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March 29, 2011 29 Mar'11
Marketing gets social as users look for interaction

Consumer facing resellers will need to supplement traditional mass marketing campaigns with social media if they are to attract user spending. According to Gartner over the next four years social and mobile marketing will influence at least 80% of ...
March 28, 2011 28 Mar'11
K3 continues buy and build strategy in ERP mid-market

AIM-listed K3 Business Technology Group continues its roll up of mid-market ERP and CRM resellers with the acquisition of Clarita Solutions from FD Systems for £1.1m.
March 28, 2011 28 Mar'11
UK firms pay £2m to cover costs of unlicensed software

The cost for UK businesses hoping they could cut corners by dodging the license fees for their software ran into millions last year as many were caught, often with the help of whistleblowers, and forced to cough up.
March 25, 2011 25 Mar'11
Oracle posts solid Q3 as software spending picks up

Oracle boss Larry Ellison has talked up the strength of the software market as it unveiled its Q3 numbers which were bolstered by hikes in license sales and support deals.

March 24, 2011 24 Mar'11
Cloud shift helps Red Hat near $1bn revenue mark

A shift by customers towards cloud computing has helped Red Hat deliver a set of solid numbers for its fiscal year that have given the firm the confidence to set its sights on $1bn revenue.
March 23, 2011 23 Mar'11
Bytes Software Services results flattered by NHS true-ups

Bytes Software Services (BSS) profits and revenues climbed by double digits in fiscal 2011 ended 28 February but the numbers were flattered by one-time true-ups in the NHS that will not be replicated this year.
March 23, 2011 23 Mar'11
Budget 2011: IP to get greater protection

The government plans to increase the protection of intellectual property in order to bolster the digital and creative sector.
March 23, 2011 23 Mar'11
Firms failing to exploit IP revenues

IT firms are not exploiting their intellectual property enough missing out on potential revenue and the chance to forge business relationships overseas.
March 21, 2011 21 Mar'11
Microsoft to launch LAR deal registration later this year

Microsoft is introducing deal registration for LARs worldwide later this year with the lion's share of fees shifting to partners that identify and manage leads, even if they do not ultimately transact the business.
March 17, 2011 17 Mar'11
Microsoft admits LAR fee cuts may lead to consolidation

Microsoft has defended the fundamental changes to LARs fees being implemented in the autumn but admitted that the overhaul may result in partner consolidation.

March 17, 2011 17 Mar'11
Logicalis acquires Inca Software for £8.65m

Logical is forking out £8.65m to acquire the UK's largest IBM Cognos reseller Inca Software as it makes a play for the business analytics market.
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 ...
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.
March 10, 2011 10 Mar'11
Trustmarque notes tide turning in corporate land

A rebound in spending among corporate customers is not a short term blip, according to Trust marque CEO Scott Haddow.
March 10, 2011 10 Mar'11
Government IP review needs to embrace software differences

The Federation Against Software Theft has warned that the government's review of the intellectual property system might not benefit the software market because of the focus on protecting the copyright of music and films.
March 10, 2011 10 Mar'11
Veeam launches reseller accreditations

Virtualisation backup and management vendor Veeam is extending the training it offers resellers and introducing its first specialist accreditations for partners.
March 10, 2011 10 Mar'11
FAST puts focus on job protection with Tyneside campaign

The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) is to launch a new software piracy campaign at a special event in Gates head in a bid to raise awareness of the economic impact of knock-off software, with the emphasis on protecting local jobs.
March 09, 2011 09 Mar'11
SAP sets out ambition to make enterprise software 'cool again'

Enterprise software has become dull and predictable with the torch of innovation passing to the consumer space but one of the biggest players at the high-end of the market has set out its ambition to make business products "cool again".
March 07, 2011 07 Mar'11
Tablets set to support growth in mobile BI

Mobile business intelligence (BI) might be slow getting going but the technology should be helped by increased sales of tablet PCs.
March 03, 2011 03 Mar'11
CBI calls on government to do more to protect IP

UK software developers need to be protected with stronger intellectual property rights which are enforced globally and backed by the government.
March 02, 2011 02 Mar'11
Shift F7 MD Ognall exits the business

The owner at Surrey-based reseller Shift F7 Garry King has stepped back into the managing director's seat following the "mutual" split with previous incumbent Simon Ognall.
February 25, 2011 25 Feb'11
Salesforce.com Q4 numbers hit by charges

Cloud CRM specialist Salesforce.com saw its net income halved year-on-year in its fiscal fourth quarter as it swallowed costs related to stock-based compensation.
February 24, 2011 24 Feb'11
Google introduces Apps reseller certifications

Google has introduced the first reseller certification around its apps products to encourage its partner community to take online training and exams.
February 23, 2011 23 Feb'11
Former Sophos SME head handed channel reins by SAP

SAP has appointed the former head of SME at Sophos, John Antunes, as its director of SME and channels.
February 23, 2011 23 Feb'11
SAP kicks off Business ByDesign UK partner ecosystem

SAP has unveiled a handful of partners and a couple of large customers to kick off the launch of its cloud based Business ByDesign ecosystem into the UK.
February 21, 2011 21 Feb'11
RES Software appoints Arrow ECS

Desktop virtualisation specialist RES Software has appointed Arrow ECS as its second distributor in the UK with a brief to grow the number of resellers that handle its products.
February 18, 2011 18 Feb'11
Business Intelligence set to grow through to 2014

The Business Intelligence (BI) market is set for steady growth over the next three years making it one of the strongest areas of the software sector.
February 18, 2011 18 Feb'11
RES Software changes licence packages and lowers prices

Desktop virtualisation specialist RES Software has changed its pricing structure, reducing the costs of its entry-level products, in a move designed to widen its customer base.
February 17, 2011 17 Feb'11
Intact rolls out lifecycle management services

Network support services house Intact Integrated Services is to roll out a new Service Delivery Management set-up that it claims will help resellers avoid SLA penalties.
February 16, 2011 16 Feb'11
Micro Focus shares slide after profits warning

Micro Focus has admitted that the revenue it managed to hit in the three months to 31 January were below its own expectations and it will not be able to make up the shortfall by the end of its fiscal year.
February 15, 2011 15 Feb'11
IBM rolls out Cloud Computing Speciality programme

IBM used day one of its PartnerWorld conference to roll out a cloud computing specialty programme. The initiative covers five partner types - cloud application providers, cloud builders, cloud infrastructure providers, resellers and cloud technology...
February 15, 2011 15 Feb'11
Citrix seals Netviewer web conferencing deal

Citrix has finalised its acquisition of German web-conferencing specialist Netviewer, which numbers Bayer, BMW, SAP, Siemens, Deutsche Post, Deutsche Telekom and Swisscom among its 18,000 customers, writes Ian Grant. Netviewer will become part of ...
February 15, 2011 15 Feb'11
Insight prepares for $10m impact of Microsoft fee cuts

Insight Enterprises is making plans to "mitigate" the pending changes to Microsoft LAR fees that it estimates will impact gross profits by many millions of dollars in 2012.
February 14, 2011 14 Feb'11
FAST calls for ACS:Law downloaders court case to continue

The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) has waded into the debate about the court case against file-sharers that is teetering on the brink of collapse.
February 11, 2011 11 Feb'11
Vendors urged to be more transparent over software audits

In the face of increasing software audits vendors have been advised to establish formal programmes to avoid damaging relationships with customers.
February 10, 2011 10 Feb'11
Labelling firm latest to be named and shamed by BSA

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has kept its legal department busy with another large settlement with a firm caught out using unlicensed Microsoft software.
February 10, 2011 10 Feb'11
Software audits on the rise

The risks of using unlicensed software continues to rise with audits on the rise as vendors look to turn the screws on potential lost revenue.
February 09, 2011 09 Feb'11
Xchanging founder and CEO quits after profit warning

The founder and CEO at UK-based BPO firm Xchanging - acquirer of networking reseller Data Integration - has quit following a profit warning.
February 08, 2011 08 Feb'11
Open source uptake provides opportunity for developers

Open source might be gaining customers but it is being deployed in a fairly ad hoc way by a significant number of firms.
February 07, 2011 07 Feb'11
Accenture predicts easier to use BI and automated security

Business intelligence has become slicker and cheaper but is going to have to become easier to use if it's going to deliver on user demands in the next stage of its development.
February 07, 2011 07 Feb'11
Atos Origin calls time on email

Those resellers struggling to cope under the weight of emails might be intrigued by the ambition of Atos Origin's CEO to eradicate the technology inside his firm over the next three years.
February 04, 2011 04 Feb'11
Microsoft to cut EA fees for LARs by more than two thirds

The feast of fees that Microsoft's larger LAR partners gorged on will turn to a relative famine from 11 September when sweeping changes to Enterprise Agreements (EA) are initiated.
February 02, 2011 02 Feb'11
Software vendors encouraged to modernise

Software vendors are going to have to get better at standing out from the crowd and with showing greater flexibility with their channel partners if they are to take advantage of changes happening in the market over the next few years.
January 31, 2011 31 Jan'11
Microsoft partner bosses urged to tackle Office 365 concerns

Microsoft has rejigged its channel management structure to smooth resellers move to its cloud services model, one that partners have expressed serious concerns over.
January 31, 2011 31 Jan'11
SAM on the rise but calls issued for coherent strategy

UK firms are starting to adopt software asset management (SAM) tools in order to monitor and control spending on applications as well as ensuring compliance with licensing demands.
January 31, 2011 31 Jan'11
Red Hat introduces deal registration to spur channel growth

Red Hat has introduced deal registration for its top tiers of European partners to underpin its ambitions to grow the business through the channel.
January 28, 2011 28 Jan'11
Media training supplies firm latest to be hit by BSA

A Leicester-based medical training supplies firm is the latest to fall foul of software licensing laws and to find itself having to shell out to settle with the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and get itself legal.
January 26, 2011 26 Jan'11
SAP vows to fight $1.5bn Oracle fine

SAP has vowed to fight the $1.3bn fine that a judge and jury ordered it had to pay Oracle for the copyright infringement committed by its Tomorrow Now subsidiary.
January 26, 2011 26 Jan'11
Return of SME spending benefits Sage

Sage has reported signs of a return of SME spending filtering through as it reported that trading remains in line with expectations it outlined in prelim results last month.
January 25, 2011 25 Jan'11
VMware boosted by Q4 numbers but cautious on outlook

Virtualisation heavyweight VMware pushed up sales and more than doubled profits in Q4 as delayed corporate and mid-market activity came back online.
January 25, 2011 25 Jan'11
HP takes wraps off cloud products

Hewlett-Packard has become the latest major vendor to put its muscle behind the cloud following the likes of Microsoft down the path of introducing specific products to underpin a push into hosted services.
January 21, 2011 21 Jan'11
Government moves to firm up cost structure for piracy fight

The government has taken a step closer to cementing legislation around the cost structure for tackling online piracy in the Digital Economy Act.
January 20, 2011 20 Jan'11
EU anti-piracy laws failing to keep pace with web changes

The EU has admitted that its own laws designed to combat online piracy are failing to do the job because the ease with which IP can be ripped off online has overtaken the legal defences put up back in 2004.
January 18, 2011 18 Jan'11
Microsoft overhauls education licensing

Microsoft is stepping up its fight against rivals by canning the Schools Agreement (SA) in favour of a licensing programme that promises to open up the wider education market to resellers and offers customers more aggressive pricing.
January 18, 2011 18 Jan'11
Book Review: 50 Ways To Make Google Love Your Web Site

I had a Japanese business card moment with this book. I pored over it, desperate to be impressed. But there's nothing to immediately enthuse over. The problem with most business books is they never get to the point quickly.
January 18, 2011 18 Jan'11
SAP shuffles management pack unveiling fresh channel head

SAP has shuffled its management team unveiling fresh faces in the EMEA president seat and the global head of channels.
January 14, 2011 14 Jan'11
SAP enjoys a strong end to the year

The positive sounds SAP has been making about Q4 revenue are likely to be countered in its next set of results with the $1.3bn it had to pay out to Oracle to settle a recent legal dispute.
January 13, 2011 13 Jan'11
ERP spending to remain flat for most in 2011

Despite the innovation taking place in the ERP software market a bulk of customers will keep away from investing this year as tight budgets restrict their upgrade options.
January 11, 2011 11 Jan'11
Microsoft loses server and cloud boss Muglia

The head of Microsoft's $15bn (£9.6m) Servers and Tools business, Bob Muglia, will leave the company this year after 23 years' service.
January 10, 2011 10 Jan'11
Microsoft to recruit 4,000 in government jobs drive

Microsoft hopes to create 4,000 new jobs in the UK this year through its Britain Works recruitment programme. The software giant announced its plans today as part of a co-ordinated effort to create thousands of private sector jobs in the UK during ...
January 07, 2011 07 Jan'11
Consolidation throws up licensing challenge

The consolidation that has been a feature of the recession could provide headaches for those trying to keep an eye on software licences.
January 07, 2011 07 Jan'11
SAP global channel boss Hume quits

SAP's global senior vice president of indirect sales, Pat Hume, has left the company for undisclosed reasons. In a statement sent to MicroScope, SAP confirmed Hume's departure and said her role will be taken over by SAP senior vice president of ...
January 06, 2011 06 Jan'11
Channel set to get larger slice of BI market

Spending on business intelligence will be driven more through the channel and away from vendors over the next three years.
January 06, 2011 06 Jan'11
Resellers still have crucial role to play in PCI compliance

Merchants are still failing to understand the requirements of PCI DSS credit card data protection or the consequences of failing to be compliant with the rules.
January 05, 2011 05 Jan'11
Virtustream to dilute direct sales with channel push

Cloud provider Virtustream is turning to the channel to spearhead its next growth phase in the mid-market.
January 04, 2011 04 Jan'11
Tech industry gets gongs in New Year Honours list

Alongside well-known names such as singer Annie Lennox and actor Bert Kwuok, the IT sector was handed a few gongs in the 2011 New Year Honours list. Among the 900 recipients lining up outside Buckingham Palace will be the chairman of outsourcing and...
December 21, 2010 21 Dec'10
Adobe reports first billion dollar quarter

Software vendor Adobe has exceeded Wall Street's expectations and reported its first ever billion dollar quarter, making sales of $1,008bn (£651.4m) during its fiscal Q4 -which closed on 3 December - up 33% on this time last year.
December 20, 2010 20 Dec'10
Microsoft kills off Office Genuine Advantage

Microsoft has quietly killed off its Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) anti-piracy measure after it became clear it was hindering legitimate users whilst having no effect on software pirates.
December 16, 2010 16 Dec'10
Bytes to reduce reliance on Microsoft

Bytes Technology Group is seeking to reduce its reliance on Microsoft sales in light of the vendor's pending restructure of the fees that large account resellers can accrue.
December 16, 2010 16 Dec'10
Social software set for double digit growth

The software that underpins corporate blogs, wikis and discussion forums is producing an impressive source of revenue, which is set to grow by double figures in the next couple of years.
December 14, 2010 14 Dec'10
SaaS growth on the cards as security concerns evaporate

The market for software as a service (SaaS) will grow fairly strongly this year as concerns around security and performance are overcome. According to Gartner the worldwide SaaS Market will hit $9.2bn this year; an increase of 15.7% on 2009 numbers.
December 10, 2010 10 Dec'10
Enta heads down iPhone app path

Distributor EntaTech has followed in the footsteps of Computer 2000's enterprise arm Azlan and network support services company Networks First with the launch of a reseller-focused iPhone app.
December 10, 2010 10 Dec'10
Users start to look at putting mission critical apps in cloud

Companies are considering moving more of their mission critical applications into the cloud environment next year as standards and automated process emerge.
December 09, 2010 09 Dec'10
SAP reseller recruitment nears target

SAP is aiming to end the year with just shy of 100 resellers across the UK after setting out its ambitions to get its channel numbers back into three figures earlier this year.
December 08, 2010 08 Dec'10
Micro Focus sets sights on growth as leadership settles down

British software firm Micro Focus has indicated that it expects future growth after bedding in senior management changes that have swept across the business in the last few months.
December 07, 2010 07 Dec'10
FAST gives SAM ISO standard its backing

The development of an ISO standard around software asset management (SAM) has been given the thumbs up by those in the industry promoting the technology to users.
December 06, 2010 06 Dec'10
BSA hits London education consultant with £80,000 settlement

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has ended the year with one of its largest settlements of the year after it caught out a London education consultant firm using unlicensed software.
December 03, 2010 03 Dec'10
Google steps up anti-piracy fight

Google has announced it is increasing attempts to make life difficult for internet software pirates with a raft of measures designed to protect copyright holders.
December 03, 2010 03 Dec'10
Sage reshuffle results in fresh UK CEO

Sage has promoted its current head of small business Brendan Flattery to take over the UK CEO role from the start of next year.
December 02, 2010 02 Dec'10
Microsoft to restructure LAR compensation model again

Microsoft is planning another round of sweeping changes to the Enterprise Agreement fees that LARs make on sales to major accounts which may force some to drop the accreditation.
December 01, 2010 01 Dec'10
Caution remains as Sage shuffles management team

A return to spending by small businesses helped buoy Sage's full year numbers but the software vendor warned that the outlook in its customer base remained uncertain.
November 30, 2010 30 Nov'10
One year on the Novell IWM message is getting across

Novell's intelligent workflow management (IWM) message appears to getting through to customers as the vendor marks a year of promoting its approach to the market.
November 29, 2010 29 Nov'10
FAST takes anti-piracy campaign to North West

The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) has extended the focus of its anti-piracy campaign to the North West building on successful regional crack downs it has previously held in Wales and the South of England.
November 24, 2010 24 Nov'10
SAP to pay Oracle $1.3bn in copyright case

Oracle might not have got the $4bn to $5bn Larry Ellison (pictured) argued it was due from SAP for copyright infringement, but it has been given the highest awarded payout awarded by a court for a case of this kind at $1.3bn.
November 23, 2010 23 Nov'10
SAP in 'transformational stage' says co-chief executive

SAP is in a transformational stage, Jim Hagemann Snabe, co-chief executive of SAP has told the UK & Ireland SAP user group conference taking place in Manchester, writes Warwick Ashford. The aim of this process is to expand beyond planning ...
November 22, 2010 22 Nov'10
Novell sold to Attachmate for $2.2bn

Services software and NetIQ-owner vendor Attachmate has splurged a total of$2.2bn in cash or $6.10 per share (£1.37bn) to acquire workload management software vendor Novell and its SUSE brand. Parts of Novell's IP are also to be sold to CPTN ...
November 17, 2010 17 Nov'10
Microsoft names and shames latest hard loading pirates

Microsoft has called on resellers and users to get behind its efforts to crack down on piracy as it unveils the latest roll of shame of those caught robbing the legitimate channel of revenue.
November 15, 2010 15 Nov'10
SAP expected to start defence in Oracle copyright dispute

SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott should take the stand today in the copyright case between his firm and Oracle. This time last week Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, entered the Californian court room and revealed that it valued the code downloads by SAP ...
November 12, 2010 12 Nov'10
IBM identifies mid market as key sector for channel

IBM has told partners that the mid-market is one of the most important sectors and it will support resellers as they meet the demand from the majority of customers in that space who want to buy indirect.
November 12, 2010 12 Nov'10
FAST lays into Digital Economy judicial review

The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) has attacked the High Court's decision this week to grant a judicial review of the Digital Economy Act after successful petitions from ISPs BT and TalkTalk.
November 10, 2010 10 Nov'10
Microsoft LAR Civica Services seeking new boss

Microsoft LAR Civica Services is on the hunt for a successor to managing director Steve Reynolds who is set to leave the industry after more than two decades.
November 09, 2010 09 Nov'10
Ellison takes stand to demand billions from SAP

The temperature in the court room battle between SAP and Oracle is being turned up with the claims by Larry Ellison that its rival downloaded software that was worth billions.
November 08, 2010 08 Nov'10
Ballmer raises millions in share sale

Steve Ballmer has sold off millions of his Microsoft shares raising himself a tidy sum but has indicated that this move is not a precursor to establishing some sort of retirement fund.
November 05, 2010 05 Nov'10
ISC pockets Microsoft and Citrix V-Alliance accreditation

ISC has become the second reseller to bag the V-Alliance accreditation in the UK, a programme developed by Microsoft and Citrix to take on VMware.
November 05, 2010 05 Nov'10
FAST calls for government IP laws review to have teeth

The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) has welcomed the announcement from the Prime Minister that IP protection will be reviewed but urged the process to have real teeth.
November 04, 2010 04 Nov'10
Questions over speed of adoption raised on Windows 7 birthday

Windows 7 might have racked up impressive sales figures in its first year of release and wiped away the memories of the disappointment of Vista but it still has a long way to go to become the de facto operating system in the corporate space.
November 04, 2010 04 Nov'10
Cameron plans East End tech hub

The prime minister will today unveil plans to create a British Silicon Valley at London's Olympic Park, with firms including Google, Intel and Olympic network supplier Cisco already understood to have committed to investing in the area.
November 03, 2010 03 Nov'10
Yorkshire manufacturing firm latest to be hit by BSA

Yorkshire-based manufacturing firm Plas-tech Thermoforming Limited has become the latest to be hit by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) for using unlicensed software.
November 01, 2010 01 Nov'10
Partner migration delays hold up Arrow Oracle plans

Arrow may be chomping at the bit to step up its development activities in Oracle's hardware and software partner base but the delayed migration to OPN might just hold up proceedings.
November 01, 2010 01 Nov'10
Five minute interview: Alex Teh, Vigil Software

MicroScope puts its questions to Alex Teh, commercial director of Vigil Software What is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom? The best advice I received came from one of the founders of Vigil Software.