MicroScope articles from September 2005

MicroScope archives from September 2005

Acquisition an option for morphing Morse.
September 5, 2005... Christopher Walton christopher.walton@rbi.co.uk Morse's continuing mission to strip itself of VAR status and become a pure services-led and dominated company has boosted turnover and pre-tax profits, despite the majority of UK revenues...

Commitment to channel pays dividends for SAP.
September 5, 2005... karl Flinders karl.flinders@rbi.co.uk SAP's channel has grown by almost 50 per cent globally since it talked up its commitment to indirect sales and, as a result, the vendor has enjoyed a large increase in turnover. The additional...

Customers see business benefits of adopting SAM.
September 5, 2005... KARL FLINDERS karl.flinders@rbi.co.uk Following vendor and channel activity in the software asset management (SAM) space in recent months, the message appears to have hit home and customers have taken over the driving seat, according to...

Dell's Irish open day is a 'damp squib'.
September 5, 2005... Some resellers attending Dell's open day in Ireland have described the event as a "damp squib" and complained they learnt nothing new about the manufacturer. Months ago, Paul Cawley, VAR sales in Dell UK's preferred account division, sent a...

HP addresses grey problem.
September 5, 2005... Paul kunert paul.kunert@rbi.co.uk Vendor takes action to stamp out more than [pounds sterling]20m worth of grey product that is flooding the market every quarter Up to three-quarters of Hewlett-Packard's Alpha-based servers sold in the...

Huawei moves in on Cisco.
September 5, 2005... Christopher Walton christopher.walton@rbi.co.uk China's network manufacturing giant Huawei Technologies has appointed Zycko as its sole UK distributor for enterprise channels, along with ambitious plans for market share growth. While on...

Intel secretive over Xeon delay.
September 5, 2005... Paul kunert paul.kunert@rbi.co.uk Intel's channel partners have complained that its dual-core server seeding platforms have been delayed without explanation, which they claim will help arch-rival AMD establish a greater lead in the market....

Klein heads up Steljes Trade.(Julian Klein)(Brief Article)
September 5, 2005... The ex-managing director of Computer 2000 has taken charge at specialist AV distributor Steljes Trade with the aim of bolstering its public sector and corporate business, writes Paul Kunert. Julian Klein said the core market was selling...

Tough climate for small technology businesses.
September 5, 2005... Christopher Walton christopher.walton@rbi.co.uk ICT SMEs continue to struggle despite evidence reported by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) small business service that UK SMEs are continuing to outperform the wider economy. In...

Undisclosed bidder eyes Fayrewood.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2005... CHRISTOPHER WALTON christopher.walton@rbi.co.uk Fayrewood, stakeholder in ComputerLinks and the parent company of distributors Interface and Unipalm, has been approached by an undisclosed party with a possible offer for all or part of the...

Waste presents a hazard.(Restriction of Hazardous Waste Substances)
September 5, 2005... Simon Quicke simon.quicke@rbi.co.uk The FSB highlights the risks small businesses will face if they fail to comply with forthcoming ROHS regulations Those system builders which solder their own motherboards and components could fall...

Weak vendor support puts strain on channel.
September 5, 2005... Resellers forced to provide support or face losing customers as vendors attempt to cut costs PAUL KUNERT paul.kunert@rbi.co.uk The constant erosion of margins and the resulting reduction in vendors' channel support have placed immense...

Avaya and Equant partnership presents services opportunity.
September 12, 2005... Avaya's partnership with France Telecom subsidiary Equant could benefit those resellers that are able to provide services to multinationals migrating to IP telephony. Although the partnership between the two communications specialists is...

C2000 unruffled by further staff departures.(Computer 2000)(Brief Article)
September 12, 2005... The managing director of Computer 2000 has played down the exit of further senior and middle management and insisted it is business as usual at the Basingstoke-based distributor. Since March, C2000 has lost commercial director Gary Fowle to...

Conflicting messages confuse users.
September 12, 2005... Contradictory vendor spin is clouding customer views of technology -- as the latest IBM sponsored research, which contradicts a Microsoft survey, demonstrates -- but the channel's strength of looking at customer needs on an individual basis is...

D-Link takes the SME challenge.
September 12, 2005... D-Link has made an aggressive bid for market share in the small business space, setting the established forces of Cisco, Hewlett-Packard's ProCurve division and 3Com firmly in its sights after it formalised its pan-European SME dealer...

Buying power.(electronic auctions)(information technology industry)
September 12, 2005... With electronic auctions and sourcing tools set to become more common, it is time for the IT industry to rethink the way it sells product and services Earlier this year, public sector IT supplier Centerprise was confident it had won a...

F5 acquires networking rival Swan Labs.
September 12, 2005... Consolidation in the networking market continued apace last week as traffic management vendor F5 snapped up privately held rival Swan Labs for $43m ([pounds sterling]23m), following similar buys by Juniper and Cisco for WAN optimisation. The...

Gateway to focus on retail sales.
September 12, 2005... Vendor insists it will stick to the UK retail channel 'for the immediate future', but does not intend to open its own stores The head of global sales at Gateway has vowed to limit its presence in the UK market to the retail sector, at least...

Getronics shuffles UK pack.(appoints Mark Kenealy )(Brief Article)
September 12, 2005... In the wake of Getronics' acquisition of PinkRoccade, a bout of managerial musical chairs has seen Mark Kenealy take the reins as UK and Ireland managing director after former PinkRoccade chief executive Clive Hyland left the group. Kenealy...

HP extends lead over 3Com in LAN switches.
September 12, 2005... Cisco's dominance of the networking market means the most other manufacturers can hope for is to secure second place, and Hewlett-Packard seems to have opened up a significant gap between itself and close rival 3Com in the LAN switch market....

Intel abuse 'undeniable' claims AMD.
September 12, 2005... The war of words between the world's largest chip manufacturers has continued unabated after the executive vice-president of legal affairs and the chief administrative officer at AMD claimed Intel's illicit practices forced users to pay...

Juniper extends trade-up programme.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2005... Routing and security specialist vendor Juniper is to extend its EMEA competitive trade-up programme until the end of the year to incorporate products from recently acquired vendors. Named rivals include Cisco and Nortel in routing, Check Point...

Microsoft toughens demands.
September 12, 2005... Revised OEM distributor channel agreement will put pressure on cash flow, which may result in software price hikes System builders could suffer higher prices as Microsoft's OEM distributors face cash flow concerns after the vendor's demand...

NEC seeks to boost SME sales with UK distributor.
September 12, 2005... NEC Computers has appointed a UK distributor for the first time in its history in a bid to broaden its reach into the SME market. Interface Solutions will recruit resellers that promote Acer and Fujitsu Siemens brands. Talking to MicroScope,...

Siebel makes new friends ; in the SME playground.
September 12, 2005... Six months after its rebirth as a channel-friendly vendor in an effort to hit the SME space, Siebel has signed up 90 per cent of its targeted EMEA resellers and is aiming to achieve 100 per cent channel fulfilment before January 2006. At the...

Sun pledges flexibility.
September 12, 2005... Vendor takes initial step towards the creation an 'e la carte' offering for channel partners Sun Microsystems took its first step towards what it describes as a more flexible channel programme with the launch of its advantage partner...

Threat of price rises as HP cuts distribution rebates.
September 12, 2005... Distributors are facing a reduction in the rebates they receive from Hewlett-Packard, raising the spectre of increased prices to offset the drop in income, but the move will be heavily resisted by the reseller channel. As part of changes to...

dabs.com pushes up-selling.
September 12, 2005... On-line retailer relaunches its Web site with greater focus on specifications and options to encourage users to upgrade The message about up-selling the customer, which has become a mantra among vendors seeking to claw back revenue, has...

Acer targets heavyweights.
September 26, 2005... Christopher Walton christopher.walton@rbi.co.uk Acer has outlined plans to shake current conventions in the PC market and become one of the top two global vendors in the next two years, which will see it finally enter the enterprise...

Alcatel fights off rivals and holds on to market in EMEA.
September 26, 2005... Christopher Walton christopher.walton@rbi.co.uk Alcatel continues to lead the communications market in EMEA when it comes to the number of lines shipped, taking advantage of a slip over the second quarter by rival Siemens and fighting off...

Byte off only what you can chew.(Computer Associates International Inc. plans to extend its capacity)
September 26, 2005... Roanna Avison roanna.avison@rbi.co.uk Computer Associates plans to extend its capacity-based pricing model into the SME space in a bid to help smaller firms avoid the increasing complexity of the storage market. Currently, the scheme...

Channel experiences tough conditions.(Brief Article)
September 26, 2005... A flat market and increasing price pressure were cited as problem areas in the market by UK channel players Compel, InTechnology, Northamber and Matrix, writes Roanna Avison. Compel appeared to be least affected, reporting a 25 per cent...

Channel key to server virtualisation delivery.
September 26, 2005... KARL FLINDERS karl.flinders@rbi.co.uk Increasing server capabilities through software can meet the cost savings requirements of businesses and public sector organisations, with the channel key to delivering this maturing technology. Growth...

Cisco addresses reseller criticism of SME.
September 26, 2005... Cisco's SME market onslaught took a further twist last week with the promise of competitively priced technology for the sector, along with a marketing blitz and the introduction of Support Assistant as a replacement for SmartNet in the...

Iomega CEO spreads cheer among resellers.
September 26, 2005... UK resellers have been urged to remain positive because there is a bright future for them in the storage market. The call comes from Iomega CEO Werner Heid, who said there had been a change in the SME space in recent months: "In the past, SMEs...

Microsoft changes for digital age.
September 26, 2005... Microsoft has separated its business into three parts in a move that will not impact resellers as it attempts to speed up decision-making. The Microsoft Platform and Products, Business and Entertainment and Devices divisions, as they are now...

Oracle broadens SME channel.
September 26, 2005... Software vendor signs up three broadline distributors in the US to target SMEs, with options for similar deals in the UK The mass reseller market could be next for Oracle in the UK after the vendor's US operation last week signed up three...

Phishing for; information.
September 26, 2005... Report by Simon Quicke Concluding our coverage of a round table event run by Trend Micro, the PH phenomenon and mobile security come under the spotlight One of the biggest problems with the IT sector generally is the continual...

Trading Standards seizes [pounds sterling]500k of suspect products.(Brief Article)
September 26, 2005... It emerged last week that computer companies in Reading, Manchester, Rochdale and Flintshire were subject to a coordinated raid by Trading Standards officers during the first week of September, leading to the seizure of products believed to be...

VoIP hacking fears fuelled by flexible working increase.
September 26, 2005... Simon Quicke simon.quicke@rbi.co.uk Threats in the mobile world are continuing to grow and are ignored by large numbers of users, leaving companies wide open to viruses and data abuse. Fears about VoIP hacking attacks raised last week by...