MicroScope articles from April 2008

MicroScope archives from April 2008

04 Hardware.
April 7, 2008... The roadmap for Hewlett-Packard's thin clients will be outlined in the summer. Sources expect it to rationalise distributors, having inherited two additional partners from the acquisition of Neoware. In the last quarter HP integrated...

12 Soap.
April 7, 2008... Fool's paradise Of course any week that includes the magical date of 1 April is bound to be odd. The irony is that in a world where Channel Five regularly shows the strangest medical conditions, YouTube is full of people doing the most...

15 Columns.
April 7, 2008... Name of the author - Julian de Selincourt Job title - Sales & Marketing Director Secure technology fuels millions of remote workers Remote working is a booming lifestyle choice for millions of people in the UK - and it makes sense...

15 Columns.
April 7, 2008... De-duplication in itself is easy to understand - optimised storage capacity usage by eliminating duplicated data. However the devil is in understanding the different technologies, techniques and implementations in the market and relating these...

10 Features.
April 7, 2008... In an age when most people argue that the internet has started to replace everything, it is reassuring not only to walk the halls of an exhibition and do business with real people, but also to see the products. Later this month the great...

04 Hardware.
April 7, 2008... Microsoft's OEM partners will be hoping that Windows Server 2008 provides a welcome boost to server sales, but resellers do not foresee a customer stampede, especially in light of the difficulties some had with Vista. Launched last week,...

08 Storage.
April 7, 2008... There have been numerous product launches around the flash arena and that trend is set to continue with the introduction of smaller drives writes Chris Mellor. 2.5 inch drive surge coming Xyratex has announced one of the first...

07 Security.
April 7, 2008... As the great and the good meet in Olympia later this month to show off their wares and discuss the direction of the industry there are going to be a couple of key areas that dominate conversations. One of the uppermost issues leading into...

09 Tech Traders.(Brief article)
April 7, 2008... It has been a while since the name Diskeeper appeared on Tech Trader's pages but, as is usual in the world of technology, if you wait long enough another version will come along. As you would expect with a new version, there has to be a...

09 Tech Traders.
April 7, 2008... In the good old days of the channel there seemed to be a product launch every other week at a plush venue with some half-decent food. These days the large launches are special because of their rarity, but they still have the ability to...

12 Soap.(CommVault Systems Inc.)(Interview)
April 7, 2008... Simon Gregory, business development director at CommVault, takes the hot seat this week as MicroScope directs some probing questions at him What is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom? Best: Never compromise those you...

01 News.
April 7, 2008... Predicted to become the focus of a "huge global skills migration" for IT security staff, the Middle East is poaching significant numbers of qualified workers from South America, Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe, but is so far struggling to win...

01 News.
April 7, 2008... The long-awaited changes to Avaya's distribution line-up have broadly been welcomed as the vendor extends its reach into the voice channel. The vendor added ATC Communications-owned Rocom to the pack and opened its mid-market enterprise...

01 News.(Brief article)
April 7, 2008... As Irish network and IT integrator Calyx commits to continuing its buy-and-build expansion policy, some commentators have suggested the industry is turning into a buyer's market in the face of the reported slowdown. Calyx CEO Maurice...

01 News.(Cisco Systems Inc.)(Brief article)
April 7, 2008... Cisco is to reward resellers that drive its service-orientated network architecture (SONA) in server farms. Initially a handful of partners with data centre architects and skills in security and storage will be invited into the scheme. They...

02 Software.
April 7, 2008... The influence of the internet is changing the timetable of large software releases, forcing vendors to brief resellers at a much earlier stage. Even before the release of Windows Server 2008 there were 150,000 downloads and Microsoft was...

01 News.
April 7, 2008... The fixITlocal Pay Monthly Software service has announced the availability of a human resources management application that will enable small businesses to easily and effectively ensure that they are in line with current employment regulations....

03 Networking.
April 7, 2008... Motorola has assured its business partners they have nothing to fear from the imminent break-up of the communications giant. The company announced it was to divest itself of the struggling and unprofitable mobile handset division at the end...

03 Networking.(Brief article)
April 7, 2008... Fixed-wireless access provider On-Communications has unveiled a partner programme for its guaranteed bandwidth, symmetrical broadband service. The scheme has three levels for wholesale providers, resellers and referral partners and marks...

03 Networking.
April 7, 2008... HoundDog crosses the channel Managed network services provider HoundDog has opened for business in France under the guidance of newly-appointed business development officer Franck Debka. The expansion forms a key part of an audacious plan...

15 Columns.
April 28, 2008... Email is one of the most important business tools, enabling organisations to share information and interact with customers, employees, clients and partners. However, its growth has been matched by an increasing security threat, and email has...

15 Columns.
April 28, 2008... Most firms today rely heavily on technology to conduct business. At the most basic level, this may refer to email to communicate with clients and suppliers. On a grander scale, large enterprise might have a multitude of interlinked systems...

10 Features.(Company overview)
April 28, 2008... Despite widespread fears about the state of the economy in the wake of the US credit crunch, expenditure in the information security market appears to be holding up. Distributors such as Wick Hill are reporting revenue growth of more than 30...

05 Editorial.
April 28, 2008... An interesting twist on the current state of exchange rates is that UK companies have become attractive acquisition targets for their European counterparts. For years it has been the other way around and buying your way into Europe has...

02 Software.
April 28, 2008... Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard have opened up the Frontline programme to EMEA resellers to drum up new business across virtualisation and unified communications (UC) markets in return for double digit rebates. Frontline Partnership, a...

02 Software.
April 28, 2008... Microsoft has thrown down the gauntlet to VMware following the recent launch of Windows Server 2008 by claiming it could speed the market's adoption of server virtualisation if prices were more competitive. Addressing resellers at...

04 Hardware.
April 28, 2008... When Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd took the stage at the 2005 Preferred Partner (PP) conference in Las Vegas, he admitted it was too difficult to do business with his company. Fast forward to this year's event in San Francisco and amid the...

05 Editorial.(Editorial)
April 28, 2008... One of the more surreal beauties of the tech industry is that every now and again, someone says or does something that is so far out of left field that you couldn't make it up if you tried. Sometimes this is because technology tends to attract...

08 Storage.
April 28, 2008... The continuing convergence between the storage and secutrity worlds was one of the features of the InfoSec show with warnings focusing on flash devices. As the great and good of the security world met in London last week at InfoSec there...

08 Storage.
April 28, 2008... Iomega has moved swiftly to dismiss any fears of channel conflict following its acquisition by EMC earlier this month. EMC effectively bought its way into the consumer and small business storage business with the $213m purchase of Iomega,...

07 Security.(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... There is still a huge need for the channel to be selling more encryption along with the wider promotion of data leakage prevention. Against the background of the InfoSec event in London last week PriceWaterhouseCoopers announced the...

09 Tech Traders.
April 28, 2008... One of the most quoted facts in the hardware world is the way that laptops have replaced desktops as the main choice of platform. The consequences have been wide ranging with improvements from the clunky bricks of old. Battery life lasts...

09 Tech Traders.
April 28, 2008... It has been almost impossible to miss the adverts proclaiming the next wave of Internet access. Using a 3G attached dongle or USB stick at a set monthly rate a host of users are discovering that getting onto the web on the move can really...

01 News.
April 28, 2008... Acquisition hungry Avnet Technology Solutions (TS) has not lost its appetite for swallowing European distributors after tabling a bid for Horizon Technology Group worth [pounds sterling]80.7m. With a distribution outfit in the UK and...

01 News.(Cisco channel )(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... The Cisco channel has welcomed improvements to the vendor's SMARTnet support system designed to make life easier for resellers who complained of problems with the quotation process. Following Cisco's recent partner summit in Hawaii, Cisco...

01 News.
April 28, 2008... In an effort to bring its compensation structure in line with rivals Lenovo has introduced and increased rebates for lower and upper tier partners respectively and unveiled tools to help them track the accumulation of rewards. From today...

01 News.
April 28, 2008... The traditional exit route for UK companies in selling to a larger counterpart in the US is under pressure from the high value of sterling against the dollar, but the value of deals struck with European businesses is increasing as the pound...

01 News.
April 28, 2008... Cardholder not present (CNP) fraud could have topped half a billion pounds had resellers and retailers not been vigilant. According to figures released by anti-fraud specialists the 3rd Man Group there could have been [pounds sterling]500m...

01 News.
April 28, 2008... The technology sector showed that it need not be all doom and gloom in the world of finance with a number of high profile vendor reporting good results. Bouyed by demand for its laptops and dekstops Apple announced a $1.05bn profit on a...

01 News.
April 28, 2008... The extension of Ingram Micro's relationship with Google into EMEA could intensify the rivalry between the internet search giant and Microsoft. Nine months after Ingram Micro signed a deal with Google to distribute its Google Mini and...

01 News.
April 28, 2008... Networking and convergence distributor Westcon Group is to overhaul its channel image with a series of initiatives aimed at the SME sector. Westcon believes it is wrongly perceived as an enterprise-only distributor and is taking steps to...

01 News.(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... The cost of security breaches in the UK tops [pounds sterling]6bn and customer ignorance means problems will not be eradicated any time soon. The bi-annual Pricewaterhouse-Coopers (PwC) report into security breaches confirmed users'...

01 News.
April 28, 2008... Samsung has joined forces with Computacenter Distribution to expand the channel for its entire display range - from 15 inch screens to 70 inch plasmas - and its recently refreshed thin clients which include a thin client CPU and network module...

03 Networking.
April 28, 2008... Briefs head Cisco has announced that its 'flagship' TelePresence product - a room-sized HD virtual meeting environment for the enterprise market - has hit its 500th deployment in 18 months. Cisco claims market leadership in the virtual...

03 Networking.
April 28, 2008... Analysts have warned Nortel needs a radical shake-up after describing its recent results as "lacklustre". Two years into its Business Transformation Plan, and as the vendor prepares to shed over 2,000 jobs this year, the firm's results...

07 Security.
April 28, 2008... IT directors and managers have radically changed their tune over the past five months and have become increasingly concerned about data leaks following a string of high profile breaches and data losses. A survey by Check Point of 102 IT...

12 Soap.
April 28, 2008... TV star One contact who appeared on TV last week to talk about e-crime asked us if we had seen his performance. After admitting we had missed it, we asked him if he was any good. "I was awesome," he replied before putting us on hold to...

02 Software.
April 28, 2008... Virtualisation software specialist Parallels has "reinvigorated" its partner programme to try and build its presence among enterprises and channel companies. The vendor, formerly known as SWSoft, rebranded as Parallels at the beginning of...