8. Early Line On Dell-EMC

The conference convened the same day Dell announced it would acquire EMC for $67 billion in the largest deal ever in the IT industry. As the news was beginning to sink in at the event, 60 percent of responding attendees said the merger – which officials said will take another year to complete - will help them grow. Yet there was no clear consensus in the survey results on whether the merged company will lead to stronger ties and channel affiliations: 55 percent said it would; 45 percent disagreed. (Pictured: EMC CEO Joe Tucci, left, and Dell founder and CEO MIchael Dell.)