MicroScope articles from January 2002

MicroScope archives from January 2002

Compaq looks for agents: SMEs targeted as vendor tries to fill gap left by specialist distribution.(small- to medium enterprises)(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... Compaq has outlined more ongoing changes to its channel structure and is expecting to see growth this year from an agency programme that will allow it to sell direct to resellers' customers. As part of a rolling programme of channel change...

Conflicting predictions for market conditions in 2002.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... Resellers and distributors are optimistic that last year's downturn in IT spending will come to an end this year. Although some remain unsure which way things will go, many are looking ahead with renewed confidence. Paul Sangster,...

It was 20 years ago today.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... Welcome to 2002, which marks our 20th year of covering the fast-moving, ever-changing IT industry. A lot has happened since 1982 and during the course of 2002 we will be looking back on the significant events in the year which gave birth...

Contrasting views as we look forward to the coming months. (News).
January 2, 2002... For many in the channel, 2001 was a year they will be keen to forget -- margins fell, competition increased and more resellers than necessary went out of business. Many of us will be facing the new year with a renewed sense of enthusiasm...

Third time lucky for Fujitsu Siemens? (News).(as it names Dave Cullinane managing director for the United Kingdom and Ireland)(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... Fujitsu Siemens has appointed its third managing director tar the UK and Ireland in 12 months, with ex-Hewlett-Packard stalwart Dave Cullinane taking over responsibilities from Andrew Downing. At the tail-end of 2000, the German vendor made...

Most anti-virus software packages fail to deliver. (News).(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... Dealers already swamped with too much choice in the anti-virus market are being warned that some software is lagging behind market developments and will fail to sufficiently protect users. As virus creators shift their focus from e-mail to...

Resellers trapped by late debtors. (News).(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... Businesses in the channel are increasingly suffering late payments from their customers and those that are not cash rich are finding themselves under intensifying pressure. Peter Olive, worldwide director of Horizon mts, said: "Everyone...

Thin client model back on the agenda. (News).(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... Two of the major thin client manufacturers have expressed optimism that falling prices and a saturation of the desktop market will speed mass adoption of products this year. Steven Yea, director of worldwide marketing at Wyse Technology,...

Novell aims to build trust with partners. (News).(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... Novell is trying to build trust with its channel through the launch of a 'sell with' channel programme. The sell with model is aimed at reducing the conflict between Novell's sales team and partners. Channel director Patrick O'Connor...

Battle lines drawn as reality of Internet concept hits home. (News).(Column)
January 2, 2002... During the summer I had a visit from Craig Mundie, a top lieutenant of Bill Gates, who serves as Microsoft's chief strategist for technology. He has served Microsoft in many capacities, including overseeing many of the company's forays into...

Security a sure sell as hacking threat rises. (Software).(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... The fight against corporate espionage is set to become one of the major focuses this year. Hackers attached to crime syndicates will be responsible for the majority of security breaks as competition in the corporate sector becomes more...

Talking up the future of voice. (Software).(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... Voice recognition technology has been around for years, but as yet it has failed to make a real impact. As a result, there has been a lot of consolidation in the market, with Lernout & Hauspie buying Dragon and L&H itself being bought by...

Wireless LAN slow in getting from b to a. (Networking).(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... Wireless LAN could well be NV stuck at 802.11b for some time yet, according to Intel. The existing standard is popular -- figures from IDC show that around 250,000 802.11b units were shipped during 2001. But getting to the next level...

Former chief executive takes Baltimore to court. (Networking).(Fran Rooney, Baltimore Technologies)(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... Fran Rooney, former chief executive of Baltimore Technologies, is taking his former employer to court after claims that his successor had unfairly criticised him in press interviews. According to documents filed at the High Court by Rooney...

Motorola wields the axe to meet City profit targets. (Networking).(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... Motorola is to cut 9,300 jobs over the next year in order to meet profit margins set by City investors. The firm said it had already told 4,000 people they were to be laid off, with a further 4,000 to go from the semiconductor group and...

Fresh copier warnings for IT dealers. (Hardware).(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... Dealers have been urged to embrace copier products or risk losing out on an additional revenue stream as the convergence with printer technology becomes a reality over the next 12 months. Throughout 2000, traditional printer manufacturers...

Industry expects a plasma market explosion. (Hardware).(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... After margins on CRT and LCD monitors spiralled out of control last year, a raft of industry players have talked up the market potential for plasma displays in 2002. Although the price of plasma products has moved southwards over the past...

E-learning predicted to take off in next five years. (Services).(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... Last year was tough for many players in the IT training market, but it is hoped that this year will see a significant increase in growth for the market, although much more consolidation is still expected. The general feeling among analysts...

Lack of skilled sales staff could hinder NAS and SAN growth. (Services).(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... Even though huge growth predicted in the storage area network (SAN) and network attached storage (NAS) markets this year, it could potentially be hindered by an acute shortage of skilled salespeople in those arenas. A number of...

Cheer up there's plenty to look forward to. (Editorial).(Editorial)
January 2, 2002... IT ONLY SEEMS LIKE yesterday we were all getting ready for Christmas and looking forward to the prospect of some time away from the office. In January, there are usually plenty of reasons to be depressed, but not this year. There's the...

Sounds a bit fishy to me: Steve Shipside discovers there are similarities between speakers at the World Association of Newspapers conference and Portugese deep fried fish dishes.(Column)
January 2, 2002... Sopa Alentejana is an acquired taste. That's acquired' in the sense of something not come about honestly because you wouldn't actually buy, borrow or steal a taste for Sopa Alentejana. Basically, it's a soup consisting almost entirely of boiled...

How does your site measure up? (Net Metrics).
January 2, 2002... THE NEED FOR A TRUE MEASURE OF WEB SITE POPULARITY IS INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT AS ADVERTISERS AND INVESTORS BECOME LESS FOOLED BY MADE UP STATISTICS. NET METRICS WILL STOP USELESS SITES HIDING BEHIND BIG NUMBERS. If there was one word that...

Dinner parties can seriously damage your health. (5 Minute Interview).
January 2, 2002... What have you got in your pockets? Some fluff, a wallet and a bit of cash. Who would you most like to have a date with? Geri Halliwell, but I would want to go home after dinner. What did you want to be when you grew up? ...

Soap.
January 2, 2002... If there was one image that dogs this industry continually, it's of the lonely geek huddled over a PC with no friends except those he (it's usually men) creates in cyberspace. Good news comes then from research specialist Fletcher Advisory,...

At the Margins.
January 2, 2002... Had Santa Claus done his shopping in Sloe-in-the-Wold? Had Jeff Cantatos' ghost enlisted Grant HackerPryke to help it get revenge? What did Harry Bleeker-Hoare get for Christmas? To find out, read on... Roger Callard gazed around the living...

Is the future looking brighter? Research by Merrill Lynch reveals IT spending is expected to pick up in the next 12 months.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... European corporate IT spending is set to rise four per cent this year, with a specific focus on security, storage, Web development and Windows 2000, Merrill Lynch has predicted. A global survey of chief information officers carried out by...

Business failures reach four-year high.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 8, 2002... Insolvencies in the IT sector in 2001 hit their highest levels for the past four years as company failures reached more than one a day. The number of insolvencies was up almost nine per cent on 2000 at 399, with a big surge in the final...

QA quashes rumours of talks.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... QA has dismissed speculation that it was the subject of an Azlan takeover bid. The training company issued a statement to the City on Friday in which chairman Keith Burgess was quoted as saying: "No discussions concerning an offer for the...

Distributors welcome euro but suppliers stick to dollar. (News).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... The UK is likely to pay premium prices because of its failure to join the European single currency, but the euro will not replace the dollar as the IT industry's main currency. Nevertheless, the majority of pan-European distributors, which...

Insiders dismiss gender scheme. (News).(UK government scheme to promote recruiting of women in information technology industry)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Just weeks before Labour outlines plans to boost the number of women choosing IT as a career, those already in the industry have raised doubts about schemes that focus on gender. Last year, trade secretary Patricia Hewitt announced the...

SCH loans rise to pay for acquisitions. (News).(Specialist Computer Holdings)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Annual results from Specialist Computer Holdings (SCH) and Specialist Computers International (SCI) have revealed the group significantly increased borrowings to help finance its takeover campaign. During the 12 month period to 31 March...

Lynx Group to vote on IFA Services acquisition offer. (News).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Shareholders of Lynx Group will vote on 14 January to decide whether to approve IFA Services' recommended cash offer of [pounds sterling]210m for the group. If approved, Lynx Group's IT businesses will be sold to a management buy-out team....

Mixed reaction for CA. (News).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Plans by Computer Associates (CA) to allow resellers to sell tech support through its licencing scheme and push simple queries onto the Web has been met with a mixed response. While resellers welcome the revenue opportunities involved in...

Microsoft asks court to extend deadline. (News).(anti-trust case)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... The nine US states yet to settle their anti-trust cases with Microsoft have called on the court to reject the software giant's requests for more time to prepare. In December, Microsoft asked the court to extend the deadline by four months...

It was 20 years ago today. (News).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... 1 January - Central, TV South and TV South West begin broadcasting, Don't You Want Me by Human League is the number one single in the UK, Physical by Olivia Newton John is number one in the US and the inventor of the cathode ray tube, Vladimir...

Symantec gets new CEO. (In brief).(John Schwarz appointed president and chief operating officer)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Symantec has appointed former Reciprocal CEO John Schwarz as president and chief operating officer. Schwarz will be responsible for product development, incident response, sales, support, professional services and partner relationships.

Hansol extends ER deal. (In brief).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Monitor manufacturer Hansol has extended its agreement with ER Media to include the Irish distributor's Internet trading company, IT Partner. IT Partner aims to satisfy the growing demand for computer components and consumables, with particular...

CMS to distribute Tapeware. (In brief).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Yosemite Technologies has appointed storage specialist CMS Peripherals as a distributor in the UK. This agreement will enable CMS to distribute Tapeware, a storage, management and disaster recovery software developed by Yosemite Technologies.

Consortium promotes 2Gb/s. (In brief).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Overland Data, Computer Associates, QLogic and nStor Technologies have created a consortium to promote the adoption and maximise the performance of 2Gb/s serverless back-up for Fibre Channel-based storage area network (SAN) environments.

Microsoft UK 2000 profits fall. (In brief).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 8, 2002... Microsoft UK saw profits plummet 64 per cent to [pounds sterling]25.4m in the year to 30 June 2000. In a filing to Companies House, Microsoft revealed turnover had dropped 4.4 per cent to [pounds seterling]215.4m and administration costs had...

Morse gets Coll on board. (In brief).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Morse has appointed Phil Coll to its board. Coll will take up the position of business development director.

Cedar shares massive drop. (In brief).(Cedar Software)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Shares in software group Cedar dropped by 12 per cent last week as institutional shareholders lost faith in the group's ability to find a buyer. A report in The Financial Times said any company interested in acquiring Cedar would do better...

Fujitsu gains 200th reseller. (In brief).(Fujitsu Siemens, Equanet)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Fujitsu Siemens has appointed Equanet as its 200th reseller. It has been accredited as a Fujitsu Siemens Computers' system centre and will focus on developing sales of the vendor's range of notebooks and desktop PCs to the SME, corporate and...

ASP market to make gains with vertical focus. (Software).(application service providers)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Despite harsh criticism and poor press surrounding the ASP market in 2001, analysts believe it could make a comeback this year in a revised form. "There is already a certain amount of success coming out of niche ASP markets and we expect...

Linux vendors turn to channel. (Software).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... The channel is expected to play a big part in the development of Linux this year as the four remaining vendors vie for OS market space. Last year, the open operating system gained respect and creditability from large corporate players such...

VARs benefit as VoIP becomes reality. (Networking).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Voice over IP has become a reality for the channel and looks like becoming an increasingly popular sell this year. Resellers are installing VoIP applications for customers and they seem pretty impressed. But this business has been...

Are businesses ready to adopt SMS messaging? (Networking).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Mobile networks will be blossoming this year, although not in the directions predicted by hypemongers two years ago. With GPRS still very much in its infancy and 3G nothing but a distant dream to everyone in the UK apart from a small test...

Whiteboards receive government boost. (Hardware).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... The government's continued commitment to IT spending in education should ensure the market for interactive whiteboards is buoyant, allowing dealers to prosper. "Education is not affected by the economy or by incidents like 11 September to...

Overland Data reveals plans to expand tape library sales into enterprise space. (Hardware).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... In a move that confirms the popularity of the enterprise storage area, OVERLAND DATA has announced plans to expand its tape library sales beyond the mid-sized market. Nick Charles, European vice president of the company, said tape was...

Kingston to update partner programme. (Hardware).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Kingston Technology is planning to revamp its partner programme to refresh certain aspects and help dealers adapt to the downturn. The company admitted the programme was "out of date". Beate Schmidt marketing manager, said it had...

Call centres may fail Human Rights law test. (Services).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... The CALL CENTRE industry was dominated by negative press last year with screaming headlines of sweatshop working conditions, poor pay, long hours, high staff turnover and overbearing line managers, but employees may now have a chance to hit...

Things can only get better for beaten recruitment sector. (Services).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... Although there is some optimism for a marked Improvement by the second quarter of 2002, the IT recruitment industry is bracing itself for another tough year. The IT staff agency market -- used as a bell-weather for the industry in general...

Can the UK afford to stay out of the euro? (Editorial).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... IF YOU BUY SOMETHING from a shop today, you may not notice, but there's something very different going on to when you did the same thing before 31 December 2001. It's not something that's different for you, but just by doing the same thing...

Service -- at a price: Phil Wainewright looks back on the good old days when companies looked after their customers and dreams up a way to bring that attitude back.(Brief Article)(Editorial)
January 8, 2002... This new year, let's make a resolution. Let's rediscover the service ethos. I don't mean the formulaic, often insincere kind of service typified by parting phrases like Thank you for calling, have a nice day". I mean real, engaged service from...

Buildings up your defences: with so many anti-virus software products on the market, it is difficult to decide which of them is likely to be most effective in the fight against the spiralling threat of viruses.
January 8, 2002... Sit down with a dealer selling security products and you'll find one of the biggest complaints he or she will have is that the sheer number of products makes the issue of choosing the right software to sell confusing. When you add the...

Letters.
January 8, 2002... Letter of the week We are writing to set the record straight following your article on Connect and GO and BT Ignite (SAP defends ASP package against ASP failure allegations, MicroScope, 4 December). The article alleged BT Ignite had...

Watch out for this man in the gents: Darren Dredge, senior business group manager, Computers Unlimited. (5 Minute Interview).(Brief Article)(Interview)
January 8, 2002... What have you got in your pockets? Forty Marlboro Lights and two months' worth of unclaimed receipts. Who would you most like to have a date with? Kylie Minogue -- have you seen her latest video? What did you want to be when...

We hear an intriguing rumour that one of the major IT distributors. (Soap).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... We hear an intriguing rumour that one of the major IT distributors has, of all things, opted to diversify into the white goods arena. More specifically, it's flogging fridges and microwaves. Well, that's one way of dealing with the...

At the Margins. (Soap).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... The soap opera for the IT channel... The ghost of Jeff Cantatas has recruited Grant Hacker-Pryke to spearhead the revenge mission against its murderess. Meanwhile, Angela Callard has left her husband Roger for potato skins magnate Jamie...

From MicroScope January 1992. (Hindsights).(Brief Article)
January 8, 2002... "We came out of the meeting quite happy -- but in the event, we decided to drop the firm" Pace sales director Rob Downie on last ditch attempts to patch up its relationship with Northamber. What would he do if he wasn't happy? "Our...

Another buyout at Memory Plus? Managing director remains tight-lipped over rumours distributor could change hands for second time in ten months.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... The status of Swindon-based distributor Memory Plus was unclear last week amid suggestions the company could be the subject of a buyout. The development comes less than a year after the business was bought from parent company Torridon. ...

PSL moves into software with Open.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... Hardware distributor PSL Holdings has acquired software distributor Open Computing to expand its product range for resellers. PSL acquired the share capital of Open for an undisclosed sum and both will continue to operate autonomously. ...

Direct lessons boost Compaq.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... Compaq has admitted it is saving money in the US and the UK through the adoption of direct elements in its sales model. The vendor announced last week its next quarter would show profits rather than losses. US analysts said direct sales had...

Latest iMac gets thumbs up from apple UK reseller base. (News).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... The Apple dealer network an upbeat response to the manufacturer's revamped iMac. "We are getting orders for the new iMac already, which has not happened with the previous products. There has been a lot of pent-up demand," said John Lewis,...

Weak PC sales hit Dixons figures. (News).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 15, 2002... Dixons Stores Group has admitted that a fall in PC sales affected sales in its retail division and offset growth in white and brown goods. But overall sales at PC World grew five per cent to [pounds sterling]58Im in the six months to 10...

Director ban for two channel veterans. (News).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... Two channel veterans have received company director disqualification orders, one for ten years and the other for four years. George Winston Brown -- a director of components distributor PCP Technology, which went into liquidation in...

Azlan is first to go as 3Com reviews partners. (News).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... 3Com has ended its relationship with Azlan in the UK and promised a further shake-up of distribution partners over the coming months. Paul Malcolm, 3Com's UK and Ireland manager, told MicroScope the firms had been moving into different...

Deverill appoints MD. (News).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... Poole-based reseller Deverill has undergone a major management change with the appointment of Richard Ashmore as managing director. Ashmore will take over day-to-day responsibilities from Joel Jervis, who retains his title as chief...

It was 20 years ago today.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... 9 January -- Land of make believe by Bucks Fizz advances to number two on its way to the top. I want to know what love is by Foreigner is number two in the US 10 January -- Sharky's Machine, starring Burt Reynolds, is top at the US box...

Palm waves goodbye to 15 per cent of its staff. (News).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... A change in business focus towards the telecommunications and business-to-business arenas has prompted manufacturer Palm to reduce its headcount in the UK by as much as 15 per cent. Despite its pedigree in retail, Colin Holloway, Palm's...

Big Blue outsources PC production in $5bn deal. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... IBM has handed the manufacture of its NetVista desktop range to Sanmina-SCI in a three-year $5bn ([pounds sterling]3.6bn) agreement Big Blue has also sold its entire desktop manufacturing operation in the US and Scotland, but a spokeswoman...

Lynx IT business MBO. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... Shareholders at Lynx Group have approved a cash offer from IFA Services for the group. As a result, Lynx's IT business will be sold to a management buyout team.

Computacenter services strategy pays off. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... Computacenter has claimed its focus on strengthening services business has offset tough market conditions, despite a 28 per cent second half year-on-year fall in product supply revenues. In a trading statement, the company said profits for 2001...

Morse boosts shareholding. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... Morse has acquired the additional 39 per cent shareholding in Spanish services group Intergracion de Sistemas Abiertos, which it bought in September. The additional shareholding gives Morse 90 per cent of the group's shares.

Rock bottom for Guardian iT. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... Guardian iT shares hit a record low last week as fears mounted that the company would not be able to renegotiate banking covenants. Since issuing a profit warning in December, its shares have fallen 67 per cent and it is on course to breach two...

Rivals push for XP probe. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... The European Commission is being urged to launch an anti-trust investigation into Microsoft Windows XP by rivals Sun Microsystems, AOL Time Warner, IBM and Oracle, according to reports.

Dealers should branch out of PCs into gadgets. (News).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... Despite the fact that shoppers were keen to splash their cash in the run-up to Christmas, Barry Young believes PC retailers might have dipped out on a share of consumers' money and suggests they need to make changes if they wish to stay in...

Systems Union sets ambitious target for 2002. (Software).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... Despite difficult trading conditions last year, Systems Union Group announced it returned to profitability in 2001 and planned to increase market share this year. Both Pegasus and the principal trading company Systems Union Holdings...

Utimaco signs bank deal. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... European provider of professional certified security, Utimaco Safeware, has signed a [euro]2.3m ([pound sterling]1.4m) support and consultancy contract with the ForeningsSparbanken, one of the largest banking institutions in Scandinavia. The...

SAP expects revenue growth. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... Business infrastructure software provider SAP expects fourth quarter software licence sales to reach more than [euro]1bn ([pound sterling]619m). On the basis of this figure, it anticipates 2001 revenues to grow by more than 16 percent.

Hyperwave sales soar. (In Brief).(Hyperwave Information Management Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... Knowledge management systems vendor Hyperwave grew sales by 89 per cent from [euro]8m to [euro]15.1m during the first nine months of the current fiscal year. Company sales during the third quarter were [euro]5.3m, corresponding to an increase...

Red Hat ported with Alpha. (In Brief).(Red Hat Linux 7.2i will be ported to Compaq's Alpha processors)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... Red Hat Linux 7.2i is to be ported to Compaq's Alpha processors with a target availability of the first quarter of 2002. The Alpha port will support the same features as those found in the recently released Red Hat Linux 7.2.

Database back to Square 1. (In Brief).(Square One International Inc., iBase Systems Corp. form distribution agreement)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... Database and online service provider iBase has created a new partnership deal with channel distributor Square 1 Intemational to provide a central reseller supply route for its digital management offering. The vendor hopes to promote its product...

M-Urge opens MindManager to UK channel. (Software).(M-Urge seeks UK resellers for software application)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2002... The exclusive UK distributor of MindManager, M-Urge, is looking for resellers in the UK. It is seeking to increase channel sales from 20 per cent to 50 per cent by the end of 2002. Lawrence Webb, managing director of M-Urge, said:...