March 2011

• March 15, 2011 15 Mar'11

  Out of tune Zune player fades out

  Can it really be true? Will the Zune really be no more? Such are the rumours that Microsoft is preparing to pull the plug on its iPod killer a mere four years and four months after its launch. And yet, it all seemed so different back then.  Continue Reading

• March 15, 2011 15 Mar'11

  Health and safety is not for the bored - it's for the board

  The recent successful prosecution of Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings in February should send shivers down the spine of any business where there is a risk of death in the workplace.  Continue Reading

• March 14, 2011 14 Mar'11

  IT investment whether forecast - cloudy with a chance of pain

  John Appleby, CEO of cloud consultancy Saaspoint, the cloud opportunities are there for the taking In a sense, we are the channel! Saaspoint operates as a centre of excellence for developing AppExchange and Force.com applications.  Continue Reading

• March 14, 2011 14 Mar'11

  Careful what you say, social networking isn't above the libel laws

  The Internet may represent a faster, more immediate method of communication and means of providing information but when it comes to the law it can be just as dangerous as print in a newspaper or careless words on the radio or TV.  Continue Reading

• March 14, 2011 14 Mar'11

  Japanese quake will lead to component price hikes

  Component prices are set to rise as a direct consequence of the Japanese earthquake, which has closed factories and led to power supply problems undermining other manufacturing efforts.  Continue Reading

• March 14, 2011 14 Mar'11

  ISSA proposes SME security standard

  The Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) in the UK has published a proposed new security standard for SMEs in response to its 2010 research report on SME security for the UK Information Commissioner's Office, writes Warwick Ashford.  Continue Reading

• March 14, 2011 14 Mar'11

  Data centre outsourcing on the rise after recession

  After a rough twelve months for the market, data centre specialist Sentrum has noted increased willingness among UK IT buyers to start outsourcing at least some of their data centre requirements.  Continue Reading

• March 14, 2011 14 Mar'11

  Channel could make its fortune reselling the cloud, says Alvea

  Distributor Computerlinks says its Alvea cloud and managed services can be rebranded by resellers and sold as part of their own portfolio. Here David Ellis, its director of new technology and services, argues the case for white labelling the cloud.  Continue Reading

• March 14, 2011 14 Mar'11

  Say it ain't so Joe! Calyx CTO says cloud computing is nothing more than a marketing campaign -

  Joe Mayhew CTO at medium sized managed service provider Calyx Group, says the cloud is an artificial construct. I think. What will Cloud Computing mean for the IT channel, Joe? The Cloud is nothing more than a marketing creation.  Continue Reading

• March 14, 2011 14 Mar'11

  Cloud has a silver lining for the reseller, hints Clodagh Murphy at Eclipse

  Here's Clodagh Murphy, director of Eclipse Internet, answering your questions about the impact of the cloudburst that will soon engulf us all. What will Cloud Computing mean for the IT channel?  Continue Reading

• March 14, 2011 14 Mar'11

  Platform-as-a-service market lacks consistent message in 2011

  The platform-as-a-service (PaaS) market will become increasingly fraught during 2011, according to a new report by analysts at Gartner, with a "wave of innovation and hype" making it "harder to find a consistent message, standard of clear winning ...  Continue Reading

• March 14, 2011 14 Mar'11

  Queues and ringing tills mark the iPad 2 launch

  The appetite for Apple's latest tablet, the iPad 2, seems to be as high as ever with the vendor managing to shift not far off a million units on its US launch over the weekend.  Continue Reading

• March 14, 2011 14 Mar'11

  The reseller channel could be in big trouble when the IT industry clouds over

  Really Simple Systems (I like this company already, just by the sound of its name) doesn't deal with the channel. So it can afford to be brutally honest. The verdict of John Paterson (pictured) Really Simple Systems' CEO, could make uncomfortable ...  Continue Reading

• March 14, 2011 14 Mar'11

  Trust the Government

  Today's posting is another revisiting of a recent topic. Hopefully readers will remember the story of 24 January that covered draft legislation that would have impacted - inadvertently and adversely - employee share schemes.  Continue Reading

• March 12, 2011 12 Mar'11

  Styling tips for cool summer data centres

  It's going to be a barbeque summer. What better way to spend those sweltering summer afternoons than cooling off in a modish data centre?  Continue Reading

• March 11, 2011 11 Mar'11

  DHL needs to sharpen up its act, if this email is anything to go by

  Here's an email that just came from DHL apparently. If this is a level of their professionalism, they should be a bit worried. Dear customer! The parcel was send your home address. And it will arrice within 7 bussness day. More information and the ...  Continue Reading

• March 11, 2011 11 Mar'11

  Japanese earthquake to disrupt IT component supply

  The Japanese earthquake that struck the north-east coast of the country may well cause major disruptions to the IT component supply chain.  Continue Reading

• March 11, 2011 11 Mar'11

  Microsoft to treble reseller base as education sector fragments

  Microsoft plans to almost triple the base of Authorised Education Resellers (AERs) to deal with the fragmenting market as the government hands all 30,000 schools in the UK control of their IT budgets.  Continue Reading

• March 11, 2011 11 Mar'11

  Networkers count cost of Japanese earthquake

  Millions of people across Japan are this evening counting the cost of a major earthquake and tsunami, which struck the northern part of the country just before 6am GMT on Friday.  Continue Reading

• March 11, 2011 11 Mar'11

  Chaos and opportunity - Wyse's take on the schizoid nature of cloud

  Here's David Angwin, director of marketing at Wyse, with his take on the schizoid nature of the cloud. "Organisations can typically see the benefits of cloud computing but a 100 per cent true cloud solution is still a long way away for most.  Continue Reading