The Inforum 2014 conference kicked off this week in New Orleans, LA. The event brings together an estimated 7,000 Infor Inc. customers, partners, industry experts, employees, and thought leaders all anxious to learn of the latest developments from the enterprise software provider.

SiliconANGLE’s roving news desk theCUBE will be at Inforum 2014 today and tomorrow, broadcasting live, exclusive interviews with top executives and analysts. Watch theCUBE on SiliconANGLE.tv.

Here’s your quick guide to Inforum 2014.

For attendees

The four-day conference is packed with 1,500 sessions spanning in-depth product education sessions, hands-on Academies and industry outlook panels, drilling down on specific areas of application for Infor software. The vertical approach to Infor’s software solutions has proven successful for the company, addressing defined needs for finance, human resources and customer relationship management.

The heart of Inforum 2014 is The Hub, a microcosm of the larger event where attendees can connect with Infor’s sponsors and exhibitors, learn from software and product experts and participate in both structured and free-flow activities. Here, attendees can also test-drive Infor’s newest products.

If you’re attending Inforum 2014, you can maximize your conference experience by downloading the Inforum app for iPads and Android devices. Using the app, you can build your own personal agenda, make adjustments to your event schedule, access session catalogs and the directory of attendees including presenters, sponsors and exhibitors, share updates on Facebook or Twitter, or participate in conversations about the event right on the app, and use the app to access venue maps, The Hub, adjacent hotels and more.

Analyst expectations

One thing to watch for at Inforum 2014 is the fruit of Infor’s labor regarding its ongoing investment in cloud technology. Despite being a latecomer to cloud, Infor is beginning to leverage its investment in this area, namely its key acquisitions, said Wikibon.org CTO David Floyer in a preview meeting with SiliconANGLE ahead of the event.

Floyer went on to note the importance of Infor’s strategy to attack verticals within the enterprise, calling it an “effective tactic to combine services for unique use cases as opposed to traditional methods where you need supply chain data for a given industry in order to increase value around a number of different companies within that industry.”

While Infor’s been successful in this vertical approach so far, it faces competition from Oracle Corp. and SAP SE, which both sell packaged services looking to address vertical demands, and have the benefit of being able to scale those solutions.

Watch live, join in!

You can follow Inforum news on the usual social media outlets starting with Twitter (@Infor, #Inforum14), Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

theCUBE will be at Inforum 2014 with hosts Jeff Kelly and Dave Vellante, who will be interviewing Infor executives, customers and partners. If you want to catch the live interviews, head over to SiliconANGLE.tv. Alternatively you can watch in your own time from our YouTube channel. You can also follow theCUBE hosts on Twitter @dvellante, and @jeffreyfkelly, to join in on the conversations and send questions for guests.

Image via Infor