaching business goals.

PipelineDeals eliminates these barriers. The company provides everything SMBs need to successfully build business relationships and drive results  from a single, easy-to-use system.

Check out how PipelineDeals enabled software consultancy company 8th Light to grow from 10 to 100 employees in just four years here.

Within less than 100 days of MSPComplete’s launch, partners experienced record-breaking traction for both Microsoft Office 365 and Azure. This includes:

• Identifying 50,000 Office 365 and Azure leads
• Eliminating barriers to the cloud by performing more than 500 Office 365 readiness checks
• Completing more than 4,500 Office 365 migration projects.

Learn more here.

• Cloud and analytics will make software one of the fastest growing categories of tech spending.
• The IoT will continue being an “IT” thing. With everything from new innovations from lighting to furniture for a better workplace.
• Security will stay a top concern, with money going heavily towards preventing extortion hacks and backdoor vulnerabilities.
• 3-D is still the “bees knees” when it comes to printing. Expect a flood of 3-D printing innovation on the horizon.

Which IT tools and solutions are looking to implement in 2016?

For SMBs, those tools are the right sales technology – with more than 60 percent of companies reporting an increase in revenue from these investments in 2015. This is just one of many positive impacts sales technology had for SMBs, including increasing active selling performance and multiplying opportunities to name a few more.

These details stem from PipelineDeals’ annual Small Business Sales Outlook Survey. Based on this, PipelineDeals unveiled the top three considerations for SMBs to make for their sales technology stack to drive sales and business success in 2016:

• The right sales technology = significant business value
• Solutions that start, build and grow business opportunities
• Easy-to-implement, easy-to-use comprehensive sales technology is a must

Learn more here.

The size of this show, not to mentioned Las Vegas traffic between CES East and West locations, made the ability to blanket the entire show floor a nearly impossible feat. Back from a whirlwind week, our team pulled together some of the most interesting trends coming out of CES 2016.

• Drone market is soaring. With its own dedicated area on the CES show floor, there was no shortage of drones. From lightweight models to demos on how to make them safer, this is a technology trend showcased significant innovation and applications that shows no sign of stopping any time soon.

• Streaming and OTT are here to stay. Netflix announced its global service expansion, reaching a total of 190 countries. Mobile devices have become the device of choice to watch paid-for OTT TV content. Even pay-TV has embraced streaming into the TV viewing experience as NAGRA announced an all-in-one platform for pay TV operators to address the app fragmentation issue. There was no shortage of exciting developments at this year’s show and we think this is just the tip of the iceberg on developments we can expect in this industry.

• Virtual reality is becoming reality. However, it’s not quite ready yet. During the show, VR players featured new designs and plans for their own platforms, developing user-friendly form factors to gain market traction. Like many trends that are just getting attention in the industry, this trend is in the design and planning stage of innovation. It will be interesting to see how this develops in the coming year.

• Wearables are still on the rise. While the fitness-oriented devices continue to gain momentum with consumers, other brands are tapping into the wearable market for a more focused offering with expanded applications. This includes tracking a person’s exposure to sun and monitoring the amount of time you spend with your loved ones.

Did you attend CES 2016? Tell us your thoughts on what you think will be an industry hit this year.

By moving companies to Azure, IT service providers allow customers to save money and assure their databases stay up-to-date moving forward by moving off-premise to the cloud. However, many partners are missing out. Most don’t know where and how to start, lacking the certifications or training necessary to perform the move

BitTitan has launced its Azure Starter Kit, arming IT service provider of any size with the tools and resources to sucessfully sell, onboard and maintain Azure.

Learn more here.

With the right CRM and sales and account management platform.

Today’s CRMs and sales platforms are missing a key function for success – Email. Many offer some form of email capability. However, it’s not possible to respond to messages in the interface, or to leverage the unique account management features of the platform in tandem with email. Staff must switch back and forth between apps, hindering productivity and increasing the chance they’re missing key background to close a deal.

PipelineDeals overcomes this barrier, launching the first full integration of email and CRM. Learn more here.

Then why are today’s CRMs and sales platforms designed as if they were?

Today’s platforms don’t cater to SMBs’ unique needs. They’re expensive, need technical expertise, can’t integrate with systems SMBs currently use, cause staff to duplicate tasks or have too much or too little functionality. This makes it impossible to know which steps to take and when to close deals today and achieve business goals in the long run.

PipelineDeals overcomes this.

Built from the ground up to provide everything an SMB needs to be successful, PipelineDeals offers the only sales and account management platform that puts certainty into every moment of the sales process. As proof of this, PipelineDeals recently announced integration with QuickBooks, increasing productivity and accelerating growth by combing its comprehensive sales and account management functionalities with the top accounting solution for SMBs.

Learn more here.

For the party planner:

• Bring the music with you wherever you go with this mason jar speaker for mobile devices or this splash-proof portable wireless
• Turn any party into a movie party with this gadget that turns your smartphone into a movie projector.

For the film geek:

• Kids and grown-ups alike will enjoy the app-controlled Sphero BB-8 toy, inspired by the newest Star Wars movie franchise.
• Like your toast on the dark side? Check out this Darth Vader toaster.
• This is 2015, McFly, so what’s more appropriate than a flux capacitor USB car charger?

For the person who likes to make an entrance:

• Practice your flying skills with this smart plane controlled by mobile app.
• Is it a plane, is it a speedboat? It’s a nautical drone.
• Arrive in style with your personal electric hoverboard. With wheels.

For the high tech and high performance athlete:

• Why not smart socks? This wearable tracks activity performance, including key parameters for running.
• Keeping the time and the pace can be stylish with the Apple Watch Sport
• Capture all the action in 4K with GoPro HERO4.

What will make it on your tech gift list? Share your gift ideas with us below.