News

Channel Business Management

• March 28, 2013 28 Mar'13

  Channel veteran Edgeley takes chairman role at Fluent Communications

  Paul Edgeley has teamed up with his son after taking a chairman position at Sheffield-based Fluent Communications

• March 27, 2013 27 Mar'13

  Bryant to leave Avnet next month

  Avnet has confirmed that Denise Bryant the managing director of Magirus is to leave the business next month just seven months after the business she ran was acquired

• March 27, 2013 27 Mar'13

  Fujitsu HQ shows confidence in UK operation

  Fujitsu says a multi-million pound investment will enable it to build up its UK business

• March 27, 2013 27 Mar'13

  Corero: stars will align for security business in 2013

  Corero insists that 2013 will finally be the year when its network security business takes off after its non-core software business outperformed it yet again

• March 27, 2013 27 Mar'13

  Social media set to rival phone as sales tool

  Social media is set to become a major route for channel players to communicate with customers with Aspect Software expecting it to rival the phone by the end of the decade

• March 25, 2013 25 Mar'13

  Changing customer priorities suit ComputerLinks

  ComputerLinks says that demand for products designed to optimise and protect existing customer networks has helped it book full-year growth of 22%.

• March 25, 2013 25 Mar'13

  Syscap calls for more lenders to be involved with government credit schemes

  Syscap has highlighted the failure of the main two government schemes to improve the flow of credit to smaller firms advising that now is the time to widen the lenders that can be involved

• March 25, 2013 25 Mar'13

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 22 March 2013

  Our regular look back at the top channel news stories from the past seven days, as selected by MicroScope.co.uk readers

• March 22, 2013 22 Mar'13

  Computer 2000 at centre of £26m accounting hash

  Tech Data stands to lose up to £26m after uncovering a series of accounting errors at its UK business

• March 22, 2013 22 Mar'13

  Government expects Business Bank to ease SME credit woes

  The government has provided more details of the next plan to ease SME credit problems in the form of the Business Bank which gets going in September

• March 21, 2013 21 Mar'13

  Pure Storage has high hopes for EMEA flash market

  Flash storage specialist Pure Storage has formally launched in EMEA and vowed to take on disk giants EMC and NetApp

• March 20, 2013 20 Mar'13

  Budget should create opportunities for the channel

  The reaction from channel players and business groups to the Budget have highlighted that IT services specialists will have a key role to play in supporting more deficit reduction moves

• March 20, 2013 20 Mar'13

  Credit plans to be extended as Osborne delivers tough Budget

  The Budget has included details of proposals to extend the credit schemes the government has established to help SMEs

• March 20, 2013 20 Mar'13

  Prianto to build invisible security channel for Unisys

  The ability to render users, data and endpoints invisible to outsiders could mark a fundamental change for the security sector, according to Unisys and Prianto

• March 19, 2013 19 Mar'13

  Westcon focus of parental concern as Datatec downgrades again

  Datatec is down-in-the-dumps over Westcon’s performance and is preparing to pull the distributor out of some markets altogether

• March 19, 2013 19 Mar'13

  ThreatTrack declares independence from GFI

  The new firm says that freedom will give it the ability to focus more tightly on malware and advanced persistent threats

• March 19, 2013 19 Mar'13

  IoD tells Osborne it is time to be radical

  On the eve of the Budget the Institute of Directors has urged the Chancellor to be radical to ensure that the UK remains a competitive business market

• March 18, 2013 18 Mar'13

  Solera chooses Exclusive Networks to build UK channel

  Security start-up Solera hopes to generate threat protection opportunities for resellers via complementary engagements

• March 18, 2013 18 Mar'13

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 15 March 2013

  Our regular look back at the most important IT channel news stories from the past seven days as selected by MicroScope readers

• March 15, 2013 15 Mar'13

  PEER1 Hosting seeks Olympian talent

  Cloud specialist PEER1 Hosting wants to give a leg up to some of the many Team GB athletes looking for work after London 2012 and has embarked on a novel recruitment drive

• March 15, 2013 15 Mar'13

  More credit and simpler taxes top Budget wishlists

  With the Budget just days away business groups have made it clear they want the Chancellor George Osborne to do more to make life easier for small businesses

• March 15, 2013 15 Mar'13

  Last call for ACEs entries

  The last call is going out for entries to the MicroScope Awards for Channel Excellence. Make sure you don't miss out and get your entry in by midnight

• March 14, 2013 14 Mar'13

  CDG picks up Scalable asset, device management contract

  CDG and Scalable say their new UK distribution contract will enhance their partners’ ability to cut costs for their customers

• March 14, 2013 14 Mar'13

  Toshiba emphasises specialisms, mobile in new programme

  Toshiba says that putting the emphasis on reseller specialisations and mobile will make its new partner programme stand out in the crowded PC market

• March 13, 2013 13 Mar'13

  Infinigate to spruce up Corero distribution plans

  Corero Network Security is making over its distribution channel once again, bidding farewell to Cohort Technology and signing up with Infinigate – formerly Vigil Software – in the UK

• March 13, 2013 13 Mar'13

  Exinda highlights mobility, app management role for WAN optimisation VARs

  Exinda's EMEA vice president Karl Barton has been speaking about his plans to grow his channel and push resellers into enterprise mobility opportunities

• March 13, 2013 13 Mar'13

  Government told to do more to support tech start-ups

  The House of Commons science and technology select committee has warned the government that not enough is being done to support start-ups

• March 12, 2013 12 Mar'13

  SMEs turn away from channel for ICT procurement

  Although over 40% of SMEs use VARs as their main channel for procuring IT, a clear majority use the internet as a primary or secondary means of ad hoc procurement, effectively locking resellers out of millions of pounds worth of sales

• March 12, 2013 12 Mar'13

  AMD sells off campus to raise funds

  Chipmaker AMD has announced plans to sell its Texan campus and then lease it back for 12 years in a move that will raise the firm millions

• March 12, 2013 12 Mar'13

  SFO launches investigation into Autonomy accounts

  The Serious Fraud Office has become the latest organisation to launch an investigation into the alleged accounting irregularities at Autonomy

• March 12, 2013 12 Mar'13

  Computacenter reaps rewards of UK investment

  Computacenter began to see the fruits of its investment in the UK market during 2012, with local sales up 8% to £1.2bn and adjusted operating profit up 40% to £52m

• March 11, 2013 11 Mar'13

  Outsourcery CEO Linney joins BBC Dragons

  Cloud computing provider Outsourcery has revealed its co-CEO Piers Linney is to join the line-up for the next series of the BBC’s Dragon’s Den as a replacement for outgoing Theo Paphitis

• March 11, 2013 11 Mar'13

  US firms dominating tech M&A activity

  US firms are dominating the large mergers and acquisitions with European activity levels remaining unchanged since the start of the year.

• March 11, 2013 11 Mar'13

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 8 March 2013

  Our regular look back at the most important IT channel news stories from the past seven days as selected by MicroScope readers

• March 08, 2013 08 Mar'13

  Sugar hits back at Apprentice tribunal

  Lord Sugar has gone on the offensive against ex-Viglen employee and Apprentice winner Stella English, accusing her of attempting to extort money from him

• March 07, 2013 07 Mar'13

  First time credit applicants face uphill battle

  The Forum of Private Business has reacted with dismay to figures that show it is getting harder for first time applicants to get credit

• March 06, 2013 06 Mar'13

  Viglen culture criticised at Apprentice tribunal

  Viglen’s workplace culture has come under fire after ex-employee and The Apprentice winner Stella English claimed she was little more than an “overpaid lackey”

• March 06, 2013 06 Mar'13

  Samsung pumps $110m into Sharp

  Samsung has made an investment in Sharp as it looks to gain closer links with the thin-screen LCD manufacturer

• March 06, 2013 06 Mar'13

  MicroScope ACEs judges revealed

  With the deadline looming to enter the 2013 MicroScope Awards for Channel Excellence, the judges have been unveiled

• March 05, 2013 05 Mar'13

  Tough economic conditions fuel fraud growth

  The level of fraud that channel firms are facing is on the rise as criminals look to use various techniques to gain access to funds

• March 05, 2013 05 Mar'13

  Steljes pushes channel towards corporate whiteboard opportunity

  On the opening day of UC Expo 2013, audio-visual distie Steljes has been urging its channel partners to consider selling interactive whiteboards in a corporate setting

• March 05, 2013 05 Mar'13

  Microsoft Lync resellers in demand at UC Expo

  On the opening day of UC Expo 2013, Lync technology partners are keen to sniff out growth opportunities in the Microsoft channel

• March 05, 2013 05 Mar'13

  Gates and Ellison still top the IT rich list

  Bill Gates and Larry Ellison feature in the top five of the latest Forbes list of global billionaires

• March 04, 2013 04 Mar'13

  Bank credit scheme failing to get money to SMEs

  Figures from the Bank of England show that the Funding for Lending scheme is not delivering as much credit to businesses as some had hoped for

• March 04, 2013 04 Mar'13

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 1 March 2013

  Our regular look back at the most popular IT channel news stories from the past seven days

• March 04, 2013 04 Mar'13

  Logicalis buys 2e2 European ops for a song

  Logicalis has emerged as the new owner of 2e2’s European business after handing over €24m (£20.7m) for four units, administrators FTI Consulting have said

• March 01, 2013 01 Mar'13

  Mike Lynch: We’ve still not heard anything from HP

  Nearly four months after being slammed over alleged accounting fraud, former Autonomy frontman Mike Lynch says he has not heard a peep out of HP

• March 01, 2013 01 Mar'13

  Electric vehicle incentives could slash channel costs

  Resellers looking to cut costs should look to improve the efficiency of their vehicle fleets, as the experience of Edinburgh-based ECS shows

• March 01, 2013 01 Mar'13

  O-bit staff reunite at VoIP firm Coms

  O-bit sales director Tim Loveday is to reunite with his former boss Dave Breith at Polycom partner Coms, taking up the role of indirect channel sales director

• February 28, 2013 28 Feb'13

  Six Degrees warns against cloud confusion

  Channel cloud providers are causing confusion by using too much jargon and not providing enough education according to the results of research from the Six Degrees Group

• February 28, 2013 28 Feb'13

  Brocade pledges tighter channel integration

  Brocade’s new EMEA channel chief Thomas Langkjaer has said he will seek to integrate more closely with partners

• February 28, 2013 28 Feb'13

  Shop front dealers operating on emptying high streets

  The state of the average high street last year was fairly dire with major retailers closing shops at the rate of almost one an hour in 2012

• February 27, 2013 27 Feb'13

  Northamber chairman hits out at “tired” vendors

  Northamber chairman David Phillips has slammed “tired and historic” vendors for eroding the distributor’s business by cutting prices again and again

• February 27, 2013 27 Feb'13

  VMware flexes channel muscles at PEX

  VMware has added new incentives, enablement and collaboration programmes on the opening day of its global partner knees-up, PEX

• February 26, 2013 26 Feb'13

  Channel Telecom claims billing standard first

  Channel Telecom says implementing a new charging data record standard will make it easier for comms VARs to keep on top of their customer billing

• February 25, 2013 25 Feb'13

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 22 February 2013

  Our regular look back at the most important channel news stories from the past seven days

• February 22, 2013 22 Feb'13

  HP out of intensive care but more struggles ahead

  Meg Whitman has said that HP is showing signs of improvement as its lengthy turnaround process continues

• February 22, 2013 22 Feb'13

  Enables IT lifts lid on growth plans, plots M&A spree

  Network and virtualisation specialist Enables IT has posted its first set of annual results following its reverse takeover by MSP Nexus Management and revealed details of its future strategy

• February 22, 2013 22 Feb'13

  HP software revenue: Company looks to partners to drive more business

  At HP's Global Partner Conference in Las Vegas, HP Software has been talking up a potential $45bn channel opportunity around its business

• February 21, 2013 21 Feb'13

  Corero tears down channel barriers with programme enhancements

  With its SecureWatch partner programme rapidly approaching its first birthday, threat protection specialist Corero is targeting a new phase of channel and company expansion in the coming months

• February 21, 2013 21 Feb'13

  Ratcliffe leaves healthier RM, but BSF impact lingers

  With its successful restructuring now largely complete, RM chairman Martyn Ratcliffe has announced he will step down from the firm this summer

• February 21, 2013 21 Feb'13

  Micro Focus reports steady business, closes acquisition

  Enterprise BI specialist Micro Focus has reported steady trading for the period from 31 October, with results in-line with its expectations

• February 20, 2013 20 Feb'13

  Shoes, wristwatches may be future BYOD channel opportunity

  Analysts at Gartner have been assessing the potential impact of cognizant, or wearable computing technology

• February 20, 2013 20 Feb'13

  HP Global Partner Conference 2013 highlights streamlined PartnerOne

  HP has announced a set of wide ranging enhancements to its PartnerOne programme at its Global Partner Conference in Las Vegas

• February 19, 2013 19 Feb'13

  HP gives Autonomy partners new programme

  HP has launched a new partner programme for Autonomy resellers and announced plans to bring them into the wider channel fold

• February 19, 2013 19 Feb'13

  Westcon secures MS Lync gold badge

  Westcon has been handed Microsoft’s Partner Network Gold Communications competency as a mark of proficiency around its Lync UC portfolio, becoming the first distie worldwide to achieve the designation

• February 19, 2013 19 Feb'13

  avsnet acquires northern presence with Besttel buy

  Unified comms and collaboration reseller avsnet hopes to drive more business in the north of England and widen its tech expertise after buying Lancashire-based Besttel for an undisclosed sum

• February 19, 2013 19 Feb'13

  SEC ups ante against rivals with Nimans promo

  Siemens Enterprise Communications (SEC) and comms distie Nimans have launched a double sales incentive plan to promote sales of its OpenScape lines and displace rival installations

• February 18, 2013 18 Feb'13

  Brocade profits disappear into California coffers

  Brocade has blamed changes to the tax code in its home state of California for a $21m (£13.5m) net loss, down from $54m in the previous quarter and $59m year-on-year

• February 18, 2013 18 Feb'13

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 15 February 2013

  Our regular look back at the most important channel news stories from the past seven days

• February 15, 2013 15 Feb'13

  EMEA sales up, profits down at Insight

  Insight has returned to revenue growth in EMEA during the fourth and final quarter of its fiscal 2012, however profits declined sharply thanks to restructuring costs

• February 15, 2013 15 Feb'13

  Calyx, m-hance strong performers for VC backers

  Better Capital, the venture capital backer of channel outfits Calyx Managed Services and m-hance, has said both businesses are trading according to its expectations

• February 15, 2013 15 Feb'13

  Dell sacrifices share value to smooth private bid

  Michael Dell has allowed his 16% stake in the PC maker to be valued at 2% lower than the level that was offered to shareholders

• February 14, 2013 14 Feb'13

  Ingram Micro has strong end to fiscal year

  Ingram Micro has closed out its financial 2012 on a high note, with fourth quarter sales up 14% in US dollars and its October acquisition of BrightPoint already paying off

• February 14, 2013 14 Feb'13

  Europe building up head of steam for Cisco

  Cisco CEO John Chambers has pointed to signs that key parts of the European market may be beginning to turn around

• February 14, 2013 14 Feb'13

  Tablet, smartphone shift a ‘permanent trend’ says Gartner

  The hoped-for upswing in PC shipments looks more out of reach than ever before as analysts declare the shift to tablets and smartphones a “permanent trend

• February 13, 2013 13 Feb'13

  Trustmarque books strong sales, profit growth

  VAR heavyweight Trustmarque has lifted the lid on strong financial results and said that growth in both sales and profits reflects the strategic transformation it has made in recent years

• February 12, 2013 12 Feb'13

  Cisco soups up midmarket collaboration channel

  Cisco has unveiled a number of channel initiatives to support the launch of its new midmarket collaboration solution, Cisco Business Edition 6000

• February 12, 2013 12 Feb'13

  Exclusive Networks aims at €1bn sales mark

  Exclusive Networks has announced it will return to acquisitive growth in 2013 as part of a wider plan to make sales of €1bn (£860m) per annum by 2017

• February 12, 2013 12 Feb'13

  Accounting body launches Autonomy investigation

  The Financial Reporting Council has launched an investagtion into Autonomy's reports in the lead up to its acquisition by HP

• February 11, 2013 11 Feb'13

  Phones 4u backs off distribution to TD Mobile

  Tech Data Mobile has been handed the contract to manage the end-to-end supply chain operation for mobility retailer Phones 4u in the UK and Ireland

• February 11, 2013 11 Feb'13

  Dell shareholders voice disquiet over sale plans

  One of Dell's largest shareholders has made it clear it will vote against buy-back plans that are being spearheaded by Michael Dell

• February 11, 2013 11 Feb'13

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 8 February 2013

  Our regular look back at the most important channel news stories from the past seven days

• February 08, 2013 08 Feb'13

  Telco market props up slowing tech M&A activity

  Aside from deals struck in the telco market January saw the volume of tech M&A deals drop and the value reduce

• February 07, 2013 07 Feb'13

  Computing teaching to get curriculum overhaul

  The Education Secretary has announced changes to the national curriculum with a computing GCSE to replace the former ICT option

• February 07, 2013 07 Feb'13

  Shutters come down at 2e2

  The failure of administrators to find a buyer for 2e2 has led to large parts of the UK business to be closed and for hundreds of jobs to be lost

• February 07, 2013 07 Feb'13

  Lenovo targets mid-market with reseller programme

  Lenovo has launched a mid-market channel programme to target the 100-999 seat sector which it views as a substantial opportunity

• February 05, 2013 05 Feb'13

  Veeam enhances partner programme

  Veeam has introduced a specialisation to its partner programme for the first time and beefed up the rewards on offer through its deal registration system

• February 04, 2013 04 Feb'13

  AppSense hunts for mobile partner business

  Desktop virtualisation specialist AppSense is moving beyond its traditional core business and targeting new channel opportunities with the launch of its first mobile device management (MDM) solution, MobileNow

• February 04, 2013 04 Feb'13

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 1 February 2013

  Our regular look back at the biggest channel news stories from the past seven days

• February 01, 2013 01 Feb'13

  D-Link draws up education guidelines for resellers

  Networking specialist D-Link is putting the finishing touches to guidelines it hopes will make it easier for resellers to sell into the education sector

• February 01, 2013 01 Feb'13

  Dell: channel growth will be self-perpetuating

  Having achieved a 50:50 split between its direct and channel businesses in Europe, Dell now believes it has reached a point where its channel growth will become self-perpetuating

• January 30, 2013 30 Jan'13

  Channel suitors pursue stricken 2e2 businesses

  Administrators say a number of potential buyers for some or all of 2e2's businesses have already stepped forward

• January 30, 2013 30 Jan'13

  Avaya retains Imago's Radvision contract

  Specialist video distie Imago has revealed Avaya has renewed its contract to sell Radvision's Scopia products

• January 29, 2013 29 Jan'13

  Cloud Distribution sinks claws into Talon

  Cloud Distribution has signed an exclusive UK distie partnership with next-gen storage and application delivery software firm Talon

• January 29, 2013 29 Jan'13

  VMware cuts staff to boost bottom line

  VMware is to lay off 900 staff, mostly in non-core functions, as the virtualisation giant seeks to breathe new life into flat profits

• January 29, 2013 29 Jan'13

  C2000 adds McAfee to software distribution service

  McAfee has become to latest vendor to be added to Computer 2000’s online electronic software distribution service, TD Activate-here

• January 29, 2013 29 Jan'13

  2e2 calls in the administrators

  Despite a last-ditch management reshuffle, integrator 2e2 has become the first channel casualty of 2013 after calling in administrators FTI Consulting on Monday 28 January

• January 28, 2013 28 Jan'13

  CDG programme forges VAR, ISV links

  Software distie CDG has unveiled a new programme called Channel Innovator, designed to get resellers easier access to the wares of up-and-coming ISVs

• January 28, 2013 28 Jan'13

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 25 January 2013

  Our regular look back at the most popular channel news stories from the past seven days