Computer Reseller News Latest updates

OCF and Interface join forces in Landmark project

Kayleigh Bateman — 2009-07-10T17:22:00.000Z

Kayleigh Bateman, CRN, Friday 10 July 2009 at 17:22:00

HPC integrator OCF and distributor Interface (ISI) build a new IBM storage environment for Landmark Solutions

High performance computing and storage integrator OCF and distributor Interface (ISI) have implemented a new storage environment for Landmark Solutions, the geospatial services division of Landmark Information Group.

Landmark Solutions offers services, such as analysis and management of geospatial data, GIS application and software development, web mapping solutions and geocoding, data capture and digitisation of paper maps, for customers including the likes of Sport England, South West Water and Scottish Natural Heritage.

The new environment includes the IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller (IBM SVC), which is a single, hardware vendor-independent, management and virtualisation platform.

The IBM SVC allows Landmark to combine existing EMC disk-based storage and new IBM disk-based storage to create a virtual pool of storage, split between a prime office site and disaster recovery site. Vendor independent, the IBM SVC enables the customer to add storage from any other vendor in the future, making previously disparate storage easier to mange, thus reducing the admin burden on IT staff every time Landmark chooses to grow its business.

Vic Cornell, UNIX systems administrator at Landmark Solutions, said: “In the past we have installed disparate storage systems for each new service, but we really needed a storage environment which pools storage hardware – irrespective of which vendor manufactures it - to better cope with current storage demands.

“We also needed an agile environment which can scale to cope with future storage needs and an environment which reduces admin overheads and enables us to grow our business without requiring additional staff and resources.”

The new environment also uses a second management system, IBM General Parallel File System (GPFS), which Information Lifecycle Management in a unified store for files and documents for all systems and users.

In addition IBM’s Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) is included to enable protection and archival of data.

The combination and integration between SVC and GPFS and the TSM provides a secure and scalable storage infrastructure to support Landmark’s business.

Cornell added: “OCF designed a vendor-independent virtualised storage environment and, by working in partnership with ISI, ensured the entire environment was up and operational in just three months.

“Additional face-to-face training from OCF, ISI and IBM on one of the products, at IBM’s Hursley development centre, made a real difference to our storage knowledge and ensured we were fully competent using the storage components.”

Wright to leave HP

Sara Yirrell — 2009-07-10T17:04:00.000Z

Sara Yirrell, CRN, Friday 10 July 2009 at 17:04:00

HP's Personal Systems Group (PSG) general manager has handed in his notice

A third high-profile industry executive will step down from his role this month - this time in vendor land.

David Wright, general manager of HP's PSG, will leave the company, CRN has learned.

This follows the news that Nick Gorringe, managing director of VAR BT EngageIT and Graham Jones, managing director of Integralis, were also set to leave their roles.

Wright has worked at HP and before that Compaq since 1989 and most recently spoke to CRN about HP simplifying its channel business further for partners (Channelweb 1 April).

It has not been revealed at this stage where Wright is going, or whether he is staying in the channel.

In a statement, HP said: “After a successful 20 years with HP David Wright has decided to leave to pursue his career outside of HP. The company would like to take this opportunity to thank David for his significant contribution to HP and wish David all the best for the future.”

Dell targets partners for managed services

Sara Yirrell — 2009-07-10T14:10:00.000Z

Sara Yirrell , CRN, Friday 10 July 2009 at 14:10:00

Vendor singles out potential partners across Europe for its 'channel-friendly' services portfolio

Dell has already identified more than 200 Business Partners across Europe that it would like to see selling its new managed services offering.

Last week the vendor unveiled its expanded services portfolio targeted at enterprises, SMEs and the public sector (Channelweb, 2 July).

The services are split into three areas; ProManaged a cloud-optimised platform; ProConsult which allows IT departments to tailor support packages for individual users and assets; and ProManaged aimed at IT infrastructure management.

Dell’s PartnerDirect channel programme will incorporate the portfolio into its managed services certified practice area.

Eric Velfre, director of channel solutions, EMEA at Dell, said the services were divided that way as a result of channel feedback.

“Feedback from our partners said they preferred something more à la carte, rather than a bundle, so this way they can pick and choose,” he said. “We are trying to make our services more friendly from a channel perspective.”

He added that partners can sell services in three ways a resell model, which sees Dell fulfil the contract; the Sell Agent model, where resellers will be trained to act as an agent for Dell; and a white label-style service, which allows partners to sell the services under their own brand.

Velfre added that the sweet spot in the market for these services would be for firms with between 500 and 1,000 seats.

“The services would not really suit SMEs or very large corporate customers,” he said.

Simon Aron, joint managing director of VAR Eurodata, said the services would be good for smaller firms that do not have the resources to offer their own managed services.

“Smaller resellers cannot afford to have people on a helpdesk or manning the phones, but this will help them offer managed services to their customers. Dell is definitely making the right noises in the channel now.”

Channel sings praises of vSphere 4 upgrade

kayleigh bateman — 2009-07-10T14:04:00.000Z

kayleigh bateman , CRN, Friday 10 July 2009 at 14:04:00

Cloud generating system from VMware opens new door for partners to offer professional services

The channel has hailed virtualisation giant VMware’s work on vSphere 4, with industry players praising the operating system’s new services opportunities.

Released in May, vSphere 4 was a massive update from its flagship ESX 3.51 hypervisor and management toolset, which many predicted would put pressure on both Microsoft and the Xen development community.

In addition to the name change, the vendor added new switching and management features to raise the bar for x86 datacentre virtualisation technology, and to help promote it as the first cloud operating system.

Phil Cambers, commercial director at the SITS Group, a VMware Accredited Consultancy (VAC), said the release of vSphere 4 Essentials Plus hits a sweet spot among SMEs.

“It is a great way to get virtualisation into an organisation at a low price with lots of functionality,”he said.

Andrew Cooke, principal consultant at Intercept, said that due to demand, the VMware VAR had recently held an event on the benefits of vSphere 4.

“The event demonstrated how vSphere 4 is easy to upgrade, but still requires professional services to protect critical business data,” said Cooke.

"Mature" Riverbed unveils new top tier

Doug Woodburn — 2009-07-10T14:00:00.000Z

Doug Woodburn, CRN, Friday 10 July 2009 at 14:00:00

Vendor creates Diamond-level tier for top performing partners

WAN optimisation vendor Riverbed has created a new Diamond tier for its most successful partners and unveiled Teneo as its first UK recruit.

UK Diamond partners need at least four Riverbed Certified Solution Professionals and must meet an undisclosed minimum revenue requirement. In return, they will be offered extra rebates for penetrating targeted accounts, plus additional marketing, training and rebate incentives.

Teneo, which was Riverbed’s first UK partner in 2004, is the first to gain Diamond status.

Nigel Lambert, northern European channel manager at Riverbed, said the certification which sits above its Silver, Gold and Platinum tiers is a sign of the WAN optimisation market’s increased maturity.

“Some of our partners are getting large enough now to support a new tier,” he said.

Fuelled by a 40 per cent rise in Riverbed sales, Reading-based Teneo grew sales by 10 per cent to £9.2m for its year to 30 June.

James Hall, marketing director at Teneo, claimed “flag-waving” was no longer necessary to sell Riverbed.

“Customers are now architecting solutions with WAN optimisation in place,” he said. “They do not bother to embark on a centralisation project without it we are seeing a maturing of the market.”

Bailey bullish after s2s integration push

Sam Trendall — 2009-07-10T13:49:00.000Z

Sam Trendall, CRN, Friday 10 July 2009 at 13:49:00

Firm issues challenge to bigger rivals as it looks to become an end to end system integrator

Bailey Teswaine is looking to rival the UK’s top resellers after appointing Scott Nursten as systems integration director.

Nursten will continue as managing director of Crawley-based VAR s2s, which was bought by Bailey Teswaine last year.

He indicated that combining Bailey Teswaine’s cabling and tele-phony expertise with s2s’ networking and security nous could create “an end-to-end systems integrator”.

He added that, in several years’ time, his firm could compete with 2e2, Logicalis and other big name integrators. Bailey Teswaine posted 2008 revenue of £65.8m, up 14 per cent on the previous year, though the company suffered an operating loss of £3.2m.

“We feel our delivery mechanisms suit any type of IT deployment,” he said. “But we want to provide intelligent infrastructure and building platforms, and fit out entire buildings not just the technology.”

Nursten indicated that extending the company’s reach into servers, storage and virtualisation would be a priority.

Dave Millett, director of channel consultancy Equinox Business Consulting, endorsed Bailey Teswaine’s strategy.

“This is the right direction for it to go in,” said Millett.

Cash helps RES expand

Kayleigh Bateman — 2009-07-10T13:43:00.000Z

Kayleigh Bateman, CRN, Friday 10 July 2009 at 13:43:00

Vendor looks to increase European presence following cash injection

User workspace management software vendor RES Software will use a £7.5m private equity cash injection to grow its European footprint.

RES currently works with distributors Computerlinks and AppSpeed in the UK, where it plans to double its headcount over the next year.

Hans Middelburg, chief executive of RES Software, said: “We have a presence in the Nordics, Germany, Belgium, France, Netherlands and the UK. We chose external funding to help increase channel, sales, direct touch and marketing staff in these areas.”

RES recorded $24m (£15m) in revenues for 2008.

Alcatel-Lucent makes security sales simpler

Sam Trendall — 2009-07-10T13:36:00.000Z

Sam Trendall, CRN, Friday 10 July 2009 at 13:36:00

Converged Partner Programme gives resellers single contract covering the complete Alcatel-Lucent portfolio

Alcatel-Lucent is hoping to ramp up partners’ security and applications expertise with a streamlined partner programme and specialisations-based rebate structure.

The Converged Partner Programme will give resellers a single, standardised contract covering the vendor’s entire portfolio. The level of discount awarded to VARs will be determined by the number of specialisations they attain.

The UK is the first country to roll out the programme and partners will have a “grandfathering” period to get up to speed on the new regulations.

David Parker, Alcatel-Lucent’s vice president of enterprise activities for the UK and Ireland, said: “The old programme worked but it had become a bit clunky. We simplified it because the market is looking for a converged solution.”

The vendor has partner specialisations centred on six areas, including two in voice, one covering SME and another in enterprise. Applications, security and data are also covered and the sixth focuses on the QIP address management line-up developed by Lucent.

To obtain Certified partner status, resellers must achieve a specialisation in one of the six areas. To ascend to Expert level they must gain one advanced specialisation. Obtaining three advanced badges will secure Premium status.

Parker revealed that in 2009’s opening quarter, less than half of the vendor’s UK revenue came through voice products, compared to more than 75 per cent in 2008’s first three months.

“Our voice reseller base has embraced security at a rate that has surprised even me,” he said.

John Massey, managing director of Alcatel-Lucent partner Actimax, welcomed the shift.

“It recognises the change in the market and that resellers ought to be able to sell both voice and data,” he said.

SANmelody takes flight at Newcastle International

Kayleigh Bateman — 2009-07-10T10:39:00.000Z

Kayleigh Bateman, CRN, Friday 10 July 2009 at 10:39:00

VAR Waterstons installs new SAN virtual infrastructure at Newcastle International Airport

Technology and outsourcing services reseller Waterstons has installed a SANmelody virtual infrastructure at Newcastle International Airport.

Working with vendor DataCore Software the SANmelody installation has become the SAN virtual infrastructure within the Airport’s datacentres.

The Durham-based VAR deployed two storage servers, one in each IT facility.

Keith Joseph, regional manager at DataCore Software, said: “We increasingly see iSCSI adoption as the protocol of choice over the more expensive Fibre Channel. This is largely owing to its good performance at a relatively inexpensive price.”

Newcastle International connected the two datacentres over an IP based network. Operating over a resilient Ethernet network which connected the datacentres together, iSCSI was identified as a key technology for the project.

George Nesbitt, general manager of business development and IT at Newcastle International, said: “We are now realising the significant benefits of our virtualisation solution including reduced maintenance costs, energy savings in line with our ‘green’ initiatives and improved disaster recovery processes.

“Waterstons’ expertise has been invaluable in this project.”

Avisen branches out to South Africa

Kayleigh Bateman — 2009-07-10T10:33:00.000Z

Kayleigh Bateman, CRN, Friday 10 July 2009 at 10:33:00

VAR continues overseas expansion by snapping up South African-based IBM Cognos reseller Quadrum Consulting

AIM-listed performance management provider Avisen has acquired the business and assets of IBM Cognos reseller Quadrum Consulting (Proprietary) Limited, for £200,000.

Based in South Africa, the IBM Cognos Business Partner specialises in the IBM Cognos TM1 offering.

The Quadrum acquisition is Avisen's third this year. The reseller purchased UK-based Wexner Global in February and US-based EON Enterprises in April.

Following the acquisition of Quadrum, Avisen will have access to both the firm’s blue-chip client base and its pool of skilled resources. Avisen plans to use these to expand its offshore services capability.

The total £200,000 consideration for the acquisition will be fulfilled by the issue of 1,379,310 new ordinary shares at a price of 14.50p.

Co-founders and senior executives of Quadrum, Douard le Roux and Steven Joffe, will join Avisen’s South African subsidiary management team, with plans to expand their teams to service both the local and European markets.

Quadrum posted a profit before tax of £98,280 for the year ended 28 February, on turnover of £312,117. The value of its net assets as at 28 February was £170,520.

Analyst GE&CR, said: “Avisen’s acquisition of Quadrum Consulting is further testimony to the company’s aggressive buy-and-build strategy. The consideration paid for the acquisition is just over two times the value of Quadrum’s profit before tax for the year ended 28 February 2009 – a bargain price.

“Avisen continues to be a company to watch.”

Focus: Doing business the green way

Fleur Doidge — 2009-07-10T14:57:00.000Z

Fleur Doidge, CRN, Friday 10 July 2009 at 14:57:00

Regulation changes and cost issues means firms are rapidly becoming more environmentally driven, says Fleur Doidge

In a recently released film, The Age of Stupid, a man living alone in a devastated 2055 reminisces over footage from 2007 and asks why the human race did not take any action to stop climate change when it had the chance.

Tracey Rawling Church, director of brand and reputation at print vendor Kyocera Mita, previewed the film. “It asks, ‘When we have the chance to save ourselves, why don’t we?’,” she said.

“I am aware that there are people who claim it is all a conspiracy, or that it is all Al Gore’s fault, but it doesn’t take rocket science to work out that our future depends on looking after this planet and if we don’t it is pretty much curtains for us.”

Kyocera has long been keen to present itself at the forefront of moves towards increasing environmental sustainability. Its environmental charter states that it will operate in accord with its basic management philosophy, which is not only to provide for the material and intellectual growth of the company and its staff but to “contribute to the advancement of society and humankind”.

The Japanese parent company believes that preserving the environment is central to achieving those goals. It requires all its affiliates to actively participate in sustainable measures that will protect the environment.

But green IT is not just the latest fad.

Andy Lawrence, research director of analysis on eco-efficient IT at The 451 Group, said green IT really started in around 1990.

“They were more concerned then with paper and chemicals in manufacturing, as well as waste and disposal,” he said. “And it did result in some reductions.”

We all know that the vision of the paperless office turned out to be a mirage. Costly paper consumption actually increased as businesses and customers alike found the need to create more records and archive electronic files many of which were never used again.

Paper is only finally being less used now as cost pressures are brought to bear. “There are signs that paper consumption is falling, but it is unclear whether that is just because of the recession or increased use of collaboration technologies,” said Lawrence.

“It is also possible that paper production may be a form of carbon sequestration. The real issue isn’t the paper but printing: the toner and the ink.”

The business imperative

Scientists do generally agree that we must take better care of our environment. The devil is in the detail, and research therefore continues. But whether you agree or not, the business imperative one that’s not going away any time soon is about cost and waste control.

And printing waste is not the only or even the most important issue. Lawrence said that the EU’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive has mandated improved management of electronic waste. And today the emphasis is increasingly moving to the datacentre.

“Around 2003, people started to realise that datacentre energy costs were very, very high, which again raised questions about the carbon footprint of all that energy use,” said Lawrence.

“The focus went very much to the datacentre, especially in 2007 when the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) reported to the US Congress.”

The difficulty for resellers and their customers is in differentiating genuinely eco-efficient offerings from the merely greenwashed, he added.

But that choice is an important one to make because the 2007 report r evealed that datacentres account for 1.5 per cent of US energy use. That figure is expected to be similar in other developed nations and to double by 2012.

“Existing technologies and strategies could reduce typical server energy use by an estimated 25 per cent, with even greater energy savings possible with advanced technologies,” the EPA reported and that was all the way back in 2007.

Since then, organisational eco-efficiency strategies have concentrated on improving the energy use and insulation of datacentres. This is particularly critical when much datacentre kit is habitually left running whether it is in use or not.

Beyond that, most businesses could save a lot of energy by deploying simple things like desktop power management software. Surprisingly, few firms have done this, according to Lawrence, despite evidence suggesting it is very effective in saving energy and money.

Suppliers have been growing their desktop power management sales 20 per cent, 30 per cent or even 100 per cent a year as a result, and the market may double or even quadruple in three or four years.

“But it is hard to predict,” added Lawrence. “For example, Microsoft is always capable of integrating a lot of that technology into its own products. But it is a good market right now.”

The UK government’s CIO council has also indicated that a plan around desktop use will be formulated although it is likely that it will be carefully worded to allow CIOs to use their discretion.

“It will provide clear guidelines on when equipment should be replaced,” said Lawrence.

Rawling Church said she believes that most green IT initiatives are driven by a near-universal need for improved efficiency. Kyocera has worked towards that goal across its range, redesigning printer technology such as cartridges where needed, bringing technology into line with standards such as ISO 14001.

Developments in motion

Products that create even less heat and use less energy than before are always appearing. Duplex printing has not yet been widely adopted, but even that potential has now been superseded by ‘two-up’ and ‘four-up’ where two or four pages are printed on one side.

Print-and-follow technology means people can no longer hit print and then forget to pick up the document the cause of the traditional paper mountains at many departmental printers. Instead, they are forced to swipe a card or enter a passcode at the printer itself to actually print out.

“Since the first Kyoto Summit in 1992, people have been talking about things like embodied carbon, counting everything that has gone into a product,” she said. “But, actually, the biggest issue is in how people use the products.”

Culture and processes need to change. These things provide obvious revenue opportunities for the channel through consultancy, training and other IT-related support to customers.

“The key thing is that it really is not about polar bears,” said Rawling Church. “It is all about the sustainability of humankind being at risk. I have heard some really interesting people speak on the subject recently. One man pointed out that fluctuations in climate are natural and not a new thing, but it has never happened when industrialisation was already taking place.”

The problem can be summarised as exponential growth and demand for resources colliding with climate change. That means that thinking about green is not a nice-to-have but a must-have. Governments are falling into line and businesses must as well, notes Rawling Church.

“When people started out with it, there was a huge price premium,” she said. “In our technology at launch, that was 10 to 15 per cent. But there is no longer a price premium with our products in fact, over time they will cost you less. And this is true for a lot of environmentally focused technology.”

With business lobby CBI estimating that some 30 per cent of energy used by UK businesses is wasted, there appears to be plenty of room for increased energy efficiency, said Rawling Church.

Most movies are made pretty much purely to entertain. But like its extremely successful forerunner, An Inconvenient Truth, The Age of Stupid has a definite message and purpose.

It also wasn’t made or sold like other films it was crowd-funded from the start (the first £50,000 was rumoured to have come from punters in a London bar on a single night) and employs the distributor directly.

It is also likely that innovative, individual approaches from IT providers and the channel will also prove essential if the green message is to succeed.

Popular power

Another company that has already recognised the inevitability of being green and that has started to make changes that will help its customers towards more environmentally efficient businesses is IBM.

Jacqui Davey, vice president of the business partner organisation at IBM UK and Ireland, said green IT has become a business imperative. Drivers for action move beyond costs to regulation and compliance, corporate social responsibility, stakeholder reputation and business development.

“IBM recognises that solutions to climate change represent both an opportun ity for innovation and an imperative for corporate action,” she said. “As such it is helping clients reduce energy use and carbon across their business, while implementing climate protection as part of its own strategy.”

IBM tries to take a holistic view of customer needs, moving beyond the close focus on IT through its energy and environment model, and harnessing its 100,000 Business Partners as much as possible.

It promises to invest in channel success, offering training, education and incentives that help them offer value-added services.

“Further, we engage our Business Partners in opportunities that arise from emerging technologies and evolving market dynamics,” said Davey. “So, in support of this we continue to share our vision and messages for climate change with the channel and how the channel can take advantage of latest technologies.”

IBM is helping Malta develop nationwide smart grid systems for power and water distribution that are aimed at improving efficiency and customer service.

It also tackled Chinese shipping giant COSCO, helping it move from 100 to 40 distribution centres, slashing logistics costs by 23 per cent and CO2 emissions by 15 per cent or 100,000 tonnes a year. It has been building greener datacentres in universities in Australia and the US, that it claims can halve the power needed.

“This is a massive opportunity,” said Davey. “There will be £233bn spent on business upgrades to infrastructure by 2025.”

IBM itself reduced its CO2 emissions by 40 per cent between 1990 to 2005. Big Blue pledges to reduce its own greenhouse gas footprint seven per cent from 2005 figures by 2012, primarily by saving energy.

Globally, IBM renewed or recycled £100m of kit in 2006, returning one per cent to landfill.

It is also aiming to reduce energy costs and consumption through system and resource optimisation.

Businesses and governments are opting for smarter and greener buildings, IT infrastructure, utilities, supply chains, and business operations.

“This is clearly around key emerging technology and is a key evolving market,” said Davey.

However, she added that the market currently appears oversaturated with solutions

that have a green label in one way or another. Customers and resellers need to be able to differentiate.

IBM is looking across customer needs, at IT infrastructure efficiency, at business process transformation, and at the need for the development of new products and services. It has formed the Green Sigma Coalition, an industry alliance to provide better metering, monitoring, automation, analytics and the like for energy, emission, water and waste management.

“The coalition will enable companies using these solutions to better understand energy and water usage, waste, and greenhouse gas emissions across their business operations,” said Davey. “It will help them make changes to improve efficiency, reduce consumption and waste, and lower environmental impact.”

Other members include Cisco, ABB, Honeywell Building Solutions and Siemens Building Technologies. The Lean Six Sigma business improvement methodology will be applied in assessing customer needs and processes because when it comes to green IT, the best solutions must be complex and individually tailored.

“There is no one answer,” said Davey. “Every customer is different. Solutions can range from developing smart grids, to smarter datacentres, to digitising otherwise paper-laden processes and technologies that monitor and help reduce carbon emissions.”

Taking responsibility

According to IBM, green technology solutions can be most successfully offered by paying attention not just to Return on Investment (RoI) but also the notion of corporate social responsibility which is gaining ground in an era of mandated accountability, sustainability ideals and regulatory compliance.

Meanwhile, VARs must, as usual, demonstrate real business benefits to prospective customers.

“Particularly in tough times, resellers can encourage businesses to spend money on environmentally friendly initiatives,” said Davey.

Independent analysis may agree. The London office of Datamonitor has just released a report, Can Green IT Bloom in an Economic Downturn?, which indicates that green IT is one area in which businesses are still keen to invest.

Rhonda Ascierto, senior analyst at Datamonitor and the report’s author, said: “The global economic recession has spurred a shift in the way organisations evaluate, budget for and deploy green IT.

“The downturn has also resulted in green IT trends for datacentres, client devices and asset lifecycle management, as well as reshaped return on investment (RoI) models.”

While IT spend overall has remained flat, green IT is a larger proportion of that spend. Organisations no longer regard green IT and cost-effective IT as mutually exclusive concepts. In fact, green IT that lets companies slash capital expenditure is enjoying increased demand with environmentally focused legislation and cost control as the drivers.

Datacentre virtualisation, datacentre design and layout, as well as asset lifecycle management, have become increasingly important, and the green IT market is expected to benefit and evolve accordingly, the analyst said, especially as green IT vendors are being forced to develop IT solutions that are more efficient as well as environmentally friendly.

“Flat IT budget growth also means that organisations that face critical datacentre limitations, such as a shortage of floor or rack space, are looking to software or outsourcing alternatives to building new datacentres or upgrading existing facilities,” said Ascierto.

“Those alternatives include IT leasing, managed services, virtualisation software, cloud computing and software-as-a-service (SaaS).”

Changes in the datacentre

Cloud computing should also be green. Meanwhile, datacentre virtualisation will become more all-encompassing with servers, storage, communications infrastructure and business applications being virtualised across a pool of datacentre hardware, the analyst said.

The next UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) summit is coming up this December in Copenhagen, following an initial June round of negotiations, involving 182 nations, in Bonn.

With the December talks aimed at amending the Kyoto Protocol to take strong action against climate change, it looks like the timing has never been better to go green. Who can afford to look stupid now?

Critical role for channel today

Martin Atherton — 2009-07-03T16:14:00.000Z

Martin Atherton, CRN, Friday 3 July 2009 at 16:14:00

Channel players must inspire their customers to exploit IT to its fullest potential

The channel is the route through which most IT is sold and implemented and, while major IT vendors can provide higher level guidance to the customers, they do not have direct contact with them.

Customers benefit from ‘real’ contextual guidance, face to face, with channel players. The channel is more than just a channel, or at least it should be.

From certain angles, some of the latest technical evolutions and delivery models look as though they could dis-intermediate the channel. Developments such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and cloud computing spring to mind, if many IT evangelists are to be believed.

However, IT vendors, their channel partners and their customers know that this is untrue today, partly because of the way that technology is bought and accounted for, and partly because most business remains an activity between people engaged at a local level.

But now is not the time for sitting back and enjoying the status quo. Indeed, a major imperative for the channel is in making the opportunity for adding value count for as much as possible.

The current state of the economy only increases the importance of surrounding the products and services for sale with insight, advice, inspiration and guidance.

Business messages

Our recent research has detected a pragmatic and measured set of expectations for how the economic climate will affect IT investment.

Simple messages offered by VARs in this situation can help customers see beyond the vision of IT as merely a cost controller.

Business sentiments are naturally in constant flux. Yet people’s experience of previous downturns seems to be playing its part in helping to shape expectations; most organisations expect to undergo measured and targeted cuts as opposed to large scale reductions.

Again though, nothing is certain and one of the actions open to IT is to take

the initiative to help both sides customers and IT vendors to make the right

decisions.

This is where the channel may exploit its unique position. Indeed, acting in the role of a middle man in the technology industry holds certain advantages.

The gap between the major IT vendor and the non-enterprise customer needs a sturdy bridge.

For the IT vendor, channel partners should be a trusted set of eyes and ears on the ground, keeping manufacturers in tune with industry and regional nuances.

For the customer, the channel partner is the ‘real world’ face of the IT market,

helping put the big ideas and concepts into context and focus.

Looking to the future

As long as the channel exploits these facts, it will remain a vital part of the technology industry ecosystem, regardless of the user or sourcing models that emerge.

The current economic climate is simply the catalyst du jour. It is a wake-up call

for any channel player that has not already started making it clear to customers that they are there to help with more than just processing transactions and, as a result, ensuring that they are worth more to the big IT vendors.

Martin Atherton is a research director at Freeform Dynamics

An interview with the VAT man

Tony N Guise — 2009-07-03T16:08:00.000Z

Tony N Guise, CRN, Friday 3 July 2009 at 16:08:00

A solicitor’s viewpoint for resellers that find their tax situation under scrutiny

HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC’s) Public Notice 160, September 2007, is a statement of practice about the way in which it conducts investigations into indirect tax matters.

You, as a business, are obviously encouraged to co-operate.

Fully co-operating with the authority can lead to a reduction in the civil evasion penalty equivalent to 80 per cent of the tax on which penalties are chargeable.

Be warned, though, they will not pay your costs for dealing with the investigation.

Although they do helpfully point out that you can apply for a reconsideration or appeal against a decision to impose a civil evasion penalty, what they do not explain is that you must appeal within 30 days of the decision (although time may in certain circumstances be extended by the Tribunal).

If you are successful in your appeal, the Tribunal may award costs in your favour. However, that is only from the date you commenced your appeal.

New weapon

In January 2009, HMRC introduced a new weapon in its long fight against

MTIC fraud. Building on the procedures outlined above, Public Notice 161 introduces the interview with HMRC for cases of suspected Missing Trader Intra-Community (MTIC) or carousel fraud.

Carousel fraud refers to the practice of obtaining VAT registration to acquire goods such as hardware or software VAT-free from other EU nations which could then

be sold on. All transactions in the chain of supply may be investigated. It does not apply in other cases of suspected dishonesty.

It is not a legal requirement to engage in the interview process, but refusal to become involved is likely to lead to a higher civil evasion penalty if HMRC believes dishonest conduct has been involved. Discounts of up to 80 per cent may still be possible for full and prompt co-operation.

Advance notice

HMRC will send you details on the following ahead of the investigation:

*That it is not contemplating prosecution (there is a different regime

for those cases)

*The period or periods which it is investigating

*The nature of its suspicions

*The grounds for its belief that you are involved in dishonest conduct

*That false statements can lead to a criminal enquiry with a view to prosecution.

Being a new procedure, experience of this process is limited.

However, there are similar regimes in connection with investigations into the conduct of directors which may lead to disqualification: the so-called Hansard meetings used by the Special Compliance Office of HM Revenue (allegedly unpaid income tax) and interviews about breaches of solicitors’ professional rules by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

In such interviews the authorities often appear friendly. However, it is vital to remember that they are not your friends.

Keep informed

Always be accompanied by a lawyer or accountant familiar with these issues. Thorough preparation is vital, using the information provided by HMRC to

challenge its approach.

If at all possible, make no admissions as these may be used against you in subsequent

interviews or before the appeal Tribunal.

Interviews will concentrate on matters that are complex and (from next year) the matters investigated can be up to four years old.

Most people have difficulty remembering points of detail, particularly in an environment where their livelihood is at risk let alone when the detail requested is about events that happened four years ago.

Do remember to ask for more time to check your records and investigate the issue yourself. Another interview can always be arranged to deal with outstanding issues. Do not be rushed into giving an answer you may later regret.

Interviews may be digitally recorded, although you may insist on a handwritten note being taken.

An investigation can take up to two years to complete, during which time no decision will be reached but VAT may be withheld.

Remember, as a result of recent court decisions about MTIC and contra-trading, HMRC may not be entitled to withhold VAT, let alone impose any penalty. If in doubt, seek advice.

Tony N Guise is partner at specialist law firm Guise Solicitors

IT stimulus will not go to waste

Fleur Doidge — 2009-07-03T15:53:00.000Z

Fleur Doidge, CRN, Friday 3 July 2009 at 15:53:00

An IT consortium claims shared services could save public sector services and cut carbon emissions. Fleur Doidge reports

New IT partnerships will be key to the success of a proposed £1bn public sector stimulus package that sets out to slash costs and carbon emissions.

Logicalis, CA and the Society of IT Management (Socitm) have teamed up with green group Global Action Plan in a shared-services vision, aimed at cutting the cost of running a cash-starved public sector while targeting a mandated 80 per cent reduction in UK carbon emissions from 1990 levels by 2050.

They think the £1bn if spent correctly could save £2bn in three years, which could be reinvested in front-line public services and reduce carbon emissions 12 per cent. IT partners will be crucial as the greatest efficiencies can only happen through a cross-organisational, inter-departmental and multi-IT provider approach.

Speaking at a panel discussion on the proposal at Westminster, Socitm president Steve Palmer said the public sector is going to have to work much more efficiently.

“There are significant pressures on public sector finances,” said Palmer.

“Soon there won’t even be the money or resources to run the public sector services that we have now, let alone in the future. There need to be imaginative and innovative solutions. Also, capacity locally to provide investment funds is somewhat limited. What we need is some high-profile impetus.”

Andrew Miller, MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston, supported the shared vision, adding that without government support it is unlikely that much change will happen in time, if at all.

“I believe that the solution to some of the issues [in the public sector] is in improving shared services,” he said.

Deployments benefiting from such trends as virtualisation and cloud computing were key, he said, facilitating a reshaping of public sector services to remove inefficiencies, such as the unnecessary and widespread duplication of records and files. They would also slash energy bills cutting carbon emissions.

“The House of Commons has started to think about simple things such as switching off monitors, but we can go further,” said Miller.

Green efficiency

Other shared services could take advantage of technologies such as telepresence, to remove the need for officials to travel again making cost and carbon savings. Money could then be redirected to various environmentally friendly investments, such as an energy industry restructure away from fossil fuels.

Trewin Restorick, chief executive of Global Action Plan, said that bringing different organisations together to work on these types of projects could have impressive results.

“We have to reduce our carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 and 30 to 40 per cent by 2020. That’s quite tight,” he said. “Yet government usually works at the speed of a sloth in snowboots walking through treacle. And there are 5,000 organisations in the UK that will be hit by carbon credit legislation.”

IT represents about 10 per cent of the UK’s electricity bill and central government spends £13bn a year on IT. A package like this could help float all boats through better IT spending, said Restorick.

David Swayne, director of information systems at Nottingham Trent University, said his institution, with its 4,000 staff and 26,000 hot-desking students, gained considerable efficiencies through restructuring its IT infrastructure to improve sharing of services.

The university went from 17th place in the green universities league table to first. A team of ‘eco-warriors’, which included students, thought up ways to improve efficiency both IT and non-IT-related and turned those ideas into action.

“We expect to see even more savings in the next 12 months,” said Swayne. “One thing was deploying software that powers machines down when they are not being used, and that monitors them to see when they are being used.”

Gains are possible

Phil Loughlin, chief technology officer at CA, said the vendor’s focus would be on helping organisations to eliminate waste.

“By eliminating waste, you help them improve productivity and so on,” he said.

“There’s a difficult question about whether it means reducing headcount, but we need to focus on getting waste out of IT. From that, you obviously generate a pound saving, and it’s what you do with that pound saving that’s important.”

Chris Gabriel, marketing and solutions director for Logicalis, said the single communications network installed for the Welsh National Assembly, although

criticised for a lack of cohesiveness, showed where gains were possible even in quite large shared-services projects.

“Clearly, we need productivity gains in government and that can improve front-line services,” said Gabriel. “Both sides have to change the IT industry has to step up and deliver innovation.”

The technology is available to make the efficiency gains but what is needed is a plan and stimulus for effective deployment.

“People need to step up [in these projects] and say, ‘how is this actually going to work?’,” Gabriel added.

Public sector holds the key

>> www.channelweb.co.uk/2241591

Red tape makes scanning a must

Fleur Doidge — 2009-07-03T15:30:00.000Z

Fleur Doidge, CRN, Friday 3 July 2009 at 15:30:00

The need to convert paper copies into digital files means great chances for VARs in the scanning market

Not so long ago, some commentators were predicting that office scanners and scanning were going to go the way of the dinosaurs -- or at least of the fax machines, relegated to a dusty corner and rarely used.

However, the massive weight of regulatory compliance now bearing down on all types and sizes of business has given a new lease of life to scanning technology, especially if networkable and integrated into document management and workflow solutions.

Tracey Fielden, head of office marketing at Canon, said the market for its standalone scanners is expanding faster than ever.

"We do everything from desktop paper scanners, which are sheet-fed, right up to application-centric ones, such as volume production scanners or cheque scanners," she said.

Canon sits below the specialist leader Fujitsu -- which has half the market -- but is seeing growing sales, particularly in the low-volume or departmental categories.

"The departmental area of growth is coming from networkable scanners, that talk to the network," said Fielden. "I think that Fujitsu has only just launched a network scanner that competes with ours."

Labour-saving technology

Scanning was often a laborious, principally manual job delegated to one person. A small work-group scanner can share one network and remove that personís workload, processing jobs from the whole work-group.

"The driver is document management, so that people have access to scanners to convert paper documents to electronic files," said Fielden.

Standalone scanners have more features than multi-function devices (MFDs) and can produce better images, often faster or in larger volumes of thousands of pages, automatically. A lot of organisations that use MFDs will buy dedicated scanners as well, said Fielden.

"There will be departmental, standalone scanners dotted around the office."

Peter Trapmore, EMEA sales director at Xerox scanners/Visioneer, agreed, adding that sales of Xerox-branded scanners from Visioneer are growing at a rate of about 30 per cent a year across Europe, including in the UK.

But the technology too has become more appealing. "What has happened is that speeds have gone up and prices have come down. And the scanners have got smaller and smaller," said Trapmore.

Smaller scanners now are document feeders rather than sporting the traditional flat-bed format -- making them easier to use.

"But until the last couple of years, with the drive for compliance, they were not going back to their records to create digital copies of everything," he said.

Hywel Thomas, sales manager at Surrey consultancy and SharePoint reseller BrightStarr, said the future of scanning is tied in with what seems to be an ever-expanding need for improved document management.

"Our customers are asking us for the ability to print and scan documents," said Thomas. "They have mountains of paper."

Growing demand

Alan McLeish, senior product marketing manager at Oki Printing Solutions, which does not sell standalone scanners, said demand was definitely growing for its range of MFDs, which all incorporate scan functions.

Most offer scan to PDF, JPEG, TIFF, FTP, email or to a Windows folder archive on the network. Some offer Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), so users can access their company address book.

"Customers [previously] were asking for scanning functionality but did not necessarily know what they wanted to use it for," said McLeish. "It was not until we added scan-to-email functionality that it started to really take off."

Another useful product is EFI SendMe, an application that allows interfacing between the MFD and a number of different types of scanning utility, including full integration with document management systems.

"If logged on, you can scan to a folder, FTP, email, or to another printer but you can also integrate it with document management," said McLeish.

"For example, with SharePoint, you can view documents on the MFD, de-speckle, de-skew and add meter data, tell SharePoint where they have to go and so on."

Users can ask the MFD to add an OCR layer to the document and then send it to SharePoint. Other applications with which Oki machines are compatible include RightFax.

Compliance and security around document processing is becoming critical for all types of business.

"One of the things that companies like about SharePoint is that you cannot access it unless you are fully authorised," said McLeish.

"That is becoming important with the current need to make sure that the person who enters a document into a system is authorised. So we believe that the scanning functionality will be used more and more by customers."

Xerox copies channel coverage in UK regions

>> www.channelweb.co.uk/2244851

All light on the night

Fleur Doidge and Sara Yirrell — 2008-11-21T10:40:00.000Z

Fleur Doidge and Sara Yirrell, CRN, Friday 21 November 2008 at 10:40:00

The Channel Awards 2008 was a slap-up affair of champagne, bright lights and fancy footwork for over 1,700 of CRN’s closest contacts. Sara Yirrell and Fleur Doidge report

The 15th CRN Channel Awards at Battersea Park Events Arena was the scene of much jubilation as the lucky – and hardworking – winners collected their awards.

With more than 1,750 people attending the black-tie event this year, the CRN team was proud that so many people forgot the economic pressures on them for one evening and turned out to celebrate a night of success.

There was a slight change to the layout of the venue this year, with a mezzanine level introduced for the first time, giving all guests a good view of the main room before the formal part of the evening began.

The charity of the evening was the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Defibrillator Appeal, which is aiming to raise £300,000 to place much-needed defibrillators in tube stations across London.

A silent auction was also run in aid of the BHF appeal, with four VIP tickets to Aston Villa versus Portsmouth as the prize.

CRN editor Sara Yirrell made a brief speech before guests tucked into a three-course meal.

Guest host was comedian Jimmy Carr, who entertained the audience with his dry wit during his after-dinner speech, before launching into the main business of the evening – the awards ceremony itself.

Bill Allan, UK sales director at headline sponsor OKI Printing Solutions thought the event was excellent.

“I was impressed with the venue, the professional organisation, plus the behind-the-scenes efforts and the overwhelming attendance from both vendors and resellers. It was great to celebrate such positive achievements with so many key decision-makers and influencers,” he said.

Julia Lunn, channel marketing manager at Lexmark, agreed. “I think it’s a really good forum for all the channel to get together and network on an informal basis.”

Going out with a gong

Outstanding channel players are still rising to the top against tough times and fiercer competition. CRN’s team of hand-picked and diligent judges found it harder than ever to pick the crème de la crème from the 250 that made it past the initial cull.

No less than 24 glass trophies and eight specially designed Judges’ Commended certificates were given out on the night. These awards will spark memories of 2008 long after the sharp suits and glitzy frocks are pushed to the back of the wardrobe.

Systems Vendor of the Year for 2008 was HP, with HP Procurve taking home the Networking Vendor of the Year Award.

Dave Poskett, director of the Solution Partner organisation at HP, said the CRN Channel Awards is one of the most prestigious award events in the industry.

“As always, it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, which provided us with an opportunity to celebrate another great year with our partners. I would like to thank them for their continued support,” he said.

Winning both proves HP’s investment in the channel through its Preferred Partner Programme has had a positive effect, said Poskett.

Bell Micro also took two trophies: Systems Distributor of the Year and Software Distributor of the Year.

The first of the evening’s Judges’ Commended prizes went to Enfield-based Interactive Ideas in the Software Distributor category.

Not unsurprisingly, Microsoft fought off a challenge from VMware and a number of smaller, homegrown software developers to take the Software Vendor of the Year prize.

Specialist Vendor of the Year for 2008 was Kingston Technology. A Specialist Vendor of the Year Judges’ Commended certificate went to IT support services provider Comms-care. Richard Eglon, marketing managing at Comms-care, said: “These awards continue to be the premium event at which everyone wants to be. Even though we haven’t won first place, to be recognised for all our hard work by the judges is just as good. We are delighted.”

SME reseller of the Year went to WStore for the second year running.

Stewart Hayward, commercial director at Wstore, joked: “We won for the second time. But we have been shortlisted every year for nine years, so only winning twice is not good enough really.”

Hayward said that key to winning is getting everyone to vote for you, and starting the campaign for votes in plenty of time.

“The event itself was a great improvement on last year – I have been here every year for the eight or nine years. When it is involved with a charity or a decent brand that people know is current, it is often a better year. This is a better setup than last year too,” Hayward said.

This year’s Battersea Park Events Arena offered an improved layout that encouraged more mingling among attendees, he added.

Storage Vendor of the Year was Symantec, and the leading distributor of storage was Hammer. A storage distribution commendation went to CMS Peripherals.

Security, like storage, is an ongoing area of opportunity and is always a hot topic in CRN. After careful consideration, the judging panel voted Computerlinks as the Security Distributor of the Year, and Global Secure Systems (GSS) the Security Reseller of the Year.

David Hobson, managing director of GSS, said: “This is vindication of the work we are trying to achieve delivering information assurance, from the sales guys through to the consultants. I am really pleased so many clients are here with us to validate our win.”

Security Vendor of the Year was Trend Micro. Paul Anderson, UK and Ireland sales director at Trend Micro, said: “Tonight showed we are passionate about what we do.”

A Judges’ Commended certificate was also awarded in the security distribution category and Woking-based veteran Wick Hill was the lucky recipient.

Wick Hill chief Ian Kilpatrick also took home the channel Personality of the Year Award.

Editor’s Choice Emerging Company of the Year, personally selected by CRN editor Sara Yirrell, was technology infrastructure specialist ANS Group.

Scott Fletcher, managing director of ANS, said: “We were bowled over. This award is real recognition from the industry.”

Corporate Reseller of the Year for 2008 was IT services and solution provider Softcat. David Simpson, commercial director at the reseller, said: “It was another awesome evening. It is great to be recognised for our hard work and commitment to our vendors and customers. Softcat is proud to be a winner.”

The Corporate Reseller of the Year Judges’ Commended Award was given to Computacenter.

Computer 2000 also took home two awards: Networking Distributor of the Year and the much-coveted Distributor of the Year.

However, a worthy runner up in the Distributor of the Year category was specialist player VARlink, which also polled a high number of votes.

Finally the winner of the coveted Reseller of the Year award, for the second year running was BT Basilica.

Nick Wiltshire, sales director at BT Basilica, was delighted to win again.

"This is really important to us and I find it hugely gratifying that our customers and colleagues around the industry have voted for us once again," he said. "As a joint business BT Basilica and BT Lynx have faced lots of challenges over the last year, not least the integration of our two companies, which makes the winning of this award all the more significant as it goes to prove the quality of the service, people and reputation that we now have as one business. "

Winning a much deserved Judges Commended award for the category was Intrinsic Technology.

Start me up

Fleur Doidge — 2008-11-20T10:52:00.000Z

Fleur Doidge, CRN, Thursday 20 November 2008 at 10:52:00

It is ideal to be a new technology venture in these turbulent times, Fleur Doidge finds

Agile technology start-ups with innovative online business models may be well placed to weather a downturn, according to eight UK start-ups who spoke at a Sun Microsystems partner roundtable held recently in London.

Jake Stride, founder and chief executive officer at online sales and contact management provider Tactile CRM, said start-ups can be best placed to make it through today’s economic climate.

“There are positives and negatives. It is a fantastic time for people, but you have to be clever about what you do. We would be a bit leaner in the way that we work,” he said.

Economic pressures in themselves help companies lift their game. On top of that, small start-up companies are often more nimble than larger, well-established ones.

Looking for value

“Large companies are already starting to lay people off. But we can retool and repurpose people a bit more quickly and move things forward that way. It is very difficult for them,” said Stride.

Tactile CRM is doing well, with more customers signing up in recent months. Organisations are increasingly looking for better ways to manage their salesforces and contacts, according to Stride.

“This sort of CRM thing is quite a good area to be in, one that people are really starting to think about,” he said.

Ricky Doyle, director and co-founder of on-demand online training platform developer Practice-IT, said his experience is that most companies are looking for better value for money from services they adopt.

“The difficulty from our side is being known as the alternative,” he said.

Practice-IT has the technology that is wanted and the platform available, but selling it into companies that are reluctant to spend is tricky.

However, the company has a good sales proposition and still expects good results, he said.

Targeted transformation

“Budgets are being cut, but you cannot stop training. For us, the downturn is bittersweet,” said Doyle.

Stride said potential customers are contacting them, but they want to talk about particular topics of concern.

“They want to talk about what works and what does not, what works for business-to-consumer (B2C) and does not work for business-to-business (B2B) and vice versa.”

Whether a customer is B2C or B2B can affect the suitability and appeal of services or solutions offered.

“When we started up, getting user requests for our beta was difficult because we were asking people to load up their data on the web. B2C is easier to do,” he said.

Nick Halstead, founder and chief executive officer of RSS reader maker Favorit, said most start-ups do not have to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.

Simon Grice, representative for BeLocal, a search venture slated for launch in early 2009, agreed. He said that start-ups have a better chance than most to surf the highs and lows of any boom-to-bust cycle.

“Start-ups have a unique opportunity because mature companies are cutting marketing spend in a downturn,” he said.

Emerging companies can and should seize the opportunity to expand. And because they are starting up, they will be marketing themselves regardless of the economic circumstance.

“Mature companies often cut marketing first because it is easy. When the back-end is in fact where inefficiencies should be cut,” said Grice. “You need to focus on the business, but not stop bringing in customers and revenues.”

Stride said that some companies do too much marketing and others already have very efficient back-ends and processes.

Also, it contradicted the old adage that you should up-sell to existing customers rather than try to attract new ones.

“I am saying that if you have a choice, do not cut the marketing,” Grice answered.

Ben Summers, technical director at online collaboration, document management and CRM developer OneIS, noted that companies with an online product can target the online community as customers more easily online than through newspapers and the like. Tech-savvy customers are likely to spread your message virally to more traditional customers.

“You are often targeting the online early adopters. And people talk to them and ask them, ‘What do you use? What should I use?’,” added Summers.

The store for knowledge

Kayleigh Bateman — 2008-11-13T11:15:00.000Z

Kayleigh Bateman, CRN, Thursday 13 November 2008 at 11:15:00

The SNW Europe exhibition aided storage VARs in their search for technologies and intelligence for the coming year. Kayleigh Bateman reports

The mood was surprisingly optimistic at storage show SNW Europe in Frankfurt recently, as exhibitors, presenters, users and the channel rallied to suggest new ways of consolidating storage for customers on a tight budget.

This year, the two-and-a-half day show attracted about 1,000 delegates, including end users, resellers, analysts and members of the media, a little down compared with last year’s figures.

SNW Europe welcomed about 1,400 visitors from 24 EMEA nations and some from as far afield as Japan and the US.

During analyst IDC’s storage market update, Nick Sundby, consulting director for IDC’s European Storage Group, discussed the second wave of green IT as an option for businesses struggling to justify their IT spending.

“The next wave of green IT will be about understanding the problem of rising power costs.”

Sundby said that businesses will by law, from October 2009, have to submit data from their bills and explain their carbon footprints.

“This creates a public relations incentive for businesses to cut down on carbon emissions as the government will publish the results,” he added.

At the show, storage vendor NetApp announced deduplication on its virtual tape library (VTL) systems. This technology can help customers lower the disk capacity required to back up any storage system by up to 95 per cent, the company claimed. That remains true even if the storage kit is by HP or EMC, NetApp said.

John Rollason, product marketing manager at NetApp, said about 16,000 NetApp systems have been deployed with deduplication by some 3,500 customers, so far.

Delivering deduplication

“It is our aim for 100 per cent of NetApp systems to eventually be running deduplication technology. NetApp has a guarantee that it will use 50 per cent less storage with its deduplication – if it does not it will ship more storage,” he said.

Andy Norman, chief operating officer of Glasshouse Technologies, said analysts have suggested that storage will be re-engineered throughout 2009.

Glasshouse gave two presentations for the attendees of SNW Europe, the first was called: Re-engineering Storage – What does on demand really mean and how do you deliver it?

In the presentation, Norman discussed the issue of storage consumers having adopted a model of “fill ‘er up” when they make a storage request – preferring to have spare capacity into which they can grow, rather than risk that a future request might be denied because of budget constraints or response time.

“By building out the frame in a fully populated configuration at the start, it is a simple matter of turning on the next collection of drives. Despite the on-demand model for storage, few firms can yet determine the difference between how much storage they own, how much is allocated and how much is used,” said Norman.

“Due to cost pressures, outsourcing will become popular in a bid to reduce spending, but that storage has to be managed

efficiently. It is common to find a customer that is wasting storage yet continuing to buy more.”

In the other presentation: Great Expectations: Are you Seeing the Real Benefits of Virtualisation? Norman said users that deploy virtualisation solutions are not receiving the return on investment they anticipated and are struggling to manage the environment.

Technology showcase

“Most businesses have virtualised servers now. However, projects tend to slow down because people do not know how to manage virtual environments,” he added.

“Customers need management and administration processes in place to get the most out of their virtual environments. Glasshouse is about getting more out of less from the services we offer.”

Dr Helmut Beck, vice president of storage at Fujitsu Siemens Computers (FSC), said: “SNW Europe is, and remains, an

important show, especially in the current economic climate.

“Storage growth comes from unstructured data with richer and bigger content. The economy may be tough at the moment, but there are new technologies out there which can help solve this.”

Beck highlighted the fact that many businesses have put a freeze on recruitment.

“Because many firms are looking for ways to free up more time for their existing workforce instead of employing more staff, businesses should look at defining their infrastructures, the option of outsourcing and services,” he said.

Vendor Emulex gave a presentation on its new Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) portfolio.

Craig Skelton, director of channel sales for EMEA at Emulex, was keen to assure the channel that all products will be integrated into the partner programme and that full training will be provided.

“FCoE opens up opportunities for partners, so Emulex will be engaging with its channel to ensure it is up to speed on how to take these products to market,” he said.

QLogic’s presence caused a stir among the attendees, showing its FCoE products live from the stand.

Henrik Hansen, EMEA marketing director at QLogic, said: “The attendees at the show were certainly keen to unravel the latest storage and data networking topics.

“Clearly FCoE was high on their agenda. On the QLogic stand and in the SNW tutorial, we were able to discuss the options that are available to datacentre managers.”

Converging futures

The options can typically include up to three fabrics: Ethernet for LAN, fibre channel for the storage area network (SAN)

and InfiniBand, which is for high-performance clusters.

“Attendees and partners actively wanted to understand how SAN and LAN will evolve and converge over the next five years and how they can adopt enhanced Ethernet and FCoE to satisfy convergence within next-generation datacentres,” added Hansen.

QLogic also announced collaboration with Cisco to offer open standards-based host to fabric virtualisation technology, allowing users to attain quality of service (QoS) through Cisco virtual SAN (VSAN).

“QLogic HBA [SAN] integration with Cisco VSANs provides storage administrators with an industry-standard method for improving SAN security, scalability and performance by segmenting physical SANs into multiple virtual SANs,” said Hansen.

Machine language

Fleur Doidge — 2008-11-06T12:31:00.000Z

Fleur Doidge, CRN, Thursday 6 November 2008 at 12:31:00

They might increasingly be talking behind our backs, but this time communication between devices could be to our benefit, writes Fleur Doidge

Machine-to-machine (M2M) communications conjures up images of robots talking to each other in dalek tones, waving their appendages and wobbling clumsily over the landscape. While appealing to those of us who love a bit of sci-fi, such images could not be further from the truth.

Stephen Dye, author of End-to-End M2M, a MobileIN.com report, explained M2M as the child of traditional telemetry technology – used by organisations such as NASA, for its space programme – for automated, remote data communications.

M2M comprises field devices, carrier networks and back-end server networks that are mixed and matched to allow devices to communicate with each other and home base. It has been around in various, often wireless, forms for some time. So what is in it for the channel?

According to a June report by IDC, the M2M ecosystem is building around hardware, telecommunications and services. Brian Troelsen, European services and telecommunications research manager, said the European market continues to show significant growth.

“Many M2M implementations are technology centric, built from the ground up to solve a single task,” said Troelsen. “These early adopters usually work with software and hardware providers and mobile operators to define and implement a unique M2M architecture, often requiring retrofitting the equipment to add sensors or data acquisition capabilities.”

IDC said simple, standardised solutions are needed for specific market niches, but the market is fragmented, with end users demanding different things. IDC research division Manufacturing Insights, has confirmed that M2M communication is a catalyst for something many organisations want – business process innovation.

As Steven Dye reported: “An M2M customer has to do a lot of footwork, pulling together the many vendors required to provide the classical three-part device services solution. A wealth of opportunity awaits companies entering the market for M2M services.”

Macario Namie, senior product marketing director at US-based M2M provider Jasper Wireless, agrees. Cellular innovations, for instance, are increasingly sought to build efficiencies in a range of different industries.

Specialised knowledge is required, but the opportunities are real. Jasper Wireless works with system integrators and

value-added distributors such as Avnet and engineering firms such as Rubitech. Packaging and cargo companies like FedEx are more receptive to new M2M solutions.

Namie noted that utility metering uses M2M, as does GPS navigation, and Wi-Fi surveillance – an area where opportunities in the UK and Europe are multiplying. Konica Minolta uses M2M to monitor its printers worldwide for toner use, and “knows” when to order more for customers.

Software and services – often tailored to a unique application – are wrapped around the foundation M2M and telecommunications hardware.

“It is about devices communicating from remote locations back to a single server. It is nothing new, but the applications are evolving as a result of connectivity,” said Namie.

He said one of the main opportunities is helping companies build the software, and that is being seen more often in the M2M space because it is a new category for which expertise has to be developed.

“Resellers are partnering the companies that actually build the solution,” said Namie. “And the other category is managed service providers, who look after them once the systems integrator has handed it over.”

What is more, M2M, according to Namie, is at the stage Microsoft and Intel were at just before the WinTel platform became standard.

While there is nothing that knits together hardware and software for M2M the way WinTel did for client PCs, it will happen and drive adoption when it does.

Rival vendor Sierra Wireless is big on the 3G M2M space with partners such as its value-added distributor Alpha Micro Components. Mobile and M2M group vice president Justin Schmid said that where cellular modules and gateways are concerned, 3G is about to take off.

People think 3G modules are all about laptops, but they are far more versatile than that. “It is about connecting machines and devices – such as for track-and-trace and accessing information over wireless networks,” he said. “I would include applications for things like digital signage.”

Schmid said 3G M2M sales are gaining greater traction in the UK, and that has become more apparent in the last few months. “A year ago, it was dominated by 2G, but today things are 50:50,” he said.

The very complexity of the M2M market, Schmid agrees, is opening a wedge for channel sales to help make specialised systems easy to use and applicable for a broad variety of industries.

Duncan Ellison, sales and marketing director at Sarian, comes at M2M from a different angle, pointing out that growth in new mobile technologies such as high speed packet access (HSPA), coupled with low M2M interest from network operators, offers definite channel opportunities.

Only small amounts of data could initially be transferred, so HSPA opens up M2M for content streaming and even broadband back-up, as well as the things more commonly associated with M2M, such as remote surveillance, said Ellison.

“Resellers can offer a complete M2M package – including mobile router, SIM, specific software or hardware and management,” he added.

Peggy Yoshino, director of global product marketing at Lantronix, said it offers serial-to-Ethernet, wireless and wired connectivity, and embedded and external offerings to various markets. Lantronix works with partners including Alpha Micro and Sphinx.

Lantronix offers DeviceLinx, SecureLinx and new remote-access ManageLinx products, with DeviceLinx representing 75 per cent of Lantronix’ revenue.

“We continue to see acceptance of our Xport and MatchPort products, with external box sales still accounting for a strong percentage,” said Yoshino.

“We have seen double-digit growth figures throughout Europe [including the UK,” she added.

IT solutions that improve lives

Sam Trendall — 2008-11-06T12:24:00.000Z

Sam Trendall, CRN, Thursday 6 November 2008 at 12:24:00

Technology sales are not always just about huge profits for large organisations, as Sam Trendall discovers

The Home Farm Trust (HFT) charity has helped remind VAR EssentialNET and distributor Zycko that technology can do more than drive the bottom line of business.

HFT supports people with learning disabilities and works with 1,000 people across the UK. It offers a range of services, including supported accommodation, holidays, brokerage and help in finding employment.

The charity also encourages users to keep electronic diaries with records and pictures of their experiences. HFT aims to maximise levels of social inclusion for its users so diaries are seen as key, especially when it comes to helping them find work. Written records and documentation are an effective way of displaying competencies to potential employers.

Extracting value

The charity had encountered problems as the learning disabilities of its users made them prone to accidentally overwriting or deleting the work on their e-diaries.

Slow application speeds were also proving problematic for those using IT equipment and HFT wanted to improve the speed of computer terminals as well as introduce a backup system. Users live in different locations and installing separate servers in each was not financially viable for HFT.

WAN optimisation technology from vendor Riverbed was selected to help back up users’ work to HFT’s central location in Bristol.

Jon Arnold, regional sales director for Northern Europe at Riverbed, said his company had a history of working with not-for-profit organisations. “Some of our early adopters were charities and, for us, we can really appreciate that these customers have to get a lot of value out of technology, unlike large organisations that may have generous funding for technology,” he said.

“Often technology companies are focused on delivering solutions to large enterprises. The fact that our technology can help small organisations doing important things is fantastic.”

The installation was carried out earlier this year by reseller EssentialNET, in partnership with distributor Zycko. Kevin Penn, managing director of the VAR, said the project was a breath of fresh air for his company.

“This project was unusual for this industry,” he said. “IT can be insular in what it does and, in the majority of cases, you are putting in systems to make more money for companies or putting in technology for technology’s sake. The

feedback from this installation has so far been very positive.”

Zycko chairman David Galton-Fenzi told CRN the project had gone off without a hitch and the benefits were already evident for HFT and its users.

“The deployment went ahead smoothly,” he said. “By reducing the original data load, we were able to speed up performance while making backing up easier, addressing the two key issues.

“Users are happy, the helpdesk calls have been reduced and the network team’s resources have been free to work on important projects.”

Positive results

HFT’s IT director Martyn Tomkins also claimed the installation had produced positive results for HFT and its users. “We have particularly noticed the difference with word processing applications, email and logon speeds,” he said.

“EssentialNET’s problem-solving performance and the way in which we were encouraged to try this technology before we invested particularly impressed us.”

Penn said he had enjoyed being able to see IT used for more altruistic purposes than simply driving profits or business efficiency.

“This technology was installed purely to make people’s lives that little bit better and we have stopped a lot of the frustrations people get when things go wrong,” he said.

“It really is a pleasant change for us in that we can use technology to improve people’s quality of life.”

Galton-Fenzi echoed this view and took time to praise the good work being done by organisations such as HFT.

“The work of HFT is truly valuable and the service users rely heavily on technology. We all know how frustrating it is to accidentally delete work and to work on slow computers, and both Zycko and EssentialNet are delighted that we were able to work to improve their IT offering.

“It is certainly heartening to see how our work as a team has had such a positive impact on people’s lives,” said Galton-Fenzi.

Social service is resumed

Sara Yirrell — 2009-07-10T12:53:00.000Z

Sara Yirrell , CRN, Friday 10 July 2009 at 12:53:00

I’m not sure how many of our readers actually go on our www.channelweb.co.uk site or are aware that we update the site several times a day with news but the online revolution is continuing in the channel.

Social networking has definitely been one of the biggest breakthroughs of 2009 and CRN is not slow off the blocks with this.

We are trying our best to get closer to our readers, but as with all these things, getting started is never an easy proposition. However, momentum is definitely picking up as more and more channel players wake up to the internet.

As well as the launch of our Channel Debate where we are asking as many channel players as possible to take part in our online debate we have now launched a CRN LinkedIn group www.linkedin.co.uk/CRN UK.

It is open to all our readers the only stipulation is that you have to be involved in the channel in some way.

We are hoping that this will be the first stage to creating an official CRN channel community, through which grievances can be aired, discussions can be held and questions answered.

You can also post your news up there for all to see and gather the thoughts of your peers.

Membership is free; you just need a LinkedIn account. We had a flurry of new members on launch day and a steady trickle from then on in but the more members we have the better it will be.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Sara Yirrell is editor of CRN sara.yirrell@incisivemedia.com

Atos Consulting reports on predictions post-recession

Will Hyams — 2009-07-09T13:09:00.000Z

Will Hyams, CRN, Thursday 9 July 2009 at 13:09:00

Will Hyams says organisations are still focusing on their future and that of IT innovation through the downturn

Our annual trends report, Look Out 09+, spotlights themes we are seeing across our primarily European market and client base. Perhaps surprisingly, many of the issues extend across different industries, where their impacts may vary considerably.

We found that, despite the downturn, business and civil leaders are still paying attention to issues besides cost.

C-level executives are worried about the downturn, retaining talent, risk management, customer intimacy, carbon legislation and the challenges of the post-downturn world.

However, they are also keen to embrace net-enabled working to gain competitive advantage, with a focus on Web 2.0, mobile workers and open innovation.

R&D is being squeezed, but there is also an unprecedented demand for new innovative answers. Each technological advance must have a clear, defined business purpose. Lag time is becoming less acceptable, especially for IT.

Developments such as cloud computing reflect a desire for cheaper hosting and a need to fulfil business requirements cheaply and quickly.

Consumer IT will lead to many employees finding it especially difficult to understand why the technology they use at home is not available in the workplace – and in some cases take this into their own hands.

Part of the legacy of the banking crisis is erosion of trust in big businesses. Customers cross-industry are looking for more transparency and a human touch.

Our study suggests that organisations need to demonstrate a desire to build genuine relationships with customers by listening and acting on the information shared with them through existing and new channels, such as social networks and blogs.

A challenge is the multi-demographic workforce. As the retirement age extends and so-called "digital natives" enter the workforce, organisations must create cohesion between these groups, which may work very differently.

Generation Ys entering the workforce will pose new challenges as they will not fit with induction strategies. The average Gen Y employee will be looking to leave an organisation within two years – before most graduate training programmes have even been completed.

Everyone in the 21st century knows what it means to be drowning in data. With huge bandwidth increases and constant, easy communication, data management is under pressure.

Improving IT infrastructure may not be enough. Perhaps emerging technologies such as wearable computing could help, by enabling us to gather and sort data as we go about our daily lives.

Our study also looks at futuristic technologies that may play a part in business eventually. These include plastic transistors for flexible displays – which could support all sorts of applications, such as cheap, supple monitors that could one day adorn every flat surface – or nanowire power generators through to bionic lenses.

Businesses everywhere are focusing on the future despite the downturn. This is driving increasing evaluation and adoption of new technologies.

This tough period will end, and when growth returns, the world will be a different place. The old ways may offer no certainty of success and new challenges will be faced – especially around freedom versus control.

Will Hyams is CIO adviser at Atos Consulting

Channel programme cutbacks are false economy

Jonathan Hughes — 2009-07-08T17:16:00.000Z

Jonathan Hughes, CRN, Wednesday 8 July 2009 at 17:16:00

Jonathan Hughes looks at how vendors could best help partners

Cutbacks in channel programmes have become more common, but savvy vendors are continuing to invest as they rightly consider their partners an extension of their sales force.

Of course, with budgets being stretched, many vendors must streamline their businesses, but reducing investment in the channel is not going to be a profitable long term strategy.

The goal should instead be to increase partner loyalty and thereby boost profits.

Failure to do so could result in previously loyal partners favouring competitors’ solutions due to the better support on offer, or simply looking out for themselves and offering whichever quick-fix solutions are easiest for them to sell and generate the most margin and ongoing revenue.

Many security vendors do not seem to recognise this, and rather than working with partners to win more business and ride out the recession, they are actually working against them.

For example, it is becoming more common for vendors to actively encourage customers to renew directly, either via their website or through their sales team.

With renewals often accounting for much of a reseller’s revenues, this is only going to alienate partners.

Customers are demanding more for less, and competition in the channel is intensifying.

To help the channel prosper, vendors should look to deliver business growth for dedicated partners. Initiatives such as enhanced support, new deal registration and margin protection, can all build a trusting partnership, giving partners the tools and training needed to beat the competition.

A one-size-fits-all approach will not work either. Partners need access to the specific tools and information that will help – it’s unlikely to be the same set of tools that benefits everyone.

Forcing a partner to wade through mounds of information to find a much-needed nugget, similarly, is a sure-fire way to lose resellers.

Vendors should aim at striking a balance by providing an interactive portal that offers a personalised experience, as well as regular face-to-face or phone contact.

The whole programme should be regularly refreshed to keep up with changing requirements. For example, running a portal is a service, not a product, and on top of the standard product information, white papers and pricing tools, vendors should offer something new and exciting, such as marketing resources or ‘seminar-in-a-box’ packages.

By giving partners the freedom to find what information they need online, vendors can empower the channel and build loyalty beneficial for all involved.

However, it’s important also to be available to partners who want more personal contact, either because they have a pecific requirement a portal cannot deal with, or because strong relationships cannot be built solely over the web.

Jonathan Hughes is vice-president of Sophos UK

Going global with products and services in tough times

Was Rahman — 2009-07-07T14:06:00.000Z

Was Rahman, CRN, Tuesday 7 July 2009 at 14:06:00

Was Rahman explains why taking your business abroad during a downturn can prove effective

For many businesspeople, thinking about going international might be the last thing on their minds right now. However, trading abroad makes companies more resilient, and for some businesses tough times are exactly when you should explore this.

There are essentially two approaches to tough economic times: tighten belts and ride things out, or actively seek opportunities.

The most enduring businesses have consistently shown that what marks them out as winners is their response to adversity – and this is as true for SMEs as it is for large corporates.

Microsoft and Fortune Magazine started in the middle of recessions, and IBM has repeatedly resurrected itself to new heights after darker chapters in economic history.

If a business can no longer grow in an economy of only 60 million people, why not at least consider new markets – especially ones more than ten times larger – that are still growing through the global downturn while other economies are in a recession?

For all the well-documented challenges of doing business in emerging markets such as India and China, such economies meet the increasingly rare criteria of having large, growing numbers of consumers and businesses with money to spend.

Technology firms have specific advantages when expanding internationally. For example, their products are often virtual or services-oriented, so there is less cost involved in production and distribution.

Also, their industry is already global, so dealing with foreign suppliers is a familiar concept to customers abroad.

However, care is needed. Some businesses don’t do well abroad because they fail to look at themselves critically through the eyes of new prospective markets.

Ask if your offering can meet a true customer need in another part of the world. The trick is to avoid starting with competing products already selling in that market.

Instead, look for your kind of customer and factors that trigger needs that you could satisfy.

Local characteristics and culture may favour your product, but may also change the way customers perceive value from it.

For example, technology that reduces the power consumption costs of UK mobile phone networks may be better applied in India to improve power reliability for operators spending vast sums to increase their share of this fast-growing sector.

The other common oversight is a failure to understand what it means to operate in the local market – how to promote, sell, distribute and make money from your offering.

Competitive pricing may require innovative approaches to reducing costs by considering new ways of distributing, selling or servicing.

Differentiation strategies that work at home may not be right for the new market, and local labour laws or regulatory constraints may also require a fresh approach.

Overall, there should be clarity on what makes your business special, and what may need to change to translate that into success abroad. This helps you identify which aspects of your offering should be localised for new markets.

The key to success abroad is knowing enough of the right things about the new market to make informed decisions on the way forward.

What may not be obvious is how much can, and arguably should, be done before actually arriving there.

Preparation in the UK should focus on: market data insights; understanding how to find customers, partners, staff and suppliers; understanding the regulatory and legal environment; and generally understanding the reality of the country for your business.

This isn’t something many can do well by themselves, but there are many sources of help – some free or heavily subsidised.

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) – the Government body helping UK companies expand abroad - is a rich source of data and advice, and of course there are many business advisors, who provide such services for a fee.

If you don’t have the necessary basic information by the time you land, it is usually too late to get it, and certainly an expensive way to find it.

Focus on meeting people already identified as potentially helpful, and kicking the tyres of the business environment. Trade shows, business delegations and managed introductions can be good ways of doing this.

If what you do could meet customer needs in other markets – especially if you face difficulties selling in the UK – going global may be right for you. But you should also be open to perhaps having to alter your business to make it work in new markets.

You could at least consider the possibility of international expansion and what that might entail.

The reality isn’t necessarily as difficult as people may fear – if approached properly with the right support. The challenges are definitely surmountable, and there is probably more help available than many realise.

Was Rahman is chief executive of Dolphin Advisory and ICT adviser at UK Trade & Investment (UKTI)

Keep up the good work in online VAR debate

Sara Yirrell — 2009-07-06T12:58:00.000Z

Sara Yirrell , CRN, Monday 6 July 2009 at 12:58:00

This week sees the launch of our penultimate question in the CRN Channel Debate.

We have had a brilliant response to the debate so far, with an increasing number of people from every corner of the channel either leaving comment online, or wanting to record a video answer.

This has been an interesting experiment in social networking for CRN and I think more channel players are beginning to share their thoughts than ever before, which is an encouraging sign.

Please keep going a while longer, as our fourth question is: How should vendor partner programmes evolve in the future?

All views are welcome whether from vendors defending their channel programmes, or resellers calling for change.

Simply visit www.channelweb.co.uk/debate and scroll down to the bottom of the story entitled: Tuning into a new channel programme to leave your comments.

The data from all these questions will be presented at The Channel Conference 2009 on Tuesday 13 October which I can now reveal is being held in partnership with Intel at a great venue in Northamptonshire: Whittlebury Hall in Towcester.

We are putting together an excellent keynote speaker list for the day, which we will be able to unveil shortly, and the event promises to be a first-rate networking opportunity for the channel.

Stay tuned to CRN for more information on the conference and I hope to see you all there.

Sara Yirrell is editor of CRN sara.yirrell@incisivemedia.com