The Best of CloudFest 2025
BaseKit was excited to attend the world’s #1 cloud industry conference once again last week. Our team headed to Europa Park in Germany to learn about the biggest themes in cloud tech and catch up with what’s on the minds of our partners.
BaseKit VP of Product Gordon Plant was there to soak up the atmosphere, build relationships and share our product roadmap with partners. Here he shares the best from this year’s event.
A unique event to grow relationships
CloudFest is a unique event. It brings together people from all over the world who are involved with cloud technology and in particular it brings together almost everyone in the hosting business.
Europa Park, one of the best theme parks in the world, creates a very special atmosphere. At CloudFest you have the opportunity to meet people in a variety of different settings around the clock, which brings people together in a fun and special way.
Relationships are important in any business and nothing makes relationships grow faster than being in a fun place where there’s always lots going on.
M&A activity is on the rise
Finding growth is always at the core of our discussions with our partners and this year was no exception. At CloudFest we were able to discuss some of the things that are working and see some new possibilities for growth in the future that have come out of our joint learnings over the past year.
It was also notable that there’s been an uptick in M&A activity. A larger consolidation process has been playing out in the hosting industry for many years but the search for growth is perhaps driving even more M&A activity than previously.
The role of AI is maturing
The discussion about the role of AI is in a much more mature place than it was a year ago. We now have a shared view developing across many different partners and territories about what AI is good at and in what areas it falls short.
A year ago a lot of this technology was very new but now we’ve all had the chance to look at how it’s been deployed, try it out for ourselves and get feedback from customers. We’re very excited about the potential for AI at BaseKit, and our roadmap extends the use of AI in our products, however, we’re conscious that it should always focus on enhancing the voice of the customer, not replacing it.
100% partner positivity
The feedback about the BaseKit 2025 roadmap was 100% positive. Naturally, partners place more or less emphasis on certain features – a reflection of the differing needs of customers across different segments and territories. What was important for us was to be sure that every partner could see plenty to get excited about in our future plans.
Partners were also happy to see that we are maintaining our cadence of new software releases. Already this year we’ve shipped many improvements right across our product range and there are lots more new features that will be shipping over the coming weeks and months, including one of our biggest yet.
As well as adding new features, partners were also pleased to see that we continue to invest in the core user experience of our product. We are shipping a major set of improvements to BaseKit onboarding and significantly extending the site design capabilities of our website editor this year.
From strength to strength
I’ve been going to CloudFest for over a decade now and it’s still going from strength to strength. This year it seemed busier, bigger and even more full of energy than any previous year I can remember.
The hosting industry certainly has no shortage of enthusiasm, excitement or energy. Lots of things are changing, that’s a given with technology – but the one thing that doesn’t change is our partner’s enthusiasm to achieve great results.
Author: Gordon Plant, VP of Product at BaseKit