News

Sales and Customer Management

• October 06, 2017 06 Oct'17

  Distributor consolidation causing some reseller price concerns

  The distribution world has been shrinking in terms of the number of players as the big get bigger and that has raised some reseller worries about price and procurement issues

• October 03, 2017 03 Oct'17

  Skills are an area where the channel can add value

  Customers want help with digital transformation and technology and those in the channel investing in skills will be best placed to serve them

• September 28, 2017 28 Sep'17

  Accenture warns vendors over channel disconnect

  A lack of visibility into partner activities, a failure to meet customer expectations and a focus on recruiting too many resellers are just some of the issues exposed by Accenture

• September 06, 2017 06 Sep'17

  HPE Next should make life simpler for partners

  HPE CEO Meg Whitman used the firm's Q3 results as an opportunity to share more details about plans the firm is making to streamline its operations

• July 06, 2017 06 Jul'17

  Tech Data expands knowledge hub coverage

  The distributor continues to add dedicated vendor and technology areas to its trusted advisor knowledge hub

• June 14, 2017 14 Jun'17

  Digital spending growing despite geo political landscape

  It might be tempting to think that given all the economic and political issues of the year so far customers might have slowed down digital spending, but the reverse seems to be the case

• June 09, 2017 09 Jun'17

  Election result leaves the channel facing more uncertainty

  A hung parliament and the prospect of more uncertainty is the last thing most in the channel would have wanted

• June 02, 2017 02 Jun'17

  Lines of business buyers can spark channel opportunities

  The purchasing power might be shifting away from the IT department but as WatchGuard has found that can be a positive for the channel

• May 16, 2017 16 May'17

  Resellers have to get faces in front of lines of business

  With buying power moving out from the traditional IT department CompTIA has urged the channel to get their faces in front of lines of business buyers

• April 05, 2017 05 Apr'17

  Amazon Business opens another route to SME customers

  The launch of Amazon Business in the UK might provide some resellers with another way to reach out to customers

• February 28, 2017 28 Feb'17

  Channel transforming to meet customer needs

  Digital transformation is not just an issue for customers and the channel is also undergoing rapid change according to research from Citrix and Canalys

• February 24, 2017 24 Feb'17

  WWT forging a post VAR route that's integration driven

  World Wide Technology (WWT) is demonstrating that investing in working out how to integrate the latest technology is a strategy that appeals to the largest of customers

• February 21, 2017 21 Feb'17

  Uncertain times driving demand for IT solutions

  Ricoh has tested the temperature of European users and found that most are braced for turbulent times but expect to end the year in a stronger position

• February 09, 2017 09 Feb'17

  Users facing uphill battle over digital transformation process

  A couple of pieces of research have revealed the pain that some customers are going through to try to digitise their businesses

• January 17, 2017 17 Jan'17

  Smartphones and speed changing the demands on retailers

  More orders are being placed via smartphones but those retailers that take time to respond will be penalised by customers

• January 12, 2017 12 Jan'17

  Channel must position themselves as digital transformation experts

  Customers and vendors are looking for resellers that are in a position to offer real expertise around digital transformation and have undergone the process themselves

• December 23, 2016 23 Dec'16

  How was 2016 for you?

  Amro Gebreel asks leading lights from across the industry to assess their highlights of 2016

• December 14, 2016 14 Dec'16

  Entanet opens the doors to its first apprentices

  The channel player has teamed up with a local college to give the next generation a chance to take their first steps into the IT industry

• December 07, 2016 07 Dec'16

  Small businesses feel ignored by their politicians, claims Sage

  As Sage launches its Forum for Business Builders, the accounting software leader publishes research which suggests small businesses around the world do not feel represented by their governments

• December 01, 2016 01 Dec'16

  Decentralised IT is becoming the new norm, report suggests

  Research from virtualisation king VMware finds that management of technology is shifting away from IT to other departments

• November 29, 2016 29 Nov'16

  Channel has a bright year ahead, according to research from GTDC

  Report polls heavy hitters from a across the channel to uncover key expectations for the year ahead

• November 29, 2016 29 Nov'16

  Cloud services will grow strongly next year

  Views from the channel about the year ahead continue to mount up with Intelisys Global adding it's views to the mix

• November 25, 2016 25 Nov'16

  Cobweb celebrates 20 years

  Cobweb is celebrating 20 years in business and is already looking forward to the next few years of growth

• November 24, 2016 24 Nov'16

  Exertis adds Honeywell to smart tech portfolio

  Exertis continues to add vendors to its smart tech roster bringing on board heating and security player Honeywell

• November 15, 2016 15 Nov'16

  Storage buyers going through times of change

  Those selling to traditional storage admins could find those buyers changing soon as automation kicks in leading to the need for fresh conversations with other parts of the business

• October 26, 2016 26 Oct'16

  Exhibitors at VMworld claim they’re setting our knowledge free

  They’re selling liberty, fraternity and open IT - but which would you trust if you were a buyer?

• October 17, 2016 17 Oct'16

  Citrix: Green is back on the agenda

  UK Citrix channel boss argues that resellers should be happy talking to customers about the environment

• August 15, 2016 15 Aug'16

  Contracts causing channel headaches

  Channel firms are among those SMEs that are struggling to get to grips with all of the ins and outs of the contracts

• August 05, 2016 05 Aug'16

  Channel can't pitch business as usual post-Brexit

  Now might be the time for customer's to change strategy and do something different, according to KPMG

• July 26, 2016 26 Jul'16

  Supply chain collaboration should give channel louder voice

  DHL has been musing over what business will look like in the future and has concluded that there will be much more collaboration between all players in the supply chain

• July 14, 2016 14 Jul'16

  Avnet: How is the channel doing so far on its vision for 2016?

  Insight from Avnet's Marcus Adae, vice president of strategic suppliers, on how the channel is shaping up in terms of key trends and developments

• July 11, 2016 11 Jul'16

  Resellers give distributors a big thumbs up

  Research house Context has found that resellers are happy with the level of service that they receive from distributors

• June 29, 2016 29 Jun'16

  Tech sector must have a voice over what happens next

  Voices in the business and tech communities have called for the government to listen more to IT firms as they draw up post Brexit plans

• June 17, 2016 17 Jun'16

  Oracle investing in Direct operation

  Oracle's CEO has revealed that the firm has been investing heavily in its Direct operation

• June 13, 2016 13 Jun'16

  Industry figures recognised in Birthday Honours list

  Channel figures were rewarded with public recognition in the Queen's Birthday Honours list

• May 12, 2016 12 May'16

  Nimans opens up internal training

  Nimans has given resellers the chance to go through the same training it provides in-house to its own staff

• May 03, 2016 03 May'16

  Civica snaffles up digital transformation player IPL

  Civica UK has made it two acquisitions in less than two weeks with a deal to buy IPL Group

• April 27, 2016 27 Apr'16

  Ingram Micro opens arms to SME resellers

  Ingram Micro is looking for fresh business in the SME market as it cuts the ribbon on a fresh website and a team to support those partners

• April 05, 2016 05 Apr'16

  Channel must also start to digitally transform

  As customers start to transform their businesses Gartner has raised warnings that service providers must also change their approach

• March 07, 2016 07 Mar'16

  Lack of security awareness poses a major threat to businesses

  Organisations are putting their reputation and competitive advantage at risk by not addressing the 'human factor' in cyber security. Could the channel come to the rescue?

• March 02, 2016 02 Mar'16

  Cisco 2.0: What does Cisco look like in a post-Chambers world?

  OPINION: This is the first Partner Summit with Chuck Robbins at the helm of Cisco. Sean McGrath explores the major themes coming out the event in San Diego

• January 14, 2016 14 Jan'16

  Private sector failed to capture $5tn of digital business in 2015

  A new report from Cisco claims that private sector organisations failed to capture 80% of all digital business opportunities in 2015

• December 16, 2015 16 Dec'15

  A reseller's guide to the Star Wars galaxy

  Have you ever thought about reselling X-wing starfighters? Or what your value add might be in the lightsaber market? Sean McGrath takes a look at making Star Wars tech a reality

• November 19, 2015 19 Nov'15

  Vendors looking to Big Data for channel management in 2016

  A new survey has revealed that UK hardware vendors are increasingly turning to analytics solutions to gain greater insight into channel operations

• November 02, 2015 02 Nov'15

  SMEs failing to deal with security face losing contracts

  Failing to deal with a security breach is not just bad for brand but could have serious implications on SME supplier relationships a survey from KPMG has revealed

• October 22, 2015 22 Oct'15

  HDS highlights customer struggles with 'innovation inertia'

  Customers know they have to change their businesses but many do not know where to start and that is causing a worrying sense of inertia out in the market, according to HDS

• September 28, 2015 28 Sep'15

  With more cuts looming CBI calls for more private/public collaboration

  The channel has been helping the public sector trim its sails and deliver digital innovation for years but there is still more that could be done according to the CBI boss

• September 01, 2015 01 Sep'15

  Lenovo bring in Bass to run UK channel

  Lenovo has hired industry veteran Andy Bass to run its UK and Irish channel organisation

• August 20, 2015 20 Aug'15

  Latest partnerships to spring up out of security challenge

  Partnerships strengthening channel response to cybercrime and security demands

• August 19, 2015 19 Aug'15

  Industry best practice sales advice available to channel

  CompTIA adds to its skills crusade with new sales toolkit

• July 24, 2015 24 Jul'15

  Channel delivers positive half year report

  With half of 2015 gone things are looking good for the channel with growth being experienced across a wide number of technology areas

• July 21, 2015 21 Jul'15

  Bundles could be the answer to the channel meeting SME needs

  Moves by SMEs to consolidate their technology could provide an opportunity for those providing a wide reaching IT and comms bundle

• July 13, 2015 13 Jul'15

  Go mobile to collaborate with far-flung channel partners

  Richard Lane, global programmes manager at Engage Global Solutions, says that effective collaboration channel partners is key to growth

• July 08, 2015 08 Jul'15

  Tech Data responds to omni channel retail opportunity

  Retailers are spending more on technology as they look to reach out to customers via every means possible making it the vertical a major target for Tech Data

• July 06, 2015 06 Jul'15

  Fast growing economies have highest customer contact expectations

  Research from BT and Avaya reveals that ‘Autonomous Customers’ are happy to self-serve, but expect instant and excellent service through multiple channels

• July 02, 2015 02 Jul'15

  A single supplier could ease SME tech headaches

  Solar Communications has become the latest to voice the benefits of the one throat to choke approach citing its own research to back the view up

• June 25, 2015 25 Jun'15

  Delivering better customer service a major cloud benefit

  The cloud is being used by more customers as a way of ensuring they can improve customer service and react more quickly to use demands

• June 15, 2015 15 Jun'15

  MicroScope ACEs 2015 winners

  The winners of the 2015 MicroScope Awards for Channel Excellence (ACEs) have been revealed

• June 11, 2015 11 Jun'15

  Customer experience projects hiking digital transformation spend

  Research from Gartner has highlighted the impact that improving customer experience is having on wider digital transformation projects

• June 08, 2015 08 Jun'15

  Channel needs to provide more cloud migration support

  Some customers are finding that their service provider did not deliver the cloud migration support they were hoping for according to CIF research

• May 12, 2015 12 May'15

  IT service providers aren't meeting demands of customers

  A new study from LogicNow has found that IT service providers are ignoring the immediate needs of their customers, in favour of longer term goals

• May 05, 2015 05 May'15

  Last of the old guard: Cisco CEO John Chambers steps down

  Veteran CEO John Chambers is to step down, with long-serving exec Chuck Robbins taking control in July

• April 21, 2015 21 Apr'15

  LambdaTek picks up Queen's Award

  Ecommerce specialist LambdaTek has been awarded a Queen's Award for Enterprise as a result of its strong growth in Europe

• April 20, 2015 20 Apr'15

  Google prepares to roll out biggest algorithm update in two years

  Google's new algorithm update will favour mobile friendly sites, potentially affecting millions of businesses

• April 17, 2015 17 Apr'15

  Death of the B2B salesman warning stirs channel debate

  A warning from analyst house Forrester that one million B2B sales jobs could go as a result of ecommerce has inevitably stirred some debate

• April 08, 2015 08 Apr'15

  Mitel promotes Bevingtion to new global position

  Mitel appoints Graham Bevington to chief sales officer in a bid to drive market expansion

• March 26, 2015 26 Mar'15

  Lack of research undermining the sales pitch

  Two pieces of research indicate that a lack of research and a failure to pick up signs of customer frustration are losing sales

• March 25, 2015 25 Mar'15

  Cloud Distribution hands partners campaign marketing tool

  Cloud Distribution has added a marketing tool it believes will help partners develop quick campaigns

• March 12, 2015 12 Mar'15

  SMEs need help with digital skills

  Billions of pounds are being lost to the UK economy as a result of the SME digital skills gap

• February 17, 2015 17 Feb'15

  NOA rejects Labour comments on outsourcing

  The National Outsourcing Association has spoken out against Jon Cruddas' comments suggesting an end to private sector outsourcing

• February 12, 2015 12 Feb'15

  Financial results suggest Cisco has turned a corner

  Cisco's Q2 results are strongest in five years suggesting the worst of the restructuring may now be behind it

• February 02, 2015 02 Feb'15

  Government's digital reformer Maude to step down

  Francis Maude, who has spent his time in the coalition government taking the large IT suppliers to task has announced he will step down as an MP

• January 23, 2015 23 Jan'15

  Campaign for Clear Licensing sets sights on SAP and IBM

  After ripping Oracle limb from limb, the CCL turns its attention to the next most likely offenders

• January 13, 2015 13 Jan'15

  WestconGroup launches new marketing services programme

  In an attempt to plug the skills gap amongst resellers, WestconGroup has launched a new Marketing Services Programme.

• January 09, 2015 09 Jan'15

  Independent Oracle Users Group responds to CCL open letter

  Following an open letter calling for reforms to licensing practices, the IOUG has responded with varying degrees of skepticism

• January 06, 2015 06 Jan'15

  CCL publishes open letter to Oracle

  The Campaign for Clear Licensing has published an open letter calling on Oracle to clean up its act when it comes to licensing and auditing practices

• December 17, 2014 17 Dec'14

  2014 was the year outsourcing became cool again, says ISG

  While annual contract values remain stable in Northern Europe, Southern Europe thinks outsourcing is the best thing since sliced bread

• December 10, 2014 10 Dec'14

  Pinnacle makes Astute move to improve marketing

  Pinnacle Technology Group will work with B2B marketing specialist Astute to gain further growth

• December 01, 2014 01 Dec'14

  TmaxSoft MD blasts Oracle over licensing issues

  Joe Kim has spoken out against the software giant, calling for more transparency

• November 28, 2014 28 Nov'14

  VDI a vital piece of a reseller's armoury

  Vendors that took part in a recent MicroScope roundtable all agreed that now is the time for the channel to talk VDI

• November 25, 2014 25 Nov'14

  Cooke takes marketing role at Exertis

  Former Microsoft staffer Fiona Cooke has taken a senior marketing role at Exertis to help increase the distributor's brand awareness

• November 19, 2014 19 Nov'14

  Migration projects causing users headaches

  Customers accept they have to undergo migration projects but many are finding the process is far from satisfactory

• November 06, 2014 06 Nov'14

  CompTIA conference: The good and the bad of partnering

  A session on partnering at the CompTIA Member & Partner conference has highlighted some of the challenges for both vendors and resellers

• November 03, 2014 03 Nov'14

  Report finds Oracle licensing is leading to hostile relationships

  The Campaign for Clear Licensing has found that customer relationships are “hostile and filled with deep-rooted mistrust'

• October 31, 2014 31 Oct'14

  Outsourcing hits record levels across EMEA

  ISG data shows strong outsourcing figures, with Southern European countries quickly coming on board

• October 29, 2014 29 Oct'14

  Continuum heads into Europe with new sales director

  Continuum appoints Paul Balkwell as sales director ahead of Euro-drive

• October 28, 2014 28 Oct'14

  Tenders invited to replace BECTA framework by March 2015

  New framework to procure ICT managed services for schools begins seeking suppliers

• October 21, 2014 21 Oct'14

  Zycko announces Lee Driscoll as group sales director

  Zycko brings sales veteran into the fold to head up European expansion plans

• October 13, 2014 13 Oct'14

  Tech industry wants to work more effectively with government

  The industry group techUK has penned an open letter to encourage a better working relationship with the public sector

• October 10, 2014 10 Oct'14

  IBM player Portal kicks off unified solution approach

  IBM specialist Portal has devised a solution for the education market that brings together all of the skills it has across the business

• October 10, 2014 10 Oct'14

  Extreme Networks acquisition breathes new life into company

  Extreme Networks has just wrapped up its annual EMEA and Latin America conference in Lisbon and with the Enterasys integration complete, the future is looking bright

• October 09, 2014 09 Oct'14

  Genius Networks hires network guru to advise resellers

  Networking specialist brings Neill Bird into the fold to help resellers get the best from portfolio

• October 07, 2014 07 Oct'14

  McAfee guides channel through public sector buying process

  Security player McAfee has produced a guide to help SME resellers crack public sector contracts

• October 06, 2014 06 Oct'14

  Daisy Wholesale sees huge spike in its data business

  Daisy Wholesale has announced that since the relaunch of its data proposition six months ago, there has been a 37% increase is sales

• October 03, 2014 03 Oct'14

  Phone, email and web chat are preferred channels for customers

  New survey highlights the need for resellers to ensure they have the right channels in place for customer communication

• September 23, 2014 23 Sep'14

  UK IT retailers are Google+ kings of Europe

  New research from Context finds that Google+ is outpacing Facebook, YouTube and Twitter when it comes to IT retailers

• September 18, 2014 18 Sep'14

  Angry-Brits: Survey finds we don't have the patience for bad tech

  Research from Delphix finds that British people have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to poor performing technology

• September 12, 2014 12 Sep'14

  Changing times lead to IBM's support going digital

  IBM has revealed it is opening a digital support centre in Dublin to deal with the new ways users and partners want to communicate with the vendor

• September 12, 2014 12 Sep'14

  Brocade appoints new technology VP to guide EMEA strategy

  Brocade brings in technology veteran to guide cloud, SDN and NFV strategies across EMEA

• September 11, 2014 11 Sep'14

  Logicalis finds changes in retail illustrate IT buying tension

  Research by Logicalis into the retail market have exposed the tension between the IT department and other parts of the business when it comes to buying technology